That Gloucester Marine Railways Corp. at the end of Rocky Neck just past Madfish Grill, originally known as The Rocky Neck Marine Railways Association, is the oldest continuously operating marine railways in the country? 

In 1855, Dodd & Tarr Fisheries was started on the tip of Rocky Neck in Gloucester Harbor. As the fisheries business grew to encompass a wharf, a grocery store, warehouses and 15 schooners, the need arose for a way to repair and maintain the fishing vessels. In 1859, the company constructed the first of two marine railways on the northern-most tip of their property on Rocky Neck. From then until about 1970, the Railways used a steam engine to haul up the vessels. One note of interest is that the gears used in the steam engine were produced at the same factory that built the engine for the Civil War battleship, the Monitor.

In 1874, the Tarr bothers of Gloucester took over the firm of Dodd & Tarr and by 1879 the company was listed as “Rocky Neck Marine Railways Association”. The name “Dodd & Tarr & Co.” was reserved for the fishing business only. By 1892, the railways was maintaining 20 first class vessels. In 1907 Capt. Frederick Albert Cook reportedly brought his schooner to the Railways to be sheathed for ice and outfitted for an Arctic expedition. In the 1920s and 30s, schooners participating in the International Fishermen’s Races were hauled out at the Railways for painting and last minute repairs. In the late 1980s the Mayflower II came for repair. Recently the privately owned 128 foot Nantucket Lightship was hauled up in dry dock as she received fresh paint and maintenance.

Since 1859 the Rocky Neck Marine Railways, now known as the Gloucester Marine Railways Corp., has maintained and repaired thousands of fishing, commercial and pleasure boats from the wooden schooners of the last century to the present day steel and fiberglass vessels. A modern Travelift has recently augmented the original railways as GMRC keeps moving ahead, from one century to the next, distinguished as the oldest continuously operating marine railways in the country and a well respected member of the marine industry in the Northeast.

From http://www.gloucestermarinerailways.com/history.htm

For those of you who enjoyed the story of the 65+ year lost FDR Memorial Grimsland cover mailed to Mrs. S.E. Lawrence in July 1945, which finally arrived in Annisquam last month, here are photos of Aunt Saddie and her niece, Sylvia DeBoever (the one who brought Aunt Saddie and her story to life), and Aunt Saddie on her 92^nd birthday.  The birthday photo was taken by her grandniece, Mary Anne Thomson, who loved to reverse Aunt Saddie’s birthday candles.  Aunt Saddie died at the age of 98 on August 22, 2001.  The family has not received Aunt Saddie’s long lost mail, which hopefully won’t get lost for another 65 years.  (USPS people, don’t take that personally, I’m joking and we all know you will do the right thing in the right time.)

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

That Framer, Ylva Callewaert and Sculptor, Bela Lyon Pratt have something in common?

Bela Lyon Pratt (maternal grandfather of Cynthia Kennedy Sam of Annisquam and Cambridge), sculpted this ideal figure of Artemis, also the namesake of Ylva’s frameshop. The photo is of the clay model, completed in 1908, which was then cast in bronze and now resides at the New Britain Museum of Art in New Britain, CT.  That same year Pratt created the gold Indian Head $5 and $2.50 coins known as the “Pratt coins”, which feature an unusual intaglio Indian head, the U.S. mint’s only recessed design in circulation. 

Bela Lyon Pratt (December 11, 1867 – May 18, 1917) was an American sculptor born in Norwich, Connecticut. At 16 Pratt began studying at the Yale University School of Fine Arts.  After graduating from Yale, he enrolled at the Art Students League of New York where he took classes from William Merritt Chase, Kenyon Cox, Francis Edwin Elwell , and most important, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who became his mentor. After a short stint in Saint-Gaudens’ private studio, Pratt traveled to Paris, where he trained with sculptors Henri-Michel-Antoine Chapu and Alexandre Falguière at the École des Beaux-Arts.

