Day: April 11, 2015

 

 

Dog Poop Transport Vehicle

Karen Pischke submits

Joey – Men in kilts has come to the North Shore! Krystina, The owner is the only one that wears the pants in the business. Window and gutter cleaning, Power washing and siding cleaning. No peeking!! For those interested I have a $20 ‘Kilt cash’ coupons.

Thanks to James and Anna for hosting the 2015 GMG Contributors Photography show at Cape Ann Giclee.

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Happy Connecting. Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S® 5

Joey – 

Since we’ve had people asking us who we are and what we do, and we’re participating in Pride Stride, we were wondering if you could run this? 

Gracias!

KT

Why Support Ocean Alliance? Because We Rock, That’s Why!

It’s almost time for Pride Stride again! Like last year, we’ll have a team of walkers from Ocean Alliance and we are hoping that you will either join us on the walk, or support our cause.

Our problem, sometimes, is that as an organization, we focus on our work and we’re almost too quiet about what we bring to the table! And since we’re new to town, and we’re out on the water off Rocky Neck, it seems like we can be nearly invisible! But we have so much to offer Gloucester, and donations help us further our goals both locally and globally. We’ve been around since 1971, and were based in Lincoln, MA for decades. Our founder, Roger Payne, is a hugely influential researcher who, along with his research partner Scott McVay discovered whales sing songs – a massively important finding that turned around the public perception of whales and started the “Save the Whales!” movement. When our CEO, Iain Kerr, saw the Paint Factory decades ago, he determined it was the perfect location for Ocean Alliance’s headquarters. Pulling together the necessary funding, Ocean Alliance was able to buy the Paint Factory with the intention of restoring & repurposing the buildings for use as waterfront oceanographic research, education and innovation center. Community focused, the buildings would be open to the public, with a robotics laboratory, meeting space, and much more. But as of now, we only have one building completed – we all work in two rooms, and we’re a bit cramped! We have plans this year to complete more work, but we still need funding to complete the entire project.

So what do we DO here at the Paint Factory?

-We are heavily involved in marine mammal toxicology, studying ocean pollution as a whole, by researching whales. Most recently, we spent the past five years in the Gulf of Mexico on our research vessel, the Odyssey, doing independent research on the impact of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster upon ocean ecology. In addition, some of our toxicology work, specifically the toxin loads of dolphins killed for their meat, was featured in the Louie Psihoyos documentary the Cove.Finally, as part of our robotics program with Olin College of Engineering, we developed a project called SnotBot, a small drone flown over whales as they surface, to collect DNA data from their breath.

-We have a robotics lab! It’s an old shipping container that had been repurposed into a pop-up retail store, and now it’s re-repurposed into our lab! We have a weekly meeting of our Paint Factory Flyers club down there, and we’re teaching kids and adults alike how to build a controllable plane and fly it via a simulator, as well as our drones.

-We still help save the whales! We offer whale adoptions and team up with Seven Seas Whale Watch. Bringing awareness of these beautiful animals to thousands of people, as well as their endangered status, is what makes us tick! This year, we are also teaming up with NOAA’s Whale Entanglement Response Network – if a boater sees a whale entangled in marine debris, we will be called to track the whale visually with one of our small dinghies. But, our boats need work this year to be operational.

We hope you’ll consider donating to Ocean Alliance for Pride Stride. We’re here to make Gloucester awesome! 

It’s Going Down Tomorrow At Noon! Please Sign Up For A Free UBER Ride Using Coupon Code “CAPEANN” and Using This Link Or Call A Cab! There will be no Parking At Spindrift but there will be a shuttle bus from Wingarsheek to Spindrift. BEST Move is to Take a cab and get dropped off/picked up right there!

Click For The 2015 Bikini Speedo Dodgeball World Championship Information Page Here
FRANKIE GWYNNE FORWARDS THESE PICS FROM THE TOURNAMENT BUILD OUT-
Just add Hay Bales!!!

Pooping stations are in!

I’m back in the gallery this Saturday, April 11th, from 11:00 am until 4:30 pm. There will be another batch of shelves and tables to give away. Here, Chris Williams of Lexicon Gallery in Magnolia makes his getaway with some useful office furniture.

