From trash issues in 2013 to street painting in 2014, a myriad of topics were discussed at the Onset Bay Association’s annual meeting on Jan. 24.

Dozens filled Salerno’s to hear and express thoughts on what has been done, and what can be done, to improve the Town's commercial appeal.

Street painting. A "chalk-full-o'-fun event" will be coming on Aug. 16: the Street Painting Festival. For coordinator Milly Burrows, the idea came to her while she was far away from Onset.

“Me and my husband were on a trip last February to the Lake Worth area in Florida… they shut down the whole center of the city, and they had hundreds of artists who came to paint the street,” said Burrows.

Burrows said her group has reached out to Wareham High School art teacher Christina Kunze to help with the event.

“We have also talked to the Superintendent, and she’s very interested in getting the students involved,” said Burrows.

The group has met roughly once a month since July 2013 to hammer out the details. There next meeting will be Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. at the association’s office.

Summer of Celebration. Rudy Santos, president, took the stage to show his gratitude for being selected to his position.

“I wish my grandmother was here to see this,” Santos said. “We put a lot of work into this.”

The Summer of Celebration will be celebrating Wareham’s 275th birthday and the 200th anniversary of the British landing during the War of 1812. While the seven-week event includes many activites, Santos pointed out a particular event on July 12.

“This will be the biggest parade Wareham has ever seen,” Santos said.

Onset Bay Association president Eleanor Martin added that she hopes to get the vehicles in the parade to swing by Onset down Onset Avenue.

“We want Onset to be involved,” Martin said. “I realize the marchers can’t, but there’s no reason why the floats can’t.”

The beautification committee. Committee member Lorraine McDonald took her time to summarize the accomplishments of the committee, but later mentioned one big concern she has before the summer season approaches.

“The removal of the trash barrels from the village has led to rubbish being thrown on the ground all around town. Before the storm, Dudley Brown Square looked like a trash receptacle,” said McDonald.

“I don’t know what the answer is, but I do know having no trash barrels in a tourist area where businesses sell coffee, pizza and ice cream does not work,” McDonald said.

Blues committee. This committee took the floor to give a special thank you to Wareham High School’s music director Heather Ware.

“If you want to come up Heather… We decided a check for $500 would be an appropriate amount,” said Kat Jones. “You can use this any way you want. I know you need a new tuba.”

“While we are not rolling in the dough, we thought it would be really great to give back to the community,” said Martin.

Wreath contest. The association held a wreath competition for area businesses, and selected one winner from Onset and Wareham respectively.

The Onset’s most award-worthy wreath came from the Pier View restaurant, while Wareham’s winner was Piper’s Restaurant.

“We had everyone create their own wreaths to promote their business or organization,” Jones said.

Each winner received $100 to donate to charity of their choice. Piper’s restaurant chose the Dick Melloni Youth Foundation, and Pier View Restaurant chose Damien’s Food Pantry.

Final quote.

“We wish we had more money to give. As you know, we are always struggling just to keep our heads above water,” Martin said. “Some of our sponsors went away, so we’re going to be looking for new sponsors.”