In 1892, he returned to the United States to create two large sculptural groups representing The Genius of Navigation for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He also produced sculptures for the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo in 1901. In 1893, he began a 25-year career as an influential teacher of modeling in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. During this time, Pratt sculpted a series of busts of Boston’s intellectual community, including Episcopal priest Phillips Brooks (1899, Brooks House, Harvard University), Colonel Henry Lee (1902, Memorial Hall, Harvard University), and Boston Symphony Orchestra founder Henry Lee Higginson (1909, Symphony Hall, Boston). He became an associate of the National Academy in 1900.

A retrospective exhibition of 125 of his sculptures was held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in the spring of 1918.  Some of his public statues include Statue of Nathaniel Hawthorne in Salem, Massachusetts, Statue of Edward Everett Hale in Boston Public Garden, and Nathan Hale statue at Fort Nathan Hale in New Haven, Connecticut. 

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

That Plum Cove Grind is not actually at Plum Cove, it is in Lanesville Center?  Lanesville, a lovely little village of Gloucester, that if a squirrel or turkey isn’t in the middle of the road to slow you down, you could pass right through and miss.  So if you are driving Washington Street from Gloucester to Rockport, or vice versa and have a hankering for a great cup of organic coffee, awesome fresh made soup or sandwich, or pastries, croissants and bread made on the premises, keep your eyes open and slow down as you enter Lanesville Center and look for 1064 Washington Street and the Plum Cove Grind awnings. 

Plum Cove Grind features Erik Sigrid’s (you know Erik, Gloucester born now living in VT, son of Sigrid Olson, artist of Rocky Neck Art Colony), microroasted fair trade, shade grown, Rainforest Alliance, organic Barista Beans.  And if you’re getting married, or know someone who is, owner Meredith Glaser creates the most gorgeous wedding cakes – really you wouldn’t want to cut into one they are such beautiful works of art.  Check out her cake portfolio here http://www.mgweddingcakes.com/cake1.php.

As I am typing this, I am eating an amazing chocolate chip cookie (tastes like shortbread with chocolate chips) from Plum Cove Grind – and believe me, it is difficult to type and eat a cookie at the same time, and not get crumbs all over the keyboard, but I can’t stop.  In addition to all the great food and beverage offerings at Plum Cove Grind, they also now carry Did You Know? the book, so you can pick one up to read while you’re enjoying your coffee and treat.

Meredith is also a new subscriber to Good Morning Gloucester.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

That Artemis was the daughter of Leto and Zeus, and the twin of Apollo. Artemis is the goddess of the wilderness, the hunt and wild animals, and fertility?  She was often depicted with the crescent of the moon above her forehead and was sometimes identified with Selene (goddess of the moon). Artemis was one of the Olympians and a virgin goddess. Her main vocation was to roam mountain forests and uncultivated land with her nymphs in attendance hunting for lions, panthers, hinds and stags.

I had the really nice opportunity today to meet Ylva Callewaert, owner of Artemis Custom Framing (20 Maplewood Ave., Gloucester www.artemiscustomframing.com); a really lovely woman from Holland with the sweetest Dutch accest, who is also a great framer.  She chose the name Artemis for her business because she loves the independent nature of the goddess Artemis, and because her husband’s business is called Sundance –  and Apollo, the twin of Artemis, is the god of the sun.

Ylva has a great selection of frames, only frames archivally, and is happy to give advice to artists on their framing, as well as free quotes.  If you are an artist or an art buyer who has framing needs, check out Artemis.  Ylva is now a new subscriber to Good Morning Gloucester.

That Alchemy refers to a quest for a fabled elixir capable of turning copper and other base metals to gold and also a quest for something to prevent human beings’ bodies from becoming old?  Alchemy is both a philosophy and an ancient practice that seeks to prepare the “elixir of longevity”, accomplish the transmutation into gold, and attain ultimate wisdom (the ability to effectively and efficiently apply perceptions and knowledge and so produce a desired result).  

Mark McDonough’s Alchemy of Art exhibits at Alchemy, in addition to being an abundant and extremely generous (and delicious) gift to artists and the community, encompasses the components of Alchemy.  He provides an opportunity for artists to utilize the elixir he has created with his wisdom, to turn their creative endeavors into gold, and in the process do the same for his business; while renewing our youthful exuberance for what we all love to do.  One of my favorite passages in the Bible is: “He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psalm 103:5)”, and that is what Mark sets the stage to happen for exhibiting artists.

