Together with the Essex National Heritage’s 20th anniversary celebration, 131 Trailblazing organizations where honored at last night’s grand gala, held at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. Over 300 Essex Heritage supporters were in attendance.
Very special guest Secretary John Kerry, who helped craft the legislation in 1996 that designated the area (and worked with Senator Kennedy over many years to secure funding), gave an inspiring speech highlighting the fact that the past twenty years of this unique public-private partnership has created the tremendous success that is the Essex National Heritage area.
Congratulations to the Essex National Heritage and all the Trailblazers!
The best fun seeing these four at the gala!! Captain Stefan Edick of the Schooner Adventure, Captain Tom Ellis of the Schooner Lannon, Mayor Sefatia, and Tom Balf, Director of Maritime Gloucester.
A special toast was given to the following Trailblazers:
Preserving this Special Region: Essex County Greenbelt Association; Connecting People to Place: The Trustees of Reservations; Building & Growing Our Future: Peabody Essex Museum; Advancing Our Educational Mission (tied for first place): Lowell’s Boat Shop and The House of Seven Gables. Of special note to Cape Ann residents, Maritime Gloucester came in second place and Essex Shipbuilding Museum came in third place in the category Advancing Our Educational Mission.
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Congratulations Essex Heritage on 20 years of leading Essex County by helping us connect, celebrate, and preserve our exceptional cultural and natural resources!
Essex Heritage established the Essex County Scenic Byway and annual Trails and Sails weekends. They bring stakeholders together as they did with Scaling Up at Peabody Essex Museum. They have partnered, supported and funded dozens of ideas and projects in Essex County including in Gloucester and on Cape Ann. Let’s do something easy that they’re asking in return.
Please help Essex Heritage narrow down that big, big list of worthy Essex County contenders for a special shout out at the 20th Anniversary Gala. It’s up to us to choose which 4 Trailblazers will get a toast at the Essex Heritage’s milestone 20th Anniversary Gala on April 5, 2017. This idea is a very Essex Heritage thing to do: reflecting on what’s fine and good and sharing it around.
No surprise, I’m going all in Gloucester for this ballot.
Yes, they are all wonderful and deserving nominations, and you’ll recognize favorites throughout the county. BUT this isn’t an everyone gets an award type of deal. You have to narrow it down to one in each category; – thankfully else Joey might need to add an arts rant 🙂 post.
Here’s the rundown as I see it. For Category 2 “connecting people to place” it has to be Kim Smith. She is a one of a kind and exceptional artist. Kim is inspired by the people, wildlife and the natural world all around us. Right here. We are so, so fortunate that she shares her visual experiences and art every day.
And she has memorably captured nearly ALL of the other nominees in photo or film!
Here’s the crib sheet breakout through a Gloucester lens:
also love Peabody Essex Museum, Brooksby Farm, Russell Orchards, Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), Essex County Community Foundation, and Community Preservation
Congratulations to the 2016 (round 7) awardees! Their final presentations were at City Council on Tuesday.
Cape Ann Amateur Radio Assoc. Wheeler School House & GFD Riverdale House
Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Civil War Monument
Generous Gardeners
Generous Gardeners volunteers
Steve Winslow, Stage Fort Park beautification
Stage Fort Welcome Center Stage Fort Park Advisory Committee
City Clerk’s Office, ARchives, initial storage project phase I
Oak Grove Cemetery, restoration, note Chris Williams ornamentation element
Historic New England Beauport
Sargent Museum
Gloucester Writers Center, Maud/Olson Library
Maritime Gloucester. Schooner Adventure in support
Friends of Burnham’s Field
Bill Dugan, Co-Chair CPC
Deb Laurie, CPC, Henry McCarl, CPC
Barbara Silberman, CPC
Dana transcribes long night
report on beach and traffic
Harbormaster fields questions
Since Gloucester voted to approve the Community Preservation Act (CPA) in 2008, the city has administered 7 rounds of funded projects throughout our community. Have a look at who you helped fund in 2016
North Shore CDC and Action, Harbor Village *missing this photo but great presentation!
