Month: January 2013

Be Determined

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

 

Let’s Do This!

Joanie On The Pony from Bob Lindberg

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Joey: it’s Mike Lindberg’s brother BOB (the dentist)writing. Recently we had family from Tampa in town and showing them around Gloucester and I wanted to show them the
very nice Joan D’Arc statue . When asked “why does Gloucester have this statue ?” I thought, you know I do not know but I will find out ; I did know the artist was from the area. Much to my surprise I learned many very interesting facts besides that the sculptress Anna Hyatt Huntington came from causeway studio at “hole in the wall” at Goose Cove where we passed a million times as kids heading out to the Annisquam and the Bay.

I do know some refer to her as Joanie on the Pony affectionately and somewhat naively irreverently ( goodmorninggloucester) and always wondered why French statue and not Swedish,Portugese or Italian.

Among the surprising facts I have found thanks to internet:
1) horse was modelled from the biggest Gloucester firehorse at the time in pre WWI days
2) her studio was the house at the hole in the wall as we called it;family owned the house aka first marine biology field station there ;she designed plaque on the rock
3) figure model of Joan was her niece
4) in the art contest many liked her worked but she didn’t win because it was thought a man must have helped her -it was so good
5) Joan is holding up sword before battle asking for God to help her in leading the men in the quest to rid France of the English;later burned at the stake at 19,later sainted
   and wore men’s clothing because as she said “no voice told her to not wear men’s clothing”
6) There are several copies of statue one other in NY and 3 in France -Gloucester’s is #2
7) It was given to Gloucester after WWI as a special thank you to all US forces who helped France kick Germany out of  France
  particularly men from Gloucester in the Battle of Belleau Woods 1918 where the marines fought so bravely they earned the nickname said to have been given to them by
the Germans ” teufelshunden-hound devils or hellhounds ” for their tenacity and where a famous marine corps officer ‘s response to request from the French fighting alongside to retreat under the heavy fire from the Germans was  “Retreat?We just got here!”
8) at that Battle which was greatest battle since Appomattox where US soldiers fought includes men from Gloucester- local Gloucester man Lester Waas seehttp://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/30873-show-tell-wwi-5th-marine-co-cdrs-kia-group-dsc-navy-cross/who was last surviving officer none the less led a fatal charge of marines to capture a German machine gun and won several medals for bravery see following and the first Medal of Honor for WWI was given to a marine for bravery  surprisingly for helping wounded while under fire a dentist Alexander Gordon Lyle from Gloucester won the medal of honor for bravery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Gordon_Lyle  also veteran A Piatt Andrew who name is on 128 bridge .

So after learning this I will look at Joanie on the Pony with well earned affection and appreciation and gratitude . Regards Bob Lindberg

Check out the page from distinguished women from the past-

Joan of Arc

(1412-1431)

Nubar Alexanian Prints At The Lone Gull

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Joey. These aren’t new but they haven’t been shown in public in many years. I think you’ll recognize these guys. Nubar

photo (5)

The Library and Librarians Are Flat Out Some Of The Greatest Local Resources Going- Poll

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

image

As I was preparing my list of books to take on vacation there was one I had at the top of that list- Adam Carolla’s Not Taco Bell Material.  Last year in Playa del Carmen I read his first book In Fifty Years We’ll All Be Chicks and was laughing with every turn of the pages.

No luck on the shelves locally, I headed to Barnes and Noble where it was also out of stock and since I was leaving in two days time there was no chance of ordering it in time to take it on vacation.

So the Mrs suggests ordering it to read on my iPad.  While she has a tendency to not take care of her electronics I don’t like taking mine to the beach.  Sand and saltwater and suntan lotion- just way too much chance of messing stuff up.  However when looking online at the Library inventory of availability I see my book available in hardback edition.

I place the book on hold at 7:30AM. Show up at 10:00AM and ask for the book.  It hadn’t been pulled from the shelf yet but the librarian (total unsung hero) walks around from behind the desk, goes and finds it for me, hands it to me and I straight up walk out.  With a $25 book.  For free.  Just by showing up! I gots it for three weeks.

Customer service?  You betcha!  With a smile.

I thanked him and told him I appreciate his service to the community.

Twenty Five Dollars Savings In My Pocket.

This is not to mention to the free museum passes that are always available, the cds you can take out and burn to your iTunes collection listen to before returning, art exhibits, lecture series, free wifi, ect, ect, ect…

Point is, the library isn’t just a place for the homeless to hang out once the shelter boots them out for the day.  It’s probably one of the greatest resources in the community and it’s free.  If you end up on the positive end of savings and all these resources, please consider giving back and supporting the library. http://www.sawyerfreelibrary.org/

#Boom!

Happy As A Clam Road Race May 3rd

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Good Morning,

It was a beautiful sunrise today!  Brought a big smile to my 6 yr old…she said it was “magic”.

I was wondering how I could post the Happy as a Clam 5k Road Race on your blog. It is on Friday May 3rd. Website for more info is www.happyasaclam.org  It is an event for the whole cape ann community.

Thanks, Nina

Old Gloucester Sea Food Recipes Circa 1932 Frank E Davis Fish Co Part 8- Crabmeat

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Thanks to Clark Dexter who dropped off this booklet filled with old fish recipes and some commentary from the man himself- Frank E Davis. The man who built the last building that was on I4C2- The Frank E Davis Fish Co.

