Good Morning Gloucester

By way of email introduction my name is Lauree Cameron Eckler and I was born and raised in Gloucester, attended Plum Cove, Beeman, Fuller, O’Malley and GHS. As you know a great place to grow up and some of my closest and most well-respected friends are those I grew up with and shared many an adventure with on Cape Ann.  A good friend of mine Rob Mirak has been encouraging me to reach out to you for a long time.  Rob and I are both transplants to Concord/Carlisle but both love to talk about home J and our daughters have become great friends. Most of my family still lives on Cape Ann…my sister owns Sand Castles clothing store in Rockport. 

A couple of years ago, I decided to pursue one of the many things on my list…the fact that Cape Ann needed its own brand…similar to Black Dog or even better Beetlebung on Martha’s Vineyard. I wanted to develop a lifestyle brand that celebrated the history of Cape Ann and the natives who first made Cape Ann their home and the many adventurers who landed on our shores. The brand we finally decided upon was Tragabigzanda as it was the last name given to Cape Ann by John Smith before Prince Charles (with permission of King James of England) changed the name to Cape Ann after his mother Queen Anne of Denmark).  In doing this research, I realized that I really didn’t know all of the history and the many names that Cape Ann was before it was Cape Ann and I realized there are many natives, current residents and tourists who don’t know either.  

Our hang tags tell a bit of the story as does our website www.tragabigzandacapeann.com …and we will begin to feature bit and pieces of the story and legends on our FB page and through pictures on Instagram.  We are having lots of fun designing our practical and super comfortable Tragabigzanda apparel & accessories.  We currently sell our Tragabigzanda products on line, at Sand Castles in Rockport and at the Annisquam Exchange during the summer months and hope to continue to expand our line and eventually open a store on Cape Ann. 

Central Street Gallery (CSG) will be holding an inventory clearance until Christmas Eve featuring 20% off selected works. On December 31st, the Central Street Gallery (CSG) will be leaving its gallery space and transitioning to an online presence and future satellite shows. CSG has spent a wonderful eight and a half years at its present location at 11 Central Street in Manchester-by-the-Sea.

CSG will continue on with an online presence via its website www.centralstreetgallery.com, its electronic newsletter, Facebook and will retain its phone number – 978-526-7650.  It will also be an active participant in the annual Festival by the Sea and other art-related events in  town, e.g. paint-outs, quick draw competitions.

Central Street Gallery would like to thank the community for its support and patronage over these years.  The Gallery opened in 2008 just two months before the economy took a significant downturn.  Despite these challenges,the gallery not only survived but thrived. The fourteen artist members are very grateful for the opportunity they have had to display and sell their work in a community that has a deep appreciation for the arts.  The decision to close CSG’s doors has not been an easy one, however, the sale of the building earlier this year moved the decision forward.

Please stop by to say good-by and to make sure that you are on our mailing list.  In addition to the work displayed in the current show, the artists will have additional pieces of work at very attractive prices. For more information, please go to: www.centralstreetgallery.com or call: 978-526-7650.

This Mathews Family Christmas card was from 2011 when the Greasypole fell down…our dog Gracey almost got the flag lol!

Previous cards in case you missed them…