Family

Gloucester Education Foundation’s The Power of Play event is BACK! 3/26/23, 11am-2pm at The GHS Fieldhouse

~ gloucestereducationfoundation

When: Sunday, March 26, 2023 11am-2pm

Where: Gloucester High School Field House

32 Leslie O. Johnson Road, Gloucester

Who: Gloucester families, friends and children of all ages. 

Suggested donation $5/family at the door; no family will be turned away for lack of funds.

What: A day of hands-on, low-tech play for all ages, hosted by Gloucester Education Foundation and run by a powerhouse team of community and student volunteers!

The Power of Play centers around fun family activities, and is designed to be welcoming to a broad spectrum of ages, ability levels, and learning styles. This year’s event will also feature some special activities from regions around the world that are present in our Gloucester community.

It would take us all day to name all of the awesome activities at Power of Play, but here are a few: collaborative art projects, fort-building, oobleck-making, sand play, capoeira, an invisible ink scavenger hunt, games from around the world, an infant/toddler exploration zone, and LOTS more. 

The Power of Play is hosted by Gloucester Education Foundation and sponsored by Cape Ann Savings Bank, Sawyer Free Library, and Seashore Comfort Solutions.

Contact: Emily Siegel, emily@thinkthebest.org or 978-282-5550

Gloucester Education Foundation drives innovation, inspires creativity, expands student opportunities, and empowers educators to strengthen teaching and learning in the Gloucester Public Schools. Learn more at www.thinkthebest.org

Trick Or Treat At Hammond Castle Museum on October 27th

~ Hammond Castle Museum

What better place to trick or treat than at an old seaside castle? We have everything you need to ignite your child’s imagination: a drawbridge, spiral staircase, and a Great Hall
We will have spooky music, multiple trick or treat stations inside the castle and bubbles, snacks, spooky stories and a craft at the 13th Century arches. You bring the scary costumes.

Timed Trick or Treat sessions will last approximately 15 minutes with five treat stations set up within the Castle starting on our drawbridge and leading into the Great Hall. The program will conclude with bubbles, a craft, spooky stories and snacks outside at the Arches.

*This ticket grants you access to the Trick Or Treat event. At the time of this event, the Museum will be closed to tours. If you wish to tour Hammond Castle Museum on the day of the ticketed event, Self-Guided Tour tickets may be purchased in the Museum Shop at a 20% discount. Last tours begin at 2pm. Proof of purchase of the Trick or Treat event will be required.

All proceeds from this program will support the restoration and preservation of the 13th century, French cloister archways which are located at the front of the museum. Reservations available at: bit.ly/3g5ZqBv

Calling All Young Inventors!

~ Hammond Castle Museum

Join us this Sunday for a fun, STEM program at Hammond Castle Museum, the home of one of the nation’s greatest inventors of his time!

Check-in will begin at 12:30 and the program will begin at 1pm.
*This program is geared to children in late elementary school and early middle school grades.

Inventing has changed a lot over the last century since our founder, John Hays Hammond Jr. began his illustrious career, but many of the fundamentals remain the same. Hammond Castle Museum is delighted to partner with the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in presenting a new event: Inventors Day.

The event is inspired by one of Hammond’s inventions: “Seleno,” the world’s first robotic dog, which was controlled by a beam of light. During this two hour-long STEM program, competitors will group into teams with the goal to construct their own light-controlled robot. Each team will be given a robot kit to assemble as well as additional components and electronics to modify and improve upon the core design. The teams will then compete in a series of scored challenges using their robots. Each member of the winning team will receive an award and special recognition across Hammond Castle Museum’s social media platforms as well as its website. Winners also may enjoy all the bragging rights they could want as they may consider themselves a member of the Museum’s exclusive list of inventors.

Reservations & Chaperone tickets are $10 each and available at: www.hammondcastle.org.

Community Concert Co-Sponsored by Sawyer Free Library on Saturday, July 30 at 11am

~ Sawyer Free Library

Community Concert with THREE libraries! Join Sawyer Free, Rockport & Manchester-by-the-Sea libraries at Masconomo Park in Manchester for a great family outdoor summer show! Lots of fun with TWO musical groups: Ants on a Log joins Bee Parks & the Hornets for this fun community event!

Saturday, July 30 at 11:00am! Open and free to all!

Rain location is Manchester Elementary School.

For more information visit SawyerFreeLibrary.org or 978-325-5500

Gloucester Marine Railways with Viking Gustafson

~ Sawyer Free Library

On Thursday, June 9 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., learn more about Gloucester Marine Railways at the Sawyer Free Library.

Marine Railways Director Viking Gustafson will give a presentation on the marine railways in Gloucester in the Library’s Friends Room this Thursday evening.  She will then offer a tour of the railways on site in Rockport on Saturday, June 11, at 10:00 a.m.  

Both the presentation and the tour are free and open to the public. The Sawyer Free Library is located at 2 Dale Avenue. For more information visit, SawyerFreeLibrary.com or 978-325-5500.

Not to miss GloCon’22 Workshops – this Saturday at the Sawyer Free Library!

~ Sawyer Free Library

Come check out Sawyer Free Library‘s first annual comic con event, Glo Con on Saturday, April 30 from 10am – 3pm! We’ve got artists, authors, crafts, workshops, cosplayers, snacks, a photo booth, MarioKart on the big screen, and other superhero/comics/graphic novel activities all fun for the whole family!  Visit: SawyerFreeLibrary.org for all the details!

Be sure to sign up ahead of time for these cool workshops:

10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Make Your Own Comics! Come have fun while drawing your own comics! In this workshop, students will play silly drawing games, generate ideas for their own characters, and start to write their own comic book stories. All levels of experience are welcome! The workshop is run by Cathy G. Johnson, Providence-based writer and artist of the graphic novel The Breakaways. REGISTER HERE.

10:30 a.m. – Storytime: We Dig Worms – Young children and their families can enjoy a fun science-filled story time with author and illustrator Kevin McCloskey. No registration needed.

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Cartooning Workshop with Mark Parisi Recommended for grades 2-7, but all ages will enjoy this fun event with Marty Pants author Mark Parisi. There will be lots of funny cartoons, live drawing, writing and drawing tips and an author Q & A.

Mark is a Gloucester native and the cartoonist behind the comic panel Off the Mark, which is syndicated nationally and appears in The Gloucester Times. He has also authored and illustrated humorous middle-grade books. Mark will be signing books after his presentation.  No Registration Needed.

1:00-3:00 p.m. LightSaber Training – Dabble in the Dark Side or learn how to fight it with the 501st Legion! No Registration Needed.

2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Your Story Matters – Explore storytelling through writing and drawing exercises with Leela Corman, the Providence-based, award-winning artist, cartoonist, and author of the graphic novel Unterzakhn. This program is best for teens and adults.  REGISTER HERE

And that is just the start! From MarioKart, oversized Mad Libs, and a Pokemon Scavenger Hunt to cool crafts, fantastical prizes, graphic novels, and comic books, it will be a day filled with fun activities for all ages to discover.

The Sawyer Free Library is located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. All Glo Con 2022 presentations and activities are free and open to the public. To register or for more event information, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5500.  


GLO CON 22!! Are you ready? 10 days and counting until the fun starts!

~ Sawyer Free Library
GLO CON ’22 Saturday April 30th at Sawyer Free Library

Sawyer Free Library’s first ever Comic-Con, a free family friendly celebration

of comics, pop culture, creativity and fun, will be on Saturday, April 30th

from 10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester, MA. 

It is a free and open to all ages! 

Photo ops with characters? Check! Workshops with comic book authors and artists? Check! Fandom games and activities? Check! Fantastical story time and crafts for the kids? Of course!

Don’t miss this celebration of all things comics and pop culture.  

Costumes not required but encouraged! 

Register today for the many great workshops or just come by and enjoy the fun!

For more information visit sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Sawyer Free Librarians are ready for Glo Con 22′
Register HERE for Workshops!

Celebrating Wellspring’s 40 Years of Supporting Families with “Voices of Belonging, Immigration Stories in Light & Sound” public art event

~ madelinegamlen

Artist Stephanie Benenson’s Harbor Voices Public Art creates immersive family-friendly sound and light experience: May 6 & 7

For 40 years, Wellspring has supported hundreds of families from all ethnic backgrounds and walks of life achieve employment and financial security through stable housing, education, job training and career readiness. To mark its four-decade anniversary, the Cape Ann-based nonprofit organization is hosting “Voices of Belonging: Immigration Stories in Light & Sound” to bring the stories and sentiments of immigrant families alive with music, spoken word, and laser lighting for a captivating, participatory immersive experience.

Inspired by collective storytelling and powerful personal histories, Stephanie Terelak Benenson, a sound, light, and social impact artist, founded Harbor Voices Public Art  Art in 2017. Her laser and sound installations feature more than 100 global stories of recent and ancestral immigrants to Cape Ann, ages 6 to 86, as choreographed lasers immerse you in a multilingual sound & light public art experience. 

The works celebrate empathy, cultural identity, diversity, inclusivity, and resilience from the past to the present. The stories and experience then become a vehicle for social change. Her installations have been shared in Lynn, Worcester, Boston, Gloucester, Salem, and New York City.

The “Voices of Belonging” Friday Night Opening Party will be May 6 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased online. On Saturday, May 7, “Voices of Belonging” will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to the community at no charge for the family-friendly, all-are-welcome event. Free, timed tickets are strongly encouraged but walkups will be accommodated.