Month: April 2018
Happy Opening Day!
If you know me, you know by now that I’m passionate about a few things…..my amazing boys, the school where I am blessed to work and my boys are even more blessed to attend, people who have your back, staying busy, all things Cape Ann, and Fenway Park. Weird, right?
I say the same thing each year at about this same time….. I appreciate baseball, I like the Red Sox, but I love Fenway Park. Cliche as it is, I find it kind of intoxicating. Larry Lucchino once led me through a door that leads from the front office to the grandstand on a day when the park was relatively empty. It was, in fact, hours away from an evening game time and the park was just starting to yawn and stetch. He told me that it was moments like that when Fenway spoke to him the most. I couldn’t agree more.
I am in love with the geometric lines and patterns, the shadows, the shapes, the textures, and the colors that make Fenway come to life. During game time, as exciting as the play on the field can get, it is the sounds, smells, and palpable buzz in the air that literally give me goosebumps. It is watching families, friends, soulmates, and strangers united in their love of a day together at the park. At all other times, it is the history that seeps from every nook and cranny, it is the tradition that stands at attention, and the memories that echo off the hallowed walls. It is my own memories and the memories of millions of others swirling together in shades of green and red that make me take pause….and smile.
I have attended Opening Days, World Series games, Big Papi’s last game, Pedro’s # retirement, ring ceremonies, rolling rally parades, concerts, charity events, and hundreds of games in between. I have been blessed to be in the midst of some incredibly exciting moments and to bear witness to history being made. That being said, my favorite minutes in the ballpark still remain the very late night hours when I’ve left a game, met friends for a drink, and then wandered back into the park and down towards the field. The park is sleepy then, the lights are still on, the air is still buzzing, the field is often shiny and wet, and all is right in the world.
The 2018 Red Sox Home Opener takes place today….and with it comes the promise of excitement, disappointments, cheers, spills, laughs, rally caps, 7th inning stretches, home runs, wins, losses, broken bats, broken hearts, continued traditions, lots of firsts, and a wild, wild ride. Buckle up, grab some friends, and make some memories. Game on.
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Rafe’s Chasm Cloaked in Spring Beauty
We took a walk out to Rafe’s Chasm one sunny day last week to soak in some spring sunshine. The ocean was the blue of a gem twinkling in the sun and the waves demanded their share of attention by slapping against the rocks with authority.
One of my favorite parts of this walk is the sound of the water as you approach, and then the vista reveals itself to include the ocean, rocks and waves.
We watched the Arethusa go about its business
As the waves punished the rocks, we even got an acceptable picture of ourselves out there…. copies available upon request.
It’s just so darn beautiful out there!
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The Smith Family to Bring Grocery Store to Rockport
Dear Rockport Community:
Here is the official announcement made by our company and family today. We are so excited to bring a grocery store to Rockport, and we look forward to your support and input. Crackerjacks is not going away. We are remerchandising it to include groceries, and bring a much needed store to our community. Stay tuned as our plans unfold.
April 4, 2018 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jay Smith, President, Smith Ace Hardware & Lumber
978-546-2229 x 11 email: jay@smithace.com
The Smith Family to Bring Grocery Store to Rockport
Rockport, MA – On Wednesday April 4, Jay Smith, President of the Smith family businesses, which include Smith Ace Hardware & Lumber and Crackerjacks in Rockport, and Hometown Ace Hardware in Gloucester, announced his plans to bring a grocery store to Rockport. “We have been listening to what the community wants, and we have done the preliminary research and planning to make it happen,” said Smith in an official statement. “We will start by remerchandising Crackerjacks at 27 Whistlestop Mall in the coming months, and then grow it from there, based on community input and support.”
The plans for remerchandising the Crackerjacks retail location include offering a range of essential grocery items, butchery and bakery products, as well as produce, milk and dairy, condiments, snacks, and other essentials. A customer-friendly designated selling area for beer and wine is also proposed. “Our focus will be on farm fresh whenever possible, regionally and locally made products, and excellence in customer service,” stated Smith, who has been studying national community grocery store designs and trends. Whistlestop Market is the planned business name.
Once the grocery store is established with essentials, future plans may include a deli service area with a hot soup bar, prepared entrées and salad options, and other amenities that will make meals to go and to prepare at home healthy, fresh, and convenient.
“We are confident that our customers and the community will help us serve them, and we want their input,” says Smith, who is planning to survey customers and the community to determine what people most need. “With a 144-year business history on Cape Ann, our family and our employees stand ready to create a shopping experience that locals and visitors alike will enjoy. The grocery store will add yet another attractive, convenient amenity to a town we all love and care about,” Smith stated.
