Garrison Keillor Quote of the Week from Greg Bover

August 29, 2014

“They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad that I’m going to miss mine by just a few days.”

Gary Edward “Garrison” Keillor (1942-    )

image

The Minnesota native has been the host of the popular radio show “A Prairie Home Companion,” a fixture on NPR since 1974 portraying life in the fictional Midwestern town Lake Wobegon. Thrice married, Keillor’s folksy story telling mixed with literary allusions has been published in the New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and Salon.com.

His liberal politics and opposition to the policies of George W. Bush have raised the ire of some of his conservative listeners, but he has been a sought-after speaker and voice-over artist. Keillor has won the Peabody Award, the National Humanities Award, the Steinbeck Award, a Grammy, and the first Moth Award for excellence in story-telling.

Greg Bover

Community Photos Post 9/6/14 Storm

Hello Joey:
I have been a big fan of Good Morning Gloucester for many years. I live on Salt island Rd and would like to share a few photos from the thunderstorms on 9/6/14.
Let me know what you think!
Thanks,
Nancy Knott

IMG_1118IMG_1131IMG_1168


Just wanted to share a great pic from storm on Saturday taken at the Studio…what a venue to watch an incredible storm!
Enjoy,
Lynne Caruso

image-1


Suset After The Storms From Bex

SunsetAfterSept6_StormsGQ


Sunrise 9/5 from Scott Larsen

sep 5 sunrisephoto

Community Stuff 9/7/14

Hey Joey,
Could you post that a young blue parakeet was found and rescued from two cats on Lincoln ave in downtown Gloucester tonight.
Owner can contact me at songbirder@hotmail.com.
Thanks!
Caroline Haines


seARTS Announces Partner With an Artist Grant Recipients
in Gloucester Harbortown, Rocky Neck and Essex River Cultural Districts

image001

Public invited to join artists and partners for event spotlighting PWA program and exhibitions in all four Cape Ann cultural districts

Gloucester, MA, September 4, 2014: seARTS announced the recipients of its 2014 Partner With an Artist (PWA) grants, which will be used to fund three diverse projects that reflect the breadth of the Cape Ann arts community:
–    an “audio soundscape” that captures the sounds of the historic Essex shipyard;
–    a mural in downtown Gloucester honoring writer Vincent Ferrini; and
–    a silkscreen print of the Rocky Neck Cultural Center building.

Launched in 2008, the seARTS PWA program has provided grants to dozens of artists who have created art in partnership with local businesses.  PWA, seARTS’ signature community arts program, provides grants to artists to create new work — in any medium: visual, performing, multimedia art — in partnership with local businesses.  These installations are generally site-specific and designed to draw the public’s attention to art in everyday places. The PWA program is focused on celebrating the arts, strengthening partnerships with the business community, and promoting a vibrant and culturally rich economy on Cape Ann.
 
These most recent grants –$1,500 for each project — are part of a seARTS PWA effort focused on Cape Ann’s four cultural districts — Essex River, Harbortown, Rocky Neck and Rockport.  A grant was awarded to glass sculptor John Bassett in the Rockport Cultural District in 2012, and the grants announced today will fund artist/business partnerships in the three other districts:
–    in the Essex River Cultural District, Jay Havighurst is partnering with Essex Shipbuilding Museum to create the “audio soundscape” of the Essex shipyard;
–    in Harbortown Gloucester Cultural District, Tricia O’Neill is partnering with the Gloucester Writers Center to create a mural honoring famed writer Vincent Ferrini;
–    in the Rocky Neck Cultural District, Jane Keddy is creating a silkscreen print of the Rocky Neck Cultural Center building, which is the center of that historic artist colony.

The grant recipients were selected by the curators for this current PWA program – Leonie Bradbury and Maggie Cavallo of the Montserrat College of Art in Beverly – who reviewed proposals from all three cultural districts.  Bradbury is director and curator of the Montserrat College of Art Galleries, and Cavallo is curator of education.

Each of these works will be presented in the coming months.  seARTS is holding a special Arts & Cultural Exchange Member Night at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum on Wednesday, September 17, to spotlight the PWA program, the Cape Ann Cultural Districts and the three artists/business partnership grant recipients.  The event will take place from 6pm-8pm at the Water Line Center at the Essex Shipbuilding Museum, 66 Main Street in Essex.

PWA: A History of Creative Collaboration
seARTS Partner With an Artist program is made possible by financial support from
the Bruce J. Anderson and Selma and Andrew Bayness Funds of The Boston Foundation.

Over the past nine years, PWA has brought together artists and business to collaborate on a variety of artwork outside of traditional art spaces, providing high-profile exhibition and career-building opportunities for contemporary artists and creating exposure and economic opportunities for both artists and businesses. 

