Tag: Annisquam

Union Congregational Church, Magnolia joins bell ringing in unison Easter Sunday at 10am

Posted on by Catherine

Susan Dalton shares a vintage postcard image and message from Magnolia that

 

 

Dierdre Savage’s message of the bells was shared. Pastor Abram Kielsmeir-Jones confirmed that the Union Congregational Church, Magnolia will particpate in the bell ringing event 10AM Easter Sunday.

Like Dierdre, Susan explains that she’s originally from New York and “wanted to mention that Magnolia’s Union Congregational Church was missing from the group of photos on your GMG Post.” She lives near that “sweet church” which completed a “recent re-shingling project on their vestry.” Thank you, Susan, for this happy update which also gives me a chance to underscore that the first post included some places of worship in Gloucester, not all. Enjoy photographs of a few more below.

Look forward to hearing the ringing of the bells which is an international effort now. “Tuscany and beyond!”

 

Lobster Cove: Gloucester DPW rebuilding stone wall along Washington Street / 127 (and brush clearing at Bennett)

Posted on by Catherine
Brett Chelsea and John_Gloucester DPW stone wall repair Lobster Cove_ Washington Street_Rt 127_20191009_© c Ryan.jpg
Brett, John, Chelsea – DPW crew covers their masonry work in progress on the stone wall by Lobster Cove October 9, 2019, ahead of a forecast nor’easter, Gloucester, Mass.

CAUTION- slow down!

Gloucester DPW crews are restoring the old stone fence along Washington Street/Rt 127 between the Annisquam footbridge and Annisquam Church. They are filling and resetting capstone and top stone along its length and attending to areas of greater disrepair. The fence on this route has been hit by cars more than once. Estimates for contracting the work went far outside the department’s budget. Thankfully, Gloucester DPW is up to the city maintenance of a traditional public works build.  They began the job last week (see below)

BEFORE (and one in process/mortar)

 

AFTER

So far- Gloucester DPW is just a fraction of the way into this project. They’ll tackle sections at a time.

Gloucester DPW repairing capstone and topstone by Lobster Cove Gloucester MA_20191009_©c ryan (2)

Gloucester DPW repairing capstone and topstone by Lobster Cove Gloucester MA_20191009_©c ryan (1)

Goose Cove

Gloucester DPW repaired the stone wall at Goose Cove (also hit)

Gloucester DPW stone wall repairs Goose Cove Bridge _20191009_© c ryan.jpg

Nearby another DPW crew completed much needed roadside overgrowth clearing on Bennett Street up towards Dennison Street

Before (Google Street view) / After

 

HUNDREDS OF SQUID WASHED ASHORE AT LIGHTHOUSE BEACH IN ANNISQUAM

Posted on by Kim Smith

Friends Bobbi and Pete Kovner sent in the snapshots from this morning. I didn’t go over to see because Bobbi reported back that the seagulls were eating the squid.

The photos show just a portion of the beach, there were actually much more.

Does anyone have an idea as to why there were so many squid at Lighthouse Beach. Thank you so much for writing if you do!

SENDING LOVE AND PRAYERS TO THE HANK JUNKER FAMILY

Posted on by Kim Smith

Sending much love and all our prayers to Judy, Marissa, Alexis and all the Junkers for the loss of their beloved husband and grandfather.

