BREAKING: POLYSTYRENE (STYROFOAM) CUPS AND CONTAINERS BANNED FROM GLOUCESTER (Edited)
Plastic: Pick It Up Club Kids Lotus, Pilar, Atticus, Meadow, and Frieda
The proposed ban on the use of polystyrene (Styrofoam) cups and containers in the City of Gloucester passed City Council by a vote of seven to two. Voting in favor were Councilors Melissa Cox, Sean Nolan, Scott Memhard, Valerie Gilman, Jamie O’hara, Paul Lundberg, and Joe Ciolino. Voting in opposition were Councilors Joe Orlando and Steve LeBlanc. The ban will be fully implemented in January 2019.
The vote on banning single use plastic grocery bags will come again before the City Council in October, with some slight wording changes to the petition.
Ainsley Smith of Gloucester’s Clean City Commission wishes to thank all who came to the meeting last night in support of the ban and thanks everyone for all that they have done, and are continuing to do, on behalf of the citizens of Gloucester and their efforts to make Gloucester a clean city.
Really proud of our neighborhood kids for having the courage to come before the City Council.
Terrific turnout at the City Council meeting to ban plastic single use bags and polystyrene to go cups and containers.
The Compassion Experience
Thatcher is attending the Compassion Experience today and I’m really hoping to tag along as it sounds pretty amazing. If I have to opportunity to go, I’ll keep you posted.
Now at Gordon College’s Barrington Center for the Arts
September 13 – September 16
Sep 13 at 12 PM to Sep 16 at 7 PM
“Visitors to The Compassion Experience step into the life of a child who has suffered under the crippling weight of poverty. But the journey does not end there. In the span of less than 30 minutes, they will travel with that child from hardship to hope. And in the midst of hope, they will watch that child’s story transformed through the support of Compassion and the child’s life-giving relationship with a sponsor.
The Compassion Experience will challenge your views of poverty, transform your understanding of the world, and move you to be the change for a child that just needs someone to believe in them.
This immersive exhibit is coming to a city near you. Experience other cultures, the realities of global poverty, and how you can change the life of a child living half a world away.”
First Cape Ann License Plate Grants Awarded!
Cape Ann Community Foundation Announces Grant Awards
Join us in supporting a stronger Cape Ann! With more Cape Ann License Plates on the road, more money comes back to the Cape Ann communities. The Board of Directors of the Cape Ann Community Foundation (CACF) recently awarded grants totaling $12,000 to three Cape Ann area non-profit organizations, Action, Inc., Backyard Growers and Cape Ann Farmers Market, in the Foundation’s first-ever round of grants.
The CACF has awarded the following amounts to these organizations:
- $3,500 to Action, Inc. for their project entitled “Healthcare Career Pathways”, to help low and moderate income Cape Ann residents develop new skills and gain certification in the healthcare field;

- $5,000 to Backyard Growers for their project entitled “Backyard Growers Farm to School”, to expand their schoolyard Garden Program and implement hands-on nutrition education programs for over 1,700 underserved children and youth in Gloucester public schools; and

- $3,500…
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Kestrel Outside Center Fundraiser
The Get Outside Center (GOC) opened in 2014, with funding from a single generous donor who promised to fund all our expenses for 2 years. We have just completed our third year in operation.
The idea was to create a free community resource that would, after two years, become supported by local businesses and community members.
Our Vision Team planned and schemed for two years to find a way to remove common barriers to getting outside. We decided that what our community really needed was a resource center right downtown, where even people who don’t yet value nature shop, work, and eat. We decided to make this place easy to get to, completely free, super comfy and fun, and open all year.
The Get Outside Center brings in many children and families, and has something for all ages: Trail maps, live animals, digital microscopes, rotating hands on activities, and staff naturalists to answer questions. It has an extensive resource library so you can look up information, and includes everything from small children’s books, to in depth books for serious naturalists. For a small fee, visitors can become members and then check out all kinds of cool gear, including waterproof boots, high quality binoculars, compasses, field guides, backpacks, snorkel sets, and more.
We get about 1000 drop in visitors a year, and also host classes, events, and a Meetup group.
4:44AM With Tuffy and Jimmy At The Dock
It’s here- Backyard Growers’ Great Gloucester Growdown!
Backyard Growers 2nd Annual
Great Gloucester Growdown