The Cultural Districts connected to the current PWA effort were designated by the state’s Cultural Council (MCC) — Gloucester’s Rocky  Neck  and  Rockport  Cultural Districts in March 2012, and Gloucester Harbortown and Essex River in 2013. 

About seARTS
seARTS is a coalition focused on cultivating Cape Ann’s position as a world-class center for working artists.  Established in 2000, seARTS is working to help to transform the region’s economy by bridging its maritime heritage and a future powered by the arts. For more information on seARTS, visit www.searts.org .


HOLY FAMILY HARVEST FEST

Come celebrate Autumn at Holy Family on Saturday, October 4, 2014 Sunday, October 5, 2014.  The Fest will begin on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. with homemade Cider Donuts, Pumpkin Muffins and coffee.  If these Fall treats don’t appeal to you, we will have a bakery table with pumpkin, apple and pecan pie and seasonal breads.  And if that still isn’t enough, we will be featuring our famous Italian cookies and Carmel Apples! Brazilian and Lebanese pastries and Portuguese Sweet Bread along with homemade candy and a variety of jams will top off these delectable confections!  Everyone needs a pumpkin on their front step!  A selection of decorated and plain pumpkins will be for sale along with bittersweet, dried hydrangea and wood vines garden art will be available for your Autumn decorations.  Cape Ann is known for the colors of the marshes during the fall season and what better way to start the season than at Holy Family Parish.  See you there!


National Book Award-winning author at Toad Hall Sep. 10

Dear Joey,

One of our most celebrated authors, Julia Glass, makes an appearance at Toad Hall Bookstore in Rockport this Wednesday, Sept. 10, at 7 pm. It’s open to the public and free of charge.

Glass, whose novel “Three Junes” won the National Book Award for fiction in 2002, has recently released her fifth novel, “And the Dark Sacred Night.” She will read from this newest novel, answer questions and sign copies of her books.

“And the Dark Sacred Night,” tells many stories at once. Kit, a husband and father of 10-year-old twins, decides to set aside other priorities and responsibilities to seek the father he never knew. Kit is in his early 40s and the low-level distress he’s experiencing prompts his wife to insist on this road trip. Like a missing puzzle piece, Kit takes his place amid the extended, blended family he discovers and then opens himself up to. Other people, other stories, fall into place. Any many lives change. Glass understands extended family and elegantly notes its value in supporting people like Kit as he tries to find his way as a father and a husband.

Glass builds complex and interesting characters as she slowly spins out her mesmerizing story. Her ability to bind the reader to the page with underlying, low-level tension is one of her defining attributes as a writer of fiction. In “And the Dark Sacred Night,” she manages a deft juggling act, with people and their stories, present and past, all in play at the same time.

Glass was born in Boston. She worked as an editor and freelance journalist in New York City, and now lives in Massachusetts. She studied art at Yale, painted for a while and took up writing in her forties.

For more information, please contact Toad Hall at 978-546-7323.

Good-bye Storm, Hello Sunset!

Check out this gorgeous photo taken by the one and only Rebecca Borden!

“The sunset snuck in over the horizon just as the storm/squall passed.

Weather + Sunset + Gloucester Harbor = Never Gets Old”

Now that’s an end of the day view that I could get used to!

Image

If You Care To Ever See Rubber Duck Alive Again You Better Comply With Our Demands

DSC07938

RD is weary after an extensive day of travel which brought him in and around Cape Ann.

Demands:

Fabric (Floral designs and stripes)

Safety Pins

Needles and Thread

These items need to be dropped off at Hobbit House Gallery On Madfish Wharf Or Else The Duck Becomes Pate.

September 16th or the duck gets it!

Burnham’s Field Now Officially Now Has A Mac Daddy Playground

Holy Cannoli Batman the City’s largest green space play ground in the heart of downtown now has a worthy playground-

What a gorgeous job they did.  Kudos to all those involved.

9/6/14

DSC07958

DSC07953

I missed the Grand Re-Opening but here was the info-

Joey,

Big news from the largest playground and green space in central Gloucester: Burnham’s Field is set to reopen this Saturday after its first major renovation in 30 years! All are invited to the Grand Reopening Event this Saturday at 9 a.m.

image

Thanks!