I can’t thank everyone enough for turning out in such large numbers, on such a miserable, cold, rainy evening; some of you having traveled from such long distances to be there.  The art opening and book release was a wonderful event, made perfect for me by the totally unexpected arrival of Joey C., who was so instrumental in all of it coming about.

The opening and book release is over, but my exhibit will be up through May 7, so if you couldn’t make it last night (or if you were there but couldn’t see the exhibit because of all the people), I hope you’ll stop into Alchemy at 3 Duncan Street, Gloucester, see the exhibit at leisure and enjoy Alchemy’s great ambiance, food and people (the staff there is awesome).  I also left a bin of prints, cards and some books (and remember, 20% of sales of those items, and 10% of framed art sales goes to the Gloucester Education Foundation). 

Also, Did You Know? books are now in the process of being distributed to retail locations.  As of today, you can get them at Willow Rest, Cape Ann Museum Gift Shop, Cricket Press and Dogtown Books.  I will be visiting with my friend Bob Ritchie, at my favorite Gloucester bookstore, Dogtown Books, 132 Main Street, Gloucester on Saturday from 11:00 to 1:00 and signing books, if anyone would like to come by (and buy) and say hi and get a Did You Know? Book signed.  As they are distributed to other locations, I will update the locations on my website at http://www.khanstudiointernational.com/did%20you%20know%20book.htm.  If you are out of area and would like to order a book, you can go to the website to order a copy to be shipped to you.  Also, if you have a favorite book or gift shop that you’d like to see carry the book, mention it to them.  It will take me awhile to get around Cape Ann, and there are many places I don’t know about and could miss.

Finally, there was a guest book at the Alchemy opening last night; however it was totally buried and hidden behind all the people.  If you would like to be on my email list to receive notice of future exhibits, book releases, and such, please email me at khanstudio@comcast.net.   Thanks again to everyone who braved such nasty weather to turn out and make my first Cape Ann exhibit opening and book release such an amazing thing.  Since moving to Cape Ann, I tell my mother every day about all the really nice people I keep meeting; last night she got to meet many of you and now knows firsthand what I was talking about.

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That Three Sheets to the Wind is an old sailing term and refers to a ship whose sheets (lines) have come loose, causing the sails to flap uncontrolled and the ship to shudder and roll (like a staggering drunk) and meander at the mercy of the elements?

Three Sheets to the Wind is also a Gloucester chantey/sea music group.  Many of the crew have years of established song and sea history to offer and create a perfect storm of song and good cheer.  Their vocals, harmonies and instrument skills are phenomenal, and they have such a great time performing and drawing the audience into the fun.  The group has performed in venues such as The Gloucester’s Mayor’s Cup schooner races, Essex Music Festival, Mystic Sea Music Festival 2006, Essex Shipbuilding Museum Basin Fest, Essex Clamfest, Portsmouth Maritime Folk Festivals, Lowell’s Boat Shop events, Salem Antique and Wooden Boat Show, Press Room Shanty sings, American Schooner Association annual meetings, Rocky Neck Nights on the Neck, Gloucester Reads Literacy events, Gloucester Block Parties and Middle Street Walks, shipboard events, Cape Ann Museum events as well as their weekly chantey sings at the Brew Pub at 8:30 pm on Tuesday evenings.  The singers and players that make it all possible include: Peter and Joanne Souza from Schooner Adventure, Tim Perkins, George Thompson, Alex Thompson, Liz Duff, Gardi Winchester, Barry O’ Brien, Martha Bowen, Carol Karlson, Roger Hussey, Leslie Wind, Tony Hilliard, Janet Young, Graham and Jan Walker, Gary Foreman, Jim Milone, Kevin Quinn, Steve Willard, Ray Spiecker, Judy Keith, John Hicks, Audi Lane and many other voices who often join in with the crew, like Paco, featured playing his Excalibur Anglo Concertina.

