Author: Pat D

Teams KAOS and The Merger won 2 spots in tomorrow’s final seine boat race for the Men’s title setting up a repeat of last year’s race with ZFG. Quickly posting to meet tonight’s deadline. More photos tomorrow.

Soupy, thick fog did not deter the Gloucester Police and Gloucester Fire teams from participating in their seine race for bragging rights today (Saturday). Under a light drizzle and under the watchful eye of their counterparts and racing officials, the race was off right on time. The GPD prevailed today and the Fire Department represented well.

Gloucester’s future looks very bright when I take note of the number of participants in these junior level events during Fiesta. How gratifying it is for me who grew up in the midst of Title 9 JUST being adopted, so thank you all so very much for your hard work and efforts. It’s truly inspiring. Here’s some additional photos from last night’s race for the juniors:

It was a show of strength and determination from all 3 Womens teams in the final race Friday night. Defending Champion Backlash, Cape Ann PowOAR, and Rowgue showed us all what a great race looks like. The Rowgue team won the race in the Pinta with members Alexandra Rose, Jenny Davis, Yvette Luyten, Alassandra Russo, Melanie Catanzaro, Karen Conant, Whitney Buckley, Emily Silva, Jaimie Macdonald, Kristina Ribero, Monica Banks (last add due to injury), scuttler Mike Harmon and cos Kristen Burnham. Here’s a view of the event though they don’t do justice to the level of effort and excitement.

If there were to be a theme on Friday’s Greasy Pole Competition, I would have to say it might be “So Close and Yet So Far”. There were a number of near flag grabs last night but Colin Sweet brought the flag to the shore in the second competitive round. Nick Taormina pulled the flag loose but it did come off the pole and it was a stupendous competition by all participants! Here’s just a few from Friday night:

This one was a very tight race to the finish and I will post more photos tomorrow, but for tonight, congratulations Lady Lukes!!!

Rowgue won the battle of the Womens Seine Boat Race Finalists! Well done team! More photos and details to come tomorrow morning.

Congratulations to Colin Sweet on winning the 2023 Friday Greasy Pole Competition in the second competitive round! After several near misses, Colin takes home the flag. Props as well to Nick Taormina who caught the flag but the flag did not come loose enough from the pole! Very exciting competition on a beautiful night. I am rushing this to post prior to deadline and more photos and story details will follow tomorrow morning.

Some non-Fiesta related trivia to share from Twitter today:

A great event from start to finish! The Cape Ann YMCA St. Peter’s Fiesta 5K was held yesterday on a gorgeous day for a run. Congratulations to all the participants. A large crowd lined the route to encourage runners of all ages and ability levels. Well done all! Special thanks to the organizers. Thanks to Joey and Jim for the video assistance.

And behind the scenes

We thought you’d like some behind-the-scenes Fiesta Mudiga Steak prep straight out of Mom’s Kitchen on Commercial St as narrated by Eleanor and Dave. Opening today and tomorrow (Thurs and Fri ) at 4 PM and opening noon Sat and Sunday of Fiesta weekend. Open till sold out! Get yourself down there. Don’t forget the coffee roll!!! Photo and video creds to GMG Jim.

A few photos for those of you from away that might be missing Fiesta. It is off to a great start!

Here’s some of the activity we observed in our backyard here in Magnolia. It’s a neverending tale of shenanigans and nature at work. I was especially interested in the nuzzling/licking behavior of the deer. I had not observed this before and found it fascinating although they seemed to accuse me of being a bit of a Peeping Tom.

Thanks to a tip from FOB Susan LaRosa, I was able to hustle down to the Fort in enough time to catch this spectacular show. Four of our schooners were together out on the water maneuvering around each other as if on the playground at recess: Adventure, Ardelle, Isabella and Thomas E. Lannon. What a wonderful sight! Looking forward to a great season ahead as well as the Rendezvous event at Maritime July 6-9!!

Sharing information about a parking update/restriction on Webster Street starting tomorrow Wed June 21 2023:

A bit of a photo dump of the seine boat race team practices yesterday afternoon taken from Susan and Leo’s boat (thanks guys!). Great work team members!

Many of you probably noticed the large yacht anchored in the harbor yesterday and some of you took note of the helicopter flights in the area as well. We were fortunate to spend time with our friends Susan and Leo on their docked boat and could observe the goings-on in the harbor in the late afternoon. This included the Ardelle returning from a sail with the helicopter as backdrop. The copter seemed to return to the yacht, land briefly and then take off again. The Ardelle, the lighthouse and the copter made for an interesting photo opportunity.

The Fiesta 2023 schedule is worth a repeat share along with the resting race boats. They are ready to rock…..are you?

Happy Father’s Day to all the father figures in our lives. My own Dad (Gloucester born and raised) has been gone for several years now but the story I tell here rings true of many dads throughout time. This (apparently male) Baltimore oriole was dedicated to feeding its offspring clinging to a stem not far from the home nest. I watched for about a half hour as the young bird cautiously worked its way up this stem then eagerly accepted the sustenance presented by the parent. I think the chick is fairly young as some of the feathers are still downy. This repeated several times as I watched in fascination. It brought to mind how hard parents work to provide for youngsters, though I suspect this youngster wasn’t quite where it was supposed to be! Some of you may related to the constant open mouthed offspring! Happy Father’s Day!

I have covered most of the Gloucester cemeteries in this Cemetery Stroll series so we will move on the local burying grounds including Old First Parish Burying Ground on Beach St in Rockport. According to Find A Grave, this is also known as Sandy Bay Cemetery. It’s on a rather steep hill directly facing the ocean. There are many many very old stones there, including several of my favorite slate markers. There’s a side area along the street that runs behind the cemetery (Mill Lane) with a few stones in it too which appear to be family markers. I am uncertain if these are part of this cemetery or not but they appear to be a separate plot. You see them here as well. This location draws curious tourists on a regular basis. Maybe I will see you there sometime!