New Year! New You! Self-care in Uncertain Times continues at the Sawyer Free Library with Vision Board Workshop 2022 this Saturday, February 19 from 2-4pm.
Welcome the New Year with New Visions at the Sawyer Free Library! Vision Boarding is a great way to manifest dreams and goals. With magazines, scissors, glue, and a little meditation, during this virtual workshop you will be guided to make your very own unique and powerful Vision Board!
The Sawyer Free Library will provide a kit of all materials. Kits include: magazines, poster board, markers, and glue sticks. You supply your own scissors, along with your curiosity, creativity, and intention!
This will be a live virtual workshop meeting via Zoom, so please register to sign up for a Vision Board Craft Kit which you can pick up at the Library ahead of time!
White sharks have been returning to the Gulf of Maine in greater numbers in response to the regional recovery of seal populations. For more than a decade, the MA Division of Marine Fisheries and collaborators have been studying the ecology, behavior, and natural history of white sharks off the easy coast of the US using state-of-the-art tagging technology. The focus of Dr. Skomal’s current research has been to gain a better understanding of where, when, and how white sharks hunt their prey. Join Dr. Skomal as he shares this research as he and his team attempt to develop a science-based strategy for mitigating potential shark and human conflicts.Q&A to be moderated by GMGI Donald G. Comb Science Director Andrea Bodnar.
The photo exhibit juxtaposes Wallace’s portraits of individuals living with dementia with a photo of the subject at a younger age and a brief narrative of who they are as people.
The goal of this body of work is to de-stigmatize those living with dementia, use empathy as a means for connection and understanding, and tell a more complete story of those living with the disease and its effect on their families and loved ones.
Trained as a journalist, Wallace has been a portrait photographer and storyteller for two decades and has a deeply personal connection with dementia.
As his website outlines, his approach is to depict the whole story to give viewers the courage to act in ways large and small. He believes the artist must not be afraid to show not only the fear, loss, and despair, but also the love, connection, dignity, and powerful humanity that always remain—in the subjects, care-partners, families, and communities. According to Wallace, this is the path to evolve the narrative and have a positive social change.
This is the first event in the Library’s five-part free educational series on dementia and healthy cognitive aging, Of Sound Mind: A Series on Dementia.
All are welcome to attend. Registration is not required, although face masks are mandatory for those attending. For more information about the event or other Sawyer Free Library offerings, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or call 978-325-5500.
The five- part free educational series on dementia and healthy cognitive aging kicks off in February
Beginning in February, the Gloucester Lyceum and the Sawyer Free Library, is kicking off an educational series on dementia and healthy cognitive aging. Of Sound Mind: A Series on Dementia will feature local experts in the field of cognitive aging who will explore current dementia research, discuss methods of keeping your brain healthy, and ways to understand better and support people experiencing and caring for those with the disease.
“We hope that this important series, which is free and open for all to attend, will help to foster community conversation and support around dementia and this burgeoning health crisis,” said Sawyer Free Library Director Jenny Benedict.
The five-part series will take through May at the Sawyer Free Library located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. All events are free and open to all to attend. SeniorCare, Inc. will have trained volunteers on hand to share resources and answer questions following each event.
Of Sound Mind: A Series on Dementia presented by the Gloucester Lyceum and Sawyer Free Library
Of Sound Mind: A Series on Dementiaschedule includes:
Saturday, February 5, 2:00 pm: Photographer Joe Wallace speaks on his series, “The Day After Yesterday: Portraits of Dementia”
Joe Wallace will speak about his powerful photo exhibit “Day After Yesterday: Portraits of Dementia” on display in the Library’s Matz Gallery through February.
The exhibit juxtaposes Wallace’s portraits of individuals living with dementia with younger photographs of the subjects and a brief narrative of who they are as people. This body of work aims to de-stigmatize those living with dementia, use empathy as a means for connection and understanding, and tell a complete story of those living with the disease and its effect on their families and loved ones. Trained as a journalist, Joe Wallace has been a portrait photographer and storyteller for twenty years. Like many, Joe has a deeply personal connection with dementia.
