What is Gloucester To You? From Wesley A Thibodeau

What is Gloucester to you? What does it mean to be a part of this diverse community, where your neighbor may be a Fisherman, a Restaurateur, a Software Tech, a Carpenter or any number of things? He or she may be Italian, Sicilian, Portuguese, African, of Oriental or Irish decent or many another nationality mixed in with their American heritage. What does it means to be a part of this Gloucester Community where we’ve sweated in our toil, died in the pursuit of feeding our families and the millions of families across this great nation, or found joy in our recreation on our greatest resource… that of the ocean, or the pride we feel in raising our young ones in this place we live? It’s quite simple… It means together we are family… Gloucester family! This is something to be proud of…

Gloucester to me is being one… one with my neighbors, regardless of occupational backgrounds or our ancestral heritage… We are fortunate enough to live in a city where we don’t experience the separation, the petty bigotry and senseless fears that pervade other City communities. Yes, Gloucester is unique in this way. We are a community teaming with people who, even in these difficult economic times, will think nothing of reaching out to help a neighbor in need. There is evidence of this everywhere in this City, whether it is a fundraiser for the family of a beloved Firefighter who has lost his most courageous battle of all down to the simplest act of lending a neighbor $10.00 until their check comes through so their child will have milk that day. These are things that do happen every day in this city… We just don’t always hear about all of them. The unsung heroes of this place that we live in are many and if you can count yourself among them, and many of you probably can, you deserve to feel proud. Proud for caring about your neighbors and of the city in which you live!

I’m not originally from Gloucester, but I’ve lived between here and Rockport most of my life and there is nowhere I’d rather live than on this Island we call home! My Father was born and raised here, as was his Father before him and they too were proud of this City and proud to have lived and Worked in this great community with such rich traditions in the Fishing and Shipping Industries along with the many, many other industries and businesses that make Gloucester what it is.

Also, I like to remind people, there are cultural resources in this community that, when you think about the many talented Artists and Musicians that live, work and play in this City…well, it’s truly astounding. There are just too many to mention. We members of Full Circle are very proud to live in Gloucester and to be able to count ourselves a part of this live, local music community that just overflows with extremely talented Artists and Musicians! Here’s to our home port…Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S.A.!

-Wesley A Thibodeau/Full Circle