A Family Legacy on Cape Ann
Leverett Edward (L.E.) Smith began his hardware business on Cape Ann at Dock Square in 1874, and moved it to 49 Main Street in 1891. J. Raymond Smith, Jay Smith’s grandfather, who had started in the lumber business in 1924, bought the hardware business from L.E.’s’ sons, and ran it until the time of his death in 1947. Longtime employee and family friend Charles “Brud” Burbank took over the management of the lumber company at that time, and contributed greatly to the Smith’s business success. In the mid 1960’s, Jay’s father, Ray Smith, conceived what the locals at that time called “a crazy idea” of having a “shopping center” to serve the residents of Rockport, at a location outside of the congested downtown area. In 1967, he opened the Whistlestop Mall, with a brand new L.E. Smith Hardware as the original anchor tenant.
Jay has worked in the family business since his early childhood. After kindergarten, he would walk from the Tarr School on Broadway (now the current Rockport Public Library) over to the Main Street store. There he would “help out” until his dad took him home at lunchtime. Jay began working full time at the lumber business in 1978. “I have done just about everything over the years,” says Smith, who succeeded his father as president of the company, before Ray’s passing in 2013.
If the 5,000 square foot Crackerjacks location is successful, Smith may consider options to possibly expand into the 10,000 square foot former Rockport IGA site. “Since that store closed,” notes Smith, “we have been working to bring a grocery store back to Rockport.” While Smith has considered proposals from various grocers as tenants in the former grocery store space, an important consideration has been potential tenant’s confidence that Rockport can support such a large store. “We are part of this community,” says Smith, “We believe that a locally owned and operated grocery store is the right next step for our community, and that it will succeed if we plan it and grow it accordingly.”
Plentiful parking, handicapped access, proximity to other popular businesses, and a commitment to excellence in service are other positives of the Smith family’s proposal and the Whistlestop Mall location. “We are successful because we gave great people on our team,” says Smith. It is anticipated that Crackerjacks will remain open during the initial stages of the project, new jobs will be created, and all present employees will be engaged in the excitement of the new Whistlestop Market project. Some of Crackerjacks products will stay in the new store, and others will be moved to the hardware store.
“It is clear to us that people in the Rockport, Pigeon Cove and Lanesville communities want and need a grocery store,” says Smith. “My father Ray, our family, and our team of over 78 associates have done an excellent job of growing our businesses over the last several decades, and we must continue to change with the times. I am proud to carry on the family legacy as we all look to the future. Step by step, with community support and input, we will work together to make this happen.”
“We are currently looking for enthusiastic, qualified people who are passionate about good, fresh food to join our team,” adds Smith. “We welcome inquiries from nearby farmers, growers and food producers too, and they can contact us at jointheteam@whistlestopmarket.com.” Smith plans to launch a customer and community survey soon, and will have a website and Face Book page for the new store. “We will begin the remerchandising and community input processes for the grocery store just as soon as possible,” he said.
Photo credit: Dan DeLouise, Gallery 53, Rockport.
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Jazz Night Featuring Mitch Selib | Feather & Wedge, April 5
Join us for dinner and an evening of great jazz standards arranged and performed by Berklee-trained Mitch Selib. Dinner tastes better accompanied by a side a sheer talent and artistry.
Thursday, April 5th
7 to 9 PM
Reservations suggested. 978.999.5917
Feather & Wedge, 5 Main Street, Rockport, MA 01966
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Gloucester Biotechnology Academy Still Accepting Applications for Class of 2019
Apply now! Gloucester Biotechnology Academy currently has space available in it’s upcoming class of 2019, beginning in September 2018.
Contact our Education Director, John Doyle at john.doyle@gmgi.org or 978.491.5968 with questions or to schedule a tour to visit our state-of-the-art laboratory.
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The One Hour at a Time Gang Saturday Clean Up
Hi kids:
Hope all are well on this rainy day. Good day to get my business work done. So was thinking about Saturday clean up and Washington Street comes to mind.
When: Saturday, April 7, 2018
Time: 8:00 – 9:00
Where: Washington Street
Thought we could meet near the train station. I have plenty of bags and please remember to where your gloves.
See you then.
Thank you and take care
Donna
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Cambodia Part XVII From Hussey
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GREAT HORNED OWL ATTACK -By Kim Smith
City Councilor Scott Memhard shared the following article about a Great Horned Owl attack from Sunday’s Boston Globe Magazine. Although an extremely, extremely rare occurrence, we thought our readers would be interested. The article about the attack begins after the Snowy Owl photo.