Thursday, March 10, 5:30-7:00 pm: Steps to Managing Memory, Alzheimer’s Disease, & Dementia with Dr. Andrew Budson
Based on his award-winning book, Dr. Andrew Budson will explain how individuals can distinguish changes in memory due to Alzheimer’s versus normal aging, what medications, diets, and exercise regimes can help, and the best habits, strategies, and memory aids to use, in seven simple steps. He will also discuss his newest book, including how caregivers can manage issues with memory, language, vision, behavior, driving, incontinence, sleep, and more.
Andrew E. Budson, M.D. is Chief of Cognitive & Behavioral Neurology, Associate Chief of Staff for Education, and Director of the Center for Translational Cognitive Neuroscience at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System, Associate Director for Research at the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Professor of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, and Lecturer in Neurology at Harvard Medical School. He is also the Medical Director of the Boston Center for Memory, located in Newton, Massachusetts.
Saturday, April 9, 2:00-3:00 pm: Ten Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s with Alzheimer’s Association MA/NH Chapter
Alzheimer’s and other dementias cause memory, thinking, and behavior changes that interfere with daily living. Learn about common warning signs of Alzheimer’s and what symptoms to look for in yourself and others, as well as tips for approaching someone who is experiencing changes in their memory, the benefit of early detection and diagnosis, and more.
Saturday, May 7, 2:00 pm: Presentation by Dementia Friends
Dementia Friends is a global movement changing how people think, act, and talk about dementia. By helping everyone in a community understand what dementia is and how it affects people, each of us can make a difference for people touched by dementia. The presentation will share five key messages about dementia and a bit about what it’s like to live with dementia to help community members understand dementia and the small things they can do to make a difference for people living with dementia.
Saturday, May 21, 2:00 pm: Book Talk with author Siobhan McDonald on her picture book Hilda’s Story: New Bedford, Massachusettsan interactive read-aloud designed for entertainment, understanding, comfort, and connection with people living with dementia.
Artist, teacher and author, Siobhan McDonald is passionate about helping seniors with memory loss to connect with loved ones and caregivers through conversation and sharing their personal stories. Learn how providing visual arts workshops to seniors with memory challenges inspired her interactive book Hilda’s Story: New Bedford, Massachusetts.
All presentations are free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Face masks are mandatory for those attending. For more information about the event or other Sawyer Free Library offerings, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or call 978-325-5500.
Sponsored Meals Help Alleviate Hunger in Memory of Loved Ones
Dennis Acker places labels on Friday’s Community Meal which read “This meal is donated in loving memory of Charlene Acker.” (Photo Courtesy of The Open Door)
GLOUCESTER – A local family is honoring a loved one today by putting dinner on the table for those in need of a little extra help.
Friday’s Community Meal at The Open Door, a hearty ham, pineapple, vegetable stuffing, and mashed potatoes dinner, is given in loving memory of Charlene Acker by her husband Dennis Acker and daughter Maya Acker, and her father LeRoy Ross.
Charlene Acker, age 57, passed away in October 2021 from ovarian cancer. Today would have been her 58th birthday.
With her birthday approaching, Dennis Acker saw the opportunity for meals sponsorship on social media.
“The minute I saw it, I knew I had to do it. It was just perfect, and I can’t think of a better way to honor her birthday,” Acker said, adding he has a few other plans this week to honor Charlene.
The Acker roots run deep with The Open Door. Several years ago, when their daughter, Maya Acker, began looking for community service opportunities in high school, The Open Door was a natural pick as Dennis Acker had served two terms on the nonprofit’s Board of Directors, and the family had volunteered together through the years. For Maya Acker, volunteering in the kitchen to prepare dinners on Saturday night worked well with her high school schedule. Charlene Acker volunteered alongside her daughter, and it became a special activity for both of them.
