GloucesterCast Taped 4/27/2013 with Host Joey Ciaramitaro an Guest Bill O’Connor

GloucesterCast Taped 4/27/2013 with Host Joey Ciaramitaro an Guest Bill O’Connor

Click to listen- With Host Joey C and Guest Bill O'Connor

GloucesterCast Taped 4/27/2013 with Host Joey Ciaramitaro an Guest Bill O’Connor

Topics Include: North Shore Kid, Schooner Ardelle,Maritime Gloucester, Cape Ann Museum, Flynn Beach or Oakes Cove Beach, Local Gas Prices, Market Basket vs Shaws and Stop and Shop, Seaport Grille, Appleton Farm CSA, Composting,

The Noble Kids Represent! In Costa Rica

Hey Joey! Having the adventure of a lifetime in Costa Rica! Tried to represent from the zip lines, the horses, the quads, the waterfalls, the mountains, the islands, the jungle, and with the monkeys to no avail!
Finally got to the chocolate sand beach near Jaco, Costa Rica and are mellowed enough to send the pic.
Great country. Great People. See you soon, Steve, Dee, Lainie, Skye, and Zak. And our new friend Sole’…..

photo

Mike Murray Not Happy With Vandalism In Gloucester Cemeteries

Gloucester is great but it could be better.  It needs to openly address its faults but that isn’t the culture there from what I can see.

So much history has been lost in Gloucester cemeteries due to vandalism and neglect of cemeteries, in Public but more so Private.

Decades of vandalism in Oak Grove Cemetery is well documented in the Sawyer Free Library in case you weren’t aware.  Your Mayor knows how I feel as does your Police chief but it keeps getting worse.  As a successful Blog owner you have more power and influence then you realize over a communities behavior.  Possibly more than your Mayor or Police Chief because you reach more people daily then they do. 

So much more economy could be had for Gloucester if cemetery monuments had been preserved or cared for better. 

It really saddens me to see all the new vandalism done to headstones in Oak Hill Cemetery.  Those people won’t be back to spend the day in Gloucester an eat in a restaurant of stay at an Inn.  Why come back after ones loved one’s headstone has been damaged and/or removed because of said needless damage?  It leaves a bad taste and a false snap shot of your town. 

Personally, I’ve already repaired one of the only ancestors headstones I could find as I found it in three pieces. 

It is from 1862 and it can still be easily read except for the cement holding it together.  I have three there that can be found and 14 others completely MIA !  It hurts!

Joey, If you choose you could be the voice of reason Gloucester so desperately needs to change this accepted behavior.   I’m asking that you photograph or videotape some of what I am describing to you. Take a ride through Oak Hill Cemetery and see the headstone conditions near and on the back hill section .   Look at the side and back edges. Especially on the back road where headstones are literally swallowed up and engulfed by eight ft or more of Brambles.  You have to look close but they are there hiding underneath.

Write about it !  Get local volunteers that I know would come out in support showing Gloucester’s great spirit. A group effort could easily cut and tame those brambles.  Let People know the dead are respected in Gloucester.  Get people to show some pride and say this isn’t right and It can’t go on any longer in my town.  The Catholic Cemetery assocation is the official caretaker but all I get is shrugged shoulders from the superintendent.

Joey , Please go visit Oak Hill on Poplar St and if you aren’t disgusted about the conditions there you can deny my request to write about it with a free conscience.

With Respect and blunt truthfulness

Mike

"Show me the manner in which a nation or a community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws of the land and their loyalty to high ideals."

Gladstone.

Rockport Scavenger Hunt During Motif No. 1 Day May 18 and 19th, 2013

EVENT: Motif No. 1 Day Retailers’ Scavenger Hunt
WHEN:
Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19, 2013

Scav

CONTACT: Dawn Noble (La Provence) 978-546-5868

Who doesn’t love a good Scavenger
Hunt?  You’ll love searching for, and especially finding the hidden treasures during the 2-day, town-wide event,
Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19, as part of Motif No. 1 Day festivities.Shopping is one of Rockport’s most alluring attractions, with all its unique galleries, shops and boutiques!