Cape Ann Amateur Radio Association, Wheeler School House & GFD Riverdale Hose, No 2
Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Civil War Monument
Generous Gardeners, Stacy Boulevard Gardens
Stage Fort Park Advisory Committee, Welcome Center Renovations
Community Development Dept., Stage Fort Park Beautification Project
City Clerk’s Office, Archives Initial Storage Project, Phase I
Oak Grove Cemetery, Oak Grove Cemetery continued restoration
Gloucester Committee for the Arts, “Out of the Shadows: Gloucester’s historic Depression Era Mural” preserve & restore murals with refined project scope,discovery and schedule of work
Historic New England, Beauport Museum, outer building roof replacement
Sargent Museum, Preservation of porch, granite steps & retaining wall
Gloucester Writers Center, Preservation of Maud/Olsen Library & GWC Archives
Maritime Gloucester, Rehab & Restoration of the railway
Friends of Burnham’s Field, Continued rehab of Phase I of Burnham’s Field Restoration
Safe bet you might know someone assisting one of these projects. Who else helps? The volunteers on the Community Preservation Committee are fantastic: Catherine Bill Dugan, Catherine Schlichte, Henry McCarl, David Rhinelander, John Feener, Barbara Silberman, Heide Wakeman, Ellen Preston, and Scott Smith. There’s no break for this committee. From start to finish the process from an applicant’s perspective takes nearly a year. Depending upon the project, it will involve assistance from the Community Preservation Committee, City staff and various departments, City Council, City Council sub committees, and the administration. Just as one round winds down, the next year’s process and round of applicants gears up. Visit the Community Preservation Committee page on the City website to learn more about the CPA and to see prior projects.
Save the date:The Community Preservation Committee will be hosting an information meeting for prospective 2017 applicants at Sawyer Free on February 8, 2017 at 6pm. Applications are due April 17, 2017.
Debbie Laurie, a Senior Project Manager in the Community Development Department who manages Grants and CPA for the City writes about the info meeting: “We want to help guide applicants through the process and answer any questions you may have before filling out an application. We can also determine if your project is actually eligible or not. Please pass the word around if you know of anyone that may be interested. “
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Last of the 2016 super moon trifecta, the December Frost Moon (also called Full Cold Moon and Long Night’s Moon by Native Americans) was the brightest moon of the year according to the Farmer’s Almanac. Whatever called, it was stunning to watch as it went down over Gloucester’s skyline on Tuesday morning.
Super Moon over Fiitz Henry Lane House
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During Sunday’s podcast we talked about Harold Burnham’s book The Shipwright and the Schooner and mentioned the book signing at Strawberry Banke on November 12th. On Thursday evening, November 17th, Harold will be giving a talk and book signing at Maritime Gloucester (with spirits tasting provided by Ryan & Wood).
From the publisher:
The Shipwright and the Schooner
Building a Windjammer in the New England Tradition
By DAN TOBYNE – HAROLD BURNHAM
Beginning in 2010, Essex, Massachusetts shipbuilder Harold Burnham took on the challenge of constructing a wooden sailing vessel using traditional techniques. He cut the trees himself from his woodlot, and milled them himself at his boatyard. Using volunteer labor from hundreds of friends, acquaintances, and community members, and recycled and repurposed materials he constructed, in just under a year, the schooner Ardelle at a cost of less than $20,000.
The Shipwriight and the Schooner is an exploration into traditional New England shipbuilding, and it is a journey of discovery for both the author, who has spent his life building wooden boats, and the photographer, who had his first experiences in the boatyard. The book chronicles in words and stunning color photographs the construction, launch, and subsequent season of sailing aboard the Ardelle. The vessel is a testament to community involvement and a badge of honor in the age of mass production. It is a reminder of simpler times, when things were meticulously crafted by hand, and of a lifeway that has mostly vanished.
The Shipwright and the Schooner is published by Rowman and Littlefield and is available to purchase at Maritme Gloucester.
