Essex Heritage
Events and Activities
Essex Heritage Corporate Membership Program
We have
recently received a most generous contribution to the Essex Heritage Corporate
Membership Program from the world famous Salem organization, the Peabody Essex Museum. We are indebted to this institution for their
participation and support. The museum
is one of the primary reasons why the City of Salem is in the middle of a
renaissance. When the Peabody-Essex
Museum made the decision to remain in Salem and add a world class addition to
their two centuries old museum, this was a major turning point for the city. This singular decision followed then by the
expansion of the Southern Essex County Court District redevelopment , the
growth of Salem State University campus, the harbor front plans and downtown
residential growth has had an important bearing on where the city stands today.
We once
again thank Peabody-Essex Museum for both their commitment of support to Essex
Heritage for today and for their long time commitment to the City of Salem.
Annual Spring Meeting
Essex
Heritage’s Annual Spring Meeting is
Winnekenni Castle in Haverhill on Wednesday, April 10, 2013
8:00 AM:
Continental Breakfast Reception
8:30 - 10:00 AM: Business Meeting
We hope you
will be able to join us! RSVP at 978-740-0444.
Sunday, March 24, 2013 • 1:00 - 3:00pm
Featured
Partner Event -Essex
County Greenbelt Association Presents:
Signs of Rebirth at the Willowdale
Meadow,
Ipswich
Road, Topsfield, MA 01983
Look for signs of the natural world’s rebirth as you tour the trails
within Greenbelt’s Willowdale Meadow, Bradley Palmer State Park, and the Willowdale
Mill Reservation. Reservations required. This event is free, but please email
ecga@ecga.org or call Greenbelt at 978-768-7241 to register.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 • 7:00pm
Featured
Partner Event -The
House of the Seven Gables Presents:
Seven Lectures at The Seven Gables:
Jim McAllister,
115 Derby Street, Salem, MA 01970
“Architecture & Preservation in Salem 1900-2000” Salem’s own local
historian & journalist will give a lively account of many of the sites of
historic significance in Salem over the past century.
Reservations
recommended. Essex Heritage and Seven Gables Members $10; Non-Members $15.
Please email sweber@7gables.org or call The House of the Seven Gables at
978-744-0991 ext. 104 to reserve your seats.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013 • 7:00pm
Featured
Partner Event -The
House of the Seven Gables Presents:
Seven Lectures at The Seven Gables: Paranormal
Salem, 115
Derby Street, Salem, MA 01970
Join
Kimberly Bizjak for an evening to explore the paranormal side of Salem's
history. Kimberly is the owner of Paranormal Salem, a researched-based
paranormal society and tour company. She also teaches Paranormal Studies at
NSCC. You'll learn the history and theory of ghost hunting, debunking, and
equipment. She'll share her spooky findings in Salem, and maybe find some more
during the lecture!
Reservations recommended. Essex Heritage and Seven Gables Members $10;
Non-Members $15. Please email sweber@7gables.org or call The House of the Seven
Gables at 978-744-0991 ext. 104 to reserve your seat,
Regional Event
and Activities
Salem Partnership Activities
From
everything I have heard, the theatrical performances in the play Love Letters at Salem Theater Company by
two very well-known community activists was most exceptionally well done. The work of both Patricia Zaido, the Salem
Partnership’s Executive Director, and John Archer, the very active community
philanthropist, local Beverly businessperson and Danvers resident, were very
professional and entertaining. I have
been associated off and on for many years with both amateur thespians and even
though I was not able to attend their performance, I am certain their
performances were exceptional.
While on the subject of the Salem Partnership, they will be conducting
their 26th anniversary annual meeting at Salem State University. I have been associated with this community
organization for all of its business life and continue to be impressed every
year with their accomplishments. The
event will be held on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, 5-7PM at Marsh Hall, Central
Campus at Salem State University. The keynote speaker, Jim McAllister, Salem
historian will speak on "Salem’s Evolving Economy in the 20th
Century". JIm is an accomplished
author, historian and presenter and I am sure as always that Jim will be most
entertaining. Jim McAllister was Essex
Heritage’s first Heritage Hero recipient in 2009. If you are interested in attending, contact
the Salem Partnership for ticket information.
Salem Ferry Contract
The City of
Salem has entered into a one year contract with Boston Harbor Cruises to run
the Salem Ferry with the 149 passenger ship owned by the City of Salem. The
contract provides four one-year renewals of this agreement which also allows
for one year extensions in four subsequent years. Service on the ferry is scheduled to begin
during the last week of May. It should
be noted that the schedule is weather dependent, and at that time of the year,
the weather conditions on the waters around Salem could have a bearing on the
schedule. The ferry has been a success
as it provides a comfortable and enjoyable method of getting visitors to this
region, the City of Salem and its numerous attractions. It also is a wonderful way to enjoy the
region and a round trip to Boston from Salem can be a pleasant experience.
