Day: May 19, 2015

OUR JOEY NAMED GLOUCESTER’S SMALL BUSSINESMAN OF THE YEAR BY THE CAPE ANN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Joey Ciaramitaro Community Builder AwardJoey Honored at the Community Builder Awards in 2012

Our most heartfelt congratulations to Joey for being named Gloucester’s Business Person of the Year by the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce for Good Morning Gloucester. This is a tremendous honor and we are so proud of him. Good Morning Gloucester, created by Joey in the summer of 2007, has from its inception been an incredibly powerful force for Gloucester. The blog promotes every type of Cape Ann industry, not only brick and mortar businesses such as restaurants, hotels, and shops, but every kind of creative industry and nonprofit organization as well. In his inimitable style, Joey uses all aspects of media to communicate about and to promote the city and community for which he so deeply cares. With a daily viewership in the tens of thousands, GMG is read worldwide, shining a positive spotlight on Gloucester and her citizens.

We at Good Morning Gloucester wish to congratulate all the honorees: Mike Storella of Central Street Gallery in Manchester, Karin and Ken Porter of Roy Moore Lobster Company and Roy Moore’s Fish Shack in Rockport, and Tim and Vickie Kennefick of the Windward Grille in Essex.

GMG 100th Podcast ©Kim Smith 2014

 The GMG Team Assembled for the 100th Podcast

Message form the Chamber ~

The Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the 2015 Cape Ann Small Business Persons of the Year, all of whom will be recognized during Cape Ann Small Business Week, June 1- 5. This year’s honorees are Mike Storella of Central Street Gallery in Manchester, Joey Ciaramitaro of Good Morning Gloucester in Gloucester, Karin and Ken Porter of Roy Moore Lobster Company and Roy Moore’s Fish Shack in Rockport and Tim and Vickie Kennefick of the Windward Grille in Essex. All will be saluted at the Chamber’s 35th Annual Small Business Week Luncheon on Friday, June 5, beginning at 11:30 a.m., at the Sea Glass Restaurant at the Castle Manor Inn, 141 Essex Avenue, Gloucester.

The program is designed to highlight the extraordinary contributions of Cape Ann’s small business community for exemplary entrepreneurial achievement as well as notable civic and community involvement. This year’s Small Business Award winners will also be honored individually at complimentary receptions in their respective communities during Cape Ann Small Business Week, thanks to the generous support of presenting sponsor Institution for Savings. Please visit capeannchamber.com for a complete schedule of these receptions.

Friends, family members, and colleagues of all small business honorees are invited and encouraged to attend the receptions and the luncheon. Tickets for the luncheon are available to all for $30. To register online, please visit http://www.capeannchamber.com.

For more information, please contact Kerry McKenna at kerry@capeannchamber.com or call the Chamber at 978-283-1601.Joey and Pat Ciaramitaro Community Biluder Award ©kim SmithJoey and Mom Pat at the Community Builder Awards

Joey Ciaramitaro John Hicks uklele interview -3 ©Kim Smith 2014.Ukelele Podcast with John Hicks

Joey Ciaramitaro ©kim Smith 2013Captain Joe and Sons

GloucesterCast 137 With Donna Ardizzoni, Toby Pett and Joey Ciaramitaro Taped 5/19/15 #GloucesterMA

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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Topics Include:Guests Donna Ardizzoni, Toby Pett and Host Joey Ciaramitaro, Donna Limping After Trying To keep Up With A Bunch of Thirty Year Olds At A Wedding, Magnolia News From Donna, Upcoming Art Show At The Magnolia Schoolhouse, GMG Housekeeping, Putting Len Burgess On The Spot, Toby Pleas Once Again For Filter On The Arts Calender That Will Only Highlight art Openings That Offer Free Wine and Appetizers, Essex Shipbuilding Museum Photography Class, The Third Annual Schooner Challenge, The Best Oysters In Gloucester Are At Halibut Point and My Disappointment At An Oyster Bar In Portland Maine, Favorite Cities In The Northeast, The Causeway, Market Street in Lynn, Cape Ann Lanes Is A Wayyy Better Value Thank Kings Bowling, The Sleep Under Birthday Party Is A Thing, All Boaters Should Download The USCG Boating Safety App, Not Your Father’s Root Beer, Guinness Should Be The First Tap Option In Every Bar.

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BASKING SHARKS ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

790px-Basking_SharkWhat makes Martin Del Vecchio’s drone footage particularly poignant is that Basking Sharks are reportedly on the edge of extinction. I wonder how often we’ll have witness to the world’s second largest fish feeding along the shores of Cape Ann. Truly an incredibly awesome capture.