John McElhenny

Friends of Burnham’s Field 

Sept. 3, 2014

Burnham’s Field to reopen with a splash

Ribbon-Cutting this Saturday, Sept. 6, at 9 a.m. to show improvements to central Gloucester’s largest green space and playground

(Gloucester, MA)—Mayor Carolyn Kirk and Ward 2 City Councilor Melissa Cox invite Gloucester residents to the reopening of the Burnham’s Field Playground on Saturday Sept. 6, 2014. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. followed by a ceremonial “first splash” at the playground’s new spray fountain

The renovation of Burnham’s Field, the largest green space and playground in central Gloucester, is the first major reconstruction of Burnham’s Field in 30 years. The renovation includes two new playgrounds, swings, a spray pad for kids, resurfaced basketball courts, new trees and benches, and a paved path around the field for walking, jogging or riding. The renovation follows the creation of the Burnham’s Field Community Garden in 2011, part of a five-year effort to turn one of Gloucester’s most heavily used fields and playgrounds into a more beautiful, welcoming place for families, children and neighbors.

Mayor Kirk expressed her appreciation for all the hard work that went in to making this improvement happen. “The reopening of the Burnham’s Field Playground culminates a five-year effort by the City and the neighborhood to create a more family-friendly atmosphere for Burnham’s Field. Families with children will enjoy the expanded playground and new spray fountain. Residents of all ages will enjoy the paved pathways and benches that make the Field accessible to all residents.”

Gloucester’s Community Development Department secured state, federal and City Community Preservation grants to fund the project. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Natural Resource Damage program is providing $195,000 towards the $565,000 project cost. The balance of $370,000 is being funded with Federal Community Development Block Grant funds and City Community Preservation Funds.

John McElhenny, a neighbor of Burnham’s Field, said the renovation showed how Gloucester residents and the City can work together. “The renovation of Burnham’s Field shows that in Gloucester, green spaces matter and getting outside and running and playing matter,” said McElhenny, who noted that the new Friends of Burnham’s Field are welcoming donations of trees, park benches and picnic tables to beautify the field. “This renovation is a wonderful first step in making Burnham’s Field a park that every Gloucester resident can be proud of.”

David W. Cash, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, congratulated the City and neighborhood on the success of the project. “We’re happy that residents of all ages can go out and enjoy the outdoor environment that our agency works so diligently to protect. We’re pleased that Gloucester was able to utilize one-time-only funds from a court-ordered landfill closure project to help clean-up a field that was often overlooked in the past.”

Storm is a Brewin’

Well, this is one heck of a storm! Where are the Schraffts during the massive lightening and torrential rainstorms, you may ask? Setting a minnow trap of course.

Best Places to Photograph Butterflies

Monarch Butterfly Gloucester HarborWalk ©Kim Smith 2014

Monarch Butterfly Nectaring at the Gloucester HarborWalk

Reader Gia Vento writes the following:

“Dear Kim,
I met you at the Stoneham Garden Club two years ago.
I’d like to take butterfly photos for my own collection.
Is it too late in the year to do so outdoors?
Can you recommend a good outdoor place where I could capture some images–especially monarchs, other butterflies, ladybugs, and hummingbirds?
I appreciate your time.”
Gia Vento”

My response:

I recall our meeting and so good to hear from you Gia. No, its not too late. Many species of butterflies are on the wing during the late summer and early autumn months, as long as the warm weather holds up. Hopefully, too, the monarch migration will be more successful this year than last. I find the best time of day to see the most species of butterflies is from about 10:30 to about 3ish (generally the warmest and sunniest hours of the day).

The Massachusetts Butterfly Club offers a great publication, The Massachusetts Butterfly Club Guide to Good Butterfly Sites. Several of the best places featured are right here on Cape Ann! Follow this link to purchase the guide from their site (scroll down the webpage about half way): Massachusetts Butterfly Club Guide to Good Butterfly Sites. 

Happy Photographing!

Warmest wishes,

Kim
guide-cover

American Lady Butterfly New York Ironweed ©Kim Smith 2014

Painted Lady Butterfly Nectaring at New York Ironweed, Gloucester HarborWalk

John Sebastian on Aurelia Nelson’s 104.9 Radio Show, Curtain Up tomorrow at 9AM

North Shore 104.9’s Curtain Up host, Aurelia Nelson welcomes Rock n Roll Hall of Famer John Sebastian, of The Lovin’ Spoonful as her guest tomorrow (SUN) morning at 9AM on 104.9FM.

John is a wonderful storyteller, so this show is certainly worth getting up for.  You’ll get a taste of the kind of stories you’ll hear in between his #1 hit songs when he performs next Saturday 9/13 at Gloucester’s UU Church Meetinghouse. GET TICKETS HERE.

Karen McDonald, star of “Doubt” opening at Stoneham Theatre next Friday is Aurelia’s other guest.

What a powerhouse show this will be!

 

Destination Gloucester….celebrity run in.

As if some steamers and a good drink at Halibut Point with a great friend isn’t excellent enough….last night I happened across a wonderful party of about 20 diners out to celebrate a wedding of dear friends.  While we didn’t chat long, the happiness exuding from their large table was palpable and I was so happy to have had the chance to meet them.

