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Kate and I are going to feature one or two local places to buy holiday gifts each day highlighting the fact that there’s no need to buy your presents online or trudge up to the mall.
There’s excellent places to shop right here in Gloucester.
Chief Eric Smith and the Gloucester Fire Department would like to provide community members with important fire prevention tips to remember when decorating this holiday season.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), fire departments across the country responded to an average of 790 home structure fires per year that began with decorations, excluding Christmas trees, in 2015-2019. During that same period, fire departments also responded to an average of 160 home fires per year that were started by Christmas trees.
While it is fun to decorate homes for the holidays, the Gloucester Fire Department wishes to share the following holiday fire safety tips from the NFPA:
Christmas Tree Safety
According to the NFPA, nearly one in five Christmas tree fires were started by decorative lights. To prevent your tree from catching on fire, the Gloucester Fire Department offers the following tips:
Choose a tree with fresh, green needles. The needles should not fall off when touched.
Cut two inches off of the bottom of the trunk.
Place the tree a minimum of three feet away from any heat source, including fireplaces, radiators, candles, heat vents and lights.
Do not place the tree in an area where it may be blocking an exit.
Add water to the tree stand daily. A dry tree is dangerous because it can catch on fire easily.
Check whether your string lights are intended for indoor use and use lights that have the label of a recognized testing laboratory.
Check your holiday lights to make sure they are not worn and do not have broken cords or loose bulb connections. Review the manufacturer’s instructions for the number of light strands to connect.
Never decorate a tree with lit candles.
Always turn off the lights on your tree before going to bed or leaving home.
Dispose of your tree after Christmas or when it becomes dry. Dried-out trees are a fire hazard. Do not keep a tree that has become dried out in your home or garage or lean it up outside against your home.
Candle Safety
Candle fires peak in December and January with 11% of candle fires reported in each of these months according to the NFPA. During this time, Christmas is the peak day for candle fires with roughly 2.5 times the daily average. To ensure your candles do not start a fire, consider the following:
Keep children and pets away from lit candles. Consider using battery operated candles around children.
Place candles in a sturdy candle holder and on a surface that is also sturdy and uncluttered.
Place candles a minimum of one foot away from anything flammable.
When lighting a candle, take care to keep your hair and loose clothing away from the flame.
Do not burn a candle all the way down. Before it gets too close to the holder or container, put it out.
Never use candles if a member of your household uses oxygen.
Matches and lighters should be stored in a locked cabinet.
An adult should supervise any time candles are being used.
Do not pass handheld candles from one person to another.
Do not place lit candles in windows where a curtain or blind could catch fire.
Blow out candles before you leave a room or go to sleep.
Avoid using candles in areas where people may fall asleep, such as bedrooms.
Residents are reminded to test their smoke alarms monthly.
General Holiday Decoration Safety Tips
Community members should also be mindful of the decorations, such as figures or string lights, they’re displaying around their homes this holiday season.
Seek out holiday decorations that are flame resistant.
Be careful about the placement of decorations and be sure to keep them away from lit candles and other heat sources.
When using string lights outside, make sure they are designed to be used outdoors. Some string lights are designed for indoor use only.
Hang lights using clips, not nails, so that the cords do not get damaged.
Do not place decorations in the way of windows and doors.
Before going to sleep or leaving your home, turn off all light strings and decorations.
For any other questions on holiday fire safety please visit NFPA.org or contact the Gloucester Fire Department at 978-325-5300.
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Making Negronis At The RudderRudder Bar and Dining RoomRudder Dining Room Dressed For The HolidayRudder Christmas TreeSnowman Donning Barbara’s MinkBarbara Lynch Art On the Walls
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Kate and I are going to feature one or two local places to buy holiday gifts each day highlighting the fact that there’s no need to buy your presents online or trudge up to the mall.
There’s excellent places to shop right here in Gloucester.
An updated architect’s rendering, released last month, looks northwest from Mason Street at the new Sawyer Free Library. It depicts angled portions of corbeled brick, which echo the existing corbelling between the windows at each floor of the original building. “With this newly added detail, we’re trying to reinterpret some of the elements of the Monell structure that people like, and this repetition of vertically grouped windows with a projected frame around them, along with the corbeled brick, makes for some interesting play of light and shadow.”