People to People Food Pantry Needs
The important
Danvers People to People Food Pantry is supported primarily by community
donations and it recently put out a call for help. With dozens of homeless
families living a transitory life in motels, the Food Pantry has indicated a
need for wrapped candy and for help in organizing Easter baskets for the many
children living in these motels. I’ve
hear that the State has a plan for the future to correct the motel housing
issue in Danvers, and we can only hope they follow through with their
plan. At this time the residents of
Danvers want to be neighbors and help the Pantry met their need for wrapped
candy. So as you shop for your children
or grandkids, please think of buying an extra bag of candy for the Pantry to
help them meet their goals. Toys are okay
but wrapped candy is the primary need.
Drop off the candy at the Pantry at 22 Sylvan Stet or if you have
questions call the Pantry at 978-739-4188
Danvers Seeking State Approval to
Rehabilitate Smith School
The Town of
Danvers is preparing a plan to rehabilitate the Smith School in the St. John’s
Prep area of town. The school was built
in the open classroom configuration in the early 1970s and it is being offered
as a project to the State School Building Authority for the second year in a
row. The open classroom configuration
was most favored at the time the school was designed, but today the way the
school was designed makes it difficult to design education programs using
today’s standards.
The school
was built on land donated to the community of Danvers by the neighboring St
John’s Preparatory School and after moving to Danvers in 1973 it was one of the
first schools that my two sons attended in the town. The experience was a great one, and the
openness of the space was most conducive to the education needs at that
time. In the almost forty years since
the school was built, times have changed and the building needs to be
redesigned. Without the financial
support provided by the Commonwealth, rehabilitation will be difficult and
hopefully the plans presented to the State will be approved and a plan of
construction can begin soon.
Full Agenda at Marblehead Town Meeting
The
Marblehead Town Meeting will present a full agenda including forty articles at
the Town Meeting scheduled for May 6, 2013 at the Middle School. It looks like it could be a long evening.
One Contested Election Race in Andover
At the Town
Election in Andover scheduled for March 26th, there will only be one
contested race when three candidates run for the two Town Selectmen seats.
Early Bird Parking Tags Available in
Ipswich
We know that
it is only mid-March but it is never too early to make plans for the
summer. Parking programs at Cranes
Beach are now available to early bird buyers and the prices will be raised
soon.
Salem Point Residents Work on Goal Setting
The
residents of the Point Neighborhood in Salem have been invited by the City to
participate in a session to offer their opinions on the future of that
neighborhood. The session will offer
residents the opportunity to create a vision statement on how the twenty-block
area might be developed to promote growth and development. The city is working closely with the
Metropolitan Planning Council . For more
information contact the North Shore Community Development Coalition at
978-825-4016.
Spring Arrives on the Calendar
Spring is
about to arrive at least on the calendar.
We still have not seen much warm weather yet, but I am sure it is
coming. We stayed in the region this
winter and did not head for Florida where the usually warm spring weather has
not yet arrived. It is certainly nice
to see sunsets later and later each day, but it is dark in the morning.
Medical, Senior
and Disability Events
Gordon College Therapy
I am
currently enjoying therapy sessions at Gordon College in Wenham. In addition to walking on their wonderful
indoor track, the gymnasium connected with the therapy program also has a
comprehensive collection of exercise machines designed for people with handicaps. I am using this equipment. Along with the progress in improving my
walking capabilities, the machines are beneficial to gaining muscle
strength. I have been very fortunate to
have support from the therapists at Spaulding Hospital and now the people at
Gordon College.
Information from the
Director of North Shore Elder Services Paul Leanzikos that might be informative
to some readers
Styrofoam Recycling Opportunity
Lifoam
Industries, a styrofoam cooler manufacturer located in Peabody, plans to hold
monthly styrofoam recycling collection events.
These Saturday (only!) collections will be done in conjunction with
ReFoamIt (www.refoamit.com). They are
free and open to the public. For
details on when future collections will be held and what is and isn't
acceptable, please check ReFoamIt's website.
Lifoam cannot accept styrofoam on any other day than the monthly
collection day. The next collection
event is scheduled for March 16, Lifoam Industries, Peabody, MA. No
Residency Requirement.
Lifoam is
holding their second foam recycling event from 9-1. Bring your clean EPS foam to 2 Fifth Street,
Peabody, MA. Lifoam is only able to
accept foam during their recycling events.
Please do not ask to drop items off ahead of the event or send foam
through the mail. Also, please do not bring
packing peanuts. For more information
about this collection, please contact Oscar Arevalo at 978-278-6215
SAVE THE DATE: for an important North
Shore Elder Services Event. This is an
important event for NSES.
Wicked Funny Comedy Tour
Featuring some of New England’s funniest comedians
Saturday, April 27, 2013 8:00 p.m.
at the North Shore Music Theater
Newburyport YWCA Addresses Housing
The
Newburyport YWCA, one of the only YWCAs, in the region has begun work on the
expansion of housing opportunities in their property, the Marjorie Lynn House
on 11 Market Street, Newburyport. This
facility that has been owned by the YWCA for almost a decade, is used for
affordable housing for homeless households in the community. The YWCA received a grant in 2012 of $1.2
million to expand its affordable housing program that has been a dream of the
many members of the board for a number of years.
The expansion being planned, when completed, will allow the facility to
offer eight homeless units and two households where at least one member of the
household is disabled. At the present
time the community has only six such units for low-income households. This work is being applauded by community
activists in the region for the YWCA’s effort in this matter.
People in the
News
Local Publisher Named Regional Publisher
Congratulations
to Karen Andreas who in addition to her role as Publisher of the Salem News has
been named Regional Publisher of a series of are newspapers including the Eagle
Tribune, Gloucester Times, The Daily News of Newburyport, and Andover
Townsman. She has served in a number of
positions over the years with great distinction and will continue now to be an
even greater force in the region in the time ahead.
Haverhill Nurse appointed to Northern Essex
Community College Board
Mary Ellen
Daley O’Brien, a case manager at Merrimack Valley Hospital, has been appointed
to the Board of Trustees of Northern Essex Community College by Massachusetts
Governor Deval Patrick. She has a
wonderful record of qualifications and has been honored for her many
achievements in her home town of Haverhill and the region she serves.
Local Danvers Residents to be Honored
We want to
congratulate Town Manager Wayne Marquis, Myrna Fearer, and Jack Kelly on their
awards to the DEEP Hall of Fame.
Congratulations also to Chris and Jim Mc Cann on their selection to the
St. John’s Prep Hall of Honor and to Anna Bertinii who is being honored by St.
Mary’s Elementary School in Beverly.
All seven of these folks are Danvers residents, and I consider all of
them good friends as well as valued members of the Danvers Community.
Wilmington Woman to lead North of Boston
Convention and Visitor Bureau
Ann Marie
Casey who has been leading the Marblehead Chamber of Commerce will take over
the leadership of the countywide tourist operation headquartered in
Salisbury. The non-profit organization
receives private and state funding to promote tourism in Essex County. The NBC&VB has long been associated with Essex
Heritage, and we wish Ann Marie all the best as she assumes this new role. We look forward to working with her.
Personal
Observations
Salem Senior Center
The Salem
City Council has a most important decision to make in the near term. A decision to build a new much needed Senior
center for the elder population in Salem will come before that group for an
approval. As a member of the Advisory
Board of the Danvers Council on Aging that helps manage the sensational Danvers
Senior Center on Stone Street in Danvers, I can attest what a spacious, well
appointed facility with more than adequate parking can mean to a
community. I am aware of the need to
find the required funds to build this new facility, and I hope that the
community of Salem can allocate those required resources to provide a
satisfactory facility to support the fast growing senior population of the City
of Salem.
Dow Jones Average Attains New All Time
Highs
In spite of
all of the ongoing difficulties in Washington D C with the warring factions in congress, the US stock market
recently set a new high water mark for the Dow jones index. In spite of Washington’s travails, other
economic signals remain positive.
Interest rates remain lower than historic levels. Housing starts are
high. Home foreclosures are at the
lowest level in years and that has a bearing on other associated
businesses. For a time the index and its
current level is good for personal investments in IRA and 401 K holdings, but
the real question is will the levels remain high or is there a correction
coming in the future? The situation in Venezuela with the death of President
Hugo Chavez and what might happen to that country’s oil exports bears watching.
Venezuela is the fourth largest exporter of oil to our country, and political
instability could be an issue. Venezuela
has also provided substantial oil to lower income families particularly here in
the Northeast. It will be important to
follow the upheaval in that country following the death after a long battle with
cancer by President Chaves. In this
country, job creation continues to remain a problem and the unemployment
numbers are still higher than any of us would like to see.
Elected Officials Must Come Together
As we come
nearer to another fiscal cliff with a potential government shutdown at the end
of March, I grow ever more concerned with the political gridlock in
Washington. At the end of each recent
election, we send a number of well-intentioned officials down to Washington
D.C. with differing outlooks on how the government should be managed. Each year, the differences in opinions and
philosophy on how to run the government seem to grow further and further
apart. It certainly seems like it is
time for these elected officials to learn how to compromise and come up with
workable solutions to the plans to manage this country. If they can’t accomplish that task, then it
might be time to replace the people involved in the process. We need to find a workable solution to the
multitude of government management problems we are facing and if this can’t be
accomplished by the people in place now then it might be time to send in new
group of people to handle the process.
The Quote of the Decade: "The fact that we are here today to
debate raising America 's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a
sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now
depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our
Government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America 's debt weakens us
domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, 'the buck stops here.'
Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs
of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of
leadership. Americans deserve better." Senator Barrack H. Obama, March 2006
The problem was recognized then and is still not solved now.
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