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On Thursday, October 6th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM, Maritime Gloucester is hosting a screening of the award-winning documentary Sonic Seaat Rockport Music’s Shalin Liu Performance Center. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Leila Hatch, marine ecologist at Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and cast member and panelists Dr. Scott Kraus, Vice President and Senior Advisor, Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life, New England Aquarium and Dr. Kathleen Vigness Raposa, Director of Environmental Services, Marine Acoustics, Inc.
Sonic Sea delves into the issues of ocean noise and its effects on the marine environment. Experience this film surrounded by the stunning acoustics at the Shalin Liu and become part of the conversation as we explore noise pollution in the marine environment and the cutting edge field research. Tickets are $15 for Maritime Gloucester members and students; $20 general admission and can be purchased HERE.
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Last week I was in the Amherst area to meet with clients at a museum. I added on a couple of exhibitions that I knew were closing before I’d be back in that area. I have to map out shows or I miss them.
If you do an online search for ‘art museums in Massachusetts’ or ‘best of’ museum inquiries there are several helpful lists that pop up. The New England Museum Association for one has stepped up their digital presence for their membership directory. Still, must-see institutions on the North Shore and Cape Ann are rarely high lighted, buried deeply, and frequently absent from compilation lists ( see omissions at Artcyclopedia, Massvacation, Tripadvisor, visit Massachusetts, art-collecting, etc.)
Here’s a link to Massachusetts Art Museums created in Google maps. Part 2 Massachusetts 2016 fall/winter museum exhibition guide coming!
Upcoming show trends include: illuminated manuscripts, citizenship, art of picture books, and vintage and contemporary photography.
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Snapshots from the Schooner Festival Mayor’s Reception held Friday night on the grounds of the Coast Guard station. After the reception guests headed over to the Maritime Gloucester gala, An Evening Under the Spars, this year held at the Beauport Hotel. The gala sold out early and was a grand success. Proceeds from this event directly support Maritime Gloucester’s Ocean Explorers program and educational marine science outreach to all Cape Ann public schools.
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Mixin’ Matt at Watson &the Shark–Short & Main’s 2nd floor lounge has a super cool steampunk vacation vibe that made waiting for an outside table for a group of 10 easy. Will be great in the winter months, too
John Singleton Copley’s epic, Watson and the Shark, 1778, Museum of Fine Arts, BostonDowntown block party – fire juggling, Gloucester Stage YAW, and YMCA games were great stops
Three Graces, the check in at Mayor’s Reception
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While Rio welcomes the 2016 XXXI Olympics, Gloucester will host the “38th Annual Celebrate the Clean Harbor Swim” on August 13, 2016 at 9AM on Niles Beach. A 500 meter course for children ages 8-12 was added last year; any parent and child registering at the same time will receive a promotional discount. I find that incentive extra symbolic because a mother and daughter, Sarah Fraser Robbins and Sarah Robbins Evans, together with Philip Weld, Jr., got this all going! MassAudubon facilitated the annual swim the following year and many years after. More recently it’s been produced by the New England Ocean Water Swimming Association (NEOWSA). Many partners with the City of Gloucester continue to work hard for clean water. I’ll write more about the history of the swim in another post, but in this post I want to delve a bit into the biography of Sarah Fraser Robbins.
They swam for clean water because the Clean Water Act was not being enforced in the Harbor. Today participants swim to celebrate clean water.
There are 2.5 centuries of conservation efforts and notable naturalists in Gloucester. Sarah Fraser Robbins was one.
Sarah Fraser Robbins was 68 at the time of the first swim, a long time Gloucester resident, environmentalist, author, scholar and museum educator. She worked at the Peabody Essex Museum for 25 years. In 1961, she and others helped persuade the Raymond family to donate land to Mass Audubon, now Eastern Point Wildlife Sanctuary. Robbins was friends with Ivy LeMon who was active in banding monarchs to trace their migration wintering in Mexico–had to be with that wonderful name. I have heard that together they helped to secure habitat and urged people to garden using the plants butterflies liked. Kim Smith continues on that Gloucester path.