On these 2 days look for the special red MOTIF SCAVENGER HUNT sign in more then 60 participating shop
windows. Proceed inside to search for and find your treasure…the MOTIF SCAVENGER HUNT tag hanging on select items offering exceptional savings and values!

Downtown Rockport’s Motif  No. 1 Day, on Saturday, May 18th,  emphasizes the local arts, food, music and of course, shopping. Come celebrate the upcoming summer season with us along with thousands of Rockport residents and visitors to enjoy downtown Rockport, the quintessential New England coastal village.

TCC Pioneers Earth Day clean-up

Kimberley Howlett submits-

Hi Joey.
Trinity Congregational Church’s Pioneers took an hour last night to clean up litter along Middle St to the Fort playground and back. These kids are 6-13 years old and understand the role of stewardship in caring for the planet! We filled one "barney bag"  as other stewards have been busy and litter was light. Nice to see Gloucester is in good hands.

image

Community Stuff 4/27/13

www.gloucesterpridestride.com Sunday April 28, 2013

Find us on Facebook

image

The 26th Annual Gloucester Pride Stride Walk will begin at noon on Sunday April 28, 2013.  The 5 mile walk will start and finish at Stagefort Park, while enjoying scenic views of the Boulevard, Rogers Street, State Fish Pier, Main Street & Boulevard. We look forward to your participation on behalf of your favorite Cape Ann Non-Profit.  We will collect pledges between 10:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. at the  Visitor Center.  If you are unable to join us on the 28th, you can still collect pledges for your Cape Ann Non-Profit and bring them to Becky Sumner at First Ipswich Bank located in the Walgreens Plaza, or mail them to us.  A donation may be mailed to the Gloucester Pride Stride Committee to help defray the costs of the annual walk.

Questions can be sent directly to me at Dennis.Acker@GloucesterPrideStride.com


Scottish Specialties: Bagpipes, Fiddle, Piano and Shortbread in Annisquam

Three wonderful Scottish musicians bring their jigs, reels, and strathspeys to the historic Annisquam Village Church on May 5, Sunday at 4 PM, followed by shortbreads and tea. A wee dance or two is rumored to be in the mix.

The Parcel of Rogues is a trio of old friends who met doing Scottish Country dancing and who now come together to share their love of Scottish music. Dan Houghton is a virtuoso piper and singer/guitarist who makes his home near Brattleboro, VT. He regales dancers with flying fingers on bagpipes great and small – highland and lowland. Calum Pasqua hails from Brooklyn and is the first American to win the Glenfiddich Invitational Fiddle Championship at Blair Castle in Scotland (creating an international stir on that October day in 2008). Susie Petrov makes her home outside of Boston. At the piano and on accordion, she’s been performing Scottish music across the USA, Canada and in Europe since the other members of the band were in grade school! Petrov and Pasqua performed at the Village Church in 2009 to the cheers of a full house.

By day, the band members work as teachers. Listeners can guess who teaches math, high school music, elementary school music, and Celtic and English literature! They conduct workshops and perform at music camps at St. Andrews, Scotland, the Pipers Gathering, Pinewoods Dance Camp, the Boston Harbor Fiddle School, and the New Harmony, Indiana Music Festival and School.

The Parcel of Rogues inspire listeners with Scottish repertoire that ranges from the joyfully exuberant to the deeply soulful. Don’t miss this performance in the ideal acoustics of the Village Church Sunday, May 5 at 4 PM. Donation: $15. / $5. Students.

The Annisquam Village Church is located at the head of Lobster Cove in Gloucester, 820 Washington Street (Route 127, corner of Leonard St.). For information contact 978.283.6416 or visit www.annisquamvillagechurch.com.

image


Sky Symphonies, a solo exhibition of abstract landscapes by Cara Gonier

May 1-30

Time & Tide at Post Road Framers

Opening reception on Saturday, May 4, 5-7 pm

Time & Tide’s first-ever solo exhibition, "Sky Symphonies," will feature the abstract landscapes of Cara Gonier, an exciting young artist from Newburyport.

