My View of Life on the Dock
Back at the end of April, I posted about the demolition of the McDonald’s on Maplewood Ave., in preparation for a complete rebuilding. This is the photo I posted at the time.
I took another photo at the end of May. The old building is completely gone, and the new one is coming up:
That was quick! I hope they are back up and in business soon.
OK, not really, just an origami zebra.
This model is designed by John Montroll, to be folded from one square sheet of origami paper (as usual, no cutting or gluing). It is a great example of how to take advantage of the fact that most origami paper has two colors: usually white on one side, and a solid color or a pattern on the other side. Here, Montroll has done a great job of designing the model so that the black paper only shows up in little stripes. I folded and left one of these in the Art Parlour at The Annie; it may still be there, on a windowsill.
Last night, St. Ann School celebrated the graduation of it’s 8th grade class with a Mass and graduation ceremony, followed by an great dinner! Here are few of my photos. For a full slideshow, follow this link.
To see all the photos, click here:
Yesterday, I was caught off guard by the sound of a marching band. I ran to the window and saw something I’d never seen before: a procession with a marching band (that part I had seen before) with a series of couples and young women in elaborate gowns carrying crowns (that was new to me!). Naturally, I grabbed my camera and hurried to get photos. I inquired what the occasion was, and got a brief explanation. In essence, it’s a tradition of our Portuguese-speaking community (from Portugal and the Azores, not Brazil), related to Pentecost, celebrated by the parish of Our Lady of Good Voyage. I found a more detailed explanation here in an old article of the Gloucester daily Times. [Update: a fellow GMG blogger gave a great explanation just before I posted this!] So, here are some photos, for those who, like me, have never seen it before!
On Thursday, May 31, St. Ann School had it’s “Celebration of Art”, which included both a show of visual artwork produced by the students (which I covered yesterday) and a concert in which all the students participated. Here are some photos and video!
Some excerpts:
Some students waiting for their turn…
Several students also read essays they had written about what the American flag means to them.
The patriotic grand finale:
For all my photos of the event, in a slideshow, click here!
-Fr. Matthew Green
Don’t let the nasty weather stop you from getting some! 9AM-2PM today, in the hall under St. Ann’s Church of Holy Family Parish, located on Pleasant Street, just north of Prospect Street. There are lots of good things just waiting for you! Here are some photos to tantalize all fans of gardening and of home-made pastries and preserves… and of home-made strawberry shortcake! Available while supplies last!
I bought some “Olivi Scacciate”, some sort of eggplant preserves, and a crushed black olive spread… I’ll go back for some strawberry shortcake at lunch!
Fundraiser organized by the Women’s Guild of Holy Family Parish.
The Women’s Guild of Holy Family parish is holding a fundraising Plant Sale/Strawberry Festival on Saturday, June 2, from 9am-2pm. The plants include all types: flowers, herbs, veggies, etc., either singly or in planters. There will also be a General Store selling preserves, pies, cookies & goodies (including some luscious-sounding Italian specialties), as well as strawberry shortcake. Specially made greeting cards with beautiful photos of Gloucester will also be on sale
The event will be held on the Rectory lawn at 60 Prospect Street in Gloucester (or in the Hall next door under St. Ann’s Church if it rains).
Some photos of the plants being prepared:
On Wednesday, St. Ann’s School had it’s Celebration of the Arts – much like what the public schools had a couple of weeks ago, but just for one school. It included a student concert and an art show. Here are a few photos of the art – I want to make a video with some clips from the concert too, but that won’t be ready on time for today’s post…
An overview of the gym, where much of the art was on display:
The 8th graders made some creative self portraits:
The show as also about creating art on the spot. Here, students make trading cards to swap with each other.
Click below for a complete slideshow
-Fr. Matthew Green
St. Ann School Celebration of the Arts, today starting at 12:45PM!
The other day I (almost literally) stumbled across this bit of mosaic half-hidden under the asphalt on a road in Gloucester. It is the last thing I expected – it looks like a little piece of Pompeii or some other ancient Italian city came over with the immigrants and decided to take up residence. Not many American cities have mosaic on (or under) the streets. I wonder if there is more mosaic hiding under the asphalt? And I wonder if this is common knowledge, or if it is something that most Gloucester residents never noticed?
Do you know where it is?
I took this photo a couple of years ago, and I think this truck is still in the same place… (license plate digitally altered to respect the privacy of the owner).
Thanks to all the men and women who have given their lives to serve their country! God bless them and their families.
I walked around the Fort on a misty, cloudy day. It was not conventionally beautiful weather, but it had a lot of ambience, which I tried to capture somewhat in this photo.
Tally’s seems to be the main (or only) tow truck business in town. I don’t know much about them, except that they have really cool trucks. Here is one. I like the custom paint job on the side!
Heres a closeup.
I haven’t seen this yet myself, of course, but I’ve been around the Annie while the troupe was there, and they sure seem to be having fun with the production! Very often that translates in to the audience having fun too… I hope to make it to one of the shows.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the people putting up this scaffolding have to be of a special breed to be able to work at those heights. Like in the photo in the slideshow where there’s a guy holding a wooden beam, laying his own floor to walk on, with no netting around him yet… My respects! Be careful, be safe, and may God watch over you!
-Fr. Matthew Green
You may have seen some of Alice Garder’s work at the Annie last December…
…or at other venues. She also organizes the monthly painter/photographer meeting downtown. The other day I met her just outside her studio, right next to the Cape Ann Museum, and she invited me in to see her work space! Here are a few photos.
This is a shot I took with my camera’s built-in panorama option, so there are some jagged lines, but I liked the overview it gives of the space.
Among her specialties are house portraits, as you can see here:
Thank you for the tour, Alice!
Paul beat me to the punch, but here are more photos of the event. I didn’t know about it beforehand, but I decided to go for a walk with my camera, and there it was!
For starters, here is a slideshow of the demonstration of a self-inflating raft.
The event included other “safety and health” tables from local organizations.
For a complete slideshow, click here:
A few of those images close up:
I am often in Rockport to preside at one the morning Masses on Sunday. When I have the earlier (8:30AM) Mass, I like to go down afterwards to Bearskin Neck for a walk and for breakfast. I’ve tried a couple of places, and one of my favorites is Helmut’s Strudel, down towards the end of Bearskin Neck, on the right.
Service with a smile:
They have a selection of wonderful-looking pastries. My goal is to try one of each eventually…
They also have a patio with a nice view, where you can sip your coffee and munch on your strudel.
-Fr. Matthew Green
Good Morning Gloucester 