GMG Jimmy has been working with O’Maley science teachers Amy Donnolly and Dave Brown to create a little gift for me using the Tinkercad program used by 7th graders for 3D printing projects. Today, the dream came true and 3 lovely new little objects were delivered to me to use with my friend CB (crystal ball).  Amy arranged to have my name included in the bottom of one of the CB holders and Dave created the GMG letters on another one. They will each serve a useful purpose and I look forward to including them in future CB photo shoots.

When Amy and Dave aren’t doing this kind of project, they are hard at work printing PPE gear for local facilities. Check out podcast 415 for more details on this fantastic effort.  If you want to support this effort with a donation, here’s the link.  They are not yet quite halfway to their goal, so perhaps this would be a good time to consider this project for a donation. Many many thanks to Amy and Dave for their patience with GMG Jimmy’s attempts at 7th grade projects.

Due to the social distancing rules and closed borders, the IDRC has had to make some drastic changes to this year’s events.  Due to social distancing and mother nature it has taken us much longer to prep the race boats for the water.  We will be putting the races boats in the water sometime during May.  Unfortunately, we have had to cancel the June elimination and International races.    In June the American and Canadian committees will meet to review if we will be able to have the August races.  If the borders remain closed and social distancing rules have not been fully lifted we may not be able to make the trip to Lunenburg.  Later in the summer if social distancing is lifted and crowds are again allowed in Gloucester we will create an event for the US rowers and we will Crown a 2020 American Champion in each division.  Please check the website as we will be updating the event calendar with all changes.  Thank you for your understanding during this tough time.  Please feel free to use the boats as long as you are following the social distancing guidelines.  We want to make sure everyone is being as safe as possible.  Thank you very much. IDRC Committee

Ahhh, a tradition as old as time.

My annual reminder that red mulch is tacky, classless and you need to rethink your whole life if you consciously pick artificially colored red mulch over deep black/dark brown mulch.

According my deep dive investigative reporting, and by deep dive investigative reporting I mean- “I snapped this photo.” Our yearly post deriding the decision of anyone who buys ugly red mulch seems to have made an impact because clearly people are jumping on the dark mulch train in droves this year.

Evidence: Exhibit A

A retrospective of “ Friends Don’t Let Friends Buy Red Mulch” Posts From Past Years-

It was a little bit cool but …oh, so pretty…at Good Harbor Beach a few days ago. Longing for summer busy-ness, but kind of enjoying a little bit of quiet time down there.

Here’s a view of the current progress at the site of the Fuller School Project for the new Halyard Luxury Apartments. More info can be found at this link.

For the safety of our valued patrons, artists, and staff, we have decided to postpone our 2020 Season and shift all productions to 2021. When we began planning our response to COVID-19 in the beginning of March, we knew this was a potential outcome; but we were also confident in our ability to remain flexible if there was to be the possibility of presenting on stage. This is not an easy decision to make, but safety is paramount.

If you had a subscription or individual tickets, you should have heard from our box office manager, Billy Burgoyne. To make an exchange, donation, or refund, you can reach him at boxoffice@gloucesterstage.com – Onsite office hours are limited, so voicemail response time has increased.

In keeping with our mission to produce world-class theater on Cape Ann and finding ways to continue to support artists, we are developing several new digital opportunities this summer:

• Taking full advantage of our NeverDark Series (more aptly named than ever) to film staged readings of new plays for future consideration;
• Highlighting local storytellers through virtual events like Fish Tales later this month; and
• Bringing archived content from our stage, back to life on your home TV.

Gloucester Stage will miss out on over $620,000 in revenue this year, but thanks to a successful 40th Season and donors like you, we are in a safe place to weather this storm. The board and staff are committed to making sure there will be a successful 2021 Season, and for that, as well as staging virtual programming and completing our bathroom renovations, we need your continued support.

Please consider a contribution of any size to Gloucester Stage’s COVID19 Response Fund and thank you for helping anyway you can during this unprecedented time.

If you are like me, you are just starting to dream about making summer plans….July 3/4 near the top of that list. I had dreams of a Beauport Hotel staycation for the fireworks July 3 but that’s not going to happen this year. Totally understandable and not unexpected and now you can make different plans for the holiday.

According to the Gloucester Fireworks Facebook page, the July 3 2020 fireworks are cancelled but they are still in debt from last year’s show, so you can help by sending any donations (even $5) to The Gloucester Fund.

From the Gloucester Fireworks Facebook page:

So very sad to have to report this news. However due to lack of interest in donations coupled with the state of the current situation we are cancelling the July 3rd fireworks this year. For those that still want to help we are in need of over $5,000 to pay for last year’s show. Please donate if you can.

If everyone that has seen our most recent post about canceling the fireworks show this July 3rd sent in just $5, we would have almost enough money to pay off last year’s bills. PLEASE DONATE TODAY! https://www.thegloucesterfund.org/donate/

In addition, the Horribles Parade and Concert are also cancelled according to DiscoverGloucester.com.

This is difficult news but we need to remember we are all in this together and better days are coming for sure.

Image provided on the Gloucester Fireworks Facebook page.