Gonier deconstructs the classic landscapes of coastal New England into the essential elements of color, form and texture. Even her smallest pieces seem to hold a world of air and space. Working in often muted tones, her images breathe calm.

Gonier is also trained as a classical vocalist. Music is a catalyst — of visualization, of movement — as she works heavy layers of acrylic paint onto the canvas using only a palette knife.

"Sky Symphonies" will be the largest collection of Gonier’s paintings yet exhibited. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 4, 5-7pm. For more information, contact Kristina Brendel at 978 238 8848 or at kristinabrendel9@gmail.com.


GLOUCESTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION, GLOUCESTER PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT TO PRESENT PUBLIC FORUM ON TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

Leading Educator and Author Alan November will be featured speaker

ALAN_ 9

April 24, 2013…Gloucester, Mass.— Alan November, whose books and lectures on technology and education have a worldwide audience, will keynote “Access and Empowerment: Technology as a Game-Changer in the 21st Century Classroom,” scheduled for May 1, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at Cruiseport Gloucester. The education forum is sponsored in part by Comcast and is being presented by the Gloucester Education Foundation (GEF) and the Gloucester Public School District (GPSD).
The program will focus on how technology is shaping the modern classroom and is changing the way students are learning and participating in their own education.  It will feature a presentation by Mr. November, who speaks internationally on how technology is redefining teaching and student learning, and will also include a demonstration by students in the GPSD on ways in which they are utilizing current technology to enhance their learning. After Mr. November’s presentation the attendees are invited to participate in discussions on this issue and the impact on the future of education in the Gloucester public schools.
A resident of Marblehead, Alan November began his career as an oceanography teacher and dorm counselor at an island reform school for boys in Boston Harbor. Later, as a computer science teacher in Lexington, Mass. in 1984, he was probably the first teacher in the world to have a student project on line in 1984, a database for the handicapped. He has been director of an alternative high school, computer coordinator, technology consultant, and university lecturer.
Mr. November was named one of the nation’s fifteen most influential thinkers of the decade by Technology and Learning Magazine. In 2001, he was listed one of eight educators to provide leadership into the future by the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse and in 2007 was an invited speaker at the Cisco Public Services Summit during the Nobel Prize Festivities in Stockholm, Sweden.

           Mr. November’s writings include numerous articles and two best-selling books, Empowering Students with Technology and Web Literacy for Educators. In June of 2012, he released his latest book Who Owns the Learning?.  He was co-founder of the Stanford Institute for Educational Leadership Through Technology and is most proud of being selected as one of the original five national Christa McAuliffe Educators.  Each year he leads the Building Learning Communities summer conference in Boston, featuring world-class presenters and international participants.

The May 1 education forum is open to the public, free of charge.  For more information about the program, contact GEF at (978) 282-5550 or emailus@thinkthebest.org.


Lieutenant Governor Visits Gloucester High

submitted by Councillor Paul McGeary

LtGov


image


Gloucester Stroke Club
Gloucester Stroke Club will meet on Thursday, May 2 at 7 pm.
Addison Gilbert Hospital, 298 Washington St. Logan Room.
Use Washington Street entrance. Virginia McKinnon, LSW will
lead a discussion on "Being Good to  Yourself"
Coping skills and information for stroke survivors and caregivers.
Everyone is welcome to attend, especially new stroke survivors and their families..
Refreshments. For more information call 978-283-3968


NEFS II will be getting a bus to transport community members and fisherman to the rally in Bostonon Monday April 29th. The agenda is below for anyone that would like to ride on the bus to Boston.

Park your car at Stage Fort Park in Gloucester by no later than 8:30 am

The bus will be leaving promptly from Stage Fort Park at 8:45 am

Arrive at Boston Fish pier at 10:15 am for rally

Rally starts at 11:00 am

Leave Boston Fish Pier at 12:45 back to Gloucester.