Henry “Hank” Juncker III

October 06, 1933 – October 11, 2018

Gloucester, MA – Henry Juncker, III, 85, beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away on Thursday, October 11, at the Wolfeboro Bay Center, in Wolfeboro, N.H.
He was born in the Bronx, New York City, N.Y. to the late Henry Juncker, Jr. and Elna (Christensen) Juncker. Hank attended New York Public schools, graduating from Stuyvesant High School, and then studied at Brown University on a NROTC scholarship. It was there that he met his future wife Judy, a student at Pembroke College; they would marry in 1958.
Upon graduation from Brown in 1955, Ensign Juncker (USNR) deployed for cruises in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas, serving on the ammunition ship USS Great Sitkin (AE-17) as a gunnery and deck officer. He was honorably discharged from active service in 1957, with the rank of LT. (j.g.), and continued in reserve service thru 1960.
Following his service, Henry pursued graduate studies at Columbia University, earning a master’s degree in Education. His first teaching position was at Lakeland High School in upstate New York, where he and Judy discovered they missed the ocean, so he applied for several positions closer to the coast. He eventually interviewed with Paul Walsh from Marblehead Public Schools, who hired him to teach in Marblehead, Mass., where he would serve in multiple roles for 50+ years. Henry retired in 2014 as a highly respected educator, teaching and mentoring students and younger colleagues alike.
Henry was an active member of the Annisquam Village Church, serving many years as clerk, teaching Sunday school, and singing in the choir. He was also a long time member of the Chorus North Shore.
Hank is survived by his wife of 60 years, Judith, and the family was blessed earlier this summer to have been able to celebrate that union while he was still well. He is also survived by three children (Kristian, Sr. and his wife Cindy; Deene and his wife Jennifer Jensen; Betsy and her husband Karl Bujold); six grandchildren (Kristian, Jr. and his wife Jessica; Courtney Tranos; Arrienne Andrus and her husband Sean; Erik and his wife Vicki; Alexis DiGregorio; Marisa DiGregorio), and six great-grandchildren (Michael Johnson; Christopher Tranos Jr; Elias Tranos; Declan Andrus; Keelin Andrus; Claire Juncker). In addition, Henry is survived by his younger sister Elna Hickson and her husband Lloyd of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.In keeping with his wishes there is no funeral, but all are invited to a celebration of Henry’s life at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 17 at the Annisquam Village Church, 820 Washington St, in Gloucester. Family and friends are cordially invited to a reception at the Annisquam Village Hall directly after the service.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in his memory to Marblehead Dollars for Scholars, PO Box 4, Marblehead, MA 01945.

1959 Lyman boat for sale calls forth irresistible young adult book, Driftwood Captain, by Paul B Kenyon

Posted on by Catherine

1959 Lyman boat for sale_20180917_Gloucester Mass ©Catherine Ryan (4).jpg

Scroll down for more photos of the boat that’s for sale which had me remembering a great read. Excerpted quotes are from the superb young adult book, Driftwood Captain, from 1956 by Paul B Kenyon, a writer and Gloucester Daily Times columnist and editor, with illustrations by Louise Kenyon, folly cove artist. The book is dedicated to their sons.  I guarantee explorers young and old will be inspired to seek treasure and adventure all about them and persist. Kids you know will want to befriend characters so real they jump off the page and grab your heart. Sometimes authors get in the way of their own writing, especially with children’s books, trying too hard and overwriting the kid’s perspective. Not Kenyon. Boy is he a timeless ease. You can find the book at Cape Ann Museum and local book stores.

“…But Pete had the faith of a twelve-year-old in his sailing skill and in his flighty boat, a hunk of a fisherman’s dory. He had been sailing in Lobster Cove since he graduated from floating logs. He knew the breezes and currents and even the ways that certain boats swung at each other. He would put on dark glasses to shield his eyes from the angry glare of visiting yachtsmen, and sail close to the boats of his customers so that he could toss folded newspapers into cockpits and cabins. He was a seagoing paperboy…

“He’d rather have the old hull lying on shore, tied to a tree just above the bridge. He liked her rugged looks and her air of being what Gloucester men called “able.”

“The old hull reminded Pete of the famous sloop Spray, Captain Joshua Slocum rebuilt the Spray, timber by timber and sailed her around the world singlehanded, after he finished fitting out at Gloucester. The Spray was thirty six feet long, not counting her bowsprit. She had a lot of room for a boat of her length. So had the hold hull that had lain unused for years. That’s where Pete had begun the daydream that had led to the Hunkadory-Harbor-Queen argument. Pete wondered why his family did not share his fondness for the hull. Pappy Leonard talked a lot about getting a boat big enough for cruising along the coast.