The Community Meals program sponsorship opportunity is a new initiative at The Open Door, first inspired by another family’s annual tradition.
“We launched our Community Meals sponsorship opportunity as a way for anyone to sponsor a meal, whether they be a local business, community group, a family, and so on,” President and CEO Julie LaFontaine said. “To turn one’s grief into an act of kindness and to put food on the table for someone else pays tribute to the life of a loved one and makes a difference. We take this honor as a responsibility, and we are thankful to the families who choose to remember their loved ones in this way.”
The initiative is inspired by another local family who honor a loved one each year with a meal at The Open Door. For the last four years the Testaverde family has come together to honor the late Capt. John S. Testaverde by sponsoring a Community Meal, including his wife Jean Testaverde; children Nina Testaverde Goodick, Theresa Testaverde, John Testaverde, and Mary Marcantonio; and his loving grandchildren. The group bring a cake to be sent out along with the meals, sometimes flowers, and some even sign up to deliver meals.
As a lifelong fisherman with a passion for cooking for family and friends, Capt. Testaverde taught his children to always cook with love.
“It was a wonderful, positive way to honor the memory of our father,” said Goodick of a previous year’s meal. “Our whole family appreciated it, and it brought joy to us, allowing us to remember him by feeding others. He was all about the food. I’m sure my family will laugh that I said that. We know he would love this.”
While groups that once volunteered to prepare meals in-person at The Open Door kitchen are not currently able to amid the ongoing pandemic and precautions limiting the number of people in the building at a given time, The Open Door is making the Community Meals program sponsorship a formalized option for those looking to feed their neighbors in another way.
The mission of The Open Door is to alleviate the impact of hunger in our community. We use practical strategies to connect people to good food, to advocate on behalf of those in need, and to engage others in the work of building food security.
Founded in 1978, The Open Door is a 501 (c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit and community food resource center for low-income residents of Gloucester, Rockport, Manchester, Essex, Ipswich, Hamilton, Boxford, Rowley, Topsfield, and Wenham. In 2020, The Open Door helped stabilize the lives and health of 9,681 unduplicated people from 4,703 households through the distribution of 2.46 million pounds of food, amounting to 2.05 million meals.
Please join us on Thursday, January 27 at 7:30pmas we kick off the winter season of GMGI’s Science Hour with Harvard University’s Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Dr. Peter Girguis.
This is not Planet Earth: Recent findings from our work on the physiological and biochemical adaptations to life in the deep sea
The deep sea represents more then 80% of our planet’s living space, and harbors some of the Earth’s most extreme environments. Dr. Girguis and his colleagues study the microbes and animals that live in these environments using “omics-informed” physiological experiments that aim to:
Measure metabolic activity – including carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen metabolism
Examine the associated patterns of gene and protein expression
Relate their research activity to biogeochemical cycles
Studying these communities is an incredible challenge – many of these habitats are located where pressure is immensely high and temperatures range from near freezing to over 662° F! To study these organisms, Dr. Girguis and his team of scientists developed tools to maintain pressures and chemical conditions that mirror the extreme habitats of deep sea microbes and animals, allowing them to make in situ geo-referenced geochemical measurements.
During Peter’s Science Hour presentation, he will share some recent findings and future directions for his work. Moreover, he hopes to make these technologies broadly available to the scientific community with the hope they can help inform policymakers and other stakeholders who govern the fate of our ocean, and ultimately, our biosphere.
Q&A to be moderated by GMGI Donald G. Comb Science Director Andrea Bodnar.
After close to four decades, there is likely no book contained in the Sawyer Free Library unfamiliar to long-time library assistant John Prybot.