Forward this email on to anyone that may be interested


https://i0.wp.com/ih.constantcontact.com/fs120/1102513894265/img/76.jpg


2013 Goetemann Residency Distinguished Artist/Teacher Barbara Moody

May 13 to May 16th

will hold a class

Painting, Mark Making and Materials

at the Residency Studio 51A Rocky Neck Avenue

Barbara Moody

Session I (6 hours): Monday and Wednesday, May 13 & 15, 9-12 am $50 for RNAC members- $100 for non-members
Session II (3 hours): Monday, May 13th 7-10 pm $30 for RNAC members- $60 for non-members
Session III (3 hours): Thursday, May 14th, 2-5 pm $30 for RNAC members- $60 for non-members

6 studio visits available
free to members on a first come basis
studio visit cost to non-members $25.

Contact Kathy Archer at Kgerdonarcher@mac.com for more information or to register

A free to the public artist talk will be held at The Cape Ann Museum on May 12, at 2 pm
3:30 reception to follow at The Cultural Center of Rocky Neck 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester

Hi Joey,

Can you please help us promote the Cape Ann Partnership for Children & Families annual  Family Fun Fair happening on Saturday, May 4th from 9:30 am-12:00 pm at Pathways for Children, 29 Emerson Ave. Gloucester ?  this is a GREAT community event free and open to all families.  I have attached the flyer for further details.

Thank you in advance for your assistance,

Amy

image

Gloucester Earth Day Cleanup Saturday April 27, 2013 from 9-12 Get Down To Stage Fort Park and Get Your Yellow Bags!

Earth Day Cleanup Saturday April 27, 2013 from 9-12.

image

Come join the Clean City Initiative for an Earth Day cleanup at Stage Fort Park on Saturday April 27, 2013 from 9-12. We will be collecting fresh fruits and vegetables for the Food Pantry so if you can, please bring something that comes from the earth. You can come and clean Stage Fort Park or take your bag and bring it to an area that you like to visit that needs some cleaning. Take an extra bag and separate the recycling from the trash. Organize a neighborhood cleanup, we can show you how. Contact Rose Lopiccolo at the DPW at 978-281-9785 or Patti Amaral at 978-412-4201 or visit our webpage at www.cleancity.us,. Thank you for helping us to “Keep Our Home Port Clean”.

More Info: Earth Day Cleanup Saturday April 27, 2013 from 9-12.

GloucesterCast Podcast 4/26/13 With Guest Brianmoc

GloucesterCast Podcast Taped 4/26/13 With Host Joey Ciaramitaro and Guest Brianmoc

Click to listen- With Host Joey C and Guest Brianmoc

Topics Include: Web Design For Mobile, Being A Local Politician, Local Gas Prices, Self Serve vs Full Serve, Flanagan Square Gas Station, Skip Montello

Check Out www.brianmoc.com

Dinner Dealer | Local Card of the Week — Riverside Bistro

Dinner Dealer guru Jessica Brand writes-

You’ve been driving by it day in and day out, waiting patiently for the "season" to start. Well, it’s here folks! Riverside Bistro is officially open for business. Nestled along the Essex River, you get an unadulterated view of the landscape (arguably the best on Rt. 133). Go for the drinks. Go for the food. Go for the vista. Go for the sunset. Seriously, what more could you ask for? Dinner Dealer is proud to offer a $10 off coupon to the Riverside Bistro — and it’s valid on weekends too!

DinnerDealer_RiversideBistro

Here’s what you should do . . . Call up some friends and make reservations for 6:30 p.m. on the deck. Bring your Dinner Dealer coupon with you. Order the individually crafted mojitos along with their new coconut shrimp appetizer (with the mango dipping sauce). If fresh mojitos aren’t your cup of tea, their Professional Mixologist can design a specialty cocktail to your liking. Their Cruzan (infused rum) drink list is killer.
As you and your loved ones enjoy the ultimate Riverside Bistro dining experience out on the deck with the boats going by, let the beauty of the sunset take your breath away. Pause, and savor this moment.