Here was a boat in the rough, just the right size…” 

 

1959 Lyman boat for sale as is, dry dock @ Shaw’s shopping center, Gloucester, Mass,

 

the old hull_LOUISE KENYON_stellar linocut illustrations for Driftwood Captain by Paul B Kenyon 1956butch Petes dog_LOUISE KENYON_stellar linocut illustrations for Driftwood Captain by Paul B Kenyon 1956

Annisquam then and now | DPW and Greenbelt team up at Lobster Cove new land preserve to solve access at narrow and blind corner on Leonard Street

Posted on by Catherine

annisquam village circa 1901

In 2017, donations of $650,000 were secured to preserve four acres of Lobster Cove acquired by Essex County Greenbelt Ed Becker and Dave Rimmer working with the city staff (DPW Mike Hale, Ken Whittaker, Community Development) and many in the community. The property is co-owned by Mt. Adnah Cemetery.

Wilman Trail

Recently DPW teamed up with Greenbelt to scrub out trees, rocks, earth and stone to grade a pedestrian path along its Leonard Street stretch at the landing past Annisquam Church. Widening Leonard Street because of its variable and intermittent scale would be a very expensive and perhaps unwelcome project. This quick jaunt seems like a thoughtful solution to support safe access and property exploration in a tricky spot.

 

Essex County Greenbelt Annisquam Wilman Trail Lobster Cove Gloucester MA _20180702_©c ryan (5)

‘Squam rock has some practice boulders

No longer hidden by overgrowth, beautifully balanced granite outcroppings were exposed. If you look just so you might see the lines of a baby shorebird under wing or is that just me? Hmmm… Mother Ann, Squam Rock and baby Bird Rock.

Annisquam nestled bird rock_20180702_054907©c ryan

 

American hockey legend #GloucesterMA Ben Smith inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame

Posted on by Catherine

Ben Smith US Hockey Hall of Fame

From the United States Hockey Hall of Fame printed matter, hockey player and stellar hockey coach, Ben Smith:

Ben Smith (Gloucester, Mass.) served as head coach of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team in 1998, 2002 and 2006, leading Team USA to the first-ever gold medal in women’s hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. It was the crowning achievement in a storied coaching career. 

Described by his players as a direct and passionate perfectionist, Smith compiled a 37-7 record in IIHF Women’s World Championship and Olympic competition during his tenure at the helm from 1996 to 2006, a span that included two gold medals, six silver medals and one bronze medal. And while Smith’s high-profile exploits as a women’s hockey coach gained him enshrinement into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2016, his hall-of-fame résumé extends far beyond a single brilliant decade. 

The son of a U.S. Senator*, Smith was a standout hockey player at Harvard University in the late 1960s. After graduation, he served as an assistant men’s hockey coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst while also coaching high school hockey in Gloucester. He eventually became a men’s hockey assistant coach at Yale University, where he served for five seasons before joining Jack Parker’s coaching staff at Boston University. During his nine seasons at BU, the Terriers made three NCAA Tournament appearances and won four Beanpot Tournament championships. 

Smith’s first taste of international competition came in 1985 when he was named an assistant coach for the U.S. National Junior Team. He served in a similar capacity in 1986 and 1987 and was also an assistant coach for the 1987 U.S. Men’s National Team. In 1988, Smith was appointed as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Men’s Ice Hockey Team. He soon earned his first head coaching appointment, taking the helm at Dartmouth College in 1990 and then moving to the same role at Northeastern University, where he led the Huskies to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1994.

Smith remains active with USA Hockey serving in a player evaluation role for many international teams, including the gold medal-winning 2017 U.S. National Junior Team.”

 

*I’ve run into articles and archival material about both Ben Smith II and III. On GMG, Nicole posted beautiful and direct experiences about Ben Smith like this one: https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2015/12/18/olympic-dreams/

Janice Shea wrote me after a GMG post about Gloucester atheletes and Harvard (and Olympic!) connections: *Ben Smith Senior, of Annisquam, was President John F Kennedy’s roommate at Harvard. He became Massachusetts Senator when JFK became president. Here’s a link to the Ben Smith II obit  http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/28/obituaries/benjamin-smith-75-us-senator-in-1960-s.html  and wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_A._Smith_II.  And here for Ben Smith III (junior) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Smith_(ice_hockey_coach)   plus an interesting read about his coaching http://old.post-gazette.com/olympics/20020218olyhockfill0218p8.asp 

Gloucester Daily Times article about Hall of Fame induction

CAPE ANN TRAIL STEWARDS

Posted on by Kim Smith

Good Morning Gloucester received a nice note of appreciation from Cape Ann Trail Stewards president Nick Holland. I went to their website to learn more about Cape Ann Trail Stewards. They are a non-profit, all volunteer coalition founded in 2012 and their primary focus is on helping municipal landowners and conservation organizations protect, maintain, and expand Cape Ann’s trail network. They match volunteer trail stewards to trails in need of stewardship, and organize trail work parties.

