Essex Heritage Matters
ESSEX HERITAGE SEMI ANNUAL SPRING
MEETING
On the last day of May, Gordon College
in Wenham was the host for the Essex National Heritage National Commission’s
semi-annual spring public meeting at the college in the Ken Olson Science
Building. It was too bad that it was raining that morning as a walk around the
beautiful campus by the attendees would have opened a number of eyes to the
beauty of another gem of an Essex County location. I have been most aware
of the campus and its assets, as I have been using the Balance and Wellness
Center for Therapy and using the excellent gymnasium at that location. I
was pleased to be able to attend the meeting attended by about 200
Commissioners and other local residents many of them had never previously ever
visited the college.
The mission and the programs of ENHC are
still most relevant, and I am most proud of my continuing association. I
am also proud that my wife, who has been accompanying me to events for the last
three years, was provided a day off from tending to me. I was accompanied
to the meeting by my son Mark Leonard, a banking executive at one of our most
generous corporate sponsors Eastern Bank. A couple of years ago Mark was
elected a Commissioner and he is looking forward to helping the Commission in
its work in the years ahead.
One of the most important features of
this meeting has been the announcement of current grant recipients. The
following represents a list and a very brief explanation of their funded
programs.
In addition, several new commissioners
were elected, and Annie Harris CEO of Essex Heritage provided an update on the
current state of Essex Heritage and the Heritage Area movement in general.
Treasurer John Farmer presented a report on an audit performed by an
independent firm. President Jack Good, who did a wonderful job in keeping
the program on time, called for an adjournment of the meeting with a
reminder that the Commission will offer its next public meeting in October at a
time and place to be named and publicized.
A list of the thirteen community Essex
Heritage Grant winners and two regional awards and a brief explanation of
their of their program follows:
Amesbury
- Amesbury High School
In response to the age-old question,
"When will we ever use this?," Amesbury High School has formed an
educational partnership with Lowell's Boat Shop to offer “Math on the
Merrimack.”
Danvers
- General Israel Putnam Chapter of the DAR
On property formerly owned by one of
Danvers most illustrious citizen - patriot, physician and Judge Samuel Holten –
sits an important First Period house as well as rare, surviving double privy to
be restored. www.danversdar.org
- Danvers Historical Society
As part of its 125th
anniversary celebration, the Danvers Historical Society will enhance its
popular 29-year old history education.
Gloucester
- Gloucester Adventure
Having undergone a major overhaul of its
hull, decking and rigging, the Schooner Adventure, a National Historic
Landmark, sailed last summer for the first time in over 20 years.
Ipswich
- Ipswich Historical Commission
The Old North Burying Ground in Ipswich
dates to 1634 and as one of the oldest cemeteries in the country provides an
enduring record of the region’s earliest settlers and important historical
figures. www.historicipswich.org
Lynn
- Lynn Museum
The Lynn Museum will create Spanish and
Russian translations of its permanent exhibits and promotional materials,
thereby providing a growing segment of its visitor base with a meaningful
experience and greater understanding of Lynn’s rich history. www.lynnmuseum.org
- The Highlands Coalition
With the goal of inspiring community
pride and changing perceptions, the project entails production of a film about
the Highlands neighborhood of Lynn as seen through the eyes and experiences of
its older and immigrant residentswww.hclynn.org
Marblehead
- Marblehead Museum
Untrained yet passionate, more historian
than an artist, J.O.J. Frost began painting at the age of 70 and used house
paint, wall board and any available material to tell stories about daily life
in a small New England fishing village. www.marbleheadmuseum.org
Merrimac
- Town of Merrimac
The Town of Merrimac will utilize Essex
Heritage grant funding to nominate its town hall to the National Register of
Historic Places, the nation’s official list of cultural resources worthy of
preservation. www.clipperheritagetrail.com
Newburyport
- City of Newburyport
North Andover
- Friends of North Andover Trails
In addition to leading guided hikes and
coordinating monthly work days on town trails, the all-volunteer friends group
will produce a comprehensive guide to North Andover's trails and open spaces. www.fonat.org
Salem
- Salem Sound Coastwatch
Through its School to Sea program, a
Salem Sound Coastwatch educator will use place-based, experiential activities
to help underserved youth increase their knowledge and appreciation of the
natural resources of Salem Sound
Saugus
- Saugus Historical Commission
The Round Hill historic site, located
150 feet above the Saugus River and in close proximity to the Saugus Iron
Works, is part of a highly significant Native American archeological cluster. www.town.saugus.ma.us/hc
Regional
- Merrimack Valley Planning Commission
With the goal of increasing public
awareness of the Great Marsh's ecological vulnerability, the Great Marsh
Ecology Tour (GMET) will provide a greater understanding of the marsh's
history, its critically important environmental significance and the very real
threats it faces..
