From Chris Lovasco’s Announcement:

I’m excited to announce that we have completed our four-month-long Executive Search process. We were thrilled with the caliber of applicants we interviewed from our local area as well as across the country. It is my great pleasure to share with you that Erina McWilliam-Lopez has accepted the role of Executive Director of the Cape Ann YMCA, beginning July 11, 2022.

Many of you may be familiar with Erina as the creator and owner of Bliss Bites Cafe at our Y. This was where we were first introduced to Erina’s entrepreneurial talents, dedication to socially responsible business, and passion for community. Erina has more than a decade of professional experience successfully developing and implementing social impact programming for institutions including The Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Silicon Valley, Lynn University in Boca Raton Florida, and the Intentional Endowments Network in Greater Boston.  

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Salem State University and a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey California.

Having grown up in Gloucester, Erina is a part of our community. She lives and understands the importance of our Y core values, mission, commitment to healthy living, youth development, and social responsibility. She has enthusiasm, optimism, and passion for Cape Ann and is ready to inspire, engage and support our members, staff, and program participants while leading our Y forward.

Erina lives in Cape Ann with her husband and two children. When she’s not thinking big and creating impact, she enjoys reading, playing soccer with her son, and doing as many group exercise classes at the Y as possible!

Please join me in welcoming Erina to the Cape Ann YMCA team.

Chris Lovasco
President & CEO
YMCA of the North Shore

You know you want them. You know you need them. 😂

Sista Felicia got me these.

Click here for the link to purchase

Ommmm…

Reservation at Tock or visit www.sushisanglee.com

We will be closed from 1/12 – 1/29. Reopen in February 2nd.

Hello.  I am a visitor from Atlanta GA.  I understand there is a person in Gloucester who picks up shells, paints them, and puts them back out for us to find and cherish.

By any chance do you know who that is and how I can contact?  I recently found a bag of shells (s)he might be able to use in my sister’s basement.

I can be reached by phone/text at 404-909-2701 or via email at chrisco1000@yahoo.com.

I will be here through 1/10/2023.

Thank you.

What trash. I mean I’ve suffered through some terrible coffee before but not this garbage.

Two sips and dumped out. whole Foods coffee is horrrrible.

🤮

I somehow let my Cape Ann Museum membership lapse so we went down to rectify that situation and took some extra time to check out the new exhibits and re-visit old favorites. It is unfailingly relaxing and enlightening to visit the Cape Ann Museum. If you haven’t been there in a while, take the time to check it out. The Sawyer Free Library offers free museum passes to this and other fine establishments. There are also times of the year when admission is free (Cape Ann residents free admission second Saturday of the month year round for example).

Please note this update from the Cape Ann Museum website: The museum will be closed to the public for renovations Tuesday January 24th 2023 – Sunday February 5th 2023 and will reopen and resume normal hours Tuesday February 7th 2023

Regardless, Jim and I each strongly recommend a visit and support with membership if you are able. Until you get there yourself though, here are some recent images:

Things were about normal for the end of the year.

Project Elm

Making Cape Ann GREEN again, one tree at a time.

Reserve Your Trees Now At This Link

Our 2022 plantings are complete—an additional 75 trees are in the ground all over Cape Ann! Thank you planting volunteers, donors and elm tree stewards! And a tremendous thank you to the Rockport Garden Club for their $2,000, 2022 Community Project Grant!

We are now taking orders for 2023 as we aim for 1000 Elm trees planted in 10 years—only 825 to go! Buy one or two for yourself, gift a tree or trees for someone else, or pay it forward and fund any number of trees to be planted across Cape Ann in 2023.

Thank you!

About the Project

Rockport and Gloucester, Massachusetts, like so many US communities, were once blessed by the presence of glorious, vase-like American Elm trees along most of their streets, lanes and avenues. The 80-100+ foot trees were planted on Cape Ann in the mid-1800s to grace our communities for future generations.  Rockport’s Dock Square had an elm planted by Ebenezer Pool in 1859 alongside the town pump, and the top of Pigeon Hill had two side by side named Loring and Rebecca that could be seen for miles from sea and helped guide local fishermen home from their journeys for over a century.  Just about every street had a dozen or more elms to shade the landscape and create a cathedral-like setting that now lingers only in the memories of older generations. 

Tragically, in the mid-1930s, with the onset of Dutch Elm Disease, every elm tree was endangered, and millions were lost. By 1980, Cape Ann streets were nearly empty of these once towering, verdant icons.

In 2021, Project Elm was launched out of a desire to repopulate Cape Ann’s streets and byways with disease-resistant American Elm cultivars that, when planted street, road and laneside, would not only beautify our landscape but have a positive, local impact to help our world when climate change threatens so much. 

With generous funding from Awesome Rockport and Awesome Gloucester, in just three weeks in 2021, 100 American Elms were planted all over Rockport and Gloucester by a dozen dedicated volunteers in a 100% grass roots effort to make a difference for our residents, visitors, and our earth. 

Join us in this effort by planting an elm streetside on your property, or join the campaign to fund those who do.  Thank you!

Watch This Project Elm Documentary