Summer at Sawyer Free: Abra-kid-abra! Mike Bent’s Eco-Magic Show

As a part of its exciting summer reading program, Read, Renew, Repeat, the Sawyer Free Library is excited to be presenting Magician Mike Bent Eco-Magic Show on Friday, July 19 at 10:00 am.

Children and their families will be wowed by the environmental-themed magic show with magic, comedy and fun! The conservation focused summer reading theme of Read, Renew, Repeat strives to bring attention to our natural world, and caring for the environment as well as the living creatures that call it home. 

This event will be held in the City Hall auditorium, 9 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. No registration is needed.

This summer’s reading program, titled “2024: Read, Renew, Repeat,” offers a diverse and enriching experience for the entire community. By focusing on conservation, the Sawyer Free Library encourages participants of all ages to discover the joy and power of reading while developing a sense of environmental consciousness. Through engaging activities, interactive workshops, reading challenges, and more, participants will learn about the critical role of conservation in maintaining the health and vitality of our planet. For more information on Summer at Sawyer Free Library visit, sawyerfreelibrary.org.

This summer program has been made possible with support from the Constance T. Rhinelander Fund.

The First Gloucester Main Street Block Party of 2024 is this Saturday!

Gloucester’s Summer Block Parties have become a Cape Ann Classic, and the Greater Cape Ann Chamber is excited to be presenting three Block Parties this summer in partnership with the City of Gloucester. The first one will be Saturday, July 13th from 6 PM to 10 PM on Main Street. Party-goers will enjoy fun dining options, live outdoor entertainment and street performers for a family-friendly night on the town. The Block Parties offer local shopping, restaurants, food trucks and non-stop fun!

The following is the schedule of Music & Performers for the July 13th Block Party:

MUSIC:

  • East End Stage (Stage Sponsor: BankGloucester)
    • 6:00-7:30 PM    TheGloucester Student Band
    • 7:30-9:00 PM    The Dogtown Cats
  • Center Stage (Stage Sponsor: Cape Ann Savings Bank)
    • 6:00-8:00 PM      Jim & Tonic (Jazz Band)
    • 8:00-10:00 PM    Bill Gleason
  • West End Stage (Stage Sponsor: Institution for Savings)
    • 6:00-8:00 PM      Carlos Barberi with mediterranean Sounds    
    • 8:00-10:00 PM    Tony Frontiero

STREET PERFORMERS: Intersection of Hancock & Main

  • 6:15-7:00 PM: Tobin Renwick from The Red Trouser Show
  • 7:10-7:45 PM: Cape Ann School of Dance
  • 8:00-8:45 PM: Tobin Renwick from The Red Trouser Show

*Also on the street will be: Face Painting by Miss Wendy, ‘The Balloonitik’ with her fun balloon art for the kids, and a bucket drummer.

FOOD VENDORS

  • 5 Star Phresh Phood
  • Crepe du Jour
  • Kanaka Poke
  • Meat and Sweet Foods
  • Newburyport Crab Cake Co
  • The Lobster Roller Rockport Kitchen
  • Three Gingers Jerky
  • Topsfield Bakeshop Inc.

BUSINESSES

  • A&A Services (sponsor)
  • Attorney Amy L. Connors
  • Cape Ann Olive Oil
  • Castaways Vintage Cafe
  • Edward B Beattie Auctioneers
  • Fireflies Boutique
  • Mari Bergeron Pottery
  • Mark Adrian Shoes
  • Masshole Biscuit Co.
  • Pat D’s Photos
  • Phoenix Nest
  • Pop Gallery
  • Sample This
  • Sea Coastal Arts
  • Shore Nutrition
  • Sweats of New England
  • That’s The Tea Boutique
  • The Bookstore of Gloucester
  • The Cut
  • The Willow Witch
  • Village Silversmith