Robbins published articles in regional journals, the journal of the New England aquarium, and for close to 30 years a regular column- “The Curious Naturalist” -for Mass Audubon publications. The Sea Is All About Us: A Guide to Marine Environments of Cape Ann and Other Northern New England Waters, the 1973 book Robbins wrote with Clarice Yentsch, was an influential touchstone about wildlife at our shores. The lengthy title opens with a nod to the T.S. Eliot poem Four Quartets: The Dry Salvages. What other could it be? That glorious landmark seamark poem is all Water, art, legacy and nature. And the paradise that’s Cape Ann.
Read an excerpt with Robbin’s curator, scholar and naturalist’s eye in mind. (Her father was an amateur geologist.)
The river is within us, the sea is all about us; The sea is the land’s edge also, the granite Into which it reaches, the beaches where it tosses Its hints of earlier and other creation: The starfish, the horseshoe crab, the whale’s backbone; The pools where it offers to our curiosity The more delicate algae and the sea anemone. It tosses up our losses, the torn seine, The shattered lobsterpot, the broken oar And the gear of foreign dead men. The sea has many voices,
The ‘savage rocks’ are two groups of rocky ledge off our shores nearby Straightsmouth and Thacher Island. The bigger ‘Dry Salvages’ are a mile and a half out and the little salvages are a mile out. Growing up, including when he came home from Harvard, Eliot sailed from his family’s summer home on Eastern Point. He could clear the Dry Salvages or thread past Avery Ledge and Flat Ground and back home to Gloucester.
… the ragged rock in the restless waters, Waves wash over it, fogs conceal it; On a halcyon day it is merely a monument, In navigable weather it is always a seamark To lay a course by: but in the sombre season Or the sudden fury, is what it always was.
Check out who wrote the forward for the new edition of The Sea is All About Us:
None other than Deborah Cramer, author of The Narrow Edge, another Gloucester conservationist ( and still looking for horseshoe crab sightings)
The Peabody Essex Museum and Maritime Gloucester memorialized Sarah Fraser Robbins. Be inspired!
In 2003, Peabody Essex Museum established the Sarah Fraser Robbins Directorship for the Art & Nature Center, currently held by Jane Winchell.
In 2014 the Center was dedicated in memory of PEM honorary trustee, Dorothy “Dotty” Addams Brown, Sarah’s good friend and Eastern Point resident.
Maritime Gloucester’s education center was dedicated in 2008 as the Sarah Fraser Robbins Marine Science Center.
In 2014, Maritime Gloucester also established the Sarah Fraser Robbins Environmental Award.
Philip Weld’s father, Philip S. Weld Sr., was a newspaper publisher, editor, writer, environmentalist, veteran, and record breaking sailor. The year after the first harbor swim Phil Sr won a transatlantic race sailing “Moxie” and wrote about that crossing. He grew up in Manchester and raised his family in Gloucester.
You can see Sarah’s daughter, Sarah Robbins Evans, interviewed in a great 2010 GMG video by Manny Simoes. Make sure to watch his terrific mini doc overview of that 32nd Clean Harbor Swim run by Richie Martin. There are brief and peppy participant interviews. Swimmers came near and far- Tewksbury, Beverly, Boxford, Boston, Bedford NH, Essex, Portland ME, Falmouth ME, Swampscott…watch to find out more!
On graduation day, the sky is as expansive as their future.
Congratulations Class of 2016!
Ryder Brady*, Caitlin Ciaramitaro, Lucas Devlin, Sierra Goodhue, Nicole Horgan*, Tia Reddy*, Rachel Wolfe, ; Ciara Chandler; Tyler Cilluffo; Trinity Eriksen-Miller; Anthony King, Matthew Leverich, Christian Miller, Savanna Moses and Joseph Pallazola*
The teachers and staff presented awards of distinction and recognition:
Leadership Award: Ryder Brady
Transformation Award: Tia Reddy
Excellence Award: Tyler Cilluffo
Perseverance Award: Matthew Leverich
Commitment Award: Joseph Pallazola
* denotes achievement scholarship awards
There was an awesome and festive spread from Willow Rest. (two quick mentions: best mini burgers I’ve ever eaten and scrumptious cupcakes!)