The following is an interesting article written by David Suzuki about why these gentle giants have been driven to near extinction:

“The basking shark is huge—often bigger than a bus. As fish go, it’s second in size only to the whale shark. It has been roaming the world’s oceans for at least 30 million years. Mariners throughout history have mistaken it for a mythical sea serpent or the legendary cadborosaurus. Despite its massive size, it feeds mostly on tiny zooplankton.

These are some of the things we know about this gentle giant. But our understanding is limited; we don’t really know much more about them than we did in the early 1800s. One thing we do know is that they used to be plentiful in the waters off the coast of B.C., in Queen Charlotte Sound, Clayoquot Sound, Barkley Sound, and even the Strait of Georgia. Only half a century ago, people taking a ferry from Vancouver to Vancouver Island may have spotted half a dozen lazily swimming by. But now, reported sightings are down to less than one a year off the B.C. coast. All indications are that this magnificent animal is on the edge of extinction. It makes my blood boil!

Over the past two centuries, people have been killing them for sport, for food, for the oil from their half-tonne livers, and to get them out of the way of commercial fishing operations. Many were also killed accidentally by fishing gear.

In their 2006 book Basking Sharks: The Slaughter of B.C.’s Gentle Giants, marine biologist (and David Suzuki Foundation sustainable fisheries analyst) Scott Wallace and maritime historian Brian Gisborne note that the “pest control” methods used in the 1950s and ’60s were particularly gruesome. Basking sharks are so named because they appear to bask as they feed on plankton on the water’s surface. And even though they don’t eat salmon and other fish, they sometimes get tangled in gillnets, hindering commercial fishing operations. So fisheries patrol boats with large knives attached to their bows would slice the animals in half as they “basked” on the surface.”

Read the full article here: Exit Stage Right

See the NBC piece on Martin and watch his basking shark drone video here.

The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

Posted on by Donna Ardizzoni

Rick and went to our nephew’s wedding in Charleston, South Carolina, first let me say what a great city Charleston is. Very happy to be back in Gloucester though. Here is a photo of the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge. Does it look familiar?  I took this photo from the boat going out to Fort Sumter.  The small fort in the photo is called Castle Pinckney.
The Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge over the Cooper River in South Carolina, connecting downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant. The eight lane bridge satisfied the capacity of U.S. Route 17 when it opened in 2005 to replace two obsolete cantilever truss bridges. The bridge has a main span of 1,546 feet (471 m), the third longest among cable-stayed bridges in the Western Hemisphere. It was built using the design-build method and was designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff.
May 16, 2015 Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge

MISSING BOATS from Wonson Street (Oaks Cove), ROCKY NECK

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro


MISSING BOATS from Wonson Street (Oaks Cove), ROCKY NECK

After the snow melted this spring, they were missing!

1. Green Plastic Old Town Canoe, Two-seater, 15 feet

2. Red “Native” watercraft Ultimate 12 (Serial # LP500111F112) – single seat, 2012 model. It looks like a kayak.


Please email Jen Helzberg — jenhelzberg@yahoo.com or call 617-548-8668 if you have any info or have seen them.

Thanks so much!!

Floating Lotus is Breathing Life into the Old Empire Building

Posted on by James Eves

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Justin Christopher and Karin Antanaitis, Owners of Floating Lotus on Bearskin Neck in Rockport have successfully negotiated to take over the right side of the old Empire building.

Its a four level space they plan to share with Yoga Joy Studio, owned by Paula Passanisi, E-RYT, LCSW, which will occupy the bottom level in the back. (Nice  parking back there!) The street level will be the retail store for Floating Lotus featuring handmade, fair trade clothing, jewelry & textiles. And for those that have been peaking through the windows, the upper level in the back is to be used for an event space featuring live music, sound meditation, classes, local art and more! I’m not sure what the plan is for the upper level, but knowing Justin and Karin I am sure it will be put to good use.

