Erik Dombrowski submits on behalf of the International Dory Race Committee-

The Gloucester International Races and Fiesta rowing is over and its time to get ready for August Eliminations and an “expense paid” trip to Lunenburg , Nova Scotia to compete and celebrate 60 years of dory racing.  The eliminations with be held on Saturday, August 11^th at Niles Beach and we are hoping for a great turn out like we had in the Spring.  We need to be represented in all categories (Men’s, Women’s, Men Over 40, Mixed Doubles’, and Junior’s) in Canada , so don’t let us down and compete for a spot!  The International Races in Lunenburg will be held on Saturday, August 25^th and the Canadian Dory Committee has many events planned to celebrate our 60^th.  For those not planning to compete, we always need help coordinating the races, so let us know if you can help out.

The Maritime Gloucester (GMHC) Race is being held on September 15^th (8AM registration at Niles Beach , hosted by the Gig rowers) and consists of a 5 mile row around Gloucester Harbor .  Last years dory champs Tim Oakes and Geoff Thomas are looking for some competition this year, and I hope we can field a full fleet of dories for this one!

Lastly, our committee could really use some help with the mentoring program.  New and prospective members are not being offered the appropriate help getting started due to our lack of volunteers.  Alex Thomas has offered to help, but we need more people that can volunteer the time to take people out in the dories and help them get started.  Please email me if you would be willing to help and have your information posted on our website.

See you at the races, Erik

Gloucester Students Get Garden Education

Elementary students at Veteran’s Memorial and Beeman Schools learned their lessons in the school garden this past year through a year-long CitySprouts program. All 520 students spent class time in their school garden as part of their math, science, social studies and literacy lessons.

“The garden has allowed students to have a hands-on approach to learning. It brings ‘real world’ experiences into the classroom by allowing students to get their hands dirty. As a teacher it is exciting to see students so engaged in learning,” states 3rd Grade teacher, Kaily Mione.

CitySprouts staff worked closely with teachers at both schools to support teachers’ as they extended classroom lessons outside to the garden. Each school was assigned a FoodCorps service member who cared for the school garden, provided support to teachers and led monthly Adventurous Eating Days in the school cafeterias. Children got additional garden time with after school activities in the garden led by The Food Project.

Beeman School Principal Ellen Sibley notes: “The garden has caused a cultural and behavioral shift. Kids involved regularly in the garden are more engaged in their work. This has an impact in their academic focus and their respect for others. The garden is a gentle world, a world that requires planning and observation. Change occurs over time. This is the opposite of the world that students are most exposed to, where instant gratification and a fast pace are paramount.”

“Statistics tell us that, by high school, only 5% of students are eating healthy food. CitySprouts, The Food Project and the national FoodCorps program are working together to help reverse that trend,” comments CitySprouts Education Director Christine Ellersick.

Thanks to a grant from North Shore United Way and funding from the Gloucester Public Schools Office of Student Health and Services, CitySprouts will continue to support teacher use of school gardens at the Veterans Memorial and Beeman Schools during the 2012-13 school year.

The CitySprouts mission is to develop, implement and maintain beautiful, resource-rich school gardens in collaboration with public school communities. Integrated into the curriculum, CitySprouts gardens inspire teachers, students, and families with a deep, hands-on connection to the food cycle, sustainable agriculture, and the natural environment. For more information, visit www.citysprouts.org.

CELEBRATED AUTHOR ANITA DIAMANT TO SPEAK AT CAPE ANN MUSEUM

New York Times Bestselling Author to Talk about the Inspiration Behind Her Novel

The Last Days of Dogtown

The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to announce that nationally renowned Boston author Anita Diamant will be giving a lecture on her novel The Last Days of Dogtown as part of the Dogtown Lecture Series. It will be held on Saturday, July 28, in the Folly Cove Auditorium at 3:00 p.m. The lecture is $10 for members, $15 for nonmembers, and includes Museum admission. Reservations are required by calling 978-283-0455, ext. 11 or emailing jeanettesmith@capeannmuseum.org.

“We are thrilled to host author Anita Diamant at the Museum this summer, in conjunction with the special exhibition Marsden Hartley: Soliloquy in Dogtown.  The discussion of her novel, The Last Days of Dogtown, beautifully complements the Hartley exhibition and offers another perspective on how Dogtown has inspired artists and writers throughout history” said Ronda Faloon, museum director.

Anita Diamant’s writing career began in Boston in 1975. As a freelance journalist, she contributed to local magazines and newspapers. Her features and columns covered a wide variety of topics, from profiles of prominent people and stories about medical ethics, to first-person essays ranging from politics, to popular culture, to pet ownership. In 1997 she began her fiction writing career with her novel, The Red Tent, which soon became a best seller.

One of her next novels was The Last Days of Dogtown, set on Cape Ann in the early 1800s. This novel describes life in a poor, rural community of Dogtown inhabited by widows, spinsters and other marginal women, freed Africans, and orphan children. The novel was inspired by a pamphlet she found in a Gloucester bookstore many years ago. To hear the rest of her story, and the reasons she was drawn to Dogtown, come to the Museum on July 28.

About the Cape Ann Museum

The Cape Ann Museum is located in the heart of downtown Gloucester, Massachusetts, America’s oldest fishing port. Cape Ann – which lies just north of Boston and includes the city of Gloucester and towns of Rockport, Manchester and Essex – has been a leading center for artists since the 18th century, a maritime powerhouse and the source of granite for many major building projects up and down the East Coast.  

In addition to rotating exhibitions, the Cape Ann Museum has a number of collections relating to this rich cultural heritage, including an extensive selection of maritime paintings and landscapes by American artists such as Fitz Henry Lane, Milton Avery and John Sloan. 

Visit us today to discover the artistic treasures of Cape Ann, www.capeannmuseum.org.