This isn’t great video, but you can hear them and experience a little of the roaring good time we all had there last night.  I am not a beer drinker, so wouldn’t normally be apt to go to the Brew Pub, but I love good chantey singing, and Three Sheets does that a flair.  I may become a regular Tuesday night Brew Pubber and learn to like beer just to enjoy and take part with them.  They make the old Newfie seafaring blood of my grandfather race through my veins, and provide a quintessential Gloucester fisherman experience that you can’t help but love.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

That last evening’s fundraiser for Cape Ann Farmers Market held at Cape Ann Community Cinema was alot of fun and a rousing success?  The event was very well attended and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves while supporting a very good cause.  I had previously popped into the cinema to see it, but this was my first event there.  It is a wonderful, homey, comfortable, very cool cinema that Rob Newton has done an admirable job of creating for the community.  If you haven’t been, visit http://capeanncinema.com/ to see what he has coming up on the schedule, and subscribe to his email list (I just did).  We have so many great things happening on Cape Ann, that if we don’t remind ourselves, we miss them.  On that note, take out your cell phone right now and punch in 72727 and then CAFM, you will receive a text message reminder each Thursday that it is Farmers Market day, so you won’t forget.  In addition to the wonderful refreshment provided by Alchemy and Duckworth’s Bistro’s cauliflower and sweet potato and ginger soups, amazing cupcakes by The Cape Ann Cake Co., beer from Cape Ann Brewing Company, Alfalfa Farms & Still River Winery wines, wonderful bread by A&J King Artisan Bakers, awesome feta cheese by Valley View Farm and service with a smile provided by Latitude 43, we saw the entertaining, thought provoking and kind of scary film Fresh.  I’ve seen other similar sustainable food films, and they always remind me of how sick our country has become, and why – we are what we eat, and in the name of convenience, we are allowing ourselves to be force-fed highly processed, unnatural foods that are not what nature intended us to eat, and we are suffering the consequence.  However, we do have a choice, and buying fresh, nutritious, locally grown food at the Cape Ann Farmers Market is a good choice we can make for our families and ourselves.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com 

Dear Friends, Please join Good Morning Gloucester on April 23rd for a citywide Gloucester clean up and concert!

Celebrate and Be Celebrated this Earth Day! 

It has been a long winter and now that the snow has finally melted, it is time to give the City we love a good Spring Cleaning!  So here is your chance!!  We are asking folks to turn out for a citywide clean up on Saturday, April 23rd.   And after you are done cleaning, you are invited to an Earth Day Concert featuring Chelsea Berry and friends at the Cape Ann Brewery from 6 to 8 pm! 

Interested participants (all ages welcome!) should plan to meet at Stage Fort Park Visitors Center Saturday morning starting at 9 am until noon to pick up gloves and City provided yellow trash and clear recycling bags.  A limited number of pick sticks will be available so volunteers are encouraged to use their own tools if they want.  The clean up will take place rain or shine.  The Clean City Initiative will be focusing on Stage Fort Park from 9 to noon, the One Hour at a Time Gang will be working downtown, but the clean up is citywide and participants are encouraged to choose a public area in Gloucester they would like to see cleaned up.  We are also asking different groups to reach out to their members and pick a problem area to clean that day.  We will also have a list of suggested sites on hand, if folks need ideas. 

The Concert!!

Berry Green Earth Day Concert April 23rd from 6 – 8 at The Brewery 

Chelsea (Berry) will be doing an Earth Day Concert at The Brewery (from 6 to 8 pm) that night along with Pete Lindberg and Jake Pardee.  Anyone can go, not just volunteers, but it is hoped that volunteers go and be celebrated for their work.  All ages are welcome!   

 To sign up or for questions about the event, contact:  Sharon Byrne Kishida at skishida@beverlyma.gov or 978 605 2409 / 978 317 9701.

Thanks to the City of Gloucester for providing the trash bags and trash collection, Hiltz Waste Disposal, the Gloucester Clean City Initiative, the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, the One Hour at a Time Gang and to the MassDEP for their help in coordination of the event.

