ESSEX
HERITAGE PROGRAMS & ACTIVITIES
August Essex
Heritage Trustees Meeting 8/21/12
The
Board of Trustees of Essex Heritage met for an update from
the Executive Director. A number of issues of interest were discussed.
An
overview of the Youth Summer Job Corps
program was discussed. This summer 40
under-served youth from the region have been working at both of the National Park Service sites in Salem and Saugus and, new for this year, some of them have also been working
at The Trustees of Reservation’s Appleton
Farm in Ipswich.
The
upcoming Trails & Sails weekends
were discussed and a sensational new 2012 Guide was distributed. These new guides can be obtained for free at
the Essex Heritage Regional Visitor Centers, from many of the host sites, and from some Eastern and TD Bank
branches. Or you can call Essex Heritage and have a guide mailed
to you for $5.00. The full guide along
with up-dates and changes can be seen at www.trailsandsails.org If you go on-line, you can
create your own unique itinerary too!
The
guide highlights over 200 free events that can be experienced on the two
weekends. Essex Heritage remains very appreciative of the many organizations that
offer all their free events. This is a huge regional effort. Essex
Heritage is also most appreciative of the sponsors of the event, TD Bank, Eastern Bank and REI for their generosity and
commitment.
A
report was provided on the progress of the cleanup activities being undertaken
by the US Coast Guard on Bakers Island on Salem Sound as Essex Heritage works towards public
visitation to the island in the future.
A
report on recent successes of the witch trial presentation being offered at the
NPS Visitor Center and expectations
as the month of October draws near with a large increase of visitors to the City of Salem. If you have not yet viewed
this presentation focused on the witch hysteria that gripped Salem in 1692 you should make plans to visit
the National Park Service Regional Visitor
Center in downtown Salem during the month of September before the increased
number of October visitors start to arrive.
You Won’t Want
to Miss …
Friday, October 26, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Essex Heritage Featured Partner Event
The Andover Historical
Society Presents:
Trials and Taverns: A Lecture with Dr. Emerson
Baker
97
Main Street, Andover, MA 01810
Puritan
New Englanders viewed taverns as a necessary evil. Travelers
needed a place to stay and eat, and sessions of court were sometimes even held
in them – including the early hearings in the Salem witch trials. However, they were also places where people
could fall for the Devil’s temptations. Taverns provided the setting for
drunkenness, lechery, gambling, idleness and even witchcraft. Salem State University historian Dr. Emerson Baker will discuss the
bewitched and debauched Quaker
tavern at the center of his book, The
Devil of Great Island: Witchcraft and Conflict in Early New England.
All through the summer of 1682, a stone-throwing demon would supernaturally
assault the New Hampshire tavern,
and there were links between these events and witchcraft in Salem ten years later. Indeed, there
are many interesting connections between witchcraft and taverns in early New England. Baker will also explore
what early tavern culture was like. What were the preferred alcoholic beverages
and tavern games during the Salem
witch trials? Come for a drink and find out.
Refreshments and Socializing starts at
7:00-7:30, Lecture 7:30.
Advanced
reservations required. Please contact (978)
475-2236 and let them know you are an Essex
Heritage member. Admission: $15 for AHS Members and Members of Essex Heritage, $25 per Non-Member
Wednesday, November 7, 7:00 PM
|
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Essex Heritage Featured Partner Event
The
House of the Seven Gables Presents:
Strong Women at the Gables: Elizabeth Palmer
Peabody, a Notable Local Figure with International Connections
115 Derby Street, Salem, MA 01970
Professor
Louise B. Swiniarski of the Education Department at Salem State University, will focus on Elizabeth Peabody: her work, friends,
and the literary salon she hosted on West Street in Boston. She will also discuss Elizabeth’s
relationship with her sister Sophia,
wife of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Advanced reservations
required. Please contact (978) 744-0991 and let them
know you are an Essex Heritage
member. Admission: $10 for Essex
Heritage and Gables Members, $15
Non-Members.
ESSEX
HERITAGE COMMUNITY PARTNERS
Parson
Capen House and Gould Barn Profile
The Parson
Capen House in Topsfield is one
of the finest surviving examples of Elizabethan
Architecture in this region and in
all of America. The house is
situated in a location that overlooks the Topsfield
Common. It was built originally on a
twelve-acre lot of land granted Reverend
Capen by the Town of Topsfield
in 1682. Parson Capen served the church
in Topsfield for 44 years as its
leader until his death.
