There is much to chortle about in this latest Cape Ann Winged Creature Update. Early April marked the arrival of both Snowy and Great Egrets, Black-crowned Night Herons and Great Blue Herons. Osprey pairs and evidence of Osprey nest building can be seen wherever Essex Greenbelt platforms have been installed. Northern Pintail and American Wigeon Ducks are stopping over at our local ponds on their northward migrations while scrub and shrub are alive with the vibrant song of love birds singing their mating calls. Oh Happy Spring!
Ospreys Nest Building
Northern Mockingbirds SingingÂ
Blackbird Tree
Female American Wigeon
Gadwall (center), Male Pintail, Mallards, Male and Female American WigeonsÂ
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Contractor:Newport, Nashua, NH, Brian McCabe is the Project Manager Status: in progress Progress April 2017: nearing finish line Project start (historic): pre 1900 Modern project start: 1999 Funding Awarded: 2013
from State:Â $5,600,000 Seaport Advisory Council
from City:$1,120,000 + contingencies
Funding in place: 2015
Gloucester seawall grants over the last 18 years include: Cripple cove/ Robinsons landing; small sea wall by beacon marine and pirates lane; fort square; Stacy (Stage Fort through Blynman); plus emergency work on Blynman collapse
Bid Open and contract amount: 2/24/15 approx $7 million Contract completion: on schedule, estimated spring 2017 Locations: Stacy Boulevard and Blynman Priority:Top Level! Unique and exceptional project– Mayor’s Office considers seawall boulevard a priority necessity, for safety, a centuries infrastructure project with immeasurable quality of life benefits for residents and visitors and essential to economy Temporary work site chain link fence: Required. The chain link fence is installed by the contractor to protect the work zone and define it better. Tender house at Blynman and bridge: These are State not city/DPW purview. The new bridge house is temporary (thankfully). The entire bridge needs to be replaced and when it is a new tender’s house will be constructed. I will write more about the bridge house and Blynman in other posts. Local jobs– scroll below
photo above: fencing subcontractor on a beautiful work site readying for railing. Railing required diamond coring like old granite quarrying. Stacy Boulevard December 2016.Â
photo caption: Railing! 2000 feet of new galvanized railing. (The replaced railing was not galvanized. DPW replaces railing: it’s simply a matter of funding.)
photo caption: Alex Karp – GZA Field Engineer Boulevard construction. The GZA company acquired (David) Vine Associates. GZA is the design engineer for the boulevard project. Â David Smith at GZA (formerly Vine) has worked with Gloucester since 1999.Â
photo caption: Gloucester’s DPW construction along the Boulevard
photo caption: CAP STONE! It’s more than decorative. It has two exposed sides that need to be trimmed to look perfect. Mike Hale, Boulevard construction, November (of course note beard) 2016
photo caption: Stacy Boulevard contruction capstone and harbor
photo CAPtion!: Stacy Boulevard dazzling dizzying scope of ocean and capstone as far as the eye can see
photo caption: Mike Hale with Brian McCabe, Project Manager, Newport construction, November 2016, Gloucester Boulevard
LOCAL JOBS
Along with the Mayor’s office and current administration, Gloucester’s DPW and Newport Construction work with subcontractors including local ones such as:
GZAÂ –Â national with corporate headquarters in Norwood, MA – Engineering
Anne Gilardi Johnson –  additional new gardens, site and landscape design for the Boulevard (building upon the successful Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Memorial)– Johnson , a Gloucester native and multi award winning landscape architect, was commissioned by the Fishermen’s Wive Memorial board back in 2000 to design the landscape for Morgan Faulds Pike bronze sculpture, dedicated August 2001. “A series of design plans, and finally a study model, was produced as part of an interactive process between the designer, sculptor, and the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association.” Johnson is a member of the Boston Society of Landscape Architects (largest chapter of the national organization), “known for her design of urban spaces including parks, playgrounds, memorials and streetscapes in Boston,” Worcester, and Gloucester. Her award winning designs include Boston’s (James) Hayes and Childe Hassam Parks in the South End. Generous Gardeners is planting the new beds on the Boulevard: thousands of tulip and daffodil bulbs were planted by many volunteers last fall to bloom this spring!
After the crazy snow fall last Saturday….we were thrilled to wake up Sunday morning to a really nice day. Â We went for a nice walk….and then a nice drive. Â I dragged the boys with me around Cape Ann while I took the some photos. Â They played on beaches along the way, took some of their own photos, and then convinced me it was time for an ice cream.