That the last plank to be affixed to a boat is called the rum (or whiskey) plank because of the spirits traditionally imbided after its completion?  In the old days, this was the time the crew would finally get their first pay and a celebration would often ensue.  These are some shots of the ARDELLE and rum plank being prepared.  The first shot is of the ARDELLE awaiting shuttering (the final planking).  The second photo is of the inside starboard section of the whiskey plank.  The third photo is of the Steam Jenny where planks go to be steamed and made pliable enough to be bent and twisted into place before being affixed to the boat.  The fourth photo is of the schooner MAINE, whose masts and other useable parts will be recommissioned for use on the ARDELLE.  Next we see Steve Willard, volunteer helper on the ARDELLE, who is also working on the Schooner ADVENTURE in Gloucester, and is a member of the Three Sheets to the Wind sea chantey group that do a chantey night at Brew Pub on Tuesday nights (got to do that, I love sea chanties – Marit, you want to go with?).  Finally the sails being made by apprentice sailmaker, Chuck Redman (not pictured), for the ARDELLE, as well as replacement sails for schooner FAME.

Harold Burnham, not pictured, is the 11^th generation Burnham to operate a shipyard in Essex since 1819.  I’d say shipbuilding is hardwired into his DNA.  The Pinky ARDELLE, scheduled to be launched this summer, (something I definitely want to experience) will be the sixth full-scale historic representation and the third Coast Guard-inspected passenger vessel he has built including the pinky schooner FAME of Salem, owned and chartered by Michael Rutstien. Pinky Schooners were a common type of fishing vessel that sailed out of Cape Ann harbors from the early eighteenth century through the early twentieth century. In 1839, there were 64 registered out of the Gloucester district. Pinkies were generally smaller vessels but were known for their seaworthiness. 

The ARDELLE will operate out of the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center, where she will serve as the centers’ research and educational vessel as well as taking passengers out during the season. The ARDELLE will be certified by the Coast Guard to carry 49 passengers and it is anticipated that she will run several two-hour public trips a day and be available for charter for weddings, birthdays, family events or other special occasions.

The ARDELLE is named after Harold’s grandmother Ardelle and his daughter, Perry Ardelle. As far as her design goes, the ARDELLE is a typical clipper pinky schooner and her lines are based largely on the original Pinky MAINE built by Ebeniser Burnham in Essex in 1845.

To keep up with the progress of Schooner ARDELLE, visit http://boatbuildingwithburnham.blogspot.com/.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

That the Black Brant, or Pacific Brent Goose is a small sea goose, about the size of a Mallard duck, that stages one of the most spectacular migrations of all waterfowl. Over 140,000 Pacific black brant migrate along the pacific flyway each year. In the fall virtually all Pacific Coast birds gather at Izembek Lagoon on the Alaska Peninsula to prepare for their journey south. Ninety-five per cent of the brant diet is composed of eelgrass, which this flock was reaching underwater for, grabbing and flipping around in the air and then eating.  I don’t recall seeing them before, but they are very attractive and shy.  As soon as they noticed me photographing them, they booked it.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

That Cricket Press was named after the Creekites, what the early inhabitants of Jeffries (or Jeffreys) Creek were called, before it incorporated in 1645 and became Manchester, and then Manchester-by-the-Sea in 1990?

Established as a family owned business more than 87 years ago, The Cricket Press, Inc., remains steadfast to the ideals on which the company was originally founded in 1921. They strive to insure that each product that leaves their building is held to the highest quality standards, led by a seriously experienced and professional print team and backed by dependable customer service. These basic business ideals have weathered the test of time and technology and are as true today as they were 87 years ago.  The business has grown from a small printing company, whose main job was to output the town’s newspaper, The Manchester Cricket (which by the way only prints good news), to one of the region’s most respected commercial printing companies. Harry E. Slade, Sr., The Cricket’s original owner and president, would not recognize his print shop as it is today, but he would be proud that his forebears continue to operate it with care, innovation and reliability.

