Author: God's Morning

I pray you are blessed, built up in your faith and Christian walk, and become an interactive participant in God's Morning. We are here as Christ's body, supporting and building each other up in all righteousness, in His name, awaiting His soon return. Maranatha!

One Evening in May

Posted on by God's Morning

The Annisquam Village Library has sent out this notice. Elinor’s last play reading was a true delight. This one may be even better.  All GMG readers know Elinor from the wonderful photos she submits regularly to the blog, under Squam Creative.  Now you can get to know her as a playwright and director too.

On February 21st, ONE EVENING IN MAY written and directed by local author and resident, Elinor Teele, will be presented in a reading with fellow actors in the Library at 8 o’clock. Annisquam thespian, Beebe Nelson, will be one of the participants.
The plot follows the fortunes of the Greenwood family over the course of one magical May night. Nick, the patriarch, is attempting to keep crows from devouring his rare cultivar. Nora, his wife, is trying to ensure his wearing trousers. Rose, their daughter and an army veteran, is at war with her precocious son, Will, who is at odds with her mustachioed partner, Peter. Lust, lunacy ad a duel or two must ensue before love can conquer all.
An excerpt can be found at http://elinorteele.com/plays/comedy/
Not to be missed!

Once a Surfer . . .

Posted on by God's Morning

surfer girls

I recently came across this old photo of me and my surfing buddy Karen.  We were probably 15 or 16 at the time – wasn’t I cute back then!  Obviously no surf that day, so we were coming in early.  I used to spend 7-8 hours a day out on the water in Ogunquit, Maine when there were any kind of waves – only stopping for lunch and hot coffee to soothe my chattering teeth and blue lips, then going back out until my family stood on shore and waved me in because they wanted to go home.  Now, almost 45 years later, I still don’t want to get off that board.  Can’t wait for summer!  Karen, Brenda, Margi, Becky, Violet, fellow SUP Gals and all lovers of being on the water, do you feel me?

I can only remember one bad experience on the water as a surfer.  It was November and a hurricane had passed by leaving awesome waves in its wake.  I begged my father (I didn’t yet have a driver’s license) to take me surfing.  He took me to Safety Beach in Nahant and stayed in the car, watching me with binoculars.

Surf was running 10-12 feet; my norm was 3-5 on a good day.  It took me a long time to make it out beyond the breakers.  He says I was half way to Egg Rock (probably 1/2 a mile out).  By the time I got out, I was exhausted and had to sit out the incoming set of monsters while I caught my breath, plus I was scared shitless, never having been out in surf that big before.  Three or four big swells raised me high to their crest and then down into their trough.  Then I made the near fatal mistake of turning my back to the sea.  The next wave was huge, and when I looked back, it was preparing to break over me.  There was nothing I could do.  It crashed and sent me flying from my board, and sent my board careening to shore without me (they didn’t have tethers back in those days).  After that, every wave crashed on me, pushing me far below the surface in a maelstrom of swirling water.  I would reach the surface just in time to grab a breath of air, before the next wave crashed, pushing me into the depths.  I was certain I would drown that day. Thank God it was cold so I was wearing a full wetsuit or I certainly would have.  At the same time, the current was pushing me further down shore from where I had gone in.

I eventually made it to shore, collapsing exhausted at the water’s edge where my Dad arrived to help me back to the car.

That experience gave me the greatest respect for the ocean, which I still love passionately, but with the healthy modicum of fear, that we all should have.

E.J. Lefavour

I don’t care what that Groundhog saw . . .

Posted on by God's Morning

sign of spring

This is the real sign of spring!  I looked out my windows through rain streaked glass and saw a huge wave of robins filling the trees on Rocky Neck Ave and Wonson Street.  I’ve never in my life seen so many robins at one time.  These aren’t winter overs – they are here to tell us that spring is right around the corner!  Either that or it is a mass robin suicide pact.  I vote for the spring option.

E.J. Lefavour

The Gloucester House

Posted on by God's Morning

gloucester house breakfast buffet and thanks

If you’re looking for a great Sunday breakfast buffet, look no further.  The Gloucester House puts on an incredible breakfast buffet on Sundays from 9:30-1:00.

I and all the artists who took part, want to give a big round of applause and our thanks to The Gloucester House, Lily, Lenny, Dottie Linquata and all there who made the St. Valentine’s Art Show one of the best I’ve seen and participated in.  They made us feel like family and were so kind and generous to give us an exhibit and sales opportunity, in a delightful lovely space in the cold of February.   If that wasn’t enough, each day they put out coffee, tea and wonderful homemade Italian cookies for us and visitors to enjoy.  The Gloucester House and the Linquatas do much for the community, and the artists especially appreciate their generosity and kindness.