- Towns of Wenham, Topsfield and Danvers
Working in close collaboration, the
three contiguous communities will develop and install an informational kiosk
and signage along the recently completed segments of the regional Border to
Boston Trail. www.essexheritage.org/bordertoboston
MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM
Essex Heritage offers a membership program that is like a preview of
the signature event of the commission called Trails and Sails offered on two
fall weekends in September. For more information on the Membership
Program or Trails and Sails visit www.EssexHeritage.org for information about either of these programs,
and details about costs and reservations.
As an overview of the upcoming quarter
from May through August 2014, the following is a brief outline of scheduled
events in the membership program. The schedule of events for this upcoming
Quarter is as follows:
· Hit the
trails with Essex County Trail Association
· Talking
walls of the City of Gloucester
·
Adventures in Time Summer Camp with North Andover Historical Society
· Seven
Lectures at the House of 7 Gables in Salem
· Photo
Safaris in Ipswich
· In the
following quarter look for the Salem Maritime Festival and Endicott Pear Tree
Celebration in Danvers
Essex Heritage Fundraising effort
Speaking of
sensational locations in this region that you might want to visit and is not
usually open for visitation is the magnificent country estate of Waldingfield
in Ipswich. Essex Heritage is gratified by the generosity of owners and
hosts Donald Curial and Arthur Finklestein who have agreed to open their
special home for a cocktail reception on June 22, 2014 from 5-7. This
Summer Soiree will be the only fundraising event for the Commission this
year.
If you have
any interest in offering a contribution and offering your support of the
mission of the commission and attending this event contact Essex Heritage at
978 740 0444
OTHER COMMUNITY
ACTIVITIES
Danvers Finance Committee
After a lengthy series of meetings during
the last part of April and the beginning of May, the residents of the Danvers community
on the committee considered all of the numerous department financial
budgets. Also a substantial number of requests for town capital
improvements were all approved and recorded for a formal series of
recommendations in their report to the Towns Annual Meeting members on May 19,
2014. As in the past, the work was tedious but most needed and
served the purpose as a watch dog group to insure good town management. A
number of recommended borrowings that included changes to the athletic fields
at the new High School, the replacement of the heating system at the Library
and other needs including a new 911 center and improvements to the public
works facility.
St. John’s Preparatory School Matters
As is usually the case as a Trustee
Emeritus of the all Boys Catholic school in Danvers, there are a number of
particular events held in addition to the actual graduation. As a graduate of
the school in 1954, I attend the Golden Eagle Breakfast on graduation morning
to welcome the class of 1964 into the ranks of fifty-year graduates. The event is always a great time to reconnect with old friends.
This year in place of presenting the
Distinguished Alumni Award at graduation, it was presented as a separate
event. The award was presented this year to Doctor David Monahan, class of 1962, for his exemplary work in the medical field in a number of under
developed countries. As a former winner of the award several years ago, I
was proud and pleased to attend the event and offer my congratulation to Dr.
Monahan.
NEWS
FOR NSES
May WAS Older American's Month!
Older Americans Month 2014
Safe Today. Healthy Tomorrow.
Older adults have made countless contributions and sacrifices to ensure a better life for future generations. Since 1963, communities across the country have shown their gratitude by celebrating Older Americans Month each May. This celebration recognizes older Americans for their contributions and demonstrates our nation's commitment to helping them stay healthy and active.
This year's theme for Older Americans Month is "Safe Today. Healthy Tomorrow." The theme focuses on injury prevention and safety to encourage older adults to protect themselves and remain active and independent for as long as possible.
Unintentional injuries to this population result in at least 6 million medically treated injuries and more than 30,000 deaths every year. With an emphasis on safety during Older Americans Month, we encourage older adults to learn about the variety of ways they can avoid the leading causes of injury, like falls.
While North Shore Elder Services provides services, support, and resources to older adults year-round, Older Americans Month offers an opportunity for us to provide specialized information and services around the important topic of injury prevention. This information will help older adults take control of their safety and live longer, healthier lives.
Throughout the next month, NSES will be providing tips on how to avoid the leading causes of injury. To learn more about Older Americans Month and how you can participate, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter and keep up to date on our latest news!
Older Americans Month 2014
Safe Today. Healthy Tomorrow.