Two things. Â First of all, Long Beach Dairy Maid is super yummy. TONS of choices….and tons of ice cream.
So, secondly, downsize your order. Â I got a small….it was easily a large at any other ice cream joint. Â Really…too big to finish. Â The boys got “kiddies”…which insults them to no end, but were still quite large….as seen in the photo below!
I’ve been told since that kids should really order the “1/2 Kiddie” and I should have ordered a “Kiddie”. Â Which, if you ask me, begs the question way not just make the 1/2 kiddie the kiddie, the kiddie the small, and the small the large.
John Ronan presents Taking the Train of Singularity South From Midtown on Saturday, April 8, 2:00-3:00pm in the Friend Room. It’s Sponsored by the Gloucester Lyceum and Friends of the Sawyer Free Library.
John Ronan a poet, playwright, journalist and a National Endowment for the
Arts Fellow in Literature has done so much in Gloucester! Here’s a throwback article from 1978 about the Gloucester Broadside, a monthly 10 cent one sheet of quality poetry.
Ronan developed the website resource dedicated to Gloucester poets, Gloucester Poet Laureate, also for Salt and Light: An Anthology of Gloucester Poetry, published spring 2010. He is the host of the Cape Ann TV program, The Writer’s Block.  He was pivotal in establishing the library’s annual Poetry without Paper Contest and poetry columns in the Gloucester Daily Times.
April 27 2017 | POEM IN POCKET DAY: It’s free and simple to participate. Carry a Poem. Share a Poem. For more information, search for Poem in Your Pocket Day (PIYP Day) Academy of American Poets (www.poets.org) or New York City’s excellent web site, http://www.NYC.gov/poem. PIYP Day started in NYC in 2002 inspired by the Favorite Poem Project established in 1997 (first events April 1998) by Robert Pinsky, former 3x Poet Laureate of the United States. East Gloucester Elementary School initiated Poem in Pocket Day in 2011 (PTO enrichment).
Abbott Public Library, Marblehead, MA, June 18, 2017
POET LAUREATE: In Gloucester, MA, the Poet Laureate is dedicated to building community through poetry and encouraging a love of poetry among people of all ages. The honorary post for the City of Gloucester was created in 1998. There have been 4 Poet Laureates: Vincent Ferrini was the City’s first, then John Ronan served from 2008-10, Ruthanne Collinson served 2010-14, and Peter Todd served 2014-15. The Committee for the Arts helps to select a new Poet Laureate.
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Join author and Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire, Jeffrey Bolster, for a discussion of his book The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail (Harvard University Press, 2012).
Cost is $5 for Cape Ann Museum members / $10 nonmembers (includes Museum admission). Registration required; please call (978)283-0455 x10 or register online at Eventbrite. For more information email info@capeannmuseum.org.
About The Mortal Sea, from Harvard University Press:
Since the Viking ascendancy in the Middle Ages, the Atlantic has shaped the lives of people who depend upon it for survival. And just as surely, people have shaped the Atlantic. In his innovative account of this interdependency, W. Jeffrey Bolster, a historian and professional seafarer, takes us through a millennium-long environmental history of our impact on one of the largest ecosystems in…
Pauline shares a once in a lifetime experience (Photo L-R: 39th Chief of Staff for the US Army, General Mark A Milley; Pauline Bresnahan; Major General John ‘Mike’ Murray; Special Assistant to the Commanding General at Fort Benning Mike Burns)
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Together with the Essex National Heritage’s 20th anniversary celebration, 131 Trailblazing organizations where honored at last night’s grand gala, held at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. Over 300 Essex Heritage supporters were in attendance.
Very special guest Secretary John Kerry, who helped craft the legislation in 1996 that designated the area (and worked with Senator Kennedy over many years to secure funding), gave an inspiring speech highlighting the fact that the past twenty years of this unique public-private partnership has created the tremendous success that is the Essex National Heritage area.
Congratulations to the Essex National Heritage and all the Trailblazers!
The best fun seeing these four at the gala!! Captain Stefan Edick of the Schooner Adventure, Captain Tom Ellis of the Schooner Lannon, Mayor Sefatia, and Tom Balf, Director of Maritime Gloucester.
A special toast was given to the following Trailblazers:
Preserving this Special Region: Essex County Greenbelt Association; Connecting People to Place: The Trustees of Reservations; Building & Growing Our Future: Peabody Essex Museum; Advancing Our Educational Mission (tied for first place): Lowell’s Boat Shop and The House of Seven Gables. Of special note to Cape Ann residents, Maritime Gloucester came in second place and Essex Shipbuilding Museum came in third place in the category Advancing Our Educational Mission.