Sawyer Free 2025 (visit sawyerfree2025.org), the philanthropic capital campaign to fund a comprehensive renovation, modernization and expansion of Cape Ann’s oldest public library, is proud to announce the December 1 release of a new video featuring John and Mollie Byrnes in support of the campaign. As two of Gloucester’s leading philanthropists who generously support charitable and nonprofit causes across Cape Ann and beyond, the Byrnes’ imprimatur comes at an ideal time for the Sawyer Library Foundation, which has one month remaining to meet a $100,000 challenge grant by a private family foundation.
Since the matching-gift challenge’s October 18 launch, Gloucester has come together to donate more than $58,000 of the $100,000 goal. The Byrnes video can be viewed on the sawyerfree2025.org landing page or on the campaign’s YouTube channel, Sawyer Library Foundation 2025.
“We like to support organizations that put money where it really makes a difference in people’s lives and the (new) Sawyer Library will make a difference in people’s lives,” said John Byrnes. “The various programming the library provides and the fact that it’s a community gathering space—that’s going to really help raise people up.”
Sawyer Free Library provides a lifeline of resources serving people from all walks of life, but it’s beset by severe limitations of space, navigation, technology and mobility device access. While our colleagues at the Sawyer Free Library continue to provide the best possible services and programming for our entire community, Sawyer Free 2025 is committed to rallying all of Cape Ann to support the campaign to remake our beloved institution so the space will finally reflect the amazing things that happen within the building.
“The library is a wonderful community asset … and it’s time,” said Mollie Byrnes. “Buildings don’t last forever. A lot of people don’t want to be ‘the first,’ then as they get used to the idea some change is happening and it really is good and they see enough other people buying into the idea and supporting it financially, they come around. I want this library to be a good part of this community.”
“(The Byrnes) know what they’re about in this world and they consistently give to things they care about,” said Beth Graham, a member of the Sawyer Library Foundation Steering Committee, a retired development executive and a Unitarian minister. “When I think of the Byrnes and Sawyer Free Library, so much of what they care about is embedded in this institution’s mission and in what we do every day as an organization.”
The Sawyer Free 2025 campaign is a transformational investment in Gloucester’s future. The time-restricted, dollar-for-dollar match offer by a fund that wishes to remain anonymous represents a can’t-miss opportunity. If Gloucester and the surrounding Cape Ann community can raise that sum by midnight on December 31, the new library project will receive a matching gift of $100,000.
The most advanced Western democracies have embraced the fact that modern libraries are a nexus of education, community, innovation, economic advancement, technology, wellness, civic engagement, assimilation, belonging, preventative care, climate justice, lifelong learning, research and free programming. Gloucester deserves to be part of this revolution.
The Sawyer Free 2025 project’s total cost is $29 million, a sum that includes built-in inflation costs through the completion of the project in 2025. The Sawyer Library Foundation, the fundraising arm of the campaign, has already secured $15.25 million in pledged donations and grant awards, including $1 million in donations in the first 150 days following the public launch of the campaign this past May.
Volunteer! Reach out if you want to pitch in at the library or with the capital campaign, either in person or virtually. Help your neighbors, serve your community and share your expertise. No matter what kind of volunteer work you do for us, you are contributing in invaluable ways.
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Sawyer Library Foundation is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization. Its Determination Letter issued by the IRS can be viewed at sawyerfree2025.org. SFL2025’s EIN is: 84-2837206.
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We are excited to share this year that we are hosting the first annual Grand Banks Holiday Market! We’re so excited to open our showroom up on December 8th to local artists, makers and businesses for a festive holiday event! Think… amazing local & unique gifts, food trucks, delicious treats, lots of twinkle lights, and plenty of holiday music to get you in the spirit! And in the interest of good cheer, we’ll also be raising funds for a cause close to our hearts – the Wellspring Cape Ann Kids Holiday Fund! We hope to see you there for this magical event! 🔔✨🔔
Kate and I are going to feature one or two local places to buy holiday gifts each day highlighting the fact that there’s no need to buy your presents online or trudge up to the mall.
There’s excellent places to shop right here in Gloucester.
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