Good Morning Gloucester

Lanesville Prescholl

Lanesville Preschool has limited openings for the fall. We are a small, play-based program blending academic school readiness, social skills, and developmentally appropriate learning for children ages 2.9-6.  We  Visit lanesvillepreschool.com or call Meghan MacLaughlin, Director, 978-270-1896 for more information.
Meghan MacLaughlin
Lanesville Preschool Center
978-270-1896

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SeniorCare Inc. Annual Awards Dinner

Executive Office of Elder Affairs Secretary Alice F. Bonner will be the Keynote speaker at SeniorCare’s 43^rd Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner Thursday, September 24, 2015 at Cruiseport Gloucester. The doors open at 5:45, the dinner and awards will begin at 6:30.

SeniorCare Inc. will present three awards to highly deserving community members: The Rosemary F. Kerry Community Service Award will be presented to Susan Thorne, Volunteer and Community Advocate; the Myra L. Herrick Outstanding Older American Award will be presented to Robert (Bob) Blanchard, Wenham Fire Chief; and the Board of Directors Community Partners Special Recognition will be presented to Tim Riley, Executive Director, Action Inc.

Join SeniorCare as we recognize our awardees’ dedication to the community and celebrate 43 years of serving our nine communities: Beverly, Essex, Gloucester, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rockport, Topsfield, and Wenham.

SeniorCare Inc., a consumer centered organization, provides and coordinates services to elder and others, enabling them to live independently at home or in a setting of their choice while remaining part of their community. SeniorCare is federally designated as an Area Agency on Aging (AAA) and designated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an Aging Service Access Point (ASAP).

To purchase tickets or learn about sponsorship opportunities please call Kelly Knox, Development Officer, at 978-865-3540.

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Police Chief Leonard Campanello and Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken are very excited to announce that the Gloucester Police Department’s ANGEL Initiative has now helped more than 100 people suffering from the disease of addiction by placing them into treatment centers nationwide.

As of Thursday morning, 109 people have voluntarily presented to the Gloucester Police and all have been successfully placed into treatment programs through the Gloucester Initiative since June 1, when the program began. 

Every person who has come into the station asking for help has been placed into treatment. No one has been sent away, thanks to the hard work of the Gloucester Police Department and its effort to forge partnerships with treatment centers who are willing to take people in, regardless of their insurance or financial situations. 

Demographics are still being calculated, and several participants have been homeless, but work done so far indicates that approximately:

• 40 percent are from Gloucester and Cape Ann

• 16 percent have came from outside of Massachusetts to Gloucester seeking help

• 79 percent of participants are under age 30 (9 percent under 19, 20 percent between 20-24, and 50 percent age 25-29)

• 70 percent of participants are male and 30 percent are female

• Participants have been brought to 20 different treatment centers in six states

“At first we were uncertain that we would get anyone voluntarily coming into the police department to seek treatment,” Chief Campanello said. “But from the moment we launched The Gloucester Initiative, we continue to see people of all ages and backgrounds come through our doors looking for assistance and we have placed every, single one of them into treatment.”

The Gloucester ANGEL Initiative allows people who suffer from addiction to turn over their remaining drug supply and paraphernalia to the Gloucester Police Department without the threat of arrest. Those in need of help are put into treatment programs as opposed to jail cells. The policy went into effect last month in an effort to address a growing opioid addiction epidemic and to reduce the number of overdoses in Massachusetts. Click here to view the official police policy document.

Over 40 treatment centers from Massachusetts, all the way across the country to California, have partnered with The Gloucester Initiative to offer their detox and recovery services to patients, regardless of a participant’s financial means or insurance. Additional treatment partners are being added weekly.

“It is a truly momentous occasion to surpass 100 participants,” Mayor Romeo Theken said. “I commend the work of all those involved. This is a testament to the hard work and dedication by Chief Campanello and the Gloucester Police Department, our treatment center partners and volunteers.”

Due to the success of The Gloucester Initiative, and the immediate positive feedback from local, state and national organizations, Chief Campanello and businessman John Rosenthal launched The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.), which supports The Gloucester Police Angel Initiative as well as other local police departments as they replicate aspects of The Gloucester Initiative and work with people suffering from the dreadful disease of opioid addiction.

“The Gloucester Police Initiative has already saved lives and helped change the national conversation about recognizing opioid addiction as a chronic disease vs. a crime that we can’t arrest our way out of,” said stated PAARI co-founder John Rosenthal. “Law enforcement’s loud voice and compassionate involvement combined with business community partners, have begun to raise awareness about how to treat opioid addiction like diabetes, cancer or any other dreadful chronic illness. PAARI looks forward to continuing to work with law enforcement agencies, treatment providers, pharmacies and elected officials across the Country.”

Less than a month after The Gloucester Initiative began, the Arlington Police Department, with financial assistance from P.A.A.R.I., launched its own program to respond to drug addiction in town, called The Arlington Outreach Initiative. The Methuen Police Department followed suit, and this month, the Andover Police Department implemented similar new opioid addiction protocols. 