Sacred Retreat at Blue Shutters – April 24 to April 25

Fri. Apr 24 – Sun. Apr 26.  Join Robin Clare and Colleen Morgan on retreat at the beautiful Blue Shutters Inn across from Good Harbor Beach, a sacred portal in Gloucester, Ma. All-inclusive with ocean view room and home-made vegan and gluten free meals. Robin & Colleen will take you on a journey to discover: Who You Think You Are…Who You Really Are…Who You Want To Be.

To register: https://beingrealretreatapril2015.eventbrite.com

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The High Cost of Affordable Housing on the North Shore

Harborlight Community Partners’, Andrew DeFranza, to Speak at April 19 GDCC Meeting

The Gloucester Democratic City Committee’s monthly meeting at the Gloucester House on Thursday, April 9^th will feature Andrew DeFranza, Executive Director of Harborlight Community Partners, a local nonprofit affordable housing organization.

It has been widely reported over recent years that Massachusetts faces a shortage of affordable housing, increasing numbers of low and middle income families facing homelessness, and a rapidly growing aging population with supportive housing needs. DeFranza will discuss reasons why area affordable housing development is so costly and slow to produce; Harborlight Community Partners’ efforts to preserve and create contextually sensitive affordable housing for low income seniors and families; and how the organization works together with municipalities to meet our growing need for decent, permanent affordable housing. Currently, Harborlight Community Partners supports housing for over 500 people in 371 units located in 8 North Shore Communities including Gloucester, and Rockport. 

This event will begin with an informal gathering at 7:00pm; business meeting at 7:30; and speaker program, 8:00-9:00. Members and Democratic friends are welcome to attend.

Havana Curvevall is GDCC April Film Series Feature

Showing April 27 at the Cape Ann cinema & Stage

Monday, April 27, the GDCC and Cape Ann Cinema & Stage will co-sponsor  “Havana Curveball,” another in a series of films on social and policy issues. For fifty years the United States has imposed an economic embargo on Cuba. Finally that relationship is beginning to thaw. This month’s documentary gives us a glimpse of that change. It’s the story of a 13 year-old American boy who, to “help heal the world,” wants to collect baseball equipment to send to Cuba. That island country had sheltered his grandfather during the Holocaust.

The special ticket price for GDCC members is $7.50. (If you buy on line for the regular $10.50, you will have a $3 credit at the concession stand.) Doors open at 7pm. The film will screen at 7:30pm.

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Healthy Gloucester Collaborative Gloucester Youth Council Receives Statewide Award at 20th Annual Kick Butts Day at the Massachusetts State House.

Gloucester High School Senior Kelly Hurd is recognized with Statewide Youth Leadership Award

Gloucester, MA – On March 18th, 2015, ten members of the Healthy Gloucester Collaborative Gloucester Youth Council took part in the 20th annual Kick Butts Day at the Massachusetts State House. The 84 Movement, which is a statewide youth movement that fights Big Tobacco Companies, runs the annual Kick Butts Day event. Chapters from across the state come together to raise awareness regarding the sneaky tactics big tobacco companies use to target youth. 

The 84 Movement represents the 84% teens in Massachusetts who do not smoke. Since the launch of the movement in 2007, that statistic has increased to 89%. Gloucester High School senior Kelly Hurd, a founding member of the Healthy Gloucester Collaborative Gloucester Youth Council, was presented with the Statewide Youth Leadership Award. This award is presented to a high school student that has demonstrated excellence in youth leadership and advocacy community and statewide to prevent tobacco use. She was chosen out of hundreds of other students and made a speech before an audience of more than 400 attendees at the State House during the award ceremony. She was also presented with an official citation from Senator Bruce Tarr. 

More than 200 high school students participated in the day’s activities. The Healthy Gloucester Collaborative Gloucester Youth Council had meetings with Senator Bruce Tarr and Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante in which they discussed local policies and issues pertaining to tobacco. Both legislators were extremely supportive and engaged with the students and the issue. The day ended with a ceremony, where the Healthy Gloucester Collaborative Gloucester Youth Council was awarded The Statewide Chapter of the Year for the second consecutive year. This award is based on the number and quality of activities the group had completed during the 2014- 2015 school year thus far.