Good Morning Gloucester

by Doug Brendel

That lovely chill in the air? That’s our beloved New England winter, whispering “Here I come!”

As temps start sledding downhill each autumn, Ipswich’s Ascension Memorial Episcopal Church takes steps to make sure no one in the community lacks warm clothing.

So for the 16th year (with only 2020 off due to the pandemic), Ascension will host a “Winter Warm Up” sale.

Ipswich-area residents are invited to donate new or gently used winter clothing — warm coats, jackets, sweaters, hats, scarves, mittens and gloves, socks, snow pants, snow boots, slacks, etc. 

Church volunteers will sort the clothing by type, style, and size, then arrange a pop-up department-store-style market in the church’s Boone Hall gymnasium. There, the goods will be offered at extremely low prices. (There will even be fitting rooms, complete with mirrors.)

“This is never a fundraiser for the church,” says Ralph Johnson, chair of the church’s outreach committee, which organizes the event. “The idea is to make sure people can stay warm, regardless of income level. Whatever money we collect will actually go to Ipswich Caring and Birth to Three.”

What types of clothing donations are needed most?

“We always hope to receive winter coats for all ages, and outdoor clothes for school-age children,” Ralph says.

To participate, make your clothing contributions (winter clothes only, no summer gear, and nothing torn or dirty) in either of two ways: 

(1)  Drop clothing between 9 a.m. and noon at the Ascension Church gym, 31 County St., Ipswich, on Saturday, October 15th, or Saturday, October 22nd.

(2)  Deposit clothing in designated collection bins at Ipswich Town Hall, 25 Green St., Ipswich (located upstairs at the gym and downstairs at the Council on Aging) beginning October 1st, anytime Town Hall is open.

After this perennially pleasant event, unclaimed clothing will go to groups like Second Glance in Gloucester, St. Paul’s thrift shop in Boston, the Salvation Army, veterans’ groups, hospitals, and others. So you can be confident that any winter-clothing contribution you make to this project will go to someone in need.

The sale itself will occur at the church gym from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on both Saturday, October 29th, and Sunday, October 30th.

On those days, feel free to pick up Winter Warm Up clothing not only for yourself but for the benefit of others you might share warm clothing with. 

Questions about the Winter Warm Up Sale? Contact parish communications administrator Bob Morelli at (978) 356-2560 or amcipswich@verizon.net.

A lot of places claim to have the best homefries. Let me tell you, these ARE the best homefries in town.

Chef Dan is the real deal-

Hello Joey,

Please allow me to introduce myself – my name is Julie Covert, I, along with my husband, Capt. Hugh Covert, and our crew are visiting Gloucester, MA with our tall ship, Schooner Huron Jewel. Although tall ships are a common sight in Gloucester, we have a unique story that one of your readers, Bob Driscoll of Vintage 211, said that we should contact you about as he felt you and your viewers would be interested in our story.

We are on a nine month goodwill tour, the Dream Inspiration Tour. Our mission is to put smiles on people’s faces by giving them free dockside tours of the schooner and more importantly to encourage people to follow their dreams to make them happen – it was our dream to build a schooner, which we did after emptying out our savings and retirement accounts. Now we are sailing to inspire others by our example to make their dreams a reality.

This is Capt Hugh’s ninth boat that he has built, he also designed her. He and I built her over the course of 2 1/2 years where we live on Drummond Island, MI and launched her in 2018. We departed Michigan on August 20, 2022 and have now traveled over 2200 nautical miles, through the Great Lakes, St Lawrence Seaway, to the East Coast and are now making our way south.

For our Gloucester stop we are docked at and partnering with Ocean Alliance (www.whale.org), to offer free dockside tours during our stay. We’re also helping to tell people about the importance of Ocean Alliance’s research work and why it’s important to keep trash where it belongs and keep the oceans clean so the marine environment can stay healthy.

We had planned to only be here a couple of days, but the high wind and waves from storms spawned by the hurricanes are preventing us from leaving until this coming week, so we will be here offering free tours for a few more days and want to get the word out.

We would be happy for you to come see the ship and do a story about us to let people in the area know they can come visit.

As I have limited email I’m best reached by phone or text at xxxxxxccx to answer your questions.

