Essex Heritage Early November Events
Essex Heritage Semi Annual Meeting
Essex Heritage's Annual Fall Meeting
was on Thursday, October 23, at The Governor's Academy in Byfield with 8AM: Continental
Breakfast Reception and 8:30 - 10AM: Business Meeting
In the next edition of this BLOG, I
will report on the results of this meeting.
Featured Partner Event: True Yankees
November 6, 2014 at 7PM• Salem
Visitor Center, 2 New Liberty Street, Salem, MA, 01970
Drawing on private journals, letters,
ships’ logs, memoirs, and newspaper accounts, Dane Morrison, Professor of Early
American History at Salem State University, will discuss America’s earliest
encounters on a global stage through the exhilarating experiences of Yankee
seafarers.
Regional Education Forum
November 12, 2014 at 8:30AM to 2:30PM•
Maritime Gloucester and Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, MA, 01930
Essex Heritage is hosting another education forum for heritage sites, organizations, and education professionals
to share best practices, encourage collaboration, and learn about
opportunities. Join us and your professional colleagues at the next forum on
Wednesday, November 12.
Seven Lectures at The Seven Gables: The Schooner Fame
November 19, 2014 at 6PM• The House of the Seven Gables, United
States, 115 Derby Street, Salem, MA, 01970
Capt. Mike Rutstein will share
Schooner Fame’s story: its plan, the selection of trees and building in Essex.
Featured Partner Event: Mutt Strut with Greenbelt
November 23, 2014 • Tompson Street
Reservation, Fernald Street, Gloucester, MA, 01930
Join Greenbelt's Land Conservation
Director, David Santomenna and his dog and Greenbelt mascot, Shiloh, for a
dog-walk within Greenbelt's largest reservation.
We wish all a safe Halloween and a Happy Thanksgiving.
We certainly hope that all of you
enjoy the spectacular American family holiday of Thanksgiving. For most of us, it is a day of family dining
and local community football sporting events.
In the case of Salem and other
communities in this region that celebrate Halloween, we hope that the events
connected with the holiday are special and economically profitable.
Other Regional News
Boys and Girls Club Information
The Danvers and Salem Ninety Nine
Restaurants are raising funds for our Club by selling special Boys & Girls
Club meals, hosting a breakfast, selling t-shirts, holding a Jack O'Lantern
silent auction, a raffle and more to raise funds to support our Club. Please
stop by the Ninety Nine Restaurants in Danvers and Salem.
Here is how you can help
according to the Ninety-Nine Restaurants:
The Ninety Nine will donate $1 to your local Boys & Girls
Club chapter when you order the Boys & Girls Club Sandwich, Entrée or
Slice of Pie, and we’ll donate $3 when you take home a Whole Pie!
Purchase a commemorative bracelet for $5.
Add $1, $3, $5 or more to your guest check.
All the funds raised in these ways will go to the Boys and
Girls Club.
Bike Safety
The Boston Globe regional issues have
been expanded with more content and in a recent issue of the North Region, it
was noted that bike accidents in this region are up by almost 10%. Essex Heritage is one organization that has
espoused the increase of recreational trails in the region. This position may have helped drive the
accident higher, but I suspect that the majority of the increase in accidents and even deaths has come from
city street accidents. I expect these
accident numbers are too high and the local government leaderships should take
these issues seriously and consider changes in signage, road markings and intersection re-configurations, when
possible, to help reverse the accident, injury and death trend that is
climbing.
Update on New Danvers Town Manager
The Town of Danvers has conducted a
series of interviews and has made a preliminary offer to
Mr. Steve Bartha of Avon,
Connecticut. The thought is that the
Danvers Selectmen and Mr. Bartha are close to an employment agreement and he
could begin work in Danvers in early December.
Last Report on Recently Resigned Town Manager Marquis
The North Shore Elder Service
Organization annually holds a “We Give Thanks Award Evening” and as a member of
that Board I have nominated Wayne Marquis for the Civic Engagement Award. The
process of choosing a winner in this category is ongoing and may be crowded,
but regardless my nomination was offered.
Update on Salem Police Chief
Kim Driscoll, the Mayor of Salem, is
investigating methods to open up the application process for the next police chief
in Salem. This process will include
looking outside the standard Civil Service process. This process is a real effort for the Salem
Mayor as the current Chief is the odds on favorite to win the November election
to replace Salem State Representative John Keenan.
City of Salem Eligible for Federal Funds
The City of Salem was one of ten
communities across the Commonwealth that is eligible. The funding included planning and safety and
controls. The City will be legible for a $4
to $5 million annuity from the Department of Transportation. In a statement from Mayor Kim Driscoll she
indicated how pleased she was for the award and the grant would help complete
local streets.
Recent Dedication of Housing
The Town on North Andover recently
held a dedication service to celebrate the completion of the first Veteran
Housing created in that community in over a half a century. A run down and
foreclosed three story building been renovated and offers three apartments to veterans and families that will now be occupied
after a $60,000 commitment was made by the Town Meeting to complete this task.