An evening of fun, friends, food and music to support our Farm to School and Community Gardening Programs.
Enjoy appetizers, dinner and cocktails prepared by Short & Main followed by a rockin’ dance party with local 80’s band SAFETY.
September 26, 2017
6:30-10:30 pm
Short & Main
36 Main Street, Gloucester, MA 01930
Purchase your tickets online at backyardgrowers.org or the event page today!
Sunday Childcare Position at UU Church

Adult (18+) childcare provider wanted to join our church nursery team on Sunday mornings, 9:45 AM to 11:15 AM in Gloucester, MA. Paid assistant positions for high school students also available.
YIKES! HOMIE SWALLOWS A WHOLE LOBSTER
Photographing shorebirds early today and this Homie arrives on the scene, loudly announcing his catch. Before I could turn on my movie camera, he swallowed the whole lobster, in one big gulp! You could see the sharp edges of the lobster as it went down his gullet. I predict a Homie with a tummy ache.
The tremendous variety of seaweed currently covering Pebble Beach captures a wealth of sustenance for migrating shorebirds (and Homies).
Sanderlings, Sandpipers, Semiplamated Plovers, and one Snowy Egret at Pebble Beach today, September 12, 2017.
Cape Ann Museum Exhibition Announcement – WWII Veterans – Photos by Jason Grow
Jason Grow’s World War II Veterans Photographs
On view October 27 through November 26 at the Cape Ann Museum
The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to announceWWII Veterans: Portrait Photographs by Jason Grow, a special exhibition on view from October 27 – November 26, 2017. First shown at Gloucester City Hall in 2015, Grow’s portrait photographs of Cape Ann’s World War II veterans were enthusiastically received by audiences of all ages and walks of life. The exhibit makes an encore appearance at the Museum this autumn, offering visitors another opportunity to view these remarkable images as a group. Admission is free throughout the exhibition run for veterans and all active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve.
On Saturday, November 11, in honor of Veterans Day, the Museum will be free and open to the public and Jason Grow will present a talk about the exhibit at 2:00 p.m. in the Museum’s auditorium.
The Cape Ann Museum is proud to participate in the national Blue Star Museum program.Blue Star Museums is a collaboration among the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Families, the Department of Defense, and museums across America. Each summer since 2010, Blue Star Museums have offered free admission to the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve, from Memorial Day through Labor Day. For more information please visit the Blue Star Museums’ website:arts.gov/bluestarmuseums.
Jason Grow is a Boston-based photographer and Gloucester resident. He specializes in photographing exceptionally accomplished, busy people with real time constraints in real environments. With a background based in photojournalism his experience has ranged from refugee camps to conference rooms.
Manny Captures Image of Two Good-Looking New Yorkers

Kayaking around Magnolia Harbor on Monday
The only way to end a long work day and to get out and kayak around.
Magnolia Point

Coolidge Point

Falls Prevention Day is happening at Rockport Council on Aging!
WOW, Isn’t it Great…So Much Love!


Gloucester’s Writers Centers

@kfoley41 <3
Bees & Flowers
JDRF One Walk support
SYDNEY SIMOES
I’m participating in JDRF One Walk® to raise money to create a better future for the millions of people living with type 1 diabetes (T1D).
I was diagnosed with T1D a year and a half ago. This is my second year doing this walk. It’s important to me to do my part to help find a cure.
When you have T1D, your pancreas stops producing insulin—a hormone essential to turning food into energy. This means you must constantly monitor your blood-sugar level, administer insulin, and carefully balance these insulin doses with your eating and activity just to stay alive.
With T1D there are no days off and there is no cure. But there is hope.
Your donation will support life-changing breakthroughs that make it safer and easier to live with T1D, until we find a cure.
Your support makes it all possible.
Gloucester Smiles-742
Peaceful walk
Summer may be over but walks on the beach are so much more enjoyable on our quiet beaches!