Mary Kay Taylor – Ardelle
Shannon Cormier, Youth Education Program Manager, and Peggy Hegarty-Steck, Executive Director Action Inc welcomed everyone. Also presenting: Karli Washington, Career and Academic Counselor; Judy Bloomfield, English and History Teacher; Nick Belyea, Math Teacher; and Jessica Perrine, Health and Fitness Teacher.
The students studied art with Avery McNiff, Cape Ann Art Haven art center and science with Tony Wilbur of Maritime Gloucester.
Addressing the class, Natalie Hale, Class of 2015
The graduating class asked current freshman, 9th grader Catherine Cabral to be one of the invited speakers.
Lucas Devlin invited speaker Class of 2016
Cool hoodie designed by Ryder.
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Read on to see the state’s Cultural Facilities Funding (CFF) totaling $221,000 plus Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) totaling $88,200 in Gloucester for 2016. It’s a safe bet that each resident in the City benefits from at least one of these 2016 projects. Along with the categories below and others, make sure and think about next year’s application categories including the new festival grant category that will be due September 2016 for 2017 programming. Congratulations to all the recipients!
MCC ARTIST FELLOWSHIP -$12,000
Artist Erica Daborn, for artistic professional development. $12,000
MCC BIG YELLOW SCHOOL BUS – $600
Beeman School, O’Maley and Veterans$200 each for an educational field trip
CULTURAL FACILITIES FUND (CFF) – $221,000
Driven by the Boston Foundation, MA Advocates for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities (MAASH), the MCC and others after many years, this big pot that funds so many projects was part of legislation passed back in July of 2006. Maybe it will be increased by it’s 10th year anniversary summer 2017? Across the state over the past 9 years, “CFF has awarded grants of $91.9 million to nearly 700 projects across the Commonwealth. Demand for CFF grants continues to outpace supply…The new round includes 68 capital grants totaling $8.9 million and another 23 planning grants totaling just over $400,000. Grants range from $7,000 to $300,000, and must be matched one-to-one from private and/or other public sources.”
Maritime Gloucester To construct a Student/Visitor educational Center on Harbor Loop. $116,000
Gloucester Stage CompanyTo replace aging and limited lighting system with a state-of-the-art lighting grid, equipment and controls, and supporting electrical rewiring. $50,000
Manship Artist Residence and Studios (MARS) To conduct a feasibility study for the renovation of the Manship property as an arts and culture center with an artist residency program. $30,000
Rocky Neck Art ColonyTo install an acoustic ceiling treatment, a second AC unit, lighting upgrades, and integrated A/V projection and sound equipment to its Main Hall. $25,000
MCC CULTURAL INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO- $23,000
Cape Ann Museum to celebrate the art, history and culture of the region and to keep it relevant by offering quality exhibitions and programs for our communities, and beyond. $11,500
Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra, Inc.to establish, maintain, and operate a non-profit civic symphony orchestra in the Cape Ann area to foster, promote, and increase the musical knowledge and appreciation of the public through the performance of music at concerts and other functions; to provide an opportunity for Cape Ann area musicians to play as an orchestra; and to assist and encourage the musical development of Cape Ann students. $3,800
Maritime Gloucester to promote Gloucester’s maritime heritage as a platform for teaching maritime skills and marine sciences, and for encouraging environmental stewardship. $8,700
MCC JOHN AND ABIGAIL ADAMS ART PROGRAM – $21,000
Rocky Neck Art Colony establish an Office of Cultural Development in the City of Gloucester to champion innovation in arts and culture, provide support for private and public cultural development, and invigorate the City’s cultural tourism agenda; to develop an inclusive, collaborative cultural plan for Gloucester to strengthen historic links between the city’s maritime culture, community and the arts. $21,000