Riverside Bistro • 112 Main Street
978-890-7019www.facebook.com/RiversideBistroEssex

Don’t have a $10 off coupon to Riverside Bistro yet?
Jump online now, and get your Dinner Dealer deck of discount cards • www.DinnerDealer.com

Dine Out. Dine Local. Dine Often.

Litter pickup tomorrow – Thatcher Road

Hi Joey,
Long-time fan of the blog, infrequent commentor and Captain Joe’s customer here.  I’ve contacted you a few times before….
As part of Earth Day Clean Up week my husband Sam & I are going to pick up some bags tomorrow morning at Stage Fort Park and try to make a dent in the atrocious amount of litter along Thatcher Road.  We’re going to start at our house around 9 am (couple houses down from Rockport line) and work towards the corner of Thatcher Road and Barn Lane.  We’ve got afternoon plans, but hope to get in 2 hours or so of pick up.
I was hoping you might be able to share these with the GMG community.  Maybe some of the other folks that live in the area will join in!  We’re going to try to get 4 to 6 bags.  If anyone is interested, I’ll be the person in the reflective vest picking up litter while trying to avoid being hit be a car!
Cheers,
Erin Rulli

Earth Day, Every Day By Fred Bodin :How I Cut My Electric Bill by 50% and Now Shooting for 85%

Fred Bodin Writes-

Good lighting is of prime importance to an art gallery, and here at Bodin Historic Photo lighting burns huge amounts of electricity. I have 36 track and ceiling lights in the showroom and windows, and each used a 75 watt halogen spotlight. Do the math, and that’s 2700 watts burning 7 days per week, 8 to 10 hours a day. About ten years ago I experimented with CFL fluorescent lights, which use less energy and last longer than the halogens, but produce an ugly green or blueish light. CFLs made my artwork look awful, so I stopped buying them.

Five years ago I jumped on the LED bandwagon, which promised large energy savings and a 10 to 20 year bulb life. But the light’s color still wasn’t right: either too pink or too cold white (like a hospital OR). Last year I found the perfect LED: the GE PAR 30 2700K warm floodlight. I use the long neck version because of the size of my fixtures. I discovered this light at ACE Hardware for about $50. They also have a larger version (PAR38) for recessed ceiling lights: GE Dimmable 12W LED Bulb (66529) – LED Light Bulbs – Ace Hardware. As my halogens and CFLs burned out, I replaced them with my new favorite LEDs.

Last year I found the same LED product at The EFI Mass Save Catalog Product Offer | GE LED PAR30 for $35 each. So I ordered 6 of them and now have 10W LEDs in 21 of my 36 gallery lights. My electric bill is already drastically lower, dropping from $100–$120 per month down to $50–$60 per month, saving $600–$720 per year. The savings will be 85% when all of my fixtures are re-lamped with LEDs. (360 watts with 10W LED vs 2700 watts with 75W halogen). Below are some comparisons.

Halogens: GE 75W halogen warm spotlight: $15–$20. 1,500 hour life (vulnerable to vibration**). Dimmable. $9.03 operating cost per year.

LEDs: GE 10W LED warm floodlight. $35–$50. 25,000 hour life (not vulnerable to vibration**). Dimmable (check dimmer compatibility). $1.20 operating cost per year.

*CFLs: Not a contender because of the yuk color. **Vibration is a major cause of failure for filament bulbs, such as halogens, and is caused by shipping, handling, or a rockin’ party.

My advice: Come into my gallery and see the LEDs first hand. Buy one or two LEDs with the warm 2700K color balance to fit your light fixtures. Compare the color with what you’re using now. Then start re-lamping and saving money!