Special thanks also to Ray Lamont who gave the Show such great coverage in the Gloucester Daily Times, which drew many people to the show.  It was great to meet artists I didn’t previously know and many people who don’t make it over to Rocky Neck, as well as to see those I do know but wouldn’t normally see in the dead of winter.  All in all, a great four days that we all enjoyed immensely.  Many thanks.

E.J. Lefavour

Senior Care Valentine’s Day Breakfast Fundraiser

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senior care breakfast fundraiser

Looking to have an awesome Valentine’s Day breakfast while helping a great cause at the same time, then put this on your calendar for Friday morning.  Having experienced The Gloucester House Breakfast Buffet this past Sunday during the Valentine’s Art Show, I can tell you, it is not to be missed.

E.J. Lefavour

Who Remembers Using One of These?

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Warning:  You will be dating yourself!

mimeograph machine

The stencil duplicator or mimeograph machine (often abbreviated to mimeo) is a low-cost printing press that works by forcing ink through a stencil onto paper. The mimeograph process should not be confused with the spirit duplicator process.

Mimeographs, along with spirit duplicators and hectographs, were a common technology in printing small quantities, as in office work, classroom materials, and church bulletins. Early fanzines were printed in this technology, because it was widespread and cheap. In the late 1960s, mimeographs, spirit duplicators, and hectographs began to be gradually displaced by photocopying and offset printing.

When I was in junior high, I worked part-time in the office at Seacraft Industries (my Dad’s scuba diving business) and learned to run that mimeograph machine.  When I was really young (5 or 6), I wrote (actually printed) and published a newspaper called The Neighborhood News which covered local news in the neighborhood like new babies, puppies, someone being sick, getting a new job, or moving, etc.  My Dad would run off copies on this same machine and I would sell them to the neighbors for 5 cents.  My love of writing and sharing information started at a very early age.  This summer Dad came to visit me at the gallery and brought an edition of The Neighborhood News that he had found.  It was still in amazingly good condition.  I don’t know what I did with it.

E.J. Lefavour

Who is Good at Jumping Rope?

Posted on by God's Morning

This is amazing.  I couldn’t do this even when I was young, and I only have two legs and no tail to get in the way.

E.J. Lefavour

I Want One of These!

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Doesn’t this look like fun and great exercise?!  Can’t you see a bunch of these bopping around Gloucester Harbor?  I just wonder how easy it would be to get back onto if you fall off out in the water.

Link shared by Len Burgess.

E.J. Lefavour

Diver Down Flag

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divers flag trademark

A diver down flag, or scuba flag, is a flag used on the water to indicate that there is a diver below. In North America it is conventionally red with a white stripe from the upper left corner to the lower right corner. Internationally, the code flag alfa/alpha, which is white and blue, is used to signal that the vessel has a diver down and other vessels should keep well clear at slow speed.

The purpose of the flags is to notify to any other boats to steer clear for the safety of the diver and to avert the possibility of a collision with the dive boat which may be unable to maneuver out of the way. The use of the red and white flag, which was designed and introduced in 1956 by Navy veteran Denzel James Dockery, is required by law or regulation in many US states and Canada, as well as in several other countries in the world. Usually the regulations require divers to display the flag and to stay within a specified distance of it when they are near the surface. As well there is often a larger zone around the flag where no boats are allowed to pass. Some states also prohibit the display of this flag when there is no diver in water. It can be placed on a boat or on a surface marker buoy. (from Wikipedia)

I found it fascinating to recently discover that my dad, through Seacraft Industries, had owned the Trademark for the diver’s flag as their logo. I always knew it was used on Seacraft products, catalogs and marketing materials, but had never thought about it. In the late 1950’s, they applied for and were awarded the right to use the diver’s flag as the registered trademark logo for Seacraft Industries and their products. He did not design or hold the patent to the flag, but when he researched the Trademark and found it was not owned by anyone, he applied for and got it. He said it took three years to go through the process and he still has all the original paperwork, which I’ll get my hands on one day soon for the family history archives. In the meantime, this is a Boston Herald article about it and a copy of the cover of the 1962 catalog, possibly the same one King Hussein of Jordan had placed his order from. https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2014/01/29/obscure-bit-of-interesting-stuff/

E.J. Lefavour

Gloucester House St. Valentine’s Art Show

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gloucester house show

These are a few shots of the St. Valentine’s Art Show at the Gloucester House taken by Beth Williams.  If you have a chance, do stop by and check it out.  There is a great array of beautiful, affordable, unique cards and gift items by area artists.  The Gloucester House (especially Lily Linquata for organizing so well and being so helpful) has been very generous to organize this show in their lovely function room at no charge to the artists.  The show runs Friday and Saturday from 11:30am to 8:00pm and Sunday from 9:30am to 4:00pm.  A nice reason to stop into the Gloucester House for a bowl of chowda or a seafood pizza and a beer or glass of wine, and check out some great Valentine’s Day gift ideas.

