We are surely blessed with beautiful skies and dramatic cloud formations. Sometimes the sky is the very star of the show! Or as Mark Twain said: “The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine, bracing and delicious. And why shouldn’t it be?–it is the same the angels breathe.”

If you join the Facebook feed you can ask us questions and request shout-outs!

–Refunding Saves $259,723

GLOUCESTER, MA (September 11, 2020) – Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken today announced that the City received competitive bids from bond and note underwriters on Thursday, September 10, 2020, for an $8,140,000, 20-year general obligation bond issue, a $645,000 359-day taxable general obligation bond anticipation note issue, and a $3,198,400 359-day general obligation bond anticipation note issue.  

Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc. was the winning bidder on the Bonds with an average interest rate of 1.400%. Piper Sandler & Co. was the winning bidder on the Series A Taxable Notes with an average interest rate of 0.739% and BNY Mellon Capital Markets was the winning bidder on the Series B Notes with an average interest rate of 0.471%.  Bond and Note proceeds will be used to finance various municipal capital projects.

The Refunding Bonds will refund a portion of the City’s September 15, 2009 bond issue and generate total savings of $259,723 over the remaining life of the refunded bonds.

Prior to the sale, S&P Global Ratings, a municipal bond credit rating agency, affirmed the City’s ‘AA’ underlying rating. The agency cited the City’s very strong economy, strong budgetary flexibility, and very strong liquidity as positive credit factors.

Mayor Romeo Theken said, “I am very proud of our financial team for all their hard work.  Together we have implemented strategies that have resulted in a strong track record of responsible fiscal management.  As a result, we have been able to maximize Gloucester’s borrowing and rating rates to save taxpayers’ money.”

The bids for the Bonds and Notes were accepted at the offices of the City’s Financial Advisor, Hilltop Securities Inc., at 54 Canal Street in Boston, Massachusetts.

For English, students are reading the novels, ​Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime, and Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy will be required to write two five-paragraph essays. This is a struggle for many of our students as writing a college level essay can be challenging ​and for some of them this is the first time they are writing a five-paragraph essay of option. A volunteer for English would 

• read the books required for the class
• take part in the book discussion groups 
• set up one on one tutoring sessions with those students who are struggling to assist with developing their writing skills, in particular grammar and references
• communicate directly with the Adult Education Liaison Margaret Waugh and the Instructor, Anna Jurek, with any questions and/or concerns to ensure we are assisting our students.
• we are requesting if at all possible for this volunteer to be bilingual (Spanish preferred) ​in order to better support our students where English is their second language

For Math students are working through concepts of Algebra. We are looking for a volunteer who is willing to assist our students through the process of solving equations without giving the answer. We are interested in helping students look at their own ​critical thinking skills. The volunteer for math would: 

• attend the math class​es
• ​set up one-on-one tutoring sessions with those students who are struggling to review class assignements and homework.
• send information about tutoring sessions, along with any concerns to Adult Education Liaison, Margaret Waugh and Instructor, Eric Vendt  
• Be available during sessions via Zoom 

Classes are remote and instructors have successfully been navigating the classes online. If there are questions if there will be face to face meetings that will depend on the pandemic, but it is NOT required as of now and we will show Volunteers how to successfully help the students write online. In a way it is an opportunity to learn for volunteers as well. 

Class information: 

Classes begin on September 15 and end on December 10 —volunteers don’t have to be present for every session but the majority

English Composition: Tuesday / Thursday Evening 5:15pm – 6:45 pm

Math : Tuesday / Thursday Evening 7:00 – 8:15

Wellspring inspires families and adults on the North Shore to achieve employment and financial security through stable housing, education, job training and career readiness. To learn more about Wellspring’s work, visit www.wellspringhouse.org

Scenes from the docks:

By Jude Seminara

Recently, Anthony Martignetti — “Anthony!” from the Prince Macaroni commercials — passed away. Martignetti was a local celebrity, court officer, and Italian immigrant. 
The following is the story of another Italian immigrant, my great grandfather Giuseppe Seminara, one of the founders of the Prince Macaroni Mfg. Co.  Prince Macaroni got its start less than half a mile from the North End tenement on Powers Ct. where Anthony burst panting through the door for supper in the advertisement. Antonino Seminara, Giuseppe’s father, ran a bakery at 92 Prince St.

The Seminara family arrived in the United States aboard the SS Trave in 1901 and settled in the North End, Boston’s Italian neighborhood. Following Antonino’s death in 1911, Giuseppe Seminara (who earned his citizenship in 1905), his brother-in-law Gaetano LaMarca, and LaMarca’s cousin Michele Cantella began Prince Macaroni with some baking equipment, a horse and cart, and $150. Their macaroni was sold from the storefront at 92 Prince St. to the Italians in the neighborhood. By 1917, these three “off-the-boat” immigrants had so much success that they purchased a lot on Commercial St. to erect an eight story plant in order to keep up with the growing demand for semolina pasta. 
During this time, anti-Italian sentiment ran high in the United States. Known as “guineas,” “wops,” and “dagos,” Italians were regularly discriminated against. In fact, the largest mass lynching in American history occurred when eleven Italians were murdered in New Orleans in 1891. Louisiana would see two more mass lynchings of Italians in the 1890s. Anti-Italian prejudice was not limited to the South either. The KKK held a mass protest in Vineland, NJ in the 1930s, and even closer to home, in Boston, Italian immigrants were suspected of causing the Molasses Disaster of 1919; and Sacco and Vanzetti were subject to an unfair trial which resulted in their execution in 1927 for a crime they did not commit. Prejudice certainly touched Giuseppe as well  In 1919, he, LaMarca, Cantella, four other Italians, and one German and one Jewish applicant were all denied gun permits. Almost forty permits were issued, all to applicants with Irish and English surnames. 
Despite the obstacles presented by bigotry, the Seminara, Cantella, and LaMarca held their course towards the American Dream. Twice, tragedy struck the Seminara family (Giuseppe and his wife Elvira lost their second son Salvatore to jaundice one day after he was born; and Elvira herself died after a long illness in 1923 when she was only 28 years old), yet Giuseppe persevered. 
Prince Macaroni continued to grow through the Roaring Twenties and survived the Great Depression. In 1939, the business moved to Lowell. In 1941, despite having done $600,000 in business, LaMarca, Cantella, and Seminara were seeking new management, which came in the form of Italian immigrant New Yorker Joseph Pellegrino, who purchased a controlling share in the corporation. By 1955, Prince was turning out a million pounds of pasta per week and doing ten million dollars in business. Prince Macaroni was a household name. 
Giuseppe Seminara died in 1961 at age 76, nine years before Anthony Martignetti burst through the door for supper at Powers Court, He was survived by his wife Rosalia, his oldest son by Elvira (my paternal grandfather) Antonino, and a son Joseph and daughter Elvira, as well as several grandchildren of which my dad was one. 
Part of Giuseppe’s legacy is that anyone, despite their circumstances or the obstacles they face, can achieve the American dream with perseverance and hard work.