This month, John Pyrbot will retire after working for 35 years at the Sawyer Free Library. Through eight library directors and so many changes in the Library, John has remained a constant and reassuring presence, busy reshelving stacks with the latest titles, helping young and old alike find a book or an answer, and chatting with patrons most of whom he knows by name.
“I have always tried my very best to serve our library patrons. That’s been my overriding and unwavering goal, as well as the Sawyer Free Library itself as an institution,” said John Prybot about his long tenure at the Library. “My life in Gloucester revolves around the Library. It is the true cornerstone of the community. I believe that libraries are precious resources to be treasured and promoted and used to the fullest extent.”
Growing up in Gloucester, John loved to hang out at the Sawyer Free Library. He was there so much that in high school he got a job as a page, responsible for putting books back in their proper locations. After graduating from Gloucester High School in 1964, he spent a decade in the Peace Corps in Guatemala. This life-defining experience offered him a new lens through which to see the world and the importance of community service. With that passion, he returned to his hometown and re-joined the staff of the Sawyer Free Library, beginning his long and rewarding tenure of public service in Gloucester.
“When I started in the Peace Corps, I was told, “What you give to these people will be nothing compared to what you receive from everyone.” The way that people accumulate respect in Guatemala is to contribute to their community. It was an incredible and eye-opening experience,” shared Prybot. “This is the reason why when I returned, I chose to work at the Library. I recognized it as an essential institution that serves the public as a critical source for information and knowledge.”
Along with being a friendly and familiar face at the front desk, John’s time at the Library provided an invaluable wealth of knowledge and experience, benefiting both the Library and its patrons. Over the years, John has worked in circulation, managed the request lists, repaired books, processed and prepared new books for the Library’s collection, archived and organized historical resources, and much more.
With his fluency in Spanish and knowing how it feels to be a stranger in a new country, John has also been instrumental to countless newcomers to Gloucester from across the globe, connecting them to services and resources, as well as helping them to adjust to their new environment.
“John is such a beloved fixture at the Sawyer Free Library and in the community—everyone knows who he is,” said Library DirectorJenny Benedict. “All of us at Sawyer Free Library are grateful for his dedication to our Library and our City. We wish him all the best for his well-deserved retirement.”
“I have had the great pleasure to know and work with John for close to ten years,” said Beth Pocock, the Library’s Assistant Director. “His care and consideration of people’s needs in all that he does inspires all of us to do the best we can each and every day. John has just a wonderful heart, and we will miss him very much at the Library.”
When asked what he will miss most in his retirement, John shared, “Interacting with the patrons, I will miss the people and helping them. I really enjoy it and like being a part of it all.”
In his retirement, Prybot will continue his tireless work on a historical recovery project which involves making archival materials from the Central American archives available to people in their communities in Guatemala. His long-range plan is to move back to Guatemala, actively work on-site, and spend time with his eight godchildren and their families. But, for now, John will stay in Gloucester and utilize the resources that he knows so well, in a space he loves, the Sawyer Free Library.
John Prybot retires from Sawyer Free Library after 35 years of service to Gloucester community.
As a part of Gloucester’s So Salty celebration, the Sawyer Free Library invites you to learn more about Salt Island. This Saturday, January 22 at 2 pm join researcher Mary Ellen Lepionka for a virtual presentation on the history of Salt Island. After, Jayne & Andy Knott of Save Salt Island and Denton Crews of Friends of Good Harbor Beach will present on recent efforts to preserve this area.
Click HERE to register for your Zoom Link or contact Julie Travers at jtravers@sawyerfreelibrary.org for more information.
Join National Heritage Fellow Harold Burnham, and his Apprentice KD for an update on their progress for the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship. After a hiatus for the summer sailing season Harold & KD are back working on the rehabilitation of Sylvina W. Beal, the return home of Schooner Isabella, and all manner of shipyard nonsense.
This series of events will run through the spring of 2022, kicking off on January the 25th at 7PM via Zoom.
These are free to attend, find more details at the link below:
Cape Ann Community 