E.J. Lefavour

Who Knows Where These Photos Were Taken?

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who knows_pleasure island

These go back to 1959-1969.  Who remembers and what was your favorite thing to do there?  I loved the burro trail, big slide and animal land, but Moby Dick was pretty cool too.

E.J. Lefavour

Who Knows Who This Was?

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who was this_sea hunt

The man farthest to the right.  This is a three-part quiz.  What was his name, what was the name of the series he originally became famous for, and most tricky – what was his character’s name in that series?  Hint: my father and the other men in the photo were all scuba divers.

E.J. Lefavour

Edward Rowe Snow

Posted on by God's Morning

dad rex edward rowe snow and jim walton on adventure III

seacraft article in lowell sun_1961

This is a photo of Edward Rowe Snow (far left), Rex Trailer (notice he wore his cowboy boots, even when going scuba diving), Jim Walton of Boston Diving Center and Adventure III, and Willis Lefavour (my dad), aboard the Adventure III heading for a sunken treasure adventure.  Also, a newspaper clipping from 1961 picturing Edward Rowe Snow and Rex, and a story about Seacraft and Adventure III.

Edward Rowe Snow (August 22, 1902 Winthrop, Massachusetts – April 10, 1982) was an American author and historian.  He was a high school teacher in Winthrop, Massachusetts. During World War II, he served with the XII Bomber Command, and he became a first lieutenant. He was a daily columnist at The Patriot Ledger newspaper in Quincy, Massachusetts from 1957-82.

Snow is widely known for his stories of pirates and other nautical subjects; he wrote over forty books and many shorter publications. In all, he was the author of more than 100 publications, mainly about New England coastal history.

Mr. Snow was also a major chronicler of New England maritime history. With the publication of The Islands of Boston Harbor in 1935, he became famous as a historian of the New England coast and also as a popular storyteller, lecturer, preservationist, and treasure hunter. Forty years later, he was still publishing.

He is also famous for carrying on the tradition of the “Flying Santa” for over forty years (1936–1980). Every Christmas he would hire a small plane and drop wrapped gifts to the lighthouse keepers and their families.

In the 1940s and early 1950s he hosted a weekly Sunday radio show for youngsters and early teens called “Six Bells” where one precisely at 3:00 PM would join in hearing of the adventures of pirates and buccaneers along the Atlantic Coast.

Many credit him with saving Fort Warren, located on Georges Island in Boston Harbor, in the 1950s.

In August 2000, a plaque was dedicated to Mr. Snow on his beloved Georges Island.  A Boston Harbor ferry boat was named for him.  (from Wikipedia)

E.J. Lefavour

Gloucester House Showcases North Shore Artists

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St Valentine art sale

Participating artists include: Charles Francis, Annie Ziergiebel, JP Ware, Deb Shradieck, Susie Fiels, EJ Lefavour, Camilla Macfayden, Beth Williams, Donna Ardizzoni, Phil Cusumano, Marty Morgan, Thi Linh Wenau, Kathy Roberts, Elynn Kroger, Nina Goodick, Mary Ann DeLouise, Conrad Roeske, Catherine McGeary, Karen Tibbets, Tory and Ally Voner, Eileen Oliver, Amanda Cook, Mary McCarl, Theresa Testaverde, and the folks from Cape Ann Giclee.

Thanks to the Gloucester House Restaurant for sponsoring this art event for the community and North Shore artists!  Hope to see all of you there.

E.J. Lefavour

The Dreaded AD

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mom then and now

Alzheimer’s Disease is not a happy subject, nor one that is specifically Cape Ann focused, but is one that has, is now, or may one day effect many GMG contributors and readers, personally or through a loved one.

My mother, who is a very young, healthy and still beautiful 82 year old, has been suffering from increasing memory loss for a couple of years, and has been on Donepezil for almost a year, with little noticeable affect.  Recently she took a sudden, severe and alarming cognitive nosedive which has resulted in my spending more time at her house attempting to get her back on a even keel and doing damage control on the chaos of paperwork, bills not paid, and other alarming developments that occurred very rapidly.  While going through and organizing papers and her surroundings, I have been coming across a lot of the old photos and history that you have been seeing me share on the blog recently.

Over the past year, I have been researching Alzheimer’s, memory and brain health in general.  I wanted to share some of what I have learned in case it might be beneficial to someone else in a similar situation, now or in the future.  Also, if anyone has other helpful information to share from their own experiences, it would be most welcome.    Continue reading “The Dreaded AD” →