Monday, October 12, 2009
Happy Columbus Day Holiday
We certainly hope that you all enjoy this wonderful fall holiday. There are a number of events and celebrations taking place all over the region, and we hope you find an event where you can enjoy the day. I intend to make this a very abbreviated posting as on this holiday as our office is closed for the day and also two of my grandchildren are participating in a soccer tournament west of here, and my wife are going to be spectators at a number of games today. I do want to note a couple of issues of note before I sign off.
Recent Financial Successes for the Region
- The region received some wonderful news in the last couple of days when Governor Patrick announced that the State will make a firm commitment of an additional $21 million to the new Regional Vocational Technical High School scheduled to be built in Danvers. This new commitment brings the total offered by the State to $98.6 million towards this important regional effort. To date Danvers and Rockport have approved plans for the school and we expect that more communities will approve the plan in the near term. Essex Heritage was a very early supporter of the Regional Vocational Technical School and continues its support today.
- The Governor also announced a second major commitment to the region when he offered $69 million to Salem State College to replace the library that was declared unsafe. This is most important as the College is continuing its efforts to gain University status could not accomplish that without a university style library.
- Wayne Marquis, the Town Manager of the Town of Danvers announced at a recent Selectman’s meeting that the process of approving the town received some good news, when the High School rebuilding/addition process received some good news when revamped plans showed a reduction in total project costs of $3.2 million.
All in all, very good financial news for many regional projects.
Banking Partners Make Positive Announcements
Several of our most generous banking partners made news in the last several days. The soon to be announced Danvers Bank and Beverly National Bank leadership team made a wonderful commitment of $25,000 to insure the continuation of the Beverly Bookmobile project. On another note, Eastern Bank was named the number one Small Business Administration lender in the entire State. That commitment certainly helped a number of small businesses in both this region and across the state.
Regional Fall Events
· I see that the community of Newburyport has a number of events planned for Columbus Day. That looks like a great place to visit today.
· Next Saturday, October 17, 2009, the Groveland Historical Society will hold a Historic House and Barn Tour. The tour will feature seven 19th and 19th century homes and a reproduction of a Georgian Colonial. Four historic barns will also be on display. For more information call 978 374 3684.
Personal Note
Sunday was such a beautiful day here in New England, until late in the afternoon when both professional teams, the Red Sox and the Patriots both suffered difficult losses. One loss took place in the ninth inning and the other took place in overtime. I am sure that there were other events in the region that were much more enjoyable than the two described above.
As always your comments, questions or observations about the work of Essex Heritage is appreciated. I can be contacted at www.essexheritage.org. Thanks. Tom Leonard
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