I can personally attest to their professionalism, highest quality standards, patience, good humor and willingness to work with a customer to make a job happen.  I originally had planned to print Did You Know? with a company in NC, mainly due to cost considerations.  After running into Barry at the Chamber’s Home and Business Expo, just before I was preparing to send the files off to NC, we decided to see if we couldn’t work something out to have Cricket do the printing.  I have to thank David Slade and Barry Pollock for making it work that this project could be all Cape Ann from start to finish.  Some of you might say that Manchester is not officially part of Cape Ann; however Barry Pollock is from and very involved in Gloucester, and David Slade, although he lives and has his business in Manchester, is so connected to Gloucester through the Rotary, Interact Club, his wife and other endeavors, to make them totally Cape Ann in my mind.  I also wanted to mention Jim Graham Clyde from Sales, who popped into the video in the pressroom and put his arm around Barry – Jim is an exceptional painter, and he looks really dashing in a kilt!  

This short video was taken to capture the birth of Did You Know? as it started coming off the press.  If you’ve never been inside and watched the running of a large press, it is very interesting; and GMG was heavily represented.

I won’t have the books in hand until Tuesday, but it was very exciting yesterday to have my first Did You Know? book sale from my website to GMG reader and Cape Ann lover, Bruce from Ontario, Canada.

E.J. Lefavour

http://www.khanstudiointernational.com/did%20you%20know%20book.htm

That the Cape Ann Museum has been in operation for well over a century, and collecting objects tied to Cape Ann’s past since the early 1920’s? 

Cape Ann Museum holds the preeminent collection of paintings and drawings by the American maritime artist, Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865).  This gives the organization a status that few other museums its size can claim.  The Cape Ann Museum’s collections represent the history of Cape Ann, its people, its industries, and especially its art and culture. Permanent exhibits include visual artists and sculptors of the 19th and 20th century, the Folly Cove Designers, maritime trade and the fishing industry, and Cape Ann’s granite industry.  The maritime and fisheries gallery provides a permanent home for the Great Republic, the 25 foot long sloop that famed Gloucester fisherman, Howard Blackburn single-handedly sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901, as well as the original carved wooden statue of Our Lady of Good Voyage.  I personally really enjoy the maritime and fisheries gallery.

The Cape Ann Museum is a great asset to Cape Ann, and a tremendous community resource.  On the first floor is a multi-purpose room that currently serves as the hub of the Museum’s educational programming and as a space for showcasing works by young artists from throughout the community.  They offer wonderful performances in the Folly Cove Auditorium, a couple of which I attended and enjoyed immensely; the Revels Repertory Company’s performance of A Celebration of the Sea was really great and had the packed house audience clapping, tapping their feet and singing along.  On Fridays during August, they offer live music in the courtyard from 4:00 to 5:00, ranging from folk to classical, with tea and coffee donated by The Tea Company and cookies donated by Lark Fine Foods.  The Cape Ann Museum maintains close ties with the children in Cape Ann’s public schools, who are welcome to visit at any time without charge. Planned tours and school education programs, tailored to the interests and grade levels of the students, are also free.  The Museum is also writing an arts based curriculum for Gloucester High School, which they hope to replicate for other schools.  The Museum offers a number of family and children’s programs, which you can check out at http://www.capeannhistoricalmuseum.org/education/children_sched.htm.

If you’ve never been to the Cape Ann Museum, you owe it to yourself to plan a visit soon.  Guided tours of the Museum collections and the Captain Elias Davis House (1804) are offered Friday and Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and on Sunday at 2:00 p.m.  These tours are included with the price of admission to the Museum ($8, $6 for Cape Ann residents, seniors and students) and are a great way to explore the museum on a first visit, as you come away having learned so much more from the very knowledgeable docents, than you would on your own.  If you have been before, maybe its time to go see what’s new.  Visit http://www.capeannmuseum.org/special/exhibits.htm for a list of upcoming exhibits and programs.  The Cape Ann Museum is located at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester, and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 5:00, and Sunday from 1:00 to 4:00; closed on Monday.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

That You can show your support for the Cape Ann Farmers Market by turning out for their Dinner & Movie Fundraiser at Cape Ann Community Cinema, April 10^th from 4:00 – 7:00 pm?  Details on flyer above, or visit http://www.capeannfarmersmarket.org/.

