Day: December 7, 2013

Discover Gloucester Holiday & Awards Party Post re: some VIPs

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Hey, Joey-

Perfect timing by EJ for featuring Potter Marty Morgan in her post yesterday, as Marty is receiving one of the three Awards that Discover Gloucester will give out at our 3rd Annual Holiday & Awards Party! We all remember, of course, that you were the first to receive one of the Awards 🙂

Marty is being recognized for her many years of work as a founding member of the Cape Ann Artisans, as well as for her thousands of hours of work and love making the Empty Bowl project such a success for The Open Door.

Joanne (Souza) Main will receive an Award for being the champion of the Schooner Adventure. Her many years of blood, sweat and tears to get the Adventure seaworthy has been quite the task- and she did it!

The third Award will go to a wonderful collaboration among Gloucester, Rockport and Essex folks: The four new MA Cultural Districts!

The Gloucester Harbortown, Rocky Neck, Rockport and Essex River Cultural District’s Committees will be recognized for their diligent work.

Everyone is invited to come honor our very worthy recipients & representatives at the Discover Gloucester Holiday & Awards Party on Tuesday, December 10, Noon to 2:30pm, at La Trattoria on Main St. in Gloucester.                                                     $20 per person for a delish Italian Buffet, payable at the door to La Trattoria. RSVPs are necessary, so Peter & his crew can plan. Let us know by Sunday if you want to attend to congratulate these fine folks- and we know you do! 

Reply to info@SeaportGloucester.org

On behalf of the Discover Gloucester Board, 

Linn Parisi  (Thanks, Joey!)

Last Catch of the Season

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Hi Joey,

We fish 6 lobster traps in the harbor during the season, and this year our last haul was on Sunday.  We didn’t catch anything we could keep, but the last trap we pulled up had this Acadian Hermit Crab in it. ‘B’ thought this catch was better than any lobster he’s ever seen, because this crab was so much bigger than the much smaller hermit crabs we find in Wonson Cove during the warmer months.  He actually brought it to school to show off before we released it. 

According to Lisa Hutchings at the Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center in Newburyport, this crab decided to make it’s home out of a Northern Moon Snail Shell. Hermit Crabs are unlike other crabs and have a soft abdomen that leaves them vulnerable when unprotected. They search for shells from dead crustaceans like moon snails, periwinkles and whelk and make them ‘home’ when they find one that fits.  When they outgrow the shell, they need to find a new one, and you can sometimes find two shell-less crabs fighting over the same ‘new’ shell!  

Enjoy!
~Bill O’Connor
North Shore Kid

Giant_Hermit_Crab_01Giant_Hermit_Crab_02

Community stuff 12/7/13

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

The Rockport Christmas Tree Committee, now in it’s 115th year, is Rockport’s oldest ongoing tradition.

Started in the early 1890’s by Rockport grocer Tim Sheehan, the tradition of remembrance is carried on today. Members of the Rockport community 80 years of age and older, shut-ins, residents with illnesses and others are remembered on Christmas Day with the delivery of a fruit basket and cookies. Residents of area housing, nursing homes and local hospitals receive a visit in the days before Christmas. Santa Claus himself visits residents of the Den Mar Nursing Home and presents each resident with a small basket of fruit and other goodies.

On Christmas morning at 10:30AM Santa arrives in Dock Square and gives all the Town children a bag of candy, fruit and goodies in the same tradition of the 1890’s.

Santa’s helpers will be meeting at Spiran Hall on Broadway at 7PM on December 22 to pack the bags and baskets. On Christmas morning volunteers are welcome to meet at Spiran Hall at 9AM to deliver baskets. All you need to help is willingness and a smile.

The Committee needs your help to continue this tradition. We rely solely on volunteers and donations. Donations may be mailed to the Rockport Christmas Tree Committee, % Doreen Carter, 2 Mary Helen Way, Rockport, MA 01966 or dropped off at any Rockport National Bank location or Smith Lumber and Hardware. Online donations thru paypal can be made atwww.rockportchristmastree.org. Donations are tax deductible.

We are all saddened by the loss of our friend and longtime chairman, Ray Smith, but his work goes on through this committee.

If you have a neighbor or friend who you think would like to receive a basket, just let any committee member know. Committee members are Bud Woods, Jay Smith, Gary and Faye Anderson, Nikole Gale, Lisa Littlefield, Doreen Carter, Judy Harris, Mary Helen MacLeod, Linda Johnson, Janice Ramsden, April Beaton, Sally Frithsen, Ruth George, Andrea Ritchie, Wanda Visnick, Jeff and Mary-Kathryn Gray, Judy Bogage, Pat Brown, Chris Murch, Darlene Trumbour and John Thompson or leave a note with name and address at the Lumber desk at Smith Hardware and Lumber.