MCC LOCAL CULTURAL COUNCIL (LCC)- $7600
Allocation Gloucester $7,600 Thanks Rose Sheehan and the LCC volunteers on the committee for processing all the applications every year! This year’s 21 winners
Annisquam Historical Society
Preserving Gloucester History
$450
Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe
Season 2015-2016
$348
DiPrima, Jay
Henry David Thoreau Lecture
$250
East Gloucester Elementary School
Rob Surette and His Amazing Hero Art
$300
Harcovitz, Ruth
Songs of World War II
$250
LePage, Lucille
Stories, Songs & More
$571
Lundberg, Christine
The Art & Craft of Folly Cove Designers Film
$500
Manninen, Wendy
Singing and Signing
$300
Maritime Gloucester Association
Off to the Races! Exhibit
$700
Music at Eden’s Edge
Connecting Kids to Classical Music
$500
Northeast Mass. Youth Orchestras
Youth Orchestra Honors Concert
$350
Phyllis A Marine Association
History Sharing Program
$500
Rockport Music
Jasper Quartet
$400
Sawyer Free Library
Printerbot Learning
$464
Sawyer Free Library
Cape Ann Reads
$500
Sheehan, Rose
Welcome Yule – Midwinter Celebration
$500
Sheehan, Rose
Cape Ann Contra Dance
$450
Swift, Sarah Slifer
Trident Live Art Series
$400
Van Dyke, Juni
The Note Card Project
$350
Waller, Susan
The Fiesta People’s Mural
$250
Windhover Foundation
Quarry Dance 5
$700
MCC CULTURAL DISTRICTS City of Gloucester – $9000
Gloucester’s downtown Cultural District. $4,000
Gloucester’s Rocky Neck Cultural District. $5,000
MCC YOUTHREACH- $15,000
Maritime Gloucester and Action to provide hands-on marine and physical science instruction to at-risk 16-20 year-olds in collaboration with Action, Inc. $15,000
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Harbortown Arts Market is an eclectic marketplace of New England’s vibrant indie-maker scene, featuring more than forty of the best designers, artists, and vintage curators from Cape Ann and beyond. Happening on Gloucester’s working waterfront in the heart of the city, this market features FREE PARKING, gourmet food trucks, exceptional harbor views, as well as proximity to the outstanding food, galleries and special events of the city’s Harbortown Arts Festival happening Memorial Day Weekend.
The Harbortown Arts Market is happening Saturday, May 28th, from 10AM to 4PM, at 65-67 Rogers Street in Gloucester. It is a co-production of Harbortown Cultural District, Rusty and Ingrid Creative Company of Gloucester, and Mill Gypsies, and it is a part of the Harbortown Arts Festival.
Etsy Mill Gypsies are an eclectic caravan of artists, makers and vintage dealers who travel to converted, artist/retail mills throughout New England. We bring awareness and a sense of community to the amazing mills we visit! The Gypsies are making a special appearance at the Harbortown Arts Festival in downtown Gloucester, MA.
Pick #2: Free Family Fun Fest at Wolf Hollow
Free Family Fun Fest
Sunday, May 29th, 2016 (11am – 3pm)
Make your Memorial Day weekend truly memorable! Bring the whole family to howl with the wolves for FREE!
Guests will enjoy:
One of a kind, educational presentations every hour.
Still and forever a favorite! Maritime Gloucester opens this weekend and you should really make a point to stop on by. So much to see and do for a variety of ages and one of my favorite gift shops ever….not to mention the incredibly easy-on-the-wallet price of admission!
That was me blowing my horn. Only it isn’t really my horn. It is the horn that belongs to phenomenal school where I am incredibly privileged to teach.
While I could always wax poetically about many of the special things that happen there on a daily basis, I don’t. So, when I do…you know it is going to be even extra special. Like today. This isn’t just any proud moment though. This one also includes the one and only, Sista Felicia. This week, for one super fun night, Harborlight-Stoneridge Montessori and Sista Felicia joined forces.
