Author: gregbover

Adventure members and friends are welcome to come and enjoy the Gloucester fireworks display from a front row seat aboard the Schooner Adventure.

The celebration starts after the Gloucester Horribles Parade. Mingle with members and friends as we view the Gloucester Fireworks from the harbor with Captain Stefan Edick at the helm. Guests are encouraged to bring your own picnic, pizza, and BYOB. 

The ship will depart the dock at 8:15 PM. Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the departure time.  Cost: $30 

Visit http://schooner-adventure.org/event/fireworks-sail-for-adventure-members/ to register, or please call the office at 978-281-8079 or email info@schooner-adventure.org

Tonight aboard the Schooner Adventure at Webster Pier, Maritime Gloucester, 3rian King and Nathan Cohen perform a concert to benefit Gloucester’s landmark vessel. If you know their work you won’t want to miss it. If you haven’t heard them, you are in for a treat as these two outstanding local musicians weave their particular magic. Seven o’clock, $20, $15 for members. It will be a beautiful evening. Go.

The Little River Little Free Library was the winner at the most recent Awesome Gloucester Pitch Night, receiving $1000 from the local micro grant foundation to build install and maintain a Little Free Library at Stubby Knowles Landing on Essex Avenue. This free lending library is part of a national movement and joins other LFL’s in Essex and Bay View as a community resource. Watch for more around the city. 

Each month the Gloucester chapter of the Awesome Foundation solicits proposals from the community and chooses the top three to attend a public Pitch Night on the evening of the third Monday. Submitters make their case before the 20 local trustees who have each donated $50 toward the monthly award. The top vote getters walk away with $1000 in cash. Proposals to make Gloucester more awesome can be made at Awesome Gloucester.

“You don’t have to believe everything you think.”

Chris Hardwick (1971-      )

A native of Louisville Kentucky, Hardwick is an actor, host, podcaster and comedian. A philosophy major at UCLA, he roomed with Wil Wheaton (Star Trek TNG) and got his start in films with Rob Zombie in House of 1000 Corpses. More recently he has been hosting companion talk shows to AMC hits like Breaking Bad and Walking Dead. Hardwick is also Chief Creative Officer for Nerdist Industries, lately acquired by Legendary Entertainment, which produces the celebrated podcast The Nerdist, and published his book, The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (in real life.) A self-described sober alcoholic, Hardwick is engaged to actress and heiress Lydia Hearst.

If you have ever seen the Schooner Adventure out in the harbor and wished you were aboard, now is your chance. I serve as volunteer crew and I can tell you there is nothing like the feeling when the wind fills the sails and she surges ahead. Sailing aboard Gloucester’s fully restored 122-foot National Landmark is an experience you won’t forget. Every Wednesday Adventure goes out from 4 to 7 with a deck load of her members. You can join for as little as $10 a month (seniors, veterans and students even less). With membership comes two tickets, and any others you’d care to buy are half price. All the details are on the website as well as a list of all the other opportunities to sail this season, or call the office at 978 281 8079.

Tomorrow looks like a good day to sail. Join us at Webster Pier, Maritime Gloucester on Harbor Loop.

The Gloucester Writers Center’s live story telling program Fish Tales is looking for storytellers for the upcoming show on Friday, July 8^th, 7:30 PM at the Rocky Neck Cultural Center.

The theme is Play Ball! Stories about baseball and related topics, but other ideas will be considered. Please get in touch with Maureen Aylward (maureenaylward@comcast.net) if you have a story to tell. Don’t delay, only a few spots left in the line up.

Fish Tales Storyteller Guidelines

• Stories should be true and from the personal experience of the storyteller.
• Stories must be stories, not personal narratives about a subject/theme.
• Stories are most effective if told without reading a script. If this seems difficult, make an outline and tell the story to the mirror a few times, then try it without the outline. Experience tells us that a story that is told and not read has greater lasting power.
• Stories must be five minutes. Keep an eye on the time keeper who will signal when you are approaching the end of your time. In some venues we only have 1 hour for the show so your help is appreciated in keeping to the 5 minute limit.
• Storytellers who are far over the 5 minute timeline will not be included in the final cut of our film that appears on Cape Ann TV and posted on the GWC website.
• Arrive at the venue ten minutes before the start time to find out where you are in the line-up and to get comfortable.
• See also http://themoth.org/tell-a-story/storytelling-tips
• To see a sample show: http://gloucesterwriters.org/fish-tales-rockn-roll/

“Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian.”