I’ll be posting a page or two a day-

click the photos for the larger easier to read versions and click here for the other pages in the series

2012-12-30 08.08.29

P&V’s LOL #8: Accounting is the art of telling the story you want to tell with the figures you have at hand

Posted on by Vickie & Peter
Tom Conley

I was introduced to this Law of Life by Tom Conley when he was CFO of Yankee Fleet back when Carol & Jerry Hill owned it.  Vickie and I have worked with hundreds of people and I think it’s safe to say that Tom Conley was among the most fun.  Look at the photo and imagine him saying,  Accounting is the art of telling the story you want to tell with the figures you have at hand with that little impish grin.  No laugh.  Not even a chuckle.  Here’s the best part: he doesn’t remember saying it.  Really, Tom?

Come to think of it, this photo from his website is the first time I’ve seen TC (as we called him) in a suit.  When he worked at Yankee Fleet, he performed every imaginable task from stocking boats with bait (imagine doing that in a suit) to marketing, advertising and (of course) accounting.

As far as I can remember, TC formulated this LOL in response to my assertion that Yankee Fleet should pay us a lot more money for the work were doing based on how much we contributed to their bottom line (we cut their ad budget by 2/3 and more than doubled their on-line sales in only a year).  My point was, Just look at the accounting.  Even if you add up all the money you’ve paid us to build and promote your websites, you’re still way ahead.  Of course, his quip completely disarmed me and we quickly agreed on a discounted price for our next project, making TC perhaps the best negotiator I’ve ever encountered.  We’re smarter now.

On his never-ending cost-cutting quest, TC once asked, “What if I just send you the code?  Then what would it cost?”  He said it over the phone, so I couldn’t see that grin.  At the time we were building a high-end, database driven engine for him to mange 4 websites, build newsletters, sell gift certificates, track comment cards, etc.  Even though he was kidding, TC liked to dabble in HTML and I’ll bet he actually thought he could save us time by sending us some code, which he never did — thank goodness for that!

As for the wisdom of his LOL, well it’s self evident, isn’t it?  This time of year, all you accounting folks, struggling with year-end, are trying to tell one story to the tax man and an altogether different story to your investors.  Isn’t that fun?

It couldn’t possibly be as much fun as working with TC.  Now that he’s got his own consulting business, we don’t get to fight over pricing and dream up ever more clever ways to market, promote and analyze the whale watching/deep sea fishing business.  Those were the good ol’ days.

Speaking of good ol’ days, check out this video of George Harrison and Eric Clapton performing Taxman live!  (In this video, TC’s the guy who dims stage lights–before Harrison has a chance to say Thank You–just to save a couple of bucks on electricity;)

Sunset on Saturday

Posted on by Donna Ardizzoni

Amazing sunsets this winter.  This is why we love living here, sunsets over Ocean Lawn with a Stand Up Paddler and a couple of guys playing hockey on Clark Pond all in the same day.

January 5, 2012 astand up paddling boarding

January 5, 2012 playing hockey on Clarke Pond

January 5, 2012 sunset over ocean lawn

Only Two Guest Artist Exhibit Spaces Left

Posted on by God's Morning

marys opening

If you are an artist interested in having a guest artist exhibit at Khan Studio and the GMG Gallery on Rocky Neck this season, you need to move fast. There are only two exhibit spaces remaining. You can go to http://www.khanstudiointernational.com/goodmorninggloucester%20gallery2013.htm to check out the details and availability. The days are getting longer and it will be summer again before we know it. Don’t miss being a part of the Rocky Neck and Khan Studio/GMG Gallery experience.

E.J. Lefavour
http://www.khanstudiointernational.com

Joanie On A Pony

Posted on by paultmorrison

Rubber Duck: “So when they installed Joanie did the town fathers consider that fact that every visitor to Gloucester’s first impression would be a very large horse’s ass or was it so Joanie could salute the Legion Hall?”

Kevin the Panda: “Sounds like a win win Rubber.”

joanieonapony

More First Snowfall Photos

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Winter garden-2

The morning after the beautiful snowfall (I hope it isn’t the only real snow of the season!), I took several snapshots of our garden before heading over to the Harbor Walk, then ended by photographing at Niles Pond. The Harbor Walk photos are posted here, and I am just getting to the rest of the images.

Winter Garden

The last two photos are for Sharon and Donna. Note: the waves that can be seen crashing in the distance beyond the narrow strip of land are at Brace Cove, not Good Harbor.

Niles Pond Brace Cove

Niles Pond

Niles Pond after new fallen snow

Thank you GMG- Dave Cloyd Has Some Nice Things To Say

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

PC296529

Hi Joey,

Just wanted to say thank to GMG and the great city of Gloucester for all the support we received with our Plunge 4 Pete on Saturday. We are fighting a difficult enemy in ALS, but with support like this we will succeed.

GMG readers can see a complete recap of the plunge here: http://petefrates.com/images/show/Plunge%204%20Pete%202/index.html

– Dave Cloyd, Plunge 4 Pete Committee.

Beautiful St. John’s Episcopal Church

Posted on by Matthew Green

I stopped by at St. John’s yesterday before their evening celebration of the Epiphany, and snapped a few photos.  Mark Nelson (their music director) and two other cantors were practicing chanting the Gospel in a beautiful medieval chant.

Their nativity scene was made in Bethlehem, carved from olive wood:

 

The church has a beautiful altar piece:

 

– Fr. Matthew Green