Thanks for getting out to vote because Democracy is not a spectator sport!

~The Cape Ann League of Women Voters

We will be making deliveries of Brick Ends Farm’s premium compost/top soil blend on November 15 and 17. Your garden bed must be cleared by then for us to deliver your soil. You do not need to be home to receive your delivery.

How to order: 

1. Go to http://www.backyardgrowers.org/donate/ and pay $30 per 4 x 8’ garden bed.

2. Then, contact Anna Swanson at community@backyardgrowers.org to confirm receipt of payment, number of beds, address, and to review any details. If you prefer to pay by cash or check you can arrange payment at this time. We must have your payment to make the delivery. 

Once you’ve had your compost top-off, you can put your garden to bed for winter! We recommend mulching with straw (not hay – it can have seeds in it that will sprout!), leaves from your yard OR any dead plants you pull up from your garden bed, as long as they don’t have any fruit attached.

Then… get dreaming about what your garden will look like next year!

Are you a Backyard Gardener who joined our program in 2017 or 2018? If so, your top-off is free! Top-offs for our Gardeners will be taking place November 5 – 7. You don’t need to be present to receive your compost top-off – just ensure that your garden bed is clear of all plants. We’ll take care of the rest!

To learn more:

Call: (866) 456-8232

Or go to the website: www.gloucester-cea.com

Getting in the spirit!!!

Join us for costume bowling FUNdraiser!!!

Date: 10-28–18

Time: 5:30pm

Fee: $20 per person teams of 4 per lane

Prizes: Best costume top bowler most gutter balls and highest team overall

Gloucester Finalizes New Community Electricity Aggregation (CEA) Program

GLOUCESTER –The City is pleased to announce the launch of its Community Electricity Aggregation (CEA) program,designed to provide an opportunity to reduce and stabilize the cost of electricity for residents and businesses, and to promote the utilization of locally generated renewable energy. By purchasing bulk electricity from an alternative supplier, the City is able to provide a more cost-effective, stable, and responsible alternative to utility electricity rates for participating consumers.Gloucester’s CEA program is the result of a multi-year collaborative effort, which has been carefully considered. Gloucester and more than 60 other Massachusetts municipalities are taking advantage of state enabled aggregation programs.

“This is an exciting opportunity to provide savings and predictability to Gloucester residents, while advancing our Gloucester Green community goals. I hope residents will take advantage of this important program,” said Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken.

Effective as of December 2018, the City has committed to purchasing aggregated electricity for a period of 36 months. The negotiated rate of $0.11085 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) is 20% less expensive than National Grid’s released winter rates ($0.13718 per kWh). Moreover, this rate incorporates 5% more renewable energy than required by state law. Residents and business owners also have the option to purchase 100% of their powerfrom renewable energy generated within Gloucester’s City boundaries. Although individuals may opt-out from the program at any time, all National Grid customers will automatically be enrolled in the program, excluding those that are already engaged with alternative suppliers. Even though the City’s energy will be purchased through an alternative supplier, billing and infrastructure maintenance will remain with National Grid.

Residents and business owners will receive program details via mail, as well as instructions on how to opt-out of the programshould the recipient not wish to participate. Over the next few weeks, representatives from Good Energy LP will present the program at meetings and other events on behalf of the City. Please visit the program’s official webpage (https://gloucester-cea.com/), for more information. If you have further questions, please contact Good Energy LP at (866) 456-8232, or Direct Energy at (866) 968-8065.

It started out as a great idea by Peter Bent, and grew into a community-wide effort to make this year’s Gloucester Schooner Festival the best to date! It seemed so evident…build some docks so that people can get up close and see the schooners like never before. And by all accounts, that is what we did. The 480 feet of dock space became the star of the show. 3000 people visited the boats on these docks over 3 days. It was a great addition and a real benefit for the community.

So many people were involved in this effort, but a few need special mention. First, is Geoffrey Richon who steered the building of the docks from start to finish. Peter Bent who was involved in every step from raising funds to launch to finding a place to store them. The Mayor and the City for allowing them to be prominently placed at I4C2. Beauport Hospitality Group and the Dusky Foundation, who saw and funded the vision. And many thanks go out to the members of the Gloucester Schooner Festival Committee for their job getting together the event of the year. As these docks get stored for the winter, Maritime Gloucester can’t wait to re-engage the whole community and bring them back next summer. The plans (and the fundraising) to make these docks longer and give more people the chance to get aboard starts now! Thanks for a great Festival. See you next year!