Hello there!
I’m a milliner, with my studio carved out of a corner in my East Gloucester shop, Scout Vintage Finds. I hand-craft hats using time-honored millinery techniques and tools. I use wool & fur felt, straw, or buckram to create the basic hat shape, then finish and trim by hand, using vintage trims and findings.
Hats in process:
A few vintage hat blocks. A block determines the shape of the hat, and can be literal (lower left), or perhaps a bit science-fiction-y, like the one on the right. This block will yield a hat that, after being blocked (using intense heat and steam) and dried, will have those side bumps pushed in, with the small creases left by those ridges stitched into place; the lower portion of the hat below the block’s “waist” will fold up and under, to create a finished, inside band. Blocks can demand vision and faith from both the milliner and client, as it’s sometimes a visual leap from block to finished piece. Blocks are virtually always hand carved from hardwoods like maple, walnut, poplar, etc., and are beautiful objects themselves.

These particular blocks belong to Wayne Wichern, a dear friend of mine & master milliner, whose San Francisco workshops I take at every opportunity:
A felt hat starts with this…
…and can become this. I name my hats after vintage cocktails; this is the “Third Rail.”
Inspiration is essential:
I love making hats! When I’m not away making hats for far-flung theatrical productions, I’m making hats at Scout – and when I’m not at Scout, I’m dreaming about making hats.
Scout is open Thursday-Sunday 11-6, and by appointment. I always, always welcome hat chat!

I welcome custom hat orders, and that I offer millinery classes & workshops. 
Scout Vintage Finds is located at 186 East Main St. (across from Beacon Marine);
 I can be reached at (978) 290-0533.

Ciao!
Scout King

www.facebook.com/scoutfinds

Ryan & Wood Distillery wins 2013 “Best of New England – Editors’ Choice” in Yankee Magazine

Ryan & Wood Distillery has been recognized as a 2013 “Editors’ Choice” winner for Best Distillery Tour in Yankee Magazine’s Travel Guide to New England, on newsstands now. This designation is awarded by Yankee’s editors and contributors, who select restaurants, lodgings, and attractions in New England for the exclusive list. For 37 years, Yankee Magazine’s Travel Guide to New England has been the most widely distributed and best-selling guide to the six-state region.

President Bob Ryan noted that he was particularly honored to be recognized for his tours. “From the start, we aimed to embrace tourism as part of our business. We are proud to bring people to Gloucester and draw attention to the region.” Bob’s wife Kathy, who leads most of the tours, added “giving tours requires a big portion of our day but it’s time well spent. We are happy to have a great mix of locals from the community and visitors from all over the world. We try to represent Cape Ann with each tour and each bottle.”

Distillery tours are offered twice-daily Monday through Saturday at 10:00am and 1:00pm. On any given day visitors may witness fermenting vats of molasses for Folly Cove Rum, hand-milling of grains for Ryan & Wood Straight Rye Whiskey, or perhaps Bob himself at the still, taste-testing his distillation of Beauport Vodka or Knockabout Gin.

Yankee Magazine’s May/June 2013 Travel Guide, on newsstands April 23, features 317 “Best of New England — Editors’ Choice” winners, which include the region’s best attractions, food & dining, lodging, and bargains.

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Don’t miss the ANNISQUAM SEWING CIRCLE’S ANNUAL PLANT SALE!

Saturday, May 25, 2013

8-11 AM

At the Annisquam Exchange, Leonard Street, Off Rte. 127

The PLANT SALE includes perennial plant treasures dug from members’ gardens at bargain prices, plus a wide array of the freshest, bright annuals and perennials from a leading garden center. There will be hanging baskets, bedding plants, roses, and some exotic plants.

Not to be missed is our BAKE SALE TABLE with delicious pies, cakes, and savory treats. Many items will be prepared from recipes in the Sewing Circle’s award-winning cookbook, “A Circle of Recipes,” which commemorated the 175^th Anniversary of the organization. These popular cookbooks will be on sale at the Plant Sale.

Come early for the best selection at this popular holiday weekend event! The plant sale is in charming Annisquam, Gloucester, off Rte. 127. Turn at Leonard Street at the Annisquam Village Church and continue to the Annisquam Exchange.

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Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon

Cindy Cafasso Donaldson, Vice President of Addison Gilbert Hospital expresses her appreciation to David Murray, Addison Gilbert Hospital volunteer for his nearly 3,500 hours of service.  

A appreciation luncheon was held for volunteers at Addison Gilbert Hospital, Beverly Hospital and Beverly Hospital at Danvers at The Essex room at Woodman in Essex on April 26.  This enjoyable event provided an opportunity for administration and staff to thank 350 volunteers who provided more than 41,000 hours of service last year.

