Month: June 2024

2024 Small Business Persons of the Year Celebratory Dinner

~ Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce

The Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce invites you to join us at the Chamber’s 44th Annual Small Business Awards Dinner on Thursday, June 13 from 5 to 8 PM at the Castle Manor Inn, Gloucester, to honor the 2024 Greater Cape Ann Small Business Persons of the Year. This year’s honorees include Erika Brown, Publisher/Editor of The Manchester Cricket (Manchester-by-the-Sea); Jack & Cathy Porter, Sandy Bay Service Center, Inc (Rockport); The Ellis Family (Heath & Tom Ellis), The Schooner Thomas E. Lannon (Gloucester); Ramie Reader, Reader Electrical (Essex); and John P. Muldoon, Publisher/Editor of The Local News (Ipswich).

Every year since 1981 the Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce has celebrated Small Businesses to honor the achievements of our region’s small business entrepreneurs and their employees and to thank them for their contributions to the economic vitality and community life of the greater Cape Ann region.

Friends, family members, and colleagues of all small business honorees are invited and encouraged to attend the awards dinner. Tickets for the dinner are available for $75. Please visit the chamber website (www.capeannchamber.com) to register for the dinner and for more information on the 2024 Small Business Persons of the Year.

Sponsored by:

Local Author Talk: Nonna, What is Saint Peter’s Fiesta?

~ Sawyer Free Library

In celebration of the St. Peter’s Fiesta, the Sawyer Free Library is pleased to host a local author talk with Laura Ventimiglia on Thursday, June 27 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm as she discusses her book, Nonna, What is Saint Peter’s Fiesta? The fiesta is a longstanding tradition in Gloucester, Massachusetts that pays homage to Saint Peter, the patron saint of fishermen and it celebrates the town’s historic fishing industry

Laura M. Alberghini is a third-generation Italian American and a retired college educator, author, and administrator who established Buttieri press in 2015 to support the preservation of family histories and traditions. She released her first book, A Letter to My Children, An Italian American Family’s Heritage, in 2016 as a dual language book in English and Italian. She lives in Gloucester, Ma with her family.

The event is open to all at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester. No registration needed.

For more information or question, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5500.

Gloucester Genealogy Group: Genealogy & Deeds

~ Sawyer Free Library

On Saturday, June 15 from 10:30 to 11:30 am the Sawyer Free Library will host the Gloucester Genealogy Group to discuss the topic of Genealogy and Deeds.

Join Nancy Fitzgerald Doherty from the Southern Essex Registry of Deeds for a presentation on how to use and search the records of the Salem Deeds. The Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds maintains and provides access to land records for Southern Essex District and all of Essex County prior to 1869. The Salem Registry has the oldest continuous land records in the country dating back to 1639. Many older documents contain information on the people who owned the land, including professions, family members, and sometimes wills and estate listing. The Registry also maintains the Old Norfolk Deed Books, Ipswich Deed Books, Books of Executions and Depositions, historic city and town atlases, historic assessor maps, city directories and microfilm copies of early probate records. All of which can be helpful when trying to trace history within Essex County.

All interested are welcome to attend. Registration required at sawyerfreelibrary.org.

SFL to host Wellspring Inc.’s presentation of History Lives Here: The Freeman Family of West Gloucester

~ Sawyer Free Library

The Sawyer Free Library is pleased to host its community partner Wellspring, Inc. on Thursday, June 13 at 5:30 pm as they present HISTORY LIVES HERE and share the information they uncovered about the Freemans of West Gloucester, a prominent Black American family. 

Born in 1731, Robin was enslaved to Captain Charles Byles, a mariner whose property was located across the street from Wellspring House. In his struggle to self-emancipate, Robin paid Capt. Byles 1# and 12 schillings in 1769 to secure his freedom. This was 21 years before there would be no recorded enslaved people in Massachusetts. When he died , Capt. Byles left Robin 40 schillings in his will.

In 1826, Robin’s son, Robert purchased this house and land and made it his family home. We will share with you the Freeman family stories of opportunity and resilience and learn more about their contributions to the Greater Cape Ann community. Your presence and interest honors Robin Freeman his family and their legacy.

All are welcome. No registration required. For more information, visit: sawyerfreelibrary.org

Where: Sawyer Free Library, 21 Main Street, downtown Gloucester

When: Thursday, June 13 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm