The Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce has launched a New Member Drive, and is offering a special discounted rate of $295 for businesses that join the Chamber by May 31, 2017.  Businesses joining during the New Member Drive will also receive a package of advertising and promotional incentives valued at over $3,500, including free incentives worth a total of $1,500.

Scores of volunteers from among the Chamber’s more than 800 member businesses have been reaching out to prospective members during the past several weeks. They will be getting together in the coming days to call Cape Ann business owners and share their insights about the value of being a member of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce.

Dozens of new and prospective members recently attended a reception and information meeting hosted by the Chamber at Cruiseport.  Representatives from the Chamber’s Board of Directors and Ambassadors Committee, together with Chamber staff, were on hand to provide information and answer questions about Chamber programs, services and member benefits.

The event featured information stations staffed by members of the Chamber’s Committees and Councils, including Next Generation Cape Ann, and a brief Chamber overview presented by CEO Ken Riehl and Board President Sara Young of Schooner Adventure.

The Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce is a partnership of business and community leaders working together to support the economic and civic interests of the Cape Ann region. Each year the Chamber helps hundreds of businesses on Cape Ann grow by providing promotion, networking, training and information. The Chamber also works with area elected officials to advocate for business-friendly legislation and to advance community priorities. And the Chamber partners with area schools for the educational enrichment of the region’s next generation of business leaders.

For additional information about the Chamber’s New Member Drive, member services and benefits, and upcoming Chamber events, visit www.capeannchamber.com.

Great Things are Happening…
BE A PART OF IT!

TWIR May 19 2017

Folk Life Studio and the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church present the Fourth Annual Gloucester May Celebration on Saturday, May 20 at 3:00 PM.

The roughly one hour event is free and open to all. It will feature live music, songs and Morris dancing.

The highlight of the celebration will be a maypole and all who attend will have an opportunity to take a ribbon and dance.  

 

Mother and son acapella duo Rose Sheehan and Colin de la Barre of Gloucester, MA will sing traditional and traditionally inspired songs of the British Isles and North America in celebration of Spring on Friday, May 19, 2017 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM.

Rose and Colin, 2014 North East Regional Folk Alliance featured showcase artists, have appeared at the Folklore Society of Greater Washington, the Indian Neck Folk Festival, the New England Folk Festival and at regional coffeehouses.

This is a family friendly event. All are welcome. Admission is free. Donations will be accepted for the Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church Religious Exploration Book Fund.

The Seaside Garden Club’s annual auction was a huge success this year!  A nice crowd filled the Manchester Community Center on Tuesday, May 9th for a chance to bid on the many items. A plant sale was added this year and preceded the auction.

Many wonderful donations contributed to the success of the auction.  Local businesses, including Ryan & Wood Distilleries, Brick End Farms, Sea Meadow Gifts, Neptune’s Harvest and Talbot’s donated generously to the auction.  Among the items generating heavy bidding was mulch donated by Pallazola Brothers Landscaping, hand crafted Garden Art pieces and beautiful hanging baskets from Marshall’s Farm Stand, Wolf Hill and Marini Farms.

Many other businesses donated beautiful plant material, including HerbFARMacy, Gordon’s Florist, Asbury Gardens, and Chapman’s Greenhouse/Juel Gifts.  The donated plant material complemented the many large healthy perennials from our members’ gardens.

The crowd will be dining out this summer on the gift certificates donated by local restaurants including: Seven Central, Windward Grill, Evviva Cucina, Serenitee Group, Ithaki Restaurant, Fortune Palace, Not your Average Joe’s and Shea’s.  The board members supplied light refreshments to nourish the hungry bidders.

The club members worked very hard planning and organizing this event.  Many created their own special garden art and used their garden know-how to put together lovey flowering baskets. A beautiful bistro set donated by a member help set the stage for the plant material. Susan Kelley of the Generous Gardeners organization stopped by to talk about her groups’ work on the newly opened Stacy Boulevard and to contribute Garden Tour tickets, tulips and other plant material.

This auction is the Seaside Garden Club’s only fund raiser for the year.  100% of the proceeds go the support the club’s community service projects and programs for the upcoming year. Among the club’s community service activities are delivering flowers to shut-ins, planting and maintaining window boxes at Beverly Bootstraps and the Manchester Community Center.  The club’s newest project is taking shape at the lower level of the Manchester Town Hall.

The Seaside Garden Club is very appreciative of all the business and member donations.  The board members are already hard at work planning terrific programs for next season.  The club is made up of members from all over the North Shore and we welcome new members.  They meet the second Tuesday of the month (September through June) at the Manchester Community Center. See our blog: https://seasidegardenclub.wordpress.com/about/ or visit our Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/SeasideGardenClub

Photo are board members assembling before the auction: Noeline Kohr, Beth Coz, Lenore Kepler, Maureen Terrill, Janet Groth, Kathy Ryan, Debbie DiGiovanni, Elaine Persons, Dot Sieradzki, Kate Willwerth, Sari Oseasohn, Lisa Willwerth, Deborah Willwerth, Peggy Finn and Lucia Darr.

Want to turn your food and garden scraps into some coveted “black gold” this summer? Then come learn how to start your own backyard composting system from the experts at Black Earth Compost! Both the urban and suburban gardener will learn easy, low-stress ways to turn your scraps into a useful organic soil amendment!

Tickets here!