Shari Barr (no dates available) See www.Sharibarr.com A self-described country girl from southern Iowa, Barr is a mother and wife who writes children’s literature from a Christian perspective. Her books include those of the Camp Club Girls series.

“A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.”

Muhammad Ali (1942- 2016)

Born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Kentucky, Ali won the Olympic gold medal for light heavyweight boxing in 1960. He worked his way up to a title fight by 1964 and was the youngest challenger to take a title from a champ (Sonny Liston). A follower of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, Ali was arrested and stripped of his title in 1967 for his refusal, as a conscientious objector, to be drafted during the Vietnam War. His conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court four years later. He went on to take the title twice more from Joe Frazier and George Foreman. He retired from the ring in 1981 and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1984, likely caused by repeated head trauma. Since then he has traveled extensively as a UN ambassador of peace and was active in promoting education and the defense of the Bill of Rights. George Bush awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008.

“The statistics on sanity are that one American in four suffers from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they are okay, it’s you.”

Rita Mae Brown  (1944-     )

After obtaining degrees in cinematography, classics and English, Brown went on to doctorates in literature and political science. She began her writing career as a poet and screenwriter but gained much notoriety for her first novel Rubyfruit Jungle in 1973, which dealt with lesbian themes in an unusually frank manner for the time. Since the sixties she has been active in the fight for racial and gender equality, and was an administrator in the National Organization for Women for several years. She continues to write in the mystery genre, rides to the hounds, and plays polo.

Sophia Zerelli hands Shep Abbot $1,000 in cash as Rona Tyndall, MC, looks on. (Bing McGilvray photo)

Last evening at the Gloucester House the local chapter of the worldwide Awesome Foundation held its monthly Pitch Night and after hearing three terrific proposals chose Shep Abbot’s Gloucester Speaks documentary project as the winner of a $1,000 grant. Shep is interviewing a wide range of Gloucester folks to capture their views at this pivotal time of change and renewal in the city.

Awesome Gloucester solicits proposals from the entire community and chooses the top ideas to attend a public Pitch Night on the evening of the third Monday of each month. Submitters make their case before the 20 local trustees who have each donated $50 toward the monthly award. The top vote getters walk away with $1000 in cash, no strings attached. Proposals to make Gloucester more awesome can be made at Awesome Gloucester.

Last Friday evening at the Rocky Neck Cultural Center the most recent episode of Fish Tales, a live story-telling event from the Gloucester Writers Center, was presented to a full house of listeners. Each story, lasting about five minutes, was a true story from the lives of the women pictured above. Although I have been attending these events that occur every month or so for more than three years, I don’t think there has ever been a more powerful line-up than these women represented. From left to right: Virginia McKinnon (Storyteller in Residence), Grace Schrafft, Natalie Simon, Kim Lord, Maureen Aylward (Show-runner and MC), Karen Ristuben, Kathy Lordan, Barbara Boudreau. Audio of this show is available at the GWC website. http://gloucesterwriters.org/archives/. Give a listen, you’ll be glad you did.

And stay tuned for the next Fish Tales, Friday,  July 8, on the theme Play Ball!

Each year the Gloucester Rotary Club and the Gloucester High School Interact Club give awards to two people from the community who typify Rotary’s motto: “Service Above Self.” Maggie Rosa and Roger Armstrong were this year’s recipients of the Paul Harris Awards, named for the man who founded Rotary International in 1905. Among their many accomplishments and tireless work for the betterment of Gloucester, Maggie is known for her work at the Gloucester Education Foundation and for the restoration of City Hall, and Roger for his efforts to design and build the World War II Veteran’s Memorial at Kent Circle as well as his longtime support of and work for the Sawyer Free Library.

