Author: Joey Ciaramitaro

This weekend don’t miss the 40th Annual Gloucester Waterfront Festival, at Stage Fort Park. Over 150 booths of juried arts, crafts, food vendors, authors and musicians. Enjoy free “family style” entertainment including live music and various performance art. Bring your appetite for fantastic fair food including fried dough, fresh wraps, kettle corn, Italian sausage and more! The Rotary Club hosts annual pancake breakfast Saturday morning and The North Shore Car Club will display various antique automobiles Sunday. The Gloucester Waterfront Festival hours are Saturday 9am-6pm and Sunday 9am-5pm. More info at www.castleberryfairs.com

and I’m not even a dog person…

Carol Mondello writes- I have some volunteers leaving for the season, if you’ve thought about doing this but were worried about the full summer commitment this is a great way to try it out to see if you like it. It’s really a good time!

35 Beach St, Manch-Vegas.

Menu: alliesbeachstreetcafe.com

Phone: (978) 704-9571

I’ve said this at least a dozen times on the podcast.

I’d love to start a company and call it analog and sell newly manufactured old school appliances.

Ones that lasted and even when they did start to break down on year 20 or so, you could replace the parts in no time at all for cheap.

News from the office of Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante

This week, MassHire is holding a virtual job fair every day from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM! If you are looking for work, a new place of employment, or a change in your career path, visit mass.gov/jobfair to register.

The job fair covers a variety of fields and levels of employment. It is being held on Premier Virtual, an online platform that allows jobseekers to interact with employers through a visit to their virtual booth, instant message or video chat, view job openings and submit resumes.

Federal pandemic-enhanced unemployment benefits will end in the first week of September. For those on unemployment related to the pandemic, please take this excellent virtual opportunity to help find new employment before those benefits expire.

Please visit mass.gov/jobfair for more details.

Photo from Jackie Bennett:

If you’re like me, you love watching the WGBH Antiques RoadShow and wonder what you would bring if you ever got on the show. We all have “something” picked up at a yard sale, bought at auction or passed down through the family.  Well, my mother Dot and I have always been curious about the Chinese Robe she inherited from her aunt in 1980. 

What better platform for appraisal than the WGBH Antiques RoadShow?

In 2019 I applied to the WGBH Antiques Roadshow Boston venue lottery and got accepted! Then COVID hit. I reapplied in May 2021 for a date and venue TBD in New England. I submitted images of the Chinese Robe and was CURATED into the August 10 filming at Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown CT. 

It is important to note this WGBH Antiques RoadShow venue was BY INVITATION ONLY.  There was no cattle-call. Strict COVID restrictions were in place: curated items meant fewer people; curated items also meant appraisers knew ahead of filming date what was coming.  I could only bring 1 person to help me with my 1 item. I was given the 11:30am slot. I brought my BFF Lisa as my handler and emotional support human. We both had to bring our vaccination cards. (AHEM = GET VACCINATED!!)

I definitely needed help with my 1 item as the framed Chinese Robe is 5ft x 5ft. I rented a van and booked a hotel nearby the night before. There were many emails and health checks leading up to our arrival at 11:15am and, unfortunately, they were already behind schedule.  

There was waiting here. Then waiting there. And then more waiting in over there. Finally we got to wait at an important table. And then there was more waiting. During this time, most of the other participants checked out each other’s items. What do you have? Everyone was very nice, respectful and courteous with one another – we were all in the same boat called “Hurry Up & Wait.”

I was reminded of something Craig Kimberley shared with me while on Yankee Fleet. He did a fishing shoot down in Florida, they had no action for 3 days. Dead calm and it was miserable. Once the fish started striking, it was like all that lost time was {forgotten}. Game on! Catch ‘em up!  Well, something similar happened to me at the WGBH Antiques RoadShow

My item finally came up for staging. My item was one of the largest items I saw that day and was framed in plexiglass. The filming crew needed an extra large easel with sandbags but the plexi caused numerous reflections from the stage, equipment, lighting and 3 cameras. The crew took the utmost care to make sure my item looked as perfect as possible. They worked with minimal words, as any well-coordinated team does. Those film crews make the magic of the WGBH Antiques Roadshow come to life on TV.  And I had the A-team.

Before filming started, the crew asked BFF Lisa where we were from. She responded proudly, “Glosta!” One crew guy said, “Hey! I am from Peabody! Formerly from Beverly!” Another replied, “I am moving to Glosta in September!” And just like that we saw each other as locals.

A word about the appraiser of my item: he was magnificent.  He answered all my questions about the Chinese Robe and gave me so much more detail about its origin, usage, design and symbols.  I asked if he was appraising other items that day. 

“No, I just came down for this one.” 

He has a house in Gloucester, and lives here part-time.

PBS will produce this Antiques Roadshow venue into three (3), 1-hour episodes which I was told will air in September 2022.