Category: Gloucester Perspectives Interviews

What are your thoughts on The Block Parties last year?

I love the way the Gloucester Downtown is pulling together and making themselves interesting and relevant to the community. It is a real chance to get a sense of community and bond with the local businesses and your neighbors. I have made a decision in the last year to shop locally and keep my money in town rather than driving to a mall and giving it to a corporation. I would much rather support local businesses. I hope Gloucester Downtown continues to band together on the same grassroots level and organize more events for both the locals and the tourists. I had a blast at one of the block parties and went into stores and talked to people I normally would not have had a chance to get to know. I actually won a raffle at the Black Swan and now have one of thier beautiful purses. In days gone by, Gloucester Downtown was a real meeting place. Everyone congregated in front of the waiting station which is where Passports, Sugar Magnolias, The Franklin, and
Deborah Coull Salon is now. We had Connors drug store with thier soda fountain, Nick’s Pool Room (not that any girls ever went in there), Sam Ann’s which was a coffee shop after school hangout for the High school kids. Everyone waited for late buses there to get home and it was a social network. In the 1960’s there were actual cliques of kids. Two of them were The West End Kids and The East Gloucester Kids AKA The Clique. Sometimes there would even be rumbles between the boys in the halls at school or at house parties. It seems kind of silly now, but it was a big deal back then. Grays Hardware Store was across the Street and Dr Wonson the dentist was upstairs. You could walk up the hill to Sterlings Drug Store or Woolworth’s and then there was Brown’s Department Store, Goldman’s and The Empire. All of these sold the sweater sets we yearned for which we wore with little peter pan colored blouses and circle pins. We bought our shoes and purses at Mark
Adrians (was known as something else but I can’t remember).  We took dance Lessons from Ina Hahn upstairs from the waiting station. So for me, Downtown Gloucester was a place where I came of age and learned about the world. Now that I work for The Gloucester Times, my territory is downtown Gloucester and it is very interesting to me to meet and know everyone there now. Some of the names and faces are the same but most are new.

What is your favorite Local band.

I have been a fan of Fly Amero since High School when he was the only musician we knew who could play the whole of the song by Arlo Gutherie, Alices Restaurant, all the way through (which took about 45 minutes). For some reason I was very impressed by this. I also knew his older brother JB when he played in a rocking 60’s band called JB and Water. They played all the Yacht Club and High School Dances at the time and they were a cross between The Kingsmen of Louis Louis fame and The Kinks and he was definitely one of the coolest guys around musically. His sister Linda was one of the most lovely girls around in the 60’s and boy could she sing then and can she sing now! A few years ago I went to Fly’s 50th birthday party and reconnected with everyone and it was very cool.

Thank you Melissa for taking the time to write all this down and share with us.  It is much appreciated!

What is your favorite local event in Gloucester?

I love the Schooner Festival. It’s a day where the sails are alive in the harbor just like in the old days. It’s like a convention old Victorian ladies still all decked out in their lace and velvets. If you squint your eyes you can imagine what it looked like over 100 years ago. I like going out with the schooners and sailing with them and taking loads of photos. It is always a great weekend in Gloucester when lots of visiting boats come to town. I always wonder why Gloucester doesn’t have more moorings and marinas for boats to attract that kind of business to the city. Lot’s of people come to Gloucester by boat and there is no where to land and it is very unfriendly towards them. We have such a huge beautiful harbor and we could manage a few more moorings and a public marina with showers, groceries, and a laundromat. It would definitely bring in a different sort of tourist during the summer. You can charge big money for it too. Everyone loves Fiesta and
I like the blessing of the fleet and the greasy pole with all the costumes. The best place to watch is right beside it and to go there by dingy. The 4th of July in Laneville is off the hook but scary because of the noise and fire. I also like the Boat Parade at the end of the summer with the fireworks afterwards. It is a fun night.

In the summer do you prefer beach or Boat.

I prefer going to the beach by boat! I love Lighthouse, Wingersheek, Jones Creek, back side of Cranes, Niles, and Braces. If I have to drive to a beach, I definitely like Cape Hedge or Pebble because of the sound of the rocks. But I am on our boats everyday in the summer and wouldn’t be anywhere else.

Who is your favorite local artist.

Well…. you didn’t ask, dead or alive….so I will tell you both. I love Czerepak, Armand Sindoni, Edna Hibel, Maurice Comprise, Harrison Cady, Strisik,Thieme, Hibbard, Otis Cook, and early Gruppes to name a few Cape Ann Artists who have passed on. I always think of Armand’s “schooners at night” paintings that used to hang in Capt Bills Restaurant (now known as Elliots) in the 1960’s. Capt Bill used to buy his clams from this digger named Floyd and you would always see Floyd hanging around the west end of town. Gloucester used to be filled with characters like Floyd who wore rags, boots, and carried a bag and clam fork around town. If you were eating in Capt Bill’s in the 1960’s you might have seen Charles Olsen who was a huge hulk of a man walking by with his big overcoat and shock of gray hair.

Currently, I love Jeff Weaver, Tom Nichols, and Robert Gruppe. I am also a fan of Robert Hawkins who lives in Europe now but was originally from Gloucester and I was lucky enough to buy one of paintings last year.

What is your favoritie local beach?

I think I have already talked about the beaches but I really don’t have a favorite, they are all great in their own way and what is so cool is that we have such a variety of beaches here so whatever your mood, you are all set.

What is place you would go for a romantic dinner in Gloucester?

As far as restaurants go, in the summer, its definately The Rudder on the porch or at the bar and in the winter it is a draw between Duckworth and Passports. The porch at the Rudder is sexy and fun and there are always lots of locals there to say hello to and greet. You can walk around Rocky Neck afterwards or if you went to the Rudder by boat go for a little dingy ride afterwards in the sunset. Duckworth’s has great Lobster Risotto and fun things you might not have tried before and everything is delicious. Passports has very high quality food. The vegtables are definately the freshest and biggest portions and you can’t argue with the popover they give you.  Mostly though, I have to say that the most romantic place to have dinner in Gloucester for me is aboard my husbands 35 ft sailboat “Sealord” moored in Smith’s Cove. We pretty much eat there as much as we can during the summer and we always joke as we cook a couple of lobsters or fish we caught
ourselves that day with a bottle wine from the Liquor Locker (they have the best wine selection on Cape Ann) that our meal cost under $20 and all those people over at The Studio, The Rudder, and the Madfish are paying way more for thier dinner and we even have a better view. I also like to cook dinner at sunset anchored off Niles Beach.

What is your favorite local bar in Gloucester?

I would have to say Latitude 43 because they have Stella Artois on draft. A couple of years ago my husband and I went to England on a vacation and we kind of got hooked on Stella’s there. They are great in the bottle but if you can find it on draft, it is great.

What is your favorite Breakfast joint in Gloucester?

I would have to say that I love and have always adored Sailor Stans on Rocky Neck. It is a social experience in an East Gloucester sort of way. I like that it hasn’t changed very much and it is still the same counter and bar as when it was called The “Drift In” years ago.