The Topsfield
Historical Society purchased the house in 1913. It was restored under the
caring direction of George Francis Dow
and an official housewarming was held on January 14, 1914.
In 1960, the Parson Capen
House was designated a National
Historic Landmark by the U.S.
Department of the Interior. In
awarding the designation the U.S.
Department of Interior stated that this site possesses national
significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America.
The property is open for tours June 15 to Sept 15. It is open on Sunday, Wednesday and
Friday afternoons from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. There are docents on hand to explain
the history of the house and the adjacent barn.
Just next door is the Gould Barn. To learn about
this barn is to step back into American
history. The barn was built about 1710 and originally stood at 129 Washington
Street, about a mile from its present site. The Goulds were one of the founding families of Topsfield. Zaccheus Gould came from England about 1639 and played an active
role in creating the town, then known as New
Meadows, and was one of the leading citizens of the community at that time.
The barn’s owner during the Revolutionary War was Joseph Gould. He was Zaccheus’s great-grandson. Joseph was a farmer, but on December 5,
1774, he was elected Captain by the
citizens of Topsfield of one of the
town’s two Militia Companies. It is
recorded that on April 19, 1775 Captain
Gould left his plow and traveled off to Lexington and Concord to
help successfully drive the English
regulars back to Boston.
The barn was gifted to the Society in 1982 by Dr. and Mrs. Michael Schiff.
It was carefully dismantled and its timbers were stored for future
preservation and reconstruction. Norn Isler, who for many years was the
President of the Topsfield Historical Society, led the effort to
reconstructed the barn in its present location as authentically as possible.
The Parson
Capen originally had a barn, now long gone, which was contemporary with the
Gould Barn.
The Gould Barn is available for weddings,
parties and meetings. The barn is
wheelchair accessible and has handicapped facilities and a small kitchen. For further information please email: Gould Barn
The Essex National Heritage Commission has
used the barn as a meeting location for a number of events, the most important
of which was the visit of the National Park Service Advisory Board when they
came to the region to prepare their Second Century Report.
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Powers Named
Director of Admissions at St. John’s Prep.
St. John’s Prep
School
in Danvers has hired Ms. Sarah Powers of Topsfield as the Director of Admissions at the private Danvers Catholic all male High School. Ms.
Powers formally served as n assistant Director
of Admissions at the Pingree School
in Hamilton. She will be responsible for maintaining the
level of enrollment at the school that traces its origin to 1907. In addition to admissions she has previously
served schools as a college counselor and a director of Alumni Affairs. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and played lacrosse in a national final four as the
goal-tender. She is still very involved in Woman’s Lacrosse
REGIONAL NEWS
New Auditoriums
to be added to Region
We
recently learned that the Shore Country
Day School in Beverly has
received a substantial amount of funds from the MA State Finance and Development Agency. The funds will be used to build an arts
center that will be called the “Center for Creativity”. This facility will be built in time for the
2013 school year. In addition to
classrooms the facility will contain a 375 theatre.
The
new Danvers High School will also
include an expanded Auditorium. These
two facilities are welcomed additions to the region and will provide much new
additional performing arts venues in the region.
City of Lynn
and Town of Swampscott Team up to Purchase Energy
The
two neighboring seaside communities of Lynn
and Swampscott have teamed up to
enter into a joint partnership to purchase energy that will be offered to
residents of the two municipalities.
This is a wonderful example of communities in the region working
collectively to provide better services and reduce costs.
Historical
Panel Stops School Demolition in Swampscott
The
Swampscott Historical Commission has
issued a demolition delay to halt at least for a nine-month period the decision
to tear down the former Swampscott
Middle School until the historic value of the facility can be determined.
Boys and Girls
Club of Greater Salem
Immaculate
Conception Church terminates lease with Boys & Girls Club, effective August
16, 2013.
The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem will continue to serve the
youth of Salem in its current
location at 13 Hawthorne Boulevard for this entire school year. However, the Club has received notice from the Immaculate Conception Parish, that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, owner of the Hawthorne
Boulevard building, will terminate the Club’s
lease and tenancy as of mid-August 2013.
The Parish has not stated a reason nor is it required to do so. However, it is probable that the Archdiocese intends to lease all or
part of the building to a new middle school, to be named The Nativity School, for the 2013-14 academic year.
According to John Neely, president of the Club’s
board of directors, “Over the past year, the board’s Building Committee has
been investigating possible locations for a new clubhouse. The notice from the
church adds urgency to this task and may require us to seek an interim location
for the year beginning in September 2013. We are speaking with other service
organizations and with the City of Salem
about possible collaboration to meet our and their space requirements.”