NON-PROFITS

  • Action Inc.
  • Adam Needs Beads
  • Calvary Chapel Baptist Church
  • Cape Ann Pride
  • Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team
  • City of Gloucester-MA Save Energy
  • Community Church of East Gloucester
  • Essex County Habitat for Humanity
  • FOSTER MA
  • Gloucester Education Foundation
  • Gloucester High School DECA
  • Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute
  • Gloucester Stage Company
  • Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce
  • Housing4All Gloucester
  • Local Colors Artists’ Cooperative
  • Lupis Foundation of America
  • North Shore Arts Association
  • North Shore Bible Church
  • North Shore Health Project
  • Rocky Neck Art Colony
  • Schooner Adventure
  • Seaside Sustainability, Inc.
  • Spaulding Outpatient Center Cape Ann
  • St John’s Episcopal Church
  • Town Green Inc.

The Chamber wishes to acknowledge and thank the City of Gloucester, Supporting Partner, many business sponsors, and main street merchants for their support in helping to make this year’s Block Parties possible. A listing of the sponsors is provided below:

  • Stage Sponsors:  BankGloucester; Cape Ann Savings Bank; Institution for Savings
  • Gold Sponsors:  Addison Gilbert Hospital; Applied Materials; Beauport Hospitality; The Building Center; and Endicott College
  • Silver Sponsors:  A&A Services, Cape Ann YMCA, Chase Bank, and Ebenezer Tax and Services

The Second Block Party will be on Saturday, August 10th. The Third Block Party will be on Friday, August 30th

Additional information may be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/gloucesterblockparty.

Step into a world of enchantment and join Sleeping Beauty for an unforgettable royal celebration at the historic Hammond Castle!

Begin your adventure by crossing the red carpet-lined drawbridge, reminiscent of Aurora’s own castle, leading you into the grand entrance. Descend the spiral stairs to the majestic Great Hall, where the festivities will unfold like pages from a storybook.

Gather around as Princess Aurora captivates your little one with enchanting tales of her adventures, and sing along to beloved tunes as she brings magic to life with her beautiful voice. Bring your camera to capture unforgettable moments with the Princess, and don’t miss the chance to snap photos on the red carpet. Watch your little ones show off their favorite princess or royal cosplay as they strut down the red carpet, celebrating the magic of make-believe. Weather permitting, we will end the evening with a bubble party on our seaside lawn! This event promises to be a dream come true for both children and adults alike!

Ideal for children between the ages of 2 and 8 years old. Includes: Cupcakes and a beverage for little ones and coffee/tea for adults.

The Museum will not be open for tours at the time of this program. Attendees who wish to tour the Museum on the day of this program are entitled to a 20% discount on self-guided tours. Admission may be purchased in the Museum Shop before 3:00 p.m. Little ones four and under are entitled to free admission for Museum Tours.

Tuesday, July 9

4:30 – 5:30 pm / Doors: 4:15

$25 admission. Member savings apply.

Visit the Backyard Growcery, Gloucester’s new weekly farmers market

Starting on Wednesday, June 19!

🥬 Stop by Gloucester’s new weekly farmers market, the Backyard Growcery, managed by food equity non-profit organization Backyard Growers.

🐟 The Backyard Growcery is located at Burnham’s Field, an urban park near Gloucester’s thriving waterfront, and features small-scale North Shore farmers, bakers, a seafood vendor, an artisanal pizza maker, and more, throughout the season.

The Backyard Growcery accepts SNAP and Senior Coupons. Burnham’s Field is accessible via CATA bus. It is located near the Sheedy Park stop on the Gloucester Crossing & Business Express Loop.

Stay tuned for a calendar of free food-growing, gardening, and art workshops taking place at the Growcery that are designed to bring our community together. The Backyard Growcery also features a Community Resources area where visitors can access essential services and learn more about innovative nonprofit organizations making an impact on Cape Ann.

The Open Door Summer Meals for Kids Starts Today!

The Open Door Summer Meals for Kids interns, from left: Magdalena Smyth, AJ Porcello, Jenna Church, and Wei Wang.

With the school year at its close, The Open Door FREE Summer Meals for Kids program is BACK starting TODAY, Monday June 17 at select locations.