Do you like stories told from the heart? Do you listen to NPR’s Moth Radio Hour? Well, you owe it to yourself to go to the Rocky Neck Cultural Center on Friday evening for this presentation of Fish Tales from the Gloucester Writers Center. These will be true stories told by people you know. It doesn’t get much more real than this.

If you missed the last one, Tattoo Show and Tell, here’s a link to the video from Henry Ferrini.

“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”

Wayne Gretzky (1961-     )

A native of Brantford, Ontario, Gretzky, nicknamed “The Great One,” is commonly held to be the best hockey player who ever lived. Relatively small of stature, his intelligence and ability to see plays developing enabled him to lead the league in points scored and assists for many of the twenty seasons he played with four different teams. His style and leadership, often compared to the way Larry Bird played basketball, involved all his teammates on the ice in a coordinated effort to distract opposing players, leaving one person in open ice. Gretzky, now an American citizen, still holds 60 NHL records, is married to actress Janet Jones and has four children.

Greg Bover

Gloucester Writers Center Fish Tales is looking for storytellers for the upcoming show on Friday, May 13^th, 7:30 PM at the Rocky Neck Cultural Center.

This is an All Women Line Up. The only requirement is that you have to be female.

Fish Tales Storyteller Guidelines

• Stories should be true and from the personal experience of the storyteller.
• Stories must be stories, not personal narratives about a subject/theme.
• Stories are most effective if told without reading a script. If this seems difficult, make an outline and tell the story to the mirror a few times, then try it without the outline. Experience tells us that a story that is told and not read has greater lasting power.
• Stories must be five minutes. Keep an eye on the time keeper who will signal when you are approaching the end of your time. In some venues we only have 1 hour for the show so your help is appreciated in keeping to the 5 minute limit.
• Storytellers who are far over the 5 minute timeline will not be included in the final cut of our film that appears on Cape Ann TV and posted on the GWC website.
• Arrive at the venue ten minutes before the start time to find out where you are in the line-up and to get comfortable.
• See also http://themoth.org/tell-a-story/storytelling-tips
• To see a sample show: http://gloucesterwriters.org/fish-tales-rockn-roll/

Please get in touch with Maureen Aylward (maureenaylward@comcast.net) if you have a story to tell.

“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.”

Frank Zappa (1940-1993)

A native of Baltimore whose father worked for the military, Zappa recorded more than 60 albums as a soloist and as the founder and leader of The Mothers of Invention. Often miscast as a novelty musician, he wrote complex, difficult to perform classical, jazz, rock, fusion and other music that cannot be contained in any genre. His iconoclastic approach to life often put him at odds with the established order and organized religion, but he was an ardent supporter of free speech and auto-didacticism. Cited as an influence by such diverse musicians as Pierre Boulez, Paul McCartney and George Clinton, Zappa was a multiple Grammy Award winner and was invited to the newly independent Czechoslovakia by Vaclav Havel to advise on cultural matters.

At the time of his death it was rumored he was contemplating a move to Montana to raise dental floss.

In a recent maritime disaster two freighters collided and sank while headed for the Benjamin Moore paint factory. One was loaded with red pigment, the other with blue pigment. Both crews were marooned.

“There is no failure except in no longer trying, no really insurmountable barrier except our own inherent weakness of purpose.”

Frank McKinney (Kin) Hubbard (1868-1930)

Midwestern humorist, cartoonist, and writer known best for his political commentary, Hubbard was a high school dropout who said his goal in life was to own a circus. He worked briefly as a silhouette artist and attended art school for a short time before beginning cartoon work for the Indianapolis News. For 25 years he drew the acclaimed cartoon “Abe Martin of Brown County” which went into syndication and made him nationally known. Will Rogers cited Hubbard as an influence and called him the greatest humorist of his time. My favorite Kin Hubbard quote which appeared here in an earlier post: “There are two ways to handle a woman, and nobody knows either of them.”

Greg Bover