Here’s my favorite LED, lit by the same LED in my gallery track light.

image

C.B. Fisk Time Lapse Installation

Dear Joey,
Fans of C. B. Fisk might be interested in the time lapse photography of our
recent installation at Indiana University in Bloomington. It is an
instrument we built in the 1980’s in California in a concert hall that the
client built onto the back of his house. He died a couple of years ago and
we were asked to find a new home for the organ. Last year we disassembled it
and moved it to Indiana where it’s been in storage waiting for preparations
to Alumni Hall to be completed. I went out in March with a crew of five and
we worked 60+ hours a week for more than five weeks to put it all back
together. It’s 30 feet tall, weighs more than 30,000 pounds, and is the
third Fisk instrument at the Jacobs School of Music, which boasts the
largest organ department in the country. It has been a particularly
interesting project for me personally because the original 1987 project was
one of the first times I served as project manager. How fortunate I am to be
able to revisit some of my early work and see what has changed and what has
remained the same. I have a great job.
Here’s what it looked like in California, below, and what it looks like now
in Indiana. This the link to the YouTube time lapse video

shot by an IU student.  Note the incomparable walnut carvings by Gloucester’s own Morgan Faulds Pike.
Regards, Greg Bover

HUGE NEWS! Rocky Neck Art Colony to purchase the Cultural Center next Tuesday APRIL 30!!

Thanks to your support, next Tuesday at 10 am at Atty Deborah Eliason’s Gloucester office, the Rocky Neck Art Colony will purchase the former Christian Science Church.  We have raised enough since last May to fund our $200,000 down payment.  We will finance the remaining $250,000 with current owners Steve and Kathy Archer, and continue to energetically seek funds to reduce the debt in short order, pay for renovations, and fund our reserves. 

We invite you to our ribbon-cutting/key passing/check-writing celebration at the Cultural Center between 6-8 pm on Tuesday April 30. I hope you will join us to celebrate this community investment for the cultural enrichment of future generations!

Yours,

Karen Ristuben

President

Rocky Neck Art Colony

Back on Sept 11, 2011 Karen Ristuben Explained The Dream that has now become a reality!

Community Stuff 4/26/13

Picture 1Picture 2


image

On Thursday, May 16th, from 6:15 to 8:30 pm, Karl’s Sausage Kitchen and European Market will be hosting a beer tasting event at their new Peabody location. The guest speaker will be Internationally known beer expert and author Horst Dornbusch. He has written for several publications, including All About Beer, Brewers’ Guardian, The New Brewer,  American Brewer, and Ale Street News. He is a regular columnist for BeerAdvocate.com, and he has given public speeches and held tastings internationally in venues large and small.
Mr. Dornbusch will present an entertaining lecture, “Ten (Dirty) Secrets of German Beer,” as participants sample seven distinct German beers, including Altbier, Kölsch, Märzen lager, Urbock and more. Authentic German tasting plates will be prepared in Karl’s Sausage Kitchen to be perfectly matched with the wide variety of beer served. Mr. Dornbusch will highlight different beer varieties and explain to the participants why certain beers pair well with different foods, along with touching on the vast history of brew crafts.
Of the event, Mr. Dornbusch said “The guided pairing of German beer and food presented is a perfect choice. It showcases Karl’s Sausage Kitchen’s key strengths: a broad and authentic selection of both German beer and German delicatessen. I am happy to bring the relationship between the two to life in both theory and practice, by serving and explaining the characteristics of very different German beer styles, each matched with contrasting or complementary food”
Karl’s Sausage Kitchen & European Market is well known throughout New England for its authentic, old-world European sausages, cold cuts and smoked meats, made on the premises with the finest meats and spices. They also stock imported products jams, jellies, chocolates, cheeses, pickles, cookies and bread in their grocery.  The move to the larger Peabody facility has enabled owners Anita and Robert Gokey to add a European Café, where customers can now enjoy sandwiches, grilled sausages, traditional German fare and imported beer and wine before stocking up on meats and imported goods to take home. 

Pricing is 69.00 per person. Seating is very limited. Stop into the store or call Brooke at 978.854.6650 to purchase admission.