Prior to the delicious luncheon, music was performed by The Ray Novack Trio. 

They’re Back!

Left at 7:05pm 4/30/2013

Maybe Marty or Fred can find this Rock.

Do you know where it is.

Fred Bodin (https://www.facebook.com/BodinHistoricPhoto) and I have a problem. We’ve been trying to locate this 30foot high boulder, but we have not yet found it.

You would think that something this large would be hard to miss. Google Earth, drive-by observations and even a few tentative walks in the woods have not revealed its location.  There are, however, a few clues.

Fred has uncovered a letter dated February 26, 1912 from Edwin D.Mellen of Cambridge to Samuel S. Dearborn of Boston which mentions photographs taken in 1891 and refers to the “round boulder at West Gloucester.” He also notes a second photo of a view of the Annisquam that was “taken from in front of the boulder at the edge of the cliff.”

Here is the letter:

 And here is the second photo:

 So seems pretty clear that the large boulder is somewhere on the west side of the Annisquam, perhaps high above Wingaersheek Beach.

Unless someone identifies this landmark soon, Fred and I will have to do the unthinkable: get out of the car and perform a scientific grid search of the entire area. That means exercise.

Please save us from that frightening prospect and share with us any information you have regarding the boulder’s whereabouts. SOMEONE OUT THERE KNOWS WHERE THIS ROCK IS.

All images  © Fredric D Bodin

May 4 – Garnet Rogers
with Chris Pahud and Seth Connelly
Tickets $16; at door $18, 65 or over: $10, under 18: $5.  Advance tickets can be gotten at http://www.rockportucc.org/May04-2013.htm, Toad Hall Bookstore, or Gloucester Music.

Garnet Rogers

In a darkened bedroom, lit only be the amber glow from an old floor model radio, two young brothers aged 6 and 12 lay in their beds, listening to the country music broadcasts from the Grand Ol’ Opry, and practiced their harmonies.  Two years later, the youngest one was playing the definitive 8-year-old’s version of “Desolation Row” on his ukulele.  He soon abandoned that instrument to teach himself the flute, violin and guitar.

Within ten years, and barely out of high school, Garnet Rogers was on the road as a full- time working musician with his older brother Stan.  Together they formed what has come to be accepted as one of the most influential acts in North American folk music.

Since then, Garnet Rogers has established himself as “One of the major talents of our time”.  Hailed by the Boston Globe as a “charismatic performer and singer”, Garnet is a man with a powerful physical presence – close to six and a half feet tall – with a voice to match.  With his “smooth, dark baritone” (Washington Post), his incredible range, and his thoughtful, dramatic phrasing, Garnet is widely considered by fans and critics alike to be one of the finest singers anywhere.  His music, like the man himself, is literate, passionate, highly sensitive, and deeply purposeful.  Cinematic in detail, his songs “give expression to the unspoken vocabulary of the heart” (Kitchener Waterloo Record).  An optimist at heart, Garnet sings extraordinary songs about people who are not obvious heroes and of the small victories of the everyday.  As memorable as his songs, his over-the-top humor and lightning-quick wit moves his audience from tears to laughter and back again.

“He mixes the powerful and the gentle and demonstrates his mastery of both…One of the major talents of our time.” – The Boston Globe

 

Chris Pahud and Seth Connelly

Chris Pahud grew up in Needham Massachusetts and currently resides in Quincy. Chris started playing guitar and singing in the local Boston area around a decade ago.  Chris’s latest CD “Red Sky in Morning” was released in the summer of 2009.  Produced and mastered by Seth Connelly (who will perform with Chris at Old Sloop Coffeehouse), it also includes Seth on bass, piano, mandolin and guitars, Garnet Rogers on guitars and vocals, Youngbloods co-founder Jerry Corbitt on guitars and fretless bass, former Del Fuego percussionist Joe Donnelly, Jr. on drums, Hatrack Gallager on harmonicas, and Steafan Hannigan on whistles, Uilleann pipes, bouzouki and bodhran.

“Chris Pahud sings with all his heart, and his heart is huge. His voice and songs come from such a beautiful place, I smile every time I hear him sing… and witness him doing what comes so natural to him… ” – Mary Gauthier – Lost Highway recording artist

Seth Connelly is highly appreciated and recognized by listeners and musicians alike as a talented singer/songwriter, guitarist, instrumentalist, producer, arranger, teacher and accompanist.  A talented singer and song writer, Seth’s songs move listeners.  He “…realizes that music is the one thing that reaches out to all of us… no matter what language we speak.”