Older adults have made countless contributions and sacrifices to ensure a better life for future generations. Since 1963, communities across the country have shown their gratitude by celebrating Older Americans Month each May. This celebration recognizes older Americans for their contributions and demonstrates our nation's commitment to helping them stay healthy and active.
This year's theme for Older Americans Month is "Safe Today. Healthy Tomorrow." The theme focuses on injury prevention and safety to encourage older adults to protect themselves and remain active and independent for as long as possible.
Unintentional injuries to this population result in at least 6 million medically treated injuries and more than 30,000 deaths every year. With an emphasis on safety during Older Americans Month, we encourage older adults to learn about the variety of ways they can avoid the leading causes of injury, like falls.
While North Shore Elder Services provides services, support, and resources to older adults year-round, Older Americans Month offers an opportunity for us to provide specialized information and services around the important topic of injury prevention. This information will help older adults take control of their safety and live longer, healthier lives.
Throughout the next month, NSES will be providing tips on how to avoid the leading causes of injury. To learn more about Older Americans Month and how you can participate, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter and keep up to date on our latest news!
PERSONAL OSERVATIONS
Spring Reading
With the cool Damp weather, and being
indoors a bit more than normal, I have had a lot of time to read.
Over the years, one of my favorite films
derived from a book titled “The Long Grey Line”. The movie starring
Tyrone Power and Maureen O’Hara has been viewed by me a number of
times. The story revolves around the life of an Irish Immigrant
Martin Maher, who came to this country. After a couple of years in the
Point’s mess hall, he then joined the Army, was stationed at West Point and
worked with the Corps of Cadets for over five decades as a physical
conditioning instructor. The story focused on his personal relationship
with a number of famous military members of the Corp of Cadets.
I recently discovered another book by
Rick Atkinson also called “The Long
Grey Line”. The author is one of my personal favorites, and I have
read a number of books written by him, primarily about the military. This book focuses on the West Point Class of 1966, and follows a
selected few of those class members and then continues reporting about those
same class members through their early days in their regular army. In
many cases their difficult decisions relative to their “coming to grips” with
the way the Vietnam War was being conducted, and whether or not to make a
career in the army that they had first felt certain about. Those
decisions focused on the way the country was dealing with the War.
Both the decisions on how Army officials and how Washington were managing
the war and running the army at that time and public sentiment that had turned
almost completely against our effort in Southeast Asia. The book was well chronicled
and most enjoyable. It presented the controversial
war and the vision from the minds of young men being asked to fight a war that
many thought should never have never been conducted. The loss of life in
the effort was incredible, and a large number of the Class of 1963 were killed
in the war. A substantial percentage of the class of 450 cadets later
resigned and pursued other careers as soon as their official term of enlistment
was over. Graduate school and the law became choices for many. This
large number of defections had an impact on how the “Point” would be managed in
future years.
The book continued to view the members
of the 1963 class as they moved through life with a particular emphasis on the
work of several classmates as they created an idea, raised the funds needed to
build and dedicate a sensational memorial in the form of a wall on Mall in
Washington DC.
The book spent a fair amount of time
outlining the cheating scandal and the arrival of female cadets, but also
pointed out that the “POINT” had changed in keeping with the dramatic
demographic changes that matched the dramatic changes and the demographic
changes in the American population.
Local Professional
Sports
BOSTON RED SOX
The community baseball team, the old
town team Red Sox, did not start out as effective as they did in 2013 when they
were the World Champs, but it is very early in the season and maybe they will
hopefully improve their performance before the summer arrives. Baseball in the spring with unforgiving tricky weather can be difficult
at best.
THE BOSTON BRUINS
The ice hockey team drew a difficult
task by drawing the Detroit Red Wings in the opening round of the Stanley Cup
Playoff, but after losing the first game of the series they then won four
straight games.
Then they faced their archrival Montreal
Canadians in round two. In the past those efforts that rise to great
emotions whenever the Bruins and Canadians get together, matches the efforts of
the Red Sox and the Yankees. Those emotions made the next round certainly
more competitive and the Bruins season ended with a loss to their arch enemy
from Montreal.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
The 2014 season schedule for the New
England Patriots was recently released and as a long time season ticket holder
that schedule is most important to me. It seems that each year the
schedule becomes more and more focused on what the television networks want
rather than what the fans want. In 2014 the team will play five evening
games and two late afternoon contests that certainly lend themselves to TV
scheduling. I expect that kind of schedule is what must be expected for a team
with a projected winning record. The annual player draft result included
the selection of a quarterback that might be the replacement for long-time fan
favorite Tom Brady. If the draft continues the rebuilding of the 2014
team that started with an aggressive plan during free agency that will give the
fans some hope for the future.
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