Good Morning Gloucester

Saturday, December 19, 4PM-6PM enjoy this NEW family tradition as we light up the night with a woodland solstice stroll by candlelight followed by a fire dance, warm fire, and S’mores! 

Stroll by candlelight along Ravenswood’s carriage paths through the woods. Catch a mesmerizing fire dance performance by Tetra, a fire spinner who blends contemporary dance movements with poi spinning. Warm up by the fire and enjoy hot chocolate and S’mores celebrating the coming season.

Members: Adult $10; Child Free. Nonmembers: Adult $25; Child $5; Family $30!

Preregister on our website: www.thetrustees.org  or rlatham@thetrustees.org or 978.281.8400

The Rockport Christmas Tree Committee, now in its 117^th year, is Rockport’s oldest ongoing tradition.

Started in the 1890’s by Rockport grocer Tim Sheehan, the custom of remembrance is carried on today. Members of the Rockport community 80 years of age and older, shut-ins, people with illnesses and others are remembered on Christmas Day with the delivery of a fruit basket and cookies. Residents of area senior housing, nursing homes and local hospitals receive a visit in the days before Christmas. Santa Claus himself visits residents of the Den Mar Nursing Home and presents each with a small basket of fruit and other goodies.

On Christmas morning in Dock Square, Santa arrives at 10:30 and gives all the town’s children a bag of goodies, in the tradition of the 1890’s. 

Santa’s volunteer helpers will meet at Spiran Hall on Broadway at 7:00 PM on December 22 to pack the bags and baskets. On Christmas morning volunteers are welcome at Spiran Hall from 8:30-9:30 AM to deliver baskets. Generations of Rockporters have participated, all you need is a willingness to help, and a smile.

The Committee needs your help to continue this tradition. We rely solely on volunteers and donations. Donations may be mailed to the Rockport Christmas Tree Committee, %Doreen Carter, 2 Mary Helen Way, Rockport, MA 01966 or dropped off at Smith Ace Hardware & Lumber. Donations are tax deductible.

If you have a neighbor or friend who you feel should receive a basket, just let any committee member know, or leave a note with name and address at the Lumber desk at Smith Hardware and Lumber.

Committee members include Dana (Buddy) Woods, Jay Smith, Lisa Littlefield, Doreen Carter, Judy Harris, Mary Helen MacLeod, Linda Johnson, Janice Ramsden, April Beaton, Sally Frithsen, Ruth George, Andrea Ritchie, Chris Murch, Judy Bogage, Mary-Kathryn and Jeff Gray, Darlene Trumbour, Pat Brown, Roger Lesch, Nina Samoiloff, Toni Rowe, Bethany Brosnan and John Thompson.

Another Year and Another Unanimous Decision For The Gloucester MA Lobster Trap Tree As The Without A Doubt Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of The World.

While towns up in Maine are still going back to the same old tired plans trying to make their trees the tallest (by making them horribly disfigured Christmas Spikes Instead of Christmas Trees)  David Brooks and the Gloucester MA community once again made them all pale by comparison.  David Brooks and Gloucester MA is playing chess while Rockland Maine is playing checkers.  But after all these years and crushing their spirits with their horribly disfigured Christmas spikes and them using terrible Chinese sweat shop labor Christmas bows on their trees while Gloucester MA adorns their Lobster trap tree with hand painted buoys made by the angelic youth of  Gloucester.  But this year after the over the top outpouring of support, David Brooks decided to go 3 dimensional on their ass.

You don’t just experience the Gloucester Ma lobster trap tree from the outside, we built this shit so dope that you can actually enter inside the tree and the entire inside is adorned with the beautiful hand painted buoys as well.   They turned the Lobster trap tree game on it’s head.

Hilarious that they thought they could compete.  I feel bad for these other communities, I really do.  Just when they think they have a chance, along comes Brooks and Co just crushing their Christmas dreams.

Kim Smith photo.

In all seriousness, it’s nice that the other communities try  to compete and we wish them nothing but the best during this Christmas season.

Good luck next year, LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!

Gloucester MA Lobster Trap Tree> All Other Lobster Trap Trees

Word on the street is that the makers of the other community lobster trap trees were all infiltrated by moles from the creators of the Land of the Misfit Toys.  True Story.

Community Holiday Sing

December 19, 7:00 pm
Shalin Liu Performance Center, 37 Main Street, Rockport
Music by Triton Brass Quintet, RHS Madrigals, and audience sing-a-long

Nice walk on Cape Hedge Beach right now.  Not a lot of beach right now, but always lots of treasures to discover along the way.

Time to make the traditional “Cuccia Pudding” 

For Sista Felicia’s St. Luccia Recipe click link below

http://m.cook123.com/recipes/saint-lucia-day-pudding.html

  

Photo Cat Ryan

The Little River Stream Naturalization and Restoration  Project is moving toward completion. Started in August of this year, the project, located on the westerly side of Essex Avenue where it crosses over an inlet to the Little River, will remove the remains of a decaying concrete fish ladder and an unused water treatment lagoon installed in 1969.

The fish ladder was intended to assist alewife, smelt and other species to reach Lily Pond, their historic spawning ground. However, over the years the decay of the concrete ladder had become more of a hindrance than a help. The project will restore the natural flow of the stream, eliminate the related unused lagoon and provide a more natural upstream route for  spawning fish. Reduction in future operational and maintenance expenses for the system is expected.

The City of Gloucester  partnered with the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service, the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration, the Massachusetts Audubon Society and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the development and implementation of the project.