Children and teens age 18 and under are welcome to visit any of the participating sites during scheduled hours to receive free, nutritious meals through late August while school is out.   

Last year, The Open Door Summer Meals for Kids program distributed more than 15,300 meals to children on the North Shore, prepared entirely in-house.  

Participating sites include: 

Gloucester Walk-Up Locations: 

The Open Door at 28 Emerson Avenue 
Breakfast and Lunch from June 17- Aug. 23 
Mondays from 9:45 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
Thursday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Riverdale Park at 69 Veterans’ Way 
Breakfast and Lunch from June 17- Aug. 23 

Monday through Friday from 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. 

Willowood Gardens at 40 Willowood Road 
Breakfast and Lunch from June 17- Aug. 23 

Monday through Friday from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. 

Pond View Village at 23 Lepage Lane 
Breakfast and Lunch from June 17 – Aug. 23 

Mondays through Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 

Gloucester High at 32 Leslie O. Johnson Road 
Lunch from July 9 – Aug. 8  

Monday through Friday from 9:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. 

Field Days at Burnham’s Field with East Gloucester Community Church 
7/11, 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8, 8/15, 8/22, 8/29  

Lunch select Thursdays from 10:30 a.m.to 11:30 a.m. 
 

Story Hour at Sawyer Free Library with Backyard Growers 
7/11, 7/18, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8, 8/15, 8/22, 8/29  

Lunch select Thursdays from 10:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. 
 

Gloucester Enrolled Locations: 

  • O’Maley Academy at 32 Cherry Street (Breakfast and Lunch) 
  • Camp Spindrift at 27 Atlantic Street (Lunch) 
  • East Veterans School (Multiple Programs) at 11 Webster Street (Breakfast and Lunch) 
  • GPS Extended School Year 
  • Summer Learning 
  • Gordon STEAM Camp 

Ipswich Walk-Up Location: 
Ipswich Community Food Pantry at 00 Southern Heights in Ipswich 
Breakfast and Lunch from June 18 – Aug. 22  

Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
Open Tuesday June 18 and Tuesday July 2 due to holidays 

Ipswich Enrolled Location: 
Doyon Elementary School at 216 Linebrook Road in Ipswich  

Breakfast and Lunch 

The Open Door is proud to sponsor one federal Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) site this year at O’Maley Academy (more information on this below). The Open Door will privately fund at least 13 additional free Summer Meals for Kids sites where meals will be offered to children with flexibility and choice.  

The Open Door Summer Meals for Kids program strives to accommodate all allergies and special diets, and to learn more about the program or inform staff of a dietary need, please call 978-283-6776 or email summermeals@foodpantry.org

Meals may contain choking hazards for children under the age of four. 

The Open Door Sumer Meals for Kids schedule will be updated as needed throughout the summer at FOODPANTRY.org/summermeals

For more information about The Open Door, visit FOODPANTRY.org. 

About the Summer Food Service Program 

The Open Door is participating in the Summer Food Service Program. Meals will be provided to all eligible children free of charge. To be eligible to receive free meals at a residential or non-residential camp or at a conditional rural non-congregate site, children must meet income guidelines for free or reduced price meals in the National School Lunch Program. To view the USDA’s income eligibility guidelines for the 2024-2025 school year, click here

Please note these guidelines ONLY apply to the O’Maley Academy site of The Open Door’s Summer Meals for Kids program this year, as that is the only site receiving SFSP funding this season.  

Foster children or children who are part of households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits or benefits under the Food Distribution Program or Indian Reservations (FDPIR), or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) are automatically eligible to receive free meals.   

Acceptance and participation requirements for the Program and all activities are the same for all children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability, and there will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service. Meals will be provided, at a first come, first serve basis, at the sites and times listed below: 

  • O’Maley Academy at 32 Cherry Street from June 17-August 1 on Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. 

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.  

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:  

1. mail:  

U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or  

2. fax:  

(833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or  

3. email: 

Program.Intake@usda.gov  

This institution is an equal opportunity provider. 

Join us tomorrow as we celebrate a historic legacy of Pride with two unique events!