Justin and Karin opened Floating Lotus in Rockport about 11 years ago and have grown it to a very respectable business. I am sure that they will do wonders in Downtown Gloucester

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Floating Lotus Rockport
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Justin Christopher and Karin Antanaitis, Owners of Floating Lotus

Lynn Loscutoff tells the story of the Celtics “wives” and their journey

Posted on by James Eves

Lynn Leon Loscutoff
at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck

TODAY, Tuesday May 19th 7:30pm

co-sponsored by the Cape Ann YMCA
Introduced by Ken Riaf

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From 1957 to 1969, the Boston Celtics won eleven championships in thirteen years and eight in a row (1959–1966), the longest consecutive streak of any North American professional sports team. Among the players during this period was “Jungle” Jim Loscutoff, along with Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, and more all coached by Red Auerbach. In this highly personal memoir, Lynn Loscutoff tells the story of the Celtics “wives” and their journey supporting their men and one another. Lynn, an artist who later served as the Executive Director of Boston’s prestigious Copley Society, writes with both humor and honesty and being a Celtic wife and about her life with Jim after he left the team. Packed with vintage photographs, some never before printed, Loscy & Me is both a scrapbook of an adventurous life, and a tribute to the women behind the men. Foreword by Arnold “Red” Auerbach.

Printmaker Needed!

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

Hi Joey,

This is Mary Rhinelander here, of Cape Ann Blue Willow fame. I am not sure if you list things like this, but I am losing one of my print coop. members and must find someone to take their place and help offset the monthly rent.  Located in the Beacon Marine Building, the Shop is a pretty magical place to work, with with tide rising and falling literally underneath you! If there is room in your line-up one of these days, I would most appreciate a post. Image of the press and my contact info. are attached.

Many thanks,

Mary

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The first one sold out in four or five hours…

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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The second one sold out on the first day. Marketing and trying to stay current, here’s to a local employee’s initiative.

Kayleigh Bishop, bar manager for Jalapenos had a hunch Paint Nite would be a good fit for Sundays.  She and a couple of friends enjoyed one in Boston. Why not here? She was right. “They have been a huge positive, selling out weeks ahead of time. They’re so much fun to work. And just to be there for it—just to witness!” For Jalapenos, at first it was mainly regulars. Gradually it began to bring different crowds of people, sometimes older, sometimes younger, some from other towns. It energizes the regular business.  Jalapenos jumped in with the new programming January 2015. “People come in early, grab a seat. We’ve tried the back room and the bar area. The instructors are funny and personable, hands on.”  The teacher, Quinn Ramini, Paint Nite artist, is a local; he grew up in Maine and now resides and works in Gloucester. He’s also a trained artist teaching this class a few times a week or month. “Gloucester has an incredibly vibrant history and colorful culture which makes Paint Nite a perfect match,” he says. “The vibe that the town exudes compliments the event…I love hosting events here!”

Jalapeno’s Bishop suggests arriving early to grab a seat and order some food before starting- “the paint area not enough room to eat where you paint.” Then sit down with drinks and music. “Everyone leaves with some fun.” Bishop likes Paint Nite’s community–someone from here– purpose.

Anything else? “Look for groupons!” Maybe they can arrange with UBER, too.

Paint Nite raised 13 million in another round of financing in February and celebrated its 3 year anniversary.

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GMG Housekeeping

Posted on by Joey Ciaramitaro

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Just back from the last vacation days of the year.  Hitting the ground running with a little site redesign to try to improve load times and make things less messy up at the top.

First things first, I had to let go of the slider up at the top.

I was in love with the idea of the slider and actually paid for a custom WordPress design which allowed for it but after having it for about a year I just can’t deny that it is distracting and added to load times.

So poof, it’s gone.

Secondly I changed the theme to allow for a full width scalable format meaning that our contributors can now post larger photos and videos and the blog will detect what size your monitor is and adjust accordingly.

Thirdly, the Navigation buttons are now implemented and stickied at the top of the blog which should allow you to find your way around much more easily.  All thanks for our awesome new navigation buttons go to James at Cape Ann Giclee who made them for us.

So in the past couple months, I launched www.capeanneats.com, www.capeannhome.wordpress.com, www.capeannwellness.com, built a new GMG Android App, implemented James’s awesome Cape Ann Arts Calendar, cleaned up the navigation with James’ help, got rid of the slider to improve load times, and increased the blog from a fixed width to a larger format scalable width to display photos and videos larger.

Rest on our laurels after 7 and a half years? Aw, Hellll Nooo.

Keep on pushing baby!

and guess what? we’ve got some more stuff up our sleeve Smile

#LetsDoThis

Dining at Davio’s

Posted on by Nichole S.

MarketStreet in Lynnfield is doing it right.  It isn’t merely a place to shop, bowl, walk, or dine…it is absolutely a destination.  It’s a reserve-a-few-hours-and-make-a-day-of-it kind of place.

The other day, after a bit of shopping, we sat at the bar at Davio’s and enjoyed some really fantastic snacks.

Check out their MENU here

See what else MarketStreet has to offer HERE.

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