I am super excited to learn more and looking forward to exploring some trails with Nick. Thank you for writing and letting us know!!

Cape Ann Trail Stewards Mission Statement: Trails, from meandering paths to stony fire roads, connect Cape Ann communities across borders, public and private land, and diverse natural landscapes. CATs helps to maintain existing trails, improve access and promote the responsible and safe use of the Cape Ann trail system and recreational areas. CATs works with municipalities and like-minded conservation organizations to protect and preserve land for its recreational and ecological values. CATs promotes the understanding of the wildlife and natural resources of our woodlands and wetlands.

Does the #MBTA new design for the #Annisquam River bridge look like a prison tower to you?

Posted on by Catherine

MBTA Gloucester bridge sim

The tower and the scale of the concrete column brought to mind the opening scenes of Dr. Zhivago with Alec Guinness looking for his niece. Here’s a TCM film clip to give you some idea of what I mean despite cutting off right before the pan up to the guard tower.

Dr Z still

 

Here’s how the Annisquam bridge looks today.

20170909_080624

 

Mostly great gorgeous marsh.

Its scale suits the site and often disappears. American artist Edward Hopper painted a close up in 1923.

landscape-with-bridge-watercolor-whitney1

There are four significant Edward Hopper artworks that are related to the commuter train he took from NYC to Gloucester, MA. I sent the images to Fay Spofford & Thorndike for their reference as in my professional experience any architects and engineers that I’ve worked with were keen on historic links. They couldn’t have known this one. Until I corrected the records in 2011, the Hopper watercolor was misattributed as an unidentified landscape, likely Maine or Massachusetts. It’s definitely Massachusetts–the Annisquam River train bridge in Gloucester, MA, to be precise. If you live here, you know that scene by heart. Hopper captured most every gateway to Gloucester. A 2012 photograph by Allegra Boverman reporting on bridge damage for the Gloucester Daily Times, zoomed in just so, helped me illustrate the match.

Catherine Ryan identifying Edward Hopper Annisquam River Bridge

I also shared the exciting Hopper news and connections with then Mayor Kirk, community development, Senator Tarr, the Gloucester Daily Times, and the Boston Globe. I wasn’t speaking to them about the design as I felt the state and the architects and engineers would be on that.

I have no idea when that distinct yellow shack–a mini me Cape Ann motif– was no longer there: perhaps it could be recreated, or a nod to the A Piatt Andrew bridge could be referenced with some planning? Maybe some of the diagonals of the old structure, or some other New England elements at the abutment sides could be incorporated into the design?

A couple of years later, I found an old Good Morning Gloucester post by Fredrik D. Bodin. There’s no mistaking that two level shack! I wish I could have spoken with him about the Curtis photograph.

a8767_017wm FRED BODIN little yellow house motif like and new england building on right

I don’t suggest that the treacherous bridge needs to be “preserved” or want to impede progress.  However, if there is a small way that the design can tip its hat to Hopper, Gloucester, New England…why not? It is a landmark, a beacon for Cape Ann.  It’s very exciting that the project is going out to bid. I hope the winning firm mitigates the design to temper any possible prison comparison. Leave the pier-column design but adjust the tower? Can it be both structurally sound and inspiring?

The Market Restaurant in Gloucester makes GQ Magazine 24 Best Restaurants list!

Posted on by Catherine
More restaurant news, this one Annisquam way.
For this best of list, GQ high lights seriously stellar restaurants off the beaten path that are not to miss!
From GQ:
GQ Magazine

The Place on the Docks That Redefines “Place on the Docks”

Gloucester, Massachusetts

In the archipelago of coves and points in Gloucester, a narrow one-way residential street leads to a small marina. On the docks is a weathered old building that looks like it should be serving popcorn shrimp on paper plates out a window. Instead, it houses The Market Restaurant,…”

Open seasonally!

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