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Elizabeth Carey shares photos and a note with GMG:
“Today is Tourism Day at the Massachusetts State House. Each year tourism leaders from through the Commonwealth gather together to celebrate the tourism industry. There were many in attendance including Ann Marie Casey Executive Director of the NBCVB. Kate Fox of Destination Salem. Corey Atkins State Rep. Tom Kershaw of Cheers with Steve and Rhonda of Woodman’s.”- Elizabeth Carey, Discover Gloucester
Thanks so much, Elizabeth for sharing your photos from the State House. Many of the participants attended last evening’s 20th Anniversary gala at Peabody Essex Museum for Essex National Heritage. Ann Marie was there despite revving up to MC this annual State House conference–she was selected by her many colleagues for that role.
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This Thursday at the Rummie: I’m gonna have to eat my spinach cuz Mr. Evan Goodrow is coming to town! the scrofulous Mr. G is sure to delight you as he always does with his nuclear versions of blues, and assorted popular toons. Always a pleasure.
evan
And he’s dragging in Mr. Dave Moore, foremost funguy drummer to keep the pressure up. I’m gonna need a couple o’ days to recover….
40 Railroad Avenue
Gloucester, MA 01930
(978) 283-9732
Secretary John Kerry reconnected with Mayor Romeo-Theken before he took to the podium to address more than 300 guests attending the Essex National Heritage 20th Anniversary gala at the Peabody Essex Museum. They go way back. Essex National Heritage was designated in 1996 with key support from John Kerry and Ted Kennedy.
20th Anniversay Gala at Peabody Essex Museum L-R: Mayor Romeo-Theken, Gloucester; Secretary John Kerry; Annie Harris CEO Essex National Heritage
Here’s a star, Emily Levin from Essex National Heritage. Everyone who hosts programs over Essex National Heritage fabulous annual Trails & Sails enjoys working with Emily.
The temporary Essex National Heritage illumination is projected above the Halo sculpture by Anish Kapoor.
Emily Levin, Essex National Heritage (20th Anniversary Gala Peabody Essex museum)
ANNOUNCING THE TRAILBLAZERS
4000 votes helped select a few Trailblazer nominees for a special champagne toast representing their mission and all the wonderful cultural resources across 34 towns. Kim Smith was in good company! We toasted the following 2017 Essex National Heritage Area Trailblazers:
1)PRESERVING THIS SPECIAL REGION
1st place | Essex County Greenbelt Association 2nd place | Ipswich River Watershed Association 3rd place | The Cabot
2)CONNECTING PEOPLE TO PLACE
1st place | The Trustees of Reservations 2nd place | Mass Audubon 3rd place |Essex Agricultural Society
surprised Pilar !
3)BUILDING & GROWING OUR FUTURE
1st place — Peabody Essex Museum 2nd place — YMCA of the North Shore 3rd place — Valley View Farm
4)ADVANCING OUR EDUCATIONAL MISSION
1st place (tie) | Lowell’s Boat Shop and The House of Seven Gables 2nd place | Maritime Gloucester 3rd place | Essex Shipbuilding Museum
sailing at the same table: Mayor Romeo Theken, Mary Kay Taylor Schooner Ardelle, Graham Mckay Lowell’s Boatshop Amesbury; Stefan Edick Schooner Adventure. Bill Steelman presenting award to Graham.
Nice detail: the second festive beverage for the reception featured the trio of colors in the Essex National Heritage logo.
Gloucester organizations and partners were featured in the slide loop including: City Hall for Community Preservation, Discover Gloucester, Lannon, Rocky Neck, Schooner Adventure, HarborWalk, Cape Ann Museum.
On April 5 2017 we’re celebrating all of the incredible organizations and people that we’ve spent the last two decades working with to preserve and enhance the significant historic, cultural, and natural places that make Essex County like nowhere else. We are also THRILLED that Secretary John Kerry will joining as the celebrate. Secretary Kerry played a key role in the federal legislation designating the Essex National Heritage Area in 1996!
Who are the Trailblazers and which will receive a toast? The public nominated 131 Trailblazers.  While all Trailblazers will be recognized at the Gala, only a few will be honored with a special toast! The public was invited to vote for which Trailblazers will receive a toast, and the results will be revealed only at the event; toasts will be made at the Gala!
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Blackbird Tree
Female American Wigeon
Gadwall (center), Male Pintail, Mallards, Male and Female American Wigeons 
Good Morning Gloucester 