Wednesday, December 9, 2009

New Essex Heritage Trustee Named, NBCVB Visitor Center Update, New State BLOG Site, Bishop Fenwick HS Clebrates an Anniversary

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2009

New Essex Heritage Trustee Elected at Recent Trustee Meeting

On Tuesday, December 8, 2009, the Board of Trustees of Essex Heritage elected a new Trustee to fill an unexpired term of a Trustee who due to personal reasons had to move from this region. Essex Heritage was only able to receive support for a short time from Jeff Korzinik formally of Marblehead who has since relocated to Chicago. We appreciate the short but superior service provided by Jeff to Essex Heritage and wish him well in his new endeavor.

Essex Heritage is most fortunate to be able to fill the vacant seat on the Board of Trustees with a wonderful replacement. The Board of Trustees yesterday unanimously elected Mr. Charles Cullen, the President and CEO of Provident Bank with headquarters in Amesbury, and the choice is an excellent one. Mr. Cullen has a long history with Essex Heritage as he has been a supporter of virtually all of the Commission’s efforts to promote this region. In 2007 when the National Park Service’s replica sailing ship, Friendship made a celebratory visit to the historic port of Newburyport, Provident Bank and Charlie Cullen were among the leadership of that region who financially supported the visit that benefited the many bank customers he served in that community. Provident Bank is a Mutual Savings Bank with 6 offices including the main office in Amesbury and serves the northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire area. The bank is one of the oldest community banks in the region having been incorporated in 1828, and is very active in community affairs in the region that it serves. Mr. Cullen has served on many community boards in the region and he is currently a member of the Board of Trustees and Past President of the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce and also serves on the Board of Trustees of Anna Jacques Hospital in Newburyport. Essex Heritage is truly fortunate to be able to add Charlie Cullen to its Board of Trustees,

North of Boston Convention and Visitor Bureau Welcoming Center

Several days ago, we reported that due to State budget cuts, the North of Boston Convention and Visitor bureau Maria Miles Visitor Center located on Route 95 in Salisbury was closing. I am pleased to report today that after speaking to Essex Heritage Trustee and Visitor Center manager, Bill Pickles at a recent meeting that plans to open the visitor center at least on weekends seems imminent. The center that is connected to the regional network of Essex Heritage visitor centers is a critical one in the regional chain as its location in Salisbury on US Route 95 south makes it the first stop as visitors to this part of the State enter from the north. The Visitor Center is critical as it has long provided information, brochures and a rest stop for visitors to Massachusetts and the Essex Heritage region as tourists arrive from New Hampshire, Maine and from our neighbor the north, Canada. It is anticipated that the center will open more and more as the tourist season swings into spring and beyond as the North Shore Convention and Visitor Bureau that manages the facility is working diligently to find additional resources to provide more and more services in the future. Essex Heritage certainly recognizes the importance of this visitor center to the tourist industry in this region and encourages anyone with any ideas of how “to open any doors to additional resources” should contact the Convention and Visitor Bureau at their main office in Peabody.

New BLOG Site Offered by MDAR

We recently received information from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts about a BLOG site that they are now offering. The site is called ‘The Great Outdoors” and it can be accessed at www.mass,gov.blog/environment The site will contain posts from staff representing the Department of Agricultural Resources, Conservation and Recreation, and Fish and Game who are all experts in Massachusetts grown food, wildlife biology, wetland restoration and outdoor sports and activities. This will be wonderful site to visit from time to time where you can learn from the experts and get information on all things that are “outdoors” as far as the Commonwealth is concerned, Bookmark the site as noted in this report and look in from time to time on this informative site.

Bishop Fenwick High School celebrating its Golden Anniversary

I spent the last four years as a member of the Board of Trustees of one of the finest independent, private secondary catholic school in the area, and am pleased to note that in 2009-2010 they are celebrating their 50th anniversary. During my tenure on the board, I learned just what a capable institution Bishop Fenwick is, and what a wonderful resource they are to many in this region. The school was opened in 1959 and has graduated thousands of young men and woman who have gone on to gain additional education at local and regional Colleges and Universities and then have assumed a leadership role in many of the businesses and communities in this region. The school has organized a series of events over the present school year to help bring attention to their celebration, and I encourage past graduates, and residents of the region who sent their children to the school to visit the school web site at www.fenwick.org/50th to look over the list of celebratory events to see how you might be able to participate this year. Most of the events are being held on the Peabody campus, but there will be a gala dinner dance at the Danversport Yacht Club and a golf tournament at Turner Hill in Ipswich both scheduled for spring 2010.

One Holiday Event to Report

On December 19th the Town of Nahant will hold its fourteenth annual Santa Parade. The parade will form up in the head of the Nahant Causeway and will proceed from there into the Town. There will be a pre-parade fundraiser at the Tides Restaurant to help defray some of the expenses connected with organizing this celebration. At this late date, this may be one of the last times to see Santa before he starts his trek from the North Pole on December 24th.

As always we value your comments, questions and observations about the work of Essex Heritage. Please use the comment section at the end of this report or contact me with your thoughts at www.essexheritage.org. Thanks. Tom Leonard

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