A photographer friend shares a story about a Great Horned Owl landing on his friend’s camera, and I, along with many fellow owl observers, have seen Snowy Owls fly directly toward a group of onlookers. Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus) and Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) are close cousins, with many similar traits. Both will ferociously defend their nests. We’ll never see a Snowy Owl nest in Massachusetts because Snowies breed in the Arctic. Great Horned Owls on the other hand begin nesting early in the year in our region, usually laying eggs between mid-February up through the end of March. A Great Horned Owl will attack perceived threats to its nest and nesting territory.
The Great Horned Owl, also commonly called the Hoot Owl and the Tiger Owl, is found throughout North America and is common in Massachusetts. We most often hear the owl’s varied calls, screeches, and hoots during winter and up to the beginning of the nesting period. Great Horned Owls have the most diverse diet of all North American raptors, and like Snowy Owls, their extremely powerful impact upon striking typically kills prey instantly. I can imagine why the young boy in the article was concussed after being struck in the head by a Great Horned Owl.
Great Horned Owl perched n a stand of trees, its preferred habitat. Image courtesy wiki commons media
Snowy Owl hunting for dinner in the marsh.
Something attacked my son while he was sledding in the woods. But what?
By Mark Shanahan
My child went sledding alone and emerged from the trees bloody and dazed. He still can’t remember what happened.
THROUGH THE LIVING ROOM window, I see my son standing in the street in front of our house. He’s wearing a black ski parka and snow pants. A woman I don’t recognize has pulled her car over and is standing a few feet away, holding his hat. I open the front door.
“Beckett?” I call.
“I think something’s wrong,” the woman stammers.
As if in slow motion, my 12-year-old son turns his head and looks up at me.
“Jesus,” I cry.
Half of Beckett’s face is bloody and swollen. I race down the steps and crouch in front of him, my nose touching his. He stares at me blankly.
“What happened?” I ask.
“A bird,” he says softly. “It took Mommy and Julia away.”
Beckett had been sledding alone in the Middlesex Fells Reservation near our home in Medford. Had he hit a tree? The wound is terrifying. His cheek is ruptured, grotesquely inflamed, and there’s a lot of blood.
His mother and sister are fine, I tell him. What happened?
“I don’t know,” he murmurs, his lips so swollen he has trouble forming the words.
As we drive to the hospital, I watch Beckett in the rearview mirror. He’s clearly in shock. He doesn’t speak as he gazes at the falling snow. LINK TO FULL ARTICLE HERE.
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FULL WORM MOON -Kim Smith
Pretty moon through the trees, a Blue Moon, and the last Super Moon of 2018.
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Not sure spring is coming, think we will go right to summer
The look of the clouds for the last couple of days explains that New England weather is very confused.
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Beautiful Fish: Stickfish (Part 2)
Stickfish; fish stick, fish finger
About the April 2nd post on Stickfish … It was intended to appear online April 1st, so with the delay, you might call it a red herring. The fish stick in the photograph here was drawn for the previous post by P K Bezanson.
Embedded clues in the previous post:
(Asperacutis clarencei) For Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956), who, right here in Gloucester, developed the process for manufacturing frozen fish blocks. Most fish sticks are cut from blocks. Mark Kurlansky’s 2012 biography of this remarkable man is highly recommended.
Francis McCaffery (1921-2010) Mechanical Engineering graduate of Columbia College, 1943. Went immediately to work on the Manhattan Project, then after the war, to the Birdseye Division of General Foods. In 1954 McCaffery cofounded Commodore Foods with plants in Lowell and Westford where he developed the machinery to manufacture fish sticks.
- Robert Kinney (1917-2013) Joined Gorton’s in the early 1950’s, becoming president in 1958. Guided Gorton’s to lead in the production and marketing of fish sticks. In 1968 General Mills acquired Gorton’s and Kinney moved to Minneapolis where he soon became CEO of General Mills. From there he further strengthened Gorton’s earnings by deploying the considerable resources of General Mills Engineering Departments on the fish stick manufacturing practice.
[M.A.T.W] Guy whose picture is on the yellow bag. The fish stick in the photo is from this bag.
mean length 3.5 to 4 inches. Largest specimen 6.4 inches. Fish blocks are 19X10X2½ inches and there are only so many ways you can slice a block into sticks. It takes some doing to cut the 19 into thirds and get it through the process intact.
I landed in the fish stick business in 1964 with Gorton’s engineering. Fish sticks had only been around for about ten years at that time and I knew of three companies who each claimed to be first to market fish sticks. After moving elsewhere, continued work on the manufacturing process back at Gorton’s and with other producers for a span of fifty years. Trivia point … a modern fish stick processing line produces in under twenty years enough sticks, if they are place end to end, to reach the moon. This on a single shift basis with average down time.