See, our Middle School students put their wonderfully creative minds together and planned themselves a pretty exceptional week-long field study trip to Gloucester. Gloucester may have, at first, seemed like an odd choice since these students all hail from the North Shore area, but given the fact that they were excited to dig deeper, explore further, and learn more substantially about this special place we call home, it wasn’t really an odd choice at all.
They rented themselves a pretty sweet home on the beach, created a week-long vision of learning, drew a logo, and planned a week to end all weeks. With the direction of their teachers, but the license to make their own decisions, they planned a week that includes working closely with Tony Wilbur at Maritime Gloucester, a sail on the Ardelle, some time on the Adventure, learning how to SUP, a trip to Cape Pond Ice, a meeting with Angela Sanfilippo, a visit with a couple of local artists, a lobstering trip, a visit to Hammond Castle, a walk on Dog Bar Breakwater, and much (much) more. Oh, wait…much more…including breaking in their vacation pad by preparing an exceptionally delicious meal with Sista Felicia.
Don’t be surprised if you hear more about this trip in the week to come, but in the meantime I wanted to show you how fantastic it was to have my worlds collide. Felicia, no surprise, led these students like the expert she is. She had them working all areas of the kitchen with enthusiasm and, in the end, a fantastic meal consisting of appetizers, “cocktails”, salad, main courses (obviously including locally caught fish), and a dessert….but, most importantly, teamwork…was served.
Thanks so much, Felicia! A side note, that probably goes with out saying, is that the food was delicious and received accolades from all.
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I had a great time at O’Maley this week, presenting to 6th graders for “Gloucester Day”. For the past couple of years, I’ve spoken with classes about the HarborWalk because they study it at some point during the academic year. 6th graders are great and all (they were fantastic), but these O’Maley teachers make it seem effortless. Me? I bought cookies from Cafe Sicilia and Virgilios to hand out! This year I ran into Tom Balf for Maritime Gloucester on the way in, heard the teachers delight in seeing their former student, David Brooks for the Hive, back as a mentor, coach and leader. I caught some of Rick Doucette’s presentation because I heard the exclamations over YMCA summer camp and the 24 sleepless hours in a rocking chair fundraiser. Allison Cousins was heading into a class with Little Charlie Goes To Gloucester, a children’s picture book about poet Charles Olson by filmmaker Henri Ferrini and illustrated by Stefan Mallette. (It was also mentioned as it’s one of the links on the Olson marker for the HarborWalk and you can see it with other Cape Ann Reads published books.) This year, Gloucester day fell on National Teacher Appreciation Day. Every day could be National Teacher Appreciation Day. Here’s the report from 6th grade social studies teacher, Jessica Haskell and her O’Maley colleagues:
On Tuesday, May 3rd, 6th grade students at O’Maley Innovation Middle School participated in “Gloucester Day” as part of an introduction to their end-of-the-year service projects. Citizens who are active members of the Gloucester community volunteered their time and expertise to come in and teach students about organizations that work to make our community a better place. Students were also introduced to ways in which they can personally get involved in these efforts through exploring and discovering their hometown, volunteering, participating in summer camps, and coming up with their own ideas. Community mentors who attended were Catherine Ryan (HarborWalk), Rick Doucette (YMCA, Awesome Gloucester), Meghan Stratton (Backyard Growers), David Brooks (The HIVE), Tom Balf (Maritime Gloucester), Beth Klinefelter (The Open Door), and Allison Cousins (O’Maley Guidance).
Thanks for sending these photos and looking forward to hearing about the students’ projects!
Get better soon, Mr. Davis.
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Sea Creatures of Cape Ann is an environmental vacation program. The program is four days (Tuesday – Friday). Students may enroll for a day or for the entire four days. There are two different programs based on age of the students that are offered during the four-days.
Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken and Secretary Kerry
Mixin’ Matt at Watson &the Shark–Short & Main’s 2nd floor lounge has a super cool steampunk vacation vibe that made waiting for an outside table for a group of 10 easy. Will be great in the winter months, too