The Cape Ann Farmers Market Promotes local agriculture and small-scale production, helps boost the Cape Ann economy, and forges community ties to propel Cape Ann into a more sustainable future.

The Cape Ann Farmers’ Market provides consumers with fresh, nutrient rich food produced with environmentally benign methods and delivered with a smaller carbon footprint. Buying from local producers keeps food dollars in the local economy. Cape Ann Farmers’ Market includes music, work by local artists, educational booths, children’s activities, and cooking demonstrations that create a festive community-building atmosphere. The Cape Ann Farmers’ Market is a huge success, attracting at least 1,200 visitors per market.  They reach out to provide fresh, nutritious food for the entire community, regardless of income. Through The Food Project, they accept Women, Infants and Children (WIC) coupons, Seniors’ Farmers Market Nutrition Coupons, and Food Stamps.

Look for Cape Ann Farmers Market at their new Location at Stage Fort Park, Thursdays 3:00-6:30 starting June 30^th.  Farmers Markets cannot subsist on vendor fees alone.  To help offset the overhead costs and continue growing their community outreach programs, Cape Ann Farmers Market needs your support.

That seals rest on the shore?  It is a normal thing for them to do, and there is generally nothing wrong with them.  You should not disturb them, try to get them back into the water, or splash water on them.  (How would you feel is someone did that to you while you were trying to take a nap.) 

This seal was resting on Little Lighthouse Beach, although he did get disturbed on a few occasions because he was right in the path where people normally walk to go to the Lighthouse, and he kind of blended into the background.  He growled at one young girl who never saw him and nearly stepped on him.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

That the Gloucester High School Interact Club will be holding it’s fourth annual Pizza Taste-Off, on Wednesday, April 6^th? The event will be held at the Cruiseport, Gloucester, from 5:30-7:30 PM.

Tickets are only $8.00 for adults and $4.00 for children, five and under. Tickets are limited to 300 and will be available at the door. All proceeds from the Pizza Taste-Off will be donated to Relay for Life.

Interact is Rotary International’s service club for young people ages 12 to 18. Interact clubs are sponsored by individual Rotary clubs, which provide support and guidance, but they are self-governing and self-supporting.  Club membership varies greatly. Clubs can be single gender or mixed, large or small. They can draw from the student body of a single school or from two or more schools in the same community.

Each year, Interact clubs complete at least two community service projects, one of which furthers international understanding and goodwill. Through these efforts, Interactors develop a network of friendships with local and overseas clubs and learn the importance of

• Developing leadership skills and personal integrity
• Demonstrating helpfulness and respect for others
• Understanding the value of individual responsibility and hard work
• Advancing international understanding and goodwill

As one of the most significant and fastest-growing programs of Rotary service, with more than 10,700 clubs in 109 countries and geographical areas, Interact has become a worldwide phenomenon. Almost 200,000 young people are involved in Interact. Benefits of membership in an Interact club include the opportunity to network with other members both locally and internationally. Members also have opportunities to develop leadership skills, understand the importance of responsibility and promote international awareness. Other benefits include learning the importance of serving others, showing respect and developing personal integrity.

Gloucester High School’s Interact Club is a community service based organization under Rotary International. Through service, students help to better their community, as well as develop skills to be active members of the community.  I just learned that David Slade of Cricket Press is the Gloucester Rotary Interact Advisor for Gloucester High School’s Interact Club, and he wanted everyone to know about the Pizza Taste-Off, so come out, have some pizza, and support Gloucester High School Interact Club’s community service project to help Relay for Life.

E.J.  Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

That some people just won’t let winter go?  Liz and Morgan Crane of Annisquam had to really hunt for enough snow to build their last snowman (hopefully) of the season, while behind me, as I shot them and their ET looking snow creature, spring was in full bloom.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

Tom O’Keefe of Annisquam Village Realty and the Annisquam Historical Society and Frieda Grotjahn of Again and Again love and Big Up Good Morning Gloucester.  I think someone should design a sail with the GMG logo on it, so Frieda can make a GMG sail bag from it.