Good Witches and Bad Witches alike! Join us in celebration of Pride month for a brief family-friendly examination of the Queer history of the popular ABC sitcom Bewitched and its cast, including the 1991 coming out of actor Dick Sargent and the Pride activism of Sargent and the show’s star Elizabeth Montgomery, followed by a free screening of Darrin on a Pedestal, a 1970 episode of the program shot on location in Gloucester and at here at the Hammond Castle Museum!

Program runs on the hour at 10, 11, 12, 1 & 2 pm.

  • A brief 10-minute introduction by HCM Director of Education & Visitor Services, Caleb McMurphy
  • Bewitched (Season 7, Episode 5) ‘Darrin on a Pedestal’ (25 min. runtime)

Seating is limited so be sure to reserve your FREE tickets! Afterward, be sure to purchase admission to the rest of the Museum and see what else we have on display, including a new, temporary exhibit on the history of TV and a new exhibit on ancient Roman artifacts within the Museum. 


Join Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award-winner Liza Minnelli, alongside Ken Howard, and Robert Moore in Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon. An episodic story about social outcasts, one of whom (played by Moore) is an out gay man in a wheelchair, coming together as part of an unlikely found family, one of the film’s major sequences takes place across several locations both inside and outside of Hammond Castle Museum. See some of these scenes in the very room in which they were shot 55 years ago! Then, take a trip from Hammond’s Castle to the castle of the Mad Scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1974 cult-hit The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  Join actors Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and Barry Bostwick in Jim Sharman’s legendarily campy adaptation of Richard O’Brien stage musical send-up of Hammer Films and other kitsch science fiction and horror schlock. Come up to the lab and see what films are on the slab! Cosplay and singing along are encouraged!  

General Admission Seating: $30 Hammond Castle Museum Member savings apply.

Program:

  • 5:00 pm Doors Open
  • 5:15 pm Introduction by HCM Director of Visitor Services and Education, Caleb McMurphy
  • 5:30 – 7:30 pm Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (113 mins)
  • 15-minute Intermission
  • 7:45-9:30 pm The Rocky Horror Picture Show (100 mins)

Learn more about these events and reserve your tickets at https://hammondcastle.org

2024 Small Business Persons of the Year Celebratory Dinner

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:

6:30 pm Reception
7:00-8:00 pm Curated Readings

On the evening of Sunday, June 9th, in conjunction with our Pride month mini-exhibit Maximus to Aquarius: Gerrit Lansing and Set Magazine, opening June 7th, Hammond Castle Museum will host a reception and curated reading celebrating the legacy of Gloucester and the Museum as significant sites in the history of Queer American poetry. Throughout his remarkable life, our founder John Hays Hammond Jr. (b. 1888-d.1965) was a part of a fascinatingly diverse community of Queer individuals, which met at his architecturally unique Museum, called the city of Gloucester home, and stretched from Cape Ann across the country and beyond. In examining our Museums archive, Hammond’s correspondence with these people, among whom were some of the inventor’s closest friends and loved ones, paints a small picture of a vast network of deeply creative individuals which was the lifeblood of a fundamentally transformative period in the history of Gloucester, and America’s, cultural identity.

This Pride Month, join us in celebrating this important and often overlooked aspect of local history and culture. With readings by Mia Contilli, James Cook, Lucas Cotterman, Shaina Doberman, Jim Dunn, Caroline Harvey, Brian King, Eryn O’Sullivan, David Rich, and Malachi Rosen from works by Charles Olson, John Wieners, Robert Duncan, Gerrit Lansing, Daisy Alden, and many others, including, for the first time, newly unearthed poems by John Hays Hammond Jr. himself. Along the way, learn about these figures’ ongoing relationships—their friendships, rivalries, and romances, with one another—and their personal significance within the broader tapestry of Queer history. The evening will culminate in a reading of a unique illuminated version of Abbadia Mare, a poem written by Gerrit Lansing in the Museum’s Guest Book in 1959 about the building and personally dedicated to Hammond.

Admission: $30
Availability is limited.
Hammond Castle Museum Member savings apply.