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Historic Gloucester City Hall
Built in 1870, designed by Bryant and Rogers, it is a second Empire Brick building topped by an amazing clock tower that can be seen for miles. On May 8, 1973 it was designated a National Historic Landmark. The inside walls are covered in WPA murals that no one should miss seeing. Thanks go to the wise people that have lovingly preserved this beautiful building!
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Wednesdays with Fly Amero ~ This weeks special guest: Allen Estes 7-10pm @ The Rhumb Line 4.4.2018
Dinner Specials Each Week!
Wednesday, April 4th – 7pm
My Musical Guest: ALLEN ESTES!
One of Cape Ann’s true treasures, songwriter genius Allen
Estes shares the Rhumb Line stage with me one again. We
have a special kind of chemistry when we perform together.
Come by for some good food and good times. ~ Fly
Dinner with great music!
*Each week features a special, invited musical guest
The Rhumb Line Kitchen……now features Janet Brown with some new and healthy ideas!
Plus a fine, affordable wine menu!
Upcoming…
4/11 – Liz Frame
4/18 – Strungout Playboys
4/25 – Lynn Taylor
Visit: http://www.therhumbline.com/
Looking forward……to seeing you there 🙂
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Lanescove Shack
Sunset photo from Lanescove, this was a happy accident, walking from one side of the cove to the other I saw the colors behind the shack and trees so I climbed down the rocks since the tide was low I was able to frame this shot. First time I’ve seen this angle. Hope you guys like it, thank you
Please feel free to contact me if interested in purchasing any of my photos, website is in the works. I can be reached at (978) 559-1944
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Gloucester Smiles-878
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Dinner Date at Minglewood
With Thatcher and my husband off supporting another hockey team by cheering them on at their semifinal game, Finn and I went bike shopping and grabbed a quick dinner….his choice. After much consideration he chose “the Grateful Dead Restaurant.” Which, of course, means the Minglewood Tavern at Latitude 43. For those of you who don’t know, one corner of Minglewood…where the bands set up….is painted with a Grateful Dead decor. It has sparked many a conversation as the boys have grown up eating the occasional meal there.
At any rate, Finn and I pulled up some stools for a quick dinner. It was the avocado and tuna maki roll with a side of six wings for him…..and the Firecracker roll with the shoshito peppers, topped with soy glazed togarashi chili, for me. Tuesday night is 43 cent wing night, FYI.
Everything was super yummy and it was nice for us to have some one-on-one time. Nice for Thatcher and my husband to have some time together too. We used to be better at giving them solo attention more often, but life gets in the way.
Thanks Minglewood! Check out their menu here
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Cormorant Party of 12
Easter Sunday we took a little ride up the road …. bringing to mind those iconic “Sunday drives” (and drivers). As we went along, we noticed several apparent gatherings evident by the number of cars in the driveway. It’s nice to see get -togethers like these and imagine the family and friends gathering around a meal to celebrate the holiday.
Here’s a little gathering we came upon in Essex and I like to imagine it was a little bit like the other ones we saw along the way. It does not appear that anyone has gotten out of hand just yet like your crazy uncle might do at holiday events.
I believe these are Double Crested Cormorants. One guy seems to be wondering who invited us to the party.
Another sure sign of spring!
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Bloom with Backyard Growers in April!
It’s seed planting time! See how you can be involved with Backyard Growers this month:
Looking for a fun and education way to spend April break? Join Backyard Growers on April 17th and 18th for days filled with plants, seeds, games, crafts, and more!
Contact: sarah@backyardgrowers.org or call 978-281-0480 for more details.
Want to learn more about the square foot garden method? Join us on April 25th to become familiar and equipped in square foot gardening and leave with your personalized garden plan.
For more information contact community@backyardgrowers.org or call 978-281-0480
Backyard Growers is hosting our annual Spring Seedling Sale April 22-25th. Seedlings are sourced from Cedar Rock Farms and will be available for purchase via cash, check, card, or SNAP/EBT. The sale begins Sunday, April 22nd from 12-5pm and will continue 9am-5pm Monday-Wednesday at the Backyard Growers Office (271 Main St). See you there!
Looking for ways to support…
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Cape Ann Museum: Bookbinding Workshop
Offered in conjunction with the Cape Ann Museum archival exhibition, Unfolding Histories: Cape Ann before 1900, participants will learn some basics about how books have been made since earliest times and will then create three different book structures to take home. Space is limited, reservations required. $125 for Museum Members; $145 for nonmembers. Materials included.
Good Morning Gloucester 