More information about our tour can be found at www.ditallship.com/dreamtourHere is a news story about our arrival in Oswego, NY https://www.nny360.com/artsandlife/artsandentertainment/port-of-oswego-to-host-tall-ship-sunday-aug-28/article_2778ece4-2967-5e07-838f-c16617244dd3.html

Best regards,

Julie

Capt Hugh and Julie Covert
Sailing to Inspire Others to Follow Their Dreams
www.ditallship.com/dreamtour

Summer’s End…

I’m Carla reaching out from NeedyMeds to share with GMG readers that October is the 37th annual BeMedWise Talk About Your Medicines Month all about Medication Safety & Aging. We’re hoping everyone will visit – and share – the page we’ve created which is chock-full of super helpful, informative resources, info, and tools on helping older patients stay med-safe. We’re also so excited to offer our heartfelt thanks to Beth Israel Lahey Health Beverly and Addison Gilbert Hospitals and Cape Ann Savings Bank for their generous support of this initiative.

Photos: Jackie Bennett

The wonderful Essex Shipbuilding Museum is currently hosting a portion the the traveling Smithsonian exhibit “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” and it’s well worth a ride over for a look-see. It’s the first time since its 1994 inception that the Museum on Main Street program has come to Massachusetts. It is open through Oct 22 and is spread out over 3 Essex locations: The Essex Shipbuilding Museum, the EHSSM Schoolhouse and Essex Town Hall. For additional information on hours and other details, click here.

The Smithsonian can be counted on for quality presentations and this is no exception. The exhibit presents various aspects of rural America over the last century. It’s well set up and contains a great deal of content and thought provoking materials. AND it’s free!

The day I visited, I was unable to go to the Schoolhouse portion of the exhibit as it had to unexpectedly close. But I did view the portions of the exhibit in the Essex Shipbuilding yard and at Town Hall (3rd floor). I had not realized the exhibit was set up in this manner, but I think you can get a great deal out of it even if you can’t get to all the locations. It can be a little confusing, but look for the well placed signage for guidance.

Photos taken at shipyard and Town Hall:

In

Joey

Chris

Katelyn (with one mulligan)

Drew Hale

Lindsay Hale

TJ (with two mulligans)

Jimmy Dalpiaz

Chris Thompson (with a 12 year head start)

Craig Kimberley

OUT

Pat

Paula Ryan OBrien

Susan Gould Coviello

Annie Rochon

Cathy Barlow

Lynn & Phil Scannel

Gamber

GLOUCESTER – Mayor Greg Verga and the City of Gloucester report that a temporary ban on all non-essential outdoor water use is being extended through the end of October, and that a ban on outdoor fires is being lifted.

Recent rains have helped reduce fire danger by wetting soil and brush, so the ban on outdoor fires is being lifted to allow burning in accordance with City regulations. Reservoirs continue to be low, so the ban on non-essential outdoor water use is being extended to help maintain a reliable water supply.

The City implemented a two-week ban on all non-essential outdoor water use due to drought conditions beginning on Sept. 1.

Outdoor burning with a chiminea or outdoor fireplace is once again allowed without a permit from the fire department as long as residents meet the following conditions laid out in city ordinances:

• The fire and/or smoke does not pose a hazard to any property;
• The smoke does not create a nuisance or health hazard in the neighborhood;
• Only ordinary firewood shall be burned in the chiminea or outside fireplace; no construction debris, leaves, household trash, hazardous waste, or chemicals may be burned at any time;
• The chiminea or outdoor fireplace shall be on a non-combustible surface at grade-level (i.e. not on a deck) and is not under any type of overhang, roof, or canopy;
• A water supply or fire extinguisher capable of extinguishing the fire is within 75 feet of the chiminea or outdoor fireplace;
• The fire shall be constantly attended by a competent person until the fire is extinguished;
• Fires shall not be located within 25 feet of a structure or combustible material;
• All conditions that could cause fire to spread from the area adjacent to the device shall be eliminated prior to ignition;
• Flammable liquids shall not be used to ignite the fire.
• The fire chief or his designee may order any outside fire permitted by this section to be extinguished in response to a complaint or hazardous condition.

Despite some recent rainfall, drought conditions persist and the City’s water capacity remains at just 48 percent. The status of the ban will be reevaluated on Nov. 1. The ban may be lifted if conditions change significantly before the end of the month.

The Northeast Region of Massachusetts remains in a Level 3 Critical Drought. Per MassDEP, this level of drought warrants such a ban on all non-essential outdoor water use. DEP considers “essential” water use as:

• for health or safety reasons
• by regulation
• for the production of food and fiber
• for the maintenance of livestock
• to meet the core functions of a business

Failure to adhere to the restrictions can lead to the imposition of fines.

“I want to thank our residents and business owners for their cooperation throughout this drought, and ask that we all do our part to maintain a reliable water supply,” said Mayor Verga. “Despite drought conditions persisting and affecting the water supply, fire danger has been reduced by recent, much-needed rainfall, so we are lifting the ban on outdoor fires in accordance with city ordinances. We ask residents to be responsible when burning and to prioritize safety.”