Danvers Historical Society
From the Danvers Historical Society News
The following letter was recently
sent to the Preservation Committee by officials of The Danvers Historical
Society to preserve and protect the identified historic homed in Danvers
Dear members of Danvers Preservation Commission Town Hall
Sylvan Street
Danvers, MA 01923
Dear Members:
The Danvers Historical Society was
established in 1889 to educate present and future generations of the public
about the history and development of Danvers. The town has the good fortune to
have a number of homes that are significant, due to their architecture and/or
their historical connection. Though the Danvers Historical Society continues to
preserve several fine structures as house museums open to the public, our
town’s rich heritage includes many other structures just as significant as the
ones we maintain. To loose Danvers homes which are so important to local,
regional, and even national history would be both a tragedy to our heritage,
and a loss to our community.
Presently two such dwellings are
under the threat of obliteration: the ca. 1660s “First Period”
Porter-Bradstreet House on upper Locust Street, and the 1895 “Queen Anne
Revival” A. F. Welch House next to St. Mary of the Annunciation Church at 22
Conant Street.
Both of these houses are wonderful and visually superb
examples of their architectural era. They posses a rich history, and are an
essential part of their neighborhood, streetscape, and environment. To lose
such signature structures forever to mundane uses would be a travesty to the
present and to future generations.
We urge those good people in whose
hands rest the power to destroy part of our communal heritage, to find a viable
solution to preserve both these dwellings so they are not just a memory and a
statement of crass 21 century development, but rather a shining example of how
thoughtful people can preserve the best of the past for their own benefit and
for the benefit of their community.
Sincerely,
Danvers Council on Aging Material
From the Social Senior Supportive Day
Program:
Our Supportive Day Program has begun the process of accepting
applications for participation in our unique program. We have increased days of
operation from 3 to 4 days per week. The new days of operation are
Monday-Thursday from 9am-3pm. This program can benefit both participant and
caregiver alike by providing services tailored to individual need and interest.
If you or someone you know could benefit from socialization with others in a
caring and friendly environment, please give us a call. We are happy to offer a
risk “FREE” trial day to experience all we have to offer. Danvers residents 60
and older may be eligible for financial assistance through the generosity of
the Clara & Harvey Pillsbury Foundation. Call (978) 762-0208 and ask to
speak with Allison Jopling, R.N., Program Coordinator.
Town Wide Open House
The Town Open House Program was held
on Thursday, October 9th from 4-7pm. The Danvers Senior Center highlighted the
various TRIAD programs that were designed for the safety of seniors in Danvers.
Don’t forget that you can hop on the Trolley from the Senior Center to visit
Danvers Fire Department, Electric Department, Town Hall, Police Headquarters
and the Peabody Institute Library. The
event was well attended and is held annually to point out community resources
to residents.
Fall Recreational Reading
As always, I have spent a great deal
of my free time with a book in hand.
Recently the book of choice was the third and final book in a much read
and highly praised Ken Follette trilogy.
I had previously read and enjoyed the first two books of the series,
Winter of the World, and Fall of Giants.
The final book of the series was called The Edge of Eternity. The following is a brief recap of the work
taken from the internet review to provide an overview of the work.
INTERNET RECAP
Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy follows
the fortunes of five intertwined families—American, German, Russian, English,
and Welsh—as they made their way through the turbulent twentieth century. The
book has been called by many including me as “potent, engrossing” and “truly
epic” The publication USA Today relates that “You actually feel like you’re
there.”
Edge of Eternity, the finale in the Trilogy covers one
of the most tumultuous eras of all: the 1960s through the 1980s, encompassing
civil rights, assassinations, Vietnam, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile
Crisis, presidential impeachment, revolution—and rock and roll.
East German teacher Rebecca Hoffman
discovers she’s been spied on by the Stasi for years and commits an impulsive
act that will affect her family for generations… George Jakes, himself
bi-racial, bypasses corporate law to join Robert F. Kennedy’s Justice
Department and finds himself in the middle of not only the seminal events of
the civil rights battle, but also a much more personal battle… Cameron Dewar,
the grandson of a senator, jumps at the chance to do some espionage for a cause
he believes in, only to discover that the world is much more dangerous than
he’d imagined… Dimka Dvorkin, a young aide to Khrushchev, becomes an agent for
good and for ill as the Soviet Union and the United States race to the brink of
nuclear war, while his twin sister, Tania, carves out a role that will take her
from Moscow to Cuba to Prague to Warsaw—and into history.
These characters and many others find
their lives inextricably entangled as they add their personal stories and
insight to the most defining events of the 20th century. From the opulent
offices of the most powerful world leaders to the shabby apartments of those
trying to begin a new empire, from the elite clubs of the wealthy and highborn
to the passionate protests of a country’s most marginalized citizens, this is
truly a drama for the ages.
With the Century Trilogy, Follett has
guided readers through an entire era of history with a master’s touch. His
unique ability to tell fascinating, brilliantly researched stories that
captivate readers and keep them turning the pages is unparalleled. In this
climactic and concluding saga, Follett brings us into a world we thought we
knew, but now will never seem the same again.
The book and the entire trilogy
series was a great read and I recommend the books. The Edge of Eternity was over 1100
pages long, and at the end of the read, I was rationing my reading to make the
experience last longer and that is a sure sign of a great book.