GloucesterCast Podcast 4/25/13 With Guest Kim Smith

GloucesterCast Podcast Taped 4/25/13 With Host Joey Ciaramitaro and Guest Kim Smith

Click to listen- With Host Joey C and Guest Father Matthew Green

Topics Include:

Spring, Planting, Mayor’s Poll On Good Harbor Beach Footbridge, Kim’s Black Swallowtail Butterfly Movie, Community Milkweed Planting Project, Kim’s Prius, Paul Morrison and Coyotes, Duckworth’s Bistrot, Craig Kimberley’s Bikini Speedo Dodgeball Premiere at The farm Bar and Grille, Feeling Like Your Live On Vacation In Gloucester

Mayor Kirk Shares Feedback On the Good Harbor Beach Footbridge Poll and Plans On How They Plan To Proceed From Here

Hi Joey,

The verdict from the poll is in but it really isn’t as simple as saying, well 64% voted for the aluminum fix and 36% voted for the wooden fix so we’ll put up the aluminum span.  As with just about everything, it’s way more complicated than that.  If you would allow me to,

I’d like to share some of the feedback we’ve received and how we plan on proceeding from here.

In addition to the polling results, there have been many thoughtful email and Facebook messages and phone calls that have come through my office or DPW.  An artist sent a picture of the beautiful Milton Avery painting of a couple walking across the footbridge.  Another person sent a picture of what was thought to be the actual wooden bridge that washed away and into the marsh by Stop & Shop.  Turns out, that was the section of the bridge that washed away in 2006!!  This past winter it has moved into a position where it can be retrieved and DPW will remove it.

People sent links to other “synthetic” solutions, and links to other wooden bridge examples.  And of course, your display today was beautiful.  A lot of questions have come up as well, and I will do my best to answer them.

Cost is clearly a factor that is on people’s minds.  $65,000 seemed to be outrageous for the wooden fix.  That estimate is for an outsourced solution, i.e., not using our DPW.

The timetable seemed troubling to some people.  We were required to go through a Conservation Commission review, and that takes a number of weeks in addition we had to wait to get the estimate and plan for the fix before proceeding to ConCom.

The way we put the poll out there, it wasn’t clear if we were talking about temporary fixes or permanent fixes.  Basically, ConCom has said, “this is the last temporary fix (however we do it).”  The city is encouraged to come back with a permanent plan that addresses the resource area, takes into consideration the structural integrity of the rest of the bridge, and perhaps is redesigned to withstand the types of storms and tidal surges we are experiencing.  Neither choice in the poll addressed these issues.

Then the question of the Magnolia Pier came up.  This is one of those quirky things about how our waterways are governed.  The city has responsibility for the Good Harbor Footbridge, but the Harbormaster and the Waterways Board have responsibility for the Magnolia Pier!

And then of course, some people wanted the best of both worlds – New England charm and Yankee ingenuity which I take to mean a more cost effective solution that preserves the iconic character of the footbridge.

A couple of people suggested a “buy a plank” program where if you got married on the bridge or the beach, you could buy an engraved plank to help offset the cost of the repairs.  Sort of like a memorial bench or brick program.

So – here’s what it’s come down to.  DPW Director Mike Hale and I met today, and we’ve decided to use our DPW guys to do a wooden repair.   I have directed him to retask some of his staff, order the materials and start immediately.  While this will save the city about $60,000 it reduces the manpower that DPW can devote to all those other things citizens find important (which is why outsourcing was an attractive option).

We will formulate a Building Committee as required by the City Charter and pursue a permanent redesign.  The Committee can take the time to go through all ideas, and do this right.

Joey, thank you for allowing me to pose the poll to the GoodMorningGloucester readers.  Most importantly, I appreciate the spark of discussion and ideas that ensued.
Mayor Kirk

Good Harbor Beach Footbridge Photos

footbridge

footbridge2

Heading down to take pictures and came face to face with this Coyote back in 2008-

coyote

footbridge3

footbridge4

footbridge5

footbridge6

Halverson/Oconnell Wedding At Dawn Good Harbor Beach 7/12/08

footbridge7

footbridge8