Joanne
Scott,
executive director of the Club says,
“For 143 years the Club has served
all youth, especially those who need us most. The clubhouse has been relocated
several times during those years. We now
have the opportunity to build upon community enthusiasm and create a long-term
solution to our space needs. A new
building specifically designed for our Club and potentially for other
organizations will be both an asset for the City and one vital foundation for
the development of its youth. Other communities have done it; we can too!”
Scott
says
she wants parents to know that all programs and locations will remain exactly
the same this year as in the past. “We look forward to serving over 800
children this year, and many more as we plan our new building location.”
The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem through its Kids Club provides fully-licensed
after-school care for children through the age of 8. A very popular drop-in
center serves children 8 through 12 and the teen program has participants
through the age of 18, all at the clubhouse.
The Club also manages
licensed after-school care at the Witchcraft
Heights Elementary School and provides after-school programs at the Higgins Middle School in Peabody.
Club programs
include arts, study time, sports and fun.
The Club uses tried-and-true
programming, including some evidence-based programs, provided by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America as
well as its own special projects and activities—often developed in
collaboration with other local organizations and the Salem School District.
Twenty-eight part-time counselors and 40 homework volunteers assist the Club’s permanent staff.
The Club also operates a popular summer day camp with its permanent staff
and 16 part-time counselors. The drop-in, middle-school and teen programs are
open to all youth for an annual membership fee of $10. Community and corporate support as well
fundraising events cover the costs. The
licensed day-care program and summer camp fees are paid by parents, by state
grants and by camper scholarships.
COMMMUNITY
HEALTH AND ELDER AFFAIRS
National
Rehabilitation Week
I,
along with other former patients at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, have
been invited to attend a reunion and celebration of our successes at an event
at the hospital on September 6, 2012.
Scammers Out to
Profit on U. S. Supreme Court's Ruling on the Affordable Care Act
No
sooner had the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Affordable Care Act than scam
artists began working the phones. Claiming to be from the government,
they're
saying that under the Affordable Care Act, they need to verify some information.
For example, they might have the routing number of the person's bank, and then
use that information to get the person to reveal the entire account number.
Other times, they have asked for credit card numbers, Social Security numbers,
Medicare ID, or other personal information.
Be Alert! Don’t provide this
information over the phone.
Governor Concerned
about Health Cost Bill
One
week before the end of the Massachusetts formal legislative sessions, Governor Deval Patrick expressed a mix
of concern and confidence about the conference committee trying to reconcile
House and Senate health care cost containment bills. “I think we’re going to
get a good bill,” Patrick told
reporters in front of his office on Tuesday afternoon, continuing, “There are a
couple of hard issues. I wish it weren’t going down to the wire the way it
seems to right now.” The health care legislation has been a major focus since
early last year of Patrick and
legislative leaders, and the diverging House and Senate bills are larger in
size than other items that have been before conference committees. “We’ve been
working on health care cost for a long time,” Patrick said. He expressed concern that he would have enough time
to go back and forth with the Legislature, even if the bill is sent to him
before the July 31 end of formal session. “It’s important we close out soon and
given the late hour of the session that they give me something to sign because
there isn’t a lot of time for the backing and forthing that sometimes happens,”
Patrick said.
PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS
Boston Sports
Survey
A
Boston Newspaper commissioned a
recent Sports Survey where 7200
people both male and female over the age of 18 from all six New England states were interviewed on
a variety of issues connected to Boston
Professional Sports Teams and the results mirror present conditions of the
four major teams and not surprisingly the current soap opera that is the Red Sox places them in last place in
favorability among the four major Boston
sports. The Red Sox were listed by 32 percent of the respondents as their
favorite team and they were preceded by the Patriots with a 42% favorite team connection The baseball entry was followed by the Bruins at 11 % and the Celtics with 10%. The Red Sox fared even worse when their
management style was compared to the other three teams in Boston where they finished last among the four teams in Boston. That was certainly based on their
performance in the last month of 2011 and the work to date in 2012. All
of this may change to a positive outlook toward the Red Sox if the major trade
the trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers is completed and conditions change.
Organ Donation
Designation on Massachusetts Driver’s License
I
only advocate an organ donor designation if that designation fits a person’s
mind set, but such a designation as I have done on my license can be a life
altering situation if one’s organs can be used to save others.