E.J. Lefavour

www.khanstudiointernational.com

That Aunt Seddie, on the other side, must really be enjoying the delivery of her long lost 1945 FDR Grimsland cover almost 66 years after it was mailed, probably more than if it had arrived  while she was still alive?  I received this letter from Jim O’Donnell, nephew of Mrs. S.E. Lawrence (Aunt Seddie):

Being a nephew of Sarah E. Lawrence, I just wanted to add some additional insight to the “Mail Must Go Through” topic. 

I believe my Aunt Sed would have thoroughly enjoyed all this interest in the letter and the attention it has received. Because she had a great sense of humor, I think she would have been quite amused with the reference to a “Secret Lover”. Contrary to the initial speculation, she was, however, a devoted spouse that wore her wedding ring until the day she passed which was more than 30 years after her husband’s death. Although all other family members wanted her wedding ring for various reasons, my brother, Bob, and I insisted that it remain on her finger forever as her marriage was very important to her. 

My cousin Sylvia mentions Aunt Sed bringing crafts to the Senior Center. Several family members found this to be lovingly paradoxical as she was much older than many of the seniors for which she was providing crafts. She would always say ” I am going to the Senior Center to help the elderly”, when she, in fact, was the “elderly”. Chronologically, she was older, but mentally she was “sharp as a tack”.

 Several other humorous instances give evidence of her highly independent “spirit”. In her early 90’s she tried to apply for a 10 year mortgage with a local bank to do some repairs on her house. Needless to say, the Commercial Loan Officer could not justify a 10 year mortgage to someone in their early 90’s. In another instance, she was having some repairs done to the roof of her house and while the repairs where underway, she climbed the ladder up to the roof to ensure things were being done “right” and to provide some “instruction”. This was when she was in her 80’s.

 As has been mentioned, she was an avid stamp collector. In fact, she collected and saved everything because “someone might need it someday”. Several times each summer, I would take the early morning drive from NH to Gloucester to help her with a yard sale. She valued every item, and every item had a story to go with it. Because of this, every item for the yard sale was overpriced, non-negotiable, and typically most items were brought back into the house for a sale on another day. Especially any items related to Gloucester or anything else deemed “old”.

 In the latter years of her life, she did not have a lot of money. Yet, she remained generous as she consistently sent $1 or $2 each month to 8 – 10 different charities such as the SPCA.  She also gave my son, Kevin, a number of First Day Covers from her stamp collection when he first started collecting. Although Kevin is not currently an active collector, he hopes to someday pass these on to his two sons as one of the family treasures.

She particularly loved Annisquam, Gloucester, and the history of the area as she had lived in Gloucester all her life. Her uncle’s (John B. Foster) paintings of Gloucester in the early 1900’s were also treasured by her. Although it hasn’t yet been discussed with other family members and because the envelope most likely belongs to Aunt Sed’s estate, my brother, Bob, and I, and our spouses, think it would be most fitting for the envelope to be donated to the Annisquam Historical Society where it was first delivered. Because of Sed’s love for the area, we personally believe she would be content with such a decision.

 Jim O’D

That in the early 1850’s, Mr. Beniah Colburn at one time operated the quarry at Hodgkin’s Cove, originally opened by Richard W. Ricker and Kilby P. Sargent, and later known as the quarry of the Cape Ann Granite Company?  Mr. Colburn made the first blocks now known as New York blocks, and sent them to Boston, where they were laid in Exchange Street, near the Merchants’ Bank Building.  These blocks were the first to be laid on the edge instead of on the flat. (History of Essex County, Massachusetts, volume 2, part 1 by Duane Hamilton Hurd, J.W. Lewis & Co. 1888)

Now, thanks to a partnership between the state Division of Marine Fisheries and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, the old research station at Hodgkins Cove in Bay View — once the site of the loading dock for shipping Gloucester granite, and more recently a UMass seafood research laboratory — is about to become the new, permanent home of a small but globally influential research laboratory dedicated to the study of bluefin tuna and other long-distance marine travelers.

These photos are of the old research station, and an old fishing shack at the end to the right of Hodgkins Cove.

E.J. Lefavour

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