The fact that I met them at all stemmed from the fact that some of the younger-than-me wait staff recognized one of the guests as a very handsome actor. Doing my due diligence as a GMG contributor (who happened to be wearing my GMG baseball hat…go figure) I introduced myself and got a bit of the scoop.

Yanic Triesdale, a Canadian actor, also adored in the United States as Michael on The Gilmore Girls in addition to other series and mini-series, is in town to celebrate the destination wedding of dear friends Isabelle Lafleche and very soon-to-be-husband, Patrice.  While, maybe not as recognizable in person to those dining at Halibut, Isabelle is the fantastic, and incredibly beautiful, author of the novels J’Adore New York and J’Adore Paris.  I can’t get to Barnes and Nobles fast enough.  She also happens, as it turns out, to be good friends with GMG’s own, Kim Smith.

They were completely charming and talking with them made me smile.  I was, for the record, incredibly happy to learn that my own dear friend, while recognizing that I was mildly intruding on a rehearsal dinner of sorts, bought the table a couple of bottles of wine in thanks for humoring me.

Excellent examples of friendship on both sides of my iPhone last night.

Cheers to friendship….mine, Kim’s, everyone’s.  Cheers to Isabelle and Patrice on a glorious wedding and a lifetime of happiness. How special that they chose Rockport, of all places, to seal the deal.

Image

Be Afraid Nicole, Be Very Afraid! For GMG Author Nicole Schrafft

This is what will happen if your dog is bit by Nicole Schrafft’s 8 legged friend.

Check out Nicole’s Post on her shower visitor:

https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/yecchy/

Happy Birthday Kathy Chapman

Friend of Good Morning Gloucester and friend of mine, Kathy Chapman, a native of Minnesota, has given us many Gloucester waterfront posts, as well as the popular and long running "Fish on Fridays," in collaboration with our own Marty Luster. She and I have had many discussions about photography, and she's visited and transported me in my medical time of need. As GMG's Donna Ardizzoni told me: "Kathy Chapman has a good heart." And so true. Happy Birthday Kathy. We wish you many more.
Friend of Good Morning Gloucester and friend of mine, Kathy Chapman, a native of Minnesota, has given us many Gloucester waterfront posts, as well as the popular and long running “Fish on Fridays,” in collaboration with our own Marty Luster. She and I have had many discussions about photography, and she’s visited and transported me in my medical time of need. As GMG’s Donna Ardizzoni told me: “Kathy Chapman has a good heart.” And so true. Happy Birthday Kathy. We wish you many more. (Her actual birthday was yesterday, Friday September 5th).

 

Community Stuff 9/6/14

BACK TO SCHOOL : EASTERN POINT DAY SCHOOL

Faculty and students alike want to wish all teachers, parents and students of Cape Ann a great school year ahead! 

IMG_9066IMG_9070


artisan,traditional skills,small business,wood chisels,work shop,

CALVO WOODCARVING SCHOOL still has openings in the fall class schedule.

We offer five-day, three-day, weekly and weekend woodcarving classes.  

I also have room in my forging woodcarving tools workshop in October as well. 

Call for more information  978-283-0231 or check the website: www.davidcalvo.com

Calvo Studio is still looking for new studio space.  Any info or referrals would be appreciated.

warm regards,
David
Calvo Studio
235 East Main St
Gloucester, MA  01930
Tel. 978-283-0231
www.calvostudio.com artisan,traditional skills,small business,wood chisels,work shop,


Sylvia Cohen Religious School Open House!

Temple Ahavat Achim of Gloucester (86 Middle St.) invites everyone to the Sylvia Cohen Religious School Open House this Sunday, September 7th at 11 am!

Come meet our school teachers, students, parents… and take a tour of our beautiful Temple!


Hi – I’m turning to you in hopes you can help –  I’ve looked and looked and cannot find the name of the band that played on the boulevard Saturday night before the fireworks. Does anyone know who they are?  They were fantastic!  

Thanks,

Pam

Well Worn

DSC07920

See that white plastic one in the middle of the pile?  They came out with those about 20 years ago.  Useless.  They only hold about half the bait.  Nice in theory but if you wanna get the job done they suck.  Old school aluminum shovels are the weapon of choice.  Excellent for snow removal as well.  See the cracks?  That’s about what it looks like inside my lower back from all the years of shoveling.

DSC07919DSC07921

Gloucester Featured In Sports Illustrated

Hey Joey,

Gloucester is featured in this Sports Illustrated story:
http://www.si.com/edge/2014/09/04/Cyclocross-bike-race-extreme-physical-conditions

Paul Boudreau | bikes: advocacy & promotion

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike – John F. Kennedy