Month: July 2015

The 5K and 1K Fun Run will be held on Saturday, August 29th beginning at 8:30AM. More details and sign up are available at www.magnolialibrary.org

The 5K is USA Track & Field sanctioned event and will be chip timed. 100% of the proceeds go to The Magnolia Library and Community Center.

The Kid’s 1K is only $5 and includes the pancake breakfast. The Joe Nadeau Band will be playing at the start and finish lines of both races. Come help us make this the biggest and most fun race morning ever!

Thanks!

Randy

Magnolia Road Race Committee

Sometimes there are things that I mean to squeeze into our weekend, but then simply don’t because we are busy at BBQs, or at the beach, or on the boat.  This weekend, in particular, was really busy between covering the Bluefin Blowout and entertaining the boys.

That having been said, I am SO happy that we made time for the Misselwood Concours D’Elegance.  Thatcher and Finn are obsessed with cars.  Some of you may remember the Car Show Adventure we had this winter.  So, for them, yesterday’s little field trip was Heaven!

Even if you are not a car enthusiast, you’d have to appreciate the beautiful display on the incredibly breathtaking Misselwood Property.

Here are some of our photographs.  I say “ours” because the boys kept on stealing my camera and taking photos of their favorite cars.

Good People,
Attached please find the preliminary results for this year’s Blackburn Challenge.  The race happened yesterday, Saturday July 25.  It’s a 20-mile open ocean race around Cape Ann.
Chris Chappell, you can post this on the web site to get the usual feedback from race participants regarding the accuracy.
There are many, many stories from this race.  Tamsin, Donna tells me you were there when some of the #$@% was hitting the fan on the beach, so you know a little bit about what was going on.
Although the wind speed was fairly normal for this area, the wind direction made for tough conditions (north, north-east blowing down the back shore).  Here are some facts that make this race stand out:

• There were 59 participants who started the race and did not finish.  Last year there were 6.  I wouldn’t be surprised to learn we had the largest number of DNF in Blackburn history, but I don’t know that.  The last big weather year was 2000, and I count 33 DNFs that year.
• This was the year of the High Performance Kayak.  There were only four boats that finished in under 3 hours, all of them single HPK men.  Last year 48 boats finished in under 3 hours, and they were all different kinds of boats.  The winning HPK boat finished sixth overall.  Normally the big multi person boats and the sliding seat racing boats own the fastest times.
• The race committee accounted for every single boat, every single human.  The participants were excellent to help us out by calling the race number when they stopped.  We took to putting the official race number on the wrist bands we use for meal tickets.  That has proven very helpful. 
• The timing boat followed in the last two participants relieving the coast guard who had a very busy day. 
• The chase boats won the day with their immediate response to challenging conditions.  
• The Gloucester police were also very helpful on the water lending a tow rope to a boat in distress. 
• Many, many race participants put aside their competitive nature to help a fellow racer in trouble.  We deduct time from participants who lose time helping others. 
• The ham radio guys keep track of all the boats on the course.  They know how many have dropped out, how many have passed half way, how many rounded the breakwater.  This proved invaluable for tracking the boats.
• It was a very well run race.

2015 Blackburn Preliminary Results are up on the website for download. If any questions, discrepancies please let us know. http://www.blackburnchallenge.com/CARC_Race_Results.asp

Ain’t love grand.

E.J. Lefavour

Shot from my deck 07/26/2015 2:14pm.
David Curtis’ Sunday painting class painting a model in their beautiful gardens next door.

David also has a class every Saturday at the Coc Reservation, Essex County Greenbelt, off of Rt. 133 Essex, ma. Behind Farnam’s Restaurant. $20.00 per student. In my opinion that’s an awesome deal to get tips from a well known Gloucester Artist.
Check out David’s website. Go to the top of the event page for details and check out his beautiful Gallery of paintings there too.
http://www.DavidpCurtis.com

Grand Fatilla returns to Rocky Neck!

Friday July 31 2015, 7:30 PM

The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, 6 Wonson St Gloucester MA 01930

COST: $15 / $10 for Rocky Neck Art Colony members

At its Cultural Center concert in November 2014 Grand Fatilla placed a smile on the face of every listener for the entire night, a night that flew by far too fast. July 31 will welcome this extraordinary band back to Gloucester in a not-to-be-missed concert.

Described as a magic carpet, flying listeners to different known and unknown places, the Grand Fatilla experience is delivered by an innate spontaneity that defies world music boundaries. What began as a virtuoso trio exploring gypsy-infused, cross-cultural folk music, Club d’Elf bassist Mike Rivard, electric mandolinist Matt Glover and accordionist Roberto Cassan joined with percussionist and singer Fabio Pirozzolo, and Grand Fatilla was born. With a considerable following, notable for its raucous enthusiasm and varied ethnic make-up, audience members are drawn to the music’s infectious authenticity. The group travels from Argentine Tangos to Italian Tarantellas, from Turkish sacred Sufi songs to Irish reels, Moroccan trance to Bulgarian dance music, all performed with a signature of improvisational group interplay and playful spontaneity.

Each member of the band brings a distinct flavor and area of expertise in different World music to the collective sound: Cassan and Pirozzolo both hail from Italy where they were immersed in the folk music of that area (and play with the Italian folk group Newpoli), and have also intensely explored Armenian (both of them are also a part of the Armenian-jazz nonet Musaner), Balkan, Tango, Brazilian and South American music. Glover came to Boston from his native Newfoundland where he absorbed the Celtic influences and fiddle music of that area, as well as studying the South Indian style of mandolinist U. Srinivas. Rivard, who is also a member of Indian-jazz group Natraj and plays with the Boston Pops Orchestra, has a passion for North African music, especially Moroccan trance music. This lead him to study the sintir, a 3-stringed bass lute.

In this age of heightened global consciousness the repertoire that Grand Fatilla performs acknowledges and pays homage to the idea that it is indeed One World that we all live in, and the music of diverse cultures enriches us all.