Good Morning Gloucester

• Short-term Rental & Mortgage Assistance is Now Available   Action Inc. has new short-term rental and mortgage assistance available for renters and homeowners who have recently lost their jobs, been furloughed, or lost significant income due to COVID-19.   We have the following new COVID-related assistance available:   –  Rental and mortgage assistance for Gloucester residents up to 80% Area Median Income –  Rental assistance for Ipswich residents up to 80% Area Median Income –  Rental and mortgage assistance for Manchester residents up to 100% Area Median Income   We have some existing funds available to assist Rockport and Essex renters and homeowners, as well.   If you need assistance, please contact us at 978-282-1000 to complete a short intake and schedule an appointment with one of our Client Services advocates. If you are approved, you may receive assistance with back or future rent or mortgage payments, based on your current income. This new funding has been made available thanks to the City of Gloucester Community Preservation Act, the Manchester Affordable Housing Trust, and the Ipswich Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Visit our Client Services page for more information. Action Inc. 180 Main Street Gloucester, MA 01930 Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser Unsubscribe

  

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  Megan Merlin <mail@networkforgood.com>

  To:goodmorninggloucester@yahoo.com

  Mon, Jun 1 at 2:24 PM

  Short-term Rental & Mortgage Assistance is Now Available   Action Inc. has new short-term rental and mortgage assistance available for renters and homeowners who have recently lost their jobs, been furloughed, or lost significant income due to COVID-19.   We have the following new COVID-related assistance available:   –  Rental and mortgage assistance for Gloucester residents up to 80% Area Median Income –  Rental assistance for Ipswich residents up to 80% Area Median Income –  Rental and mortgage assistance for Manchester residents up to 100% Area Median Income   We have some existing funds available to assist Rockport and Essex renters and homeowners, as well.   If you need assistance, please contact us at 978-282-1000 to complete a short intake and schedule an appointment with one of our Client Services advocates. If you are approved, you may receive assistance with back or future rent or mortgage payments, based on your current income. This new funding has been made available thanks to the City of Gloucester Community Preservation Act, the Manchester Affordable Housing Trust, and the Ipswich Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Visit our Client Services page for more information.

It was a little bit gray and overcast but that didn’t stop the fun at Good Harbor Beach one weekday afternoon recently. There seemed to be more birds than people. The lifeguards appeared a bit lonely and chilled but the nesting plover appeared calm and in charge. Others braved the water or just read.

The plover exclosure and the nesting plover. They are well camouflaged!

GMG contributor Pat Dalpiaz (yours truly) was recently interviewed by renowned genealogist and podcaster Lisa Louise Cooke for an episode of Genealogy Gems Premium. It was Gloucester hero John Handran’s story as told here on Good Morning Gloucester as well as on my personal family history blog Gathering the Cousins that Lisa thought her listeners might like to hear.

It’s a story I’ve told here previously. John Handran was a US Naval seaman on duty in Lisbon Portugal in 1876 when he rescued a fellow seaman from drowning. Apparently this was not his first successful rescue, and it did earn him the US Medal of Honor as presented by President U.S. Grant. He was only 24 at the time. A few years later he married Sarah Campbell and they made a home here in Gloucester with 3 children.

John’s life was cut short in 1885 upon the sinking of the Schooner Cleopatra, itself an amazing tale. His story has been told in our family circles for many years thanks largely to the research skills of our cousin George Handran, a former Gloucester resident and esteemed genealogist.

Now, thanks to the work done as told in this podcast episode, John’s memory is honored by a plaque placed at Calvary Cemetery just prior to the quarantine. This was an arduous effort finally come to fruition due in part to the wide reach of the Good Morning Gloucester blog. Researchers looking to honor John Handran found me through GMG and the story began! It’s a lesson in how far and wide the interests of the readers and followers of the blog stretch.

When restrictions are lifted, a dedication ceremony will be held at Calvary Cemetery and I hope anyone interested or related can attend. I would love to  meet you all.

Lisa Louise Cooke has generously made this episode freely available here. Genealogy Gems Premium is a paid subscription service and is worth every penny of the $49.95 per year for its reasoned advice and responsive nature. Please give a listen as yours truly tells the story of researching Gloucester resident John Handran to verify his service to our country and his heroic acts.  If you cannot listen, read the story as told in the shownotes.  His story might have been lost to history but now can be celebrated.

Thank you readers and listeners for sharing these stories widely. Thank you Joey for your vision and support for all of us who love Gloucester.

HomieCast 28 Livestream 

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Here are some of the many Mallards at Niles Pond.

Drift Cafe announced on their Facebook page that they plan to reopen June 8 at 10 AM.  That’s only 5 days from now, by my count!! This seems a very positive sign of hope to me. Sharing their menu from the Facebook page.

They are also looking for help: Servers, cooks, bartenders, Hosts. Rick@driftgloucesrer.com. Tell him about yourself. Experienced only please.

(Image borrowed from Facebook page)

Plays Written in Class will be chosen for production in annual Young Playwrights Festival in Fall

Gloucester Stage Education Director Heidi Dallin recently announced the Young Playwrights Workshop, will move online for 2020. The Young Playwrights Workshop is a professional training program for ages 9 to 18 designed to introduce or cultivate a passion for storytelling through play writing. Four online sessions will give students the opportunity to write and refine scripts through a multi-draft process with input from professional playwright and Newburyport resident Deirdre Girard. The Young Playwrights Workshop four online sessions  begin Monday, June 8. Pre-Teen: Ages 9-12 years old: 2pm-3:30pm and Teen:: 13-18 years old: 2:30pm -4pm.  Sessions will be recorded in case your child can’t make a lesson, or wants to go back and watch it again. Class size is limited. Participation in the Young Playwrights Workshop will give students access to submit their ten-minute plays to the 2020 Young Playwrights Festival. Selected plays submitted by workshop participants will be cast, rehearsed and performed over zoom in the 2020 Young Playwrights Festival. The Young Playwrights Festival will be streamed September 10th -September 13th . For more information and to register for the  Young Playwrights Workshop at Gloucester Stage go to https://gloucesterstage.com/youngplaywrights/   or call Heidi at 978-283-6688.

Playwright Deirdre Girard completed her MFA in Playwriting at Boston Universit and has had dozens of one-act plays produced nationally and internationally. Most recently, she completed a commission from Peabody Essex Museum for two one-act plays, won the Susan Glaspell National Short Play Award at QC Theater, Iowa for her one-act play In the Buff, and had readings of her plays Shaken and Dollar for Dollar in Boston and Chicago. She is a visiting playwright/instructor for Boston University’s Massachusetts Young Playwrights Project. To hear a message about the workshop from Playwright Deirdre Girard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPoX63xTsi0&feature=youtu.be