Lee County and the Dixon, Ill Police Department followed on Wednesday, partnering with P.A.A.R.I. to start a program designed to encourage people suffering from opioid addiction to seek the help of police officers and sheriff’s deputies, who would then place them into treatment. Lee County and Dixon became the first agencies to directly implement the Gloucester intake model.

“We are incredibly encouraged by the response The Gloucester Initiative is receiving as evidenced by programs launching in Arlington, Methuen, Andover and now Dixon, Ill,” Chief Campanello said. “We are thrilled by this momentum and are committed to assisting more people struggling with the disease of addiction.”

Seafood Throwdown is coming back to Cape Ann Farmers Market Thursday, August 20 from 4 – 6 p.m. at Stage Fort Park. This unique cooking competition brings local chefs, fisheries advocacy organizations, local food vendors, and food advocates together to talk about why local seafood should matter to us.

This year, the Seafood Throwdown will focus on the current efforts to label genetically modified foods.

The two teams going knife-to-knife at this year’s Seafood Throwdown are Mark Delaney of Common Crow Natural Market and Chef David Gauvin Dining Services Director at Addison Gilbert Hospital.

The Seafood Throwdown is a collaboration between Cape Ann Farmer’s Market, the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance (NAMA) and the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association and their Community Supported Fishery project Cape Ann Fresh Catch. Seafood Throwdowns started here in 2008 and now spread up to Canada, down the east coast and up the west coast. NAMA partners with local communities to host Seafood Throwdowns in order to promote the ecological and social benefits of locally caught seafood, the impact of local fishing fleet on the local economy, and role of seafood in our food systems.

Cape Ann Farmers Market is held every Thursday from 3 – 6:30 through October 9th. Always plenty of FREE parking right across the street on Market days. Seafood Throwdown is a free event and begins at 4pm.

A spectacular sunset view from the Annisquam this evening thanks to Paul and Betsey Horovitz.

The man at the wheel has witnessed many storms like the micro-burst that hit the Boulevard Saturday evening. This photo was not taken on Saturday, but I think of it every time we get walloped.

E.J. Lefavour

Opening Hidden Doors: The Unifying Power of Art

Third Tuesdays Program Reconnects Older Adults to Art and Their Community

The Cape Ann Museum announces the beginning of a unique new program, CAM Connections Third Tuesdays, which brings Cape Ann art, culture and history to older adults in the local community, and invites individuals with memory challenges and their care partners to be part of the experience. The program offers meaningful engagement with the Museum collection through small group conversation in the galleries on the third Tuesday of each month from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon.

The heart of the Third Tuesdays program is to create a welcoming space for open-ended discussion, art appreciation and reflection. Art is for everyone. The Third Tuesdays museum experience of slowing down to explore the world of a painting, object or artifact stimulates wonder, and ignites new ideas and discoveries for participants. Looking at art can open the door to express an idea or feeling, find a personal vision, or unlock an instinct. After a recent CAM Connections tour, Pippy Guiliano, museum guide expressed the many ways the experience stimulated ideas and was unifying, “We had another wonder-filled visit. The level of engagement was palpable. Conversation was off and running … progressed easily covering painting techniques and composition, technology, poetry, color effects, people mellowing with age, inner and outer light.… Our souls were soothed and our minds tuned up in the warmth of camaraderie.”

Third Tuesdays promotes active engagement with the arts as a bridge to reduce isolation and offer an enriching art and culture experience. The Cape Ann Museum, a regional center of art, history and culture with a treasured collection, invites the personal and collective history of older adults with ties to the region, past or present, to be part of the Third Tuesdays experience. The role of the Museum as a community center, bringing people back into connection with their own essential history and with others, helps to form new connections in an atmosphere of mutual fun, growth and learning.

If you are interested in learning more about CAM Connections Third Tuesdays tour program, or would like to make a reservation, please call Cara White at (978)283-0455 x24 or email carawhite@capeannmuseum.org.

This is for sure one of my favorite little getaways with the boys ever.  We do lots of one night trips whenever possible and a quick trip to Mystic, CT has been one of our annual overnights.  This year we went for two nights and did much more than usual.  So, lucky you, you get to look forward to a 2nd post all about the Mystic Seaport tomorrow…but, for now…the Mystic Aquarium is a must see for families with young kids.

They simply do everything right.

Call me a hypocrite if you’d like.  I get the whole “wild animals don’t belong in captivity” argument…and what’s more, I typically agree.  I will never take the boys to go see a circus and I will not visit zoos or aquariums that do not have adequate habitats for their animals.  That having been said, if the animals are clearly well-cared for and the habitats are gorgeous…and even more importantly, the facility has a reputation and clear mission for conservation and animal aid, then I am ok.

In my humble opinion, the Mystic Aquarium does all of that and more.  It is a fantastic place for young children to learn and laugh and is an incredible facility on many levels.

Please read all about it HERE!  MYSTIC AQUARIUM

One of the boys’ favorite things to do is help feed the critters.  Finn, in particular, always seems to bond on a whole new level.