Day: March 21, 2009

What is your favorite local event in Gloucester?

I love the Schooner Festival. It’s a day where the sails are alive in the harbor just like in the old days. It’s like a convention old Victorian ladies still all decked out in their lace and velvets. If you squint your eyes you can imagine what it looked like over 100 years ago. I like going out with the schooners and sailing with them and taking loads of photos. It is always a great weekend in Gloucester when lots of visiting boats come to town. I always wonder why Gloucester doesn’t have more moorings and marinas for boats to attract that kind of business to the city. Lot’s of people come to Gloucester by boat and there is no where to land and it is very unfriendly towards them. We have such a huge beautiful harbor and we could manage a few more moorings and a public marina with showers, groceries, and a laundromat. It would definitely bring in a different sort of tourist during the summer. You can charge big money for it too. Everyone loves Fiesta and
I like the blessing of the fleet and the greasy pole with all the costumes. The best place to watch is right beside it and to go there by dingy. The 4th of July in Laneville is off the hook but scary because of the noise and fire. I also like the Boat Parade at the end of the summer with the fireworks afterwards. It is a fun night.

In the summer do you prefer beach or Boat.

I prefer going to the beach by boat! I love Lighthouse, Wingersheek, Jones Creek, back side of Cranes, Niles, and Braces. If I have to drive to a beach, I definitely like Cape Hedge or Pebble because of the sound of the rocks. But I am on our boats everyday in the summer and wouldn’t be anywhere else.

Who is your favorite local artist.

Well…. you didn’t ask, dead or alive….so I will tell you both. I love Czerepak, Armand Sindoni, Edna Hibel, Maurice Comprise, Harrison Cady, Strisik,Thieme, Hibbard, Otis Cook, and early Gruppes to name a few Cape Ann Artists who have passed on. I always think of Armand’s “schooners at night” paintings that used to hang in Capt Bills Restaurant (now known as Elliots) in the 1960’s. Capt Bill used to buy his clams from this digger named Floyd and you would always see Floyd hanging around the west end of town. Gloucester used to be filled with characters like Floyd who wore rags, boots, and carried a bag and clam fork around town. If you were eating in Capt Bill’s in the 1960’s you might have seen Charles Olsen who was a huge hulk of a man walking by with his big overcoat and shock of gray hair.

Currently, I love Jeff Weaver, Tom Nichols, and Robert Gruppe. I am also a fan of Robert Hawkins who lives in Europe now but was originally from Gloucester and I was lucky enough to buy one of paintings last year.

What is your favoritie local beach?

I think I have already talked about the beaches but I really don’t have a favorite, they are all great in their own way and what is so cool is that we have such a variety of beaches here so whatever your mood, you are all set.