thank you

THANK YOU! Sawyer Free Library’s Annual Appeal Campaign Goal Reached and Surpassed!

~ Sawyer Free Library

Thanks to the community’s incredible generosity, the Sawyer Free Library not only reached, but greatly exceeded its 2020 year-end fundraising goal! 


This year the Library was thrilled to welcome many new contributors and grateful that several returning donors increased their giving. No matter the amount, your support means so much, especially during a year that has been challenging for all. 


YOU, the community is at the core of our work. With your help the Sawyer Free Library has met this uncertain moment with certainty, expanding digital services, helping readers of print books to embrace e-books, giving parents resources to support at-home learning, connecting job-seekers with local networking opportunities, bringing world-renowned speakers into homes and so much more.  

Thank YOU for making it possible!


Your support of the Sawyer Free Library empowers individuals, strengthens families, and makes our great community a better place to live, for which we are deeply grateful. 

Cape Ann Museum plans illuminated message on new campus to pay tribute to city, front line workers during pandemic

~ laurenren

IMG950196

Rendering Courtesy of Harbor Voices Public Art

GLOUCESTER, MASS. (May 7, 2020) – In an effort to boost the city’s spirits during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cape Ann Museum is presenting a CAM Contemporary exhibition involving the projection of an illuminated multilingual message on the nights of May 6 to 8, 2020, saying “Thank You Frontline Heroes.” The installation is called “In Gratitude.”

“We know many of our neighbors, friends, and families are struggling at this time of social distancing, isolation, and anxiety around health and financial concerns from the coronavirus,” said Museum Director Oliver Barker. “We want to send a message of solidarity, gratitude and hope to our community.”

This “Thank You Frontline Heroes” illumination planned for the side of the White-Ellery Barn at the Cape Ann Museum Green, 245 Washington Street in Gloucester, was created by Stephanie Terelak Benenson, a North Shore artist and founder of the nonprofit, Harbor Voices Public Art. The projection will take place from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. on Wed. May 6 to Friday, May 8. The message itself will be in several languages – Portugese, Spanish, Italian, and English – and is dedicated to the COVID-19 crisis’s frontline responders such as nurses, doctors, hospital staff and administrators, delivery, teachers, grocery personnel, and the many non-profits supporting our community at this time.

This projection is sponsored by LuminArtz Communications Ink., as part of the “Light Up the Night” series that is bringing rays of light into the community during the pandemic. The group will preview the installation on Luminartz’s Facebook Live event on Wed. May 6 at 9 p.m. Visit harborvoices.com or action@harborvoices.com for more details.

Unlike the Museum’s other events and with a view to current social distancing requirements at present this pop-up projection of thanks is not meant to be attended in person. It is strategically placed and timed for workers to notice when driving home.

Visit capeannmuseum.org for more details.

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The Cape Ann Museum has been in existence since the 1870s, working to preserve and celebrate the history and culture of the area and to keep it relevant to today’s audiences. Spanning 44,000 square feet, the Museum is one of the major cultural institutions on Boston’s North Shore welcoming more than 25,000 local, national and international visitors each year to its exhibitions and programs. In addition to fine art, the Museum’s collections include decorative art, textiles, artifacts from the maritime and granite industries, three historic homes, a Library & Archives and a sculpture park in the heart of downtown Gloucester. In June 2021, the Museum will open a new 12,000-square-foot collection storage and public exhibition space in Gloucester as part of its Cape Ann Museum Green campus. The campus will also include three historic buildings – the White Ellery House (1710), an adjacent Barn (c. 1740), and the recently acquired Babson-Alling House (c.1740) which are located on the site at the intersection of Washington and Poplar Streets in Gloucester.  Visit capeannmuseum.org for details.

The Cape Ann Museum is located at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester. While temporarily closed due the COVID-19 pandemic, Regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $12.00 adults, $10.00 Cape Ann residents, seniors and students. Youth (under 18) and Museum members are free. Cape Ann residents can visit for free on the second Saturday of each month.  For more information please call: (978)283-0455 x10. Additional information can be found online at www.capeannmuseum.org.

For a detailed media fact sheet please visit www.capeannmuseum.org/press.

MEDIA CONTACTS:          

Diana Brown McCloy
Teak Media

(978) 978-697-9414
Diana@teakmedia.com

Meredith Anderson
meredithanderson@capeannmuseum.org
(978) 283-0455 x15

Mayor’s 2016 Year End Review & Thank You

~ Chris Sicuranza

Dear Gloucester Residents,

As 2016 winds down, I want to pause to express my gratitude to everyone for all that you have done to help move Gloucester forward.  Many believe that this year was tougher than other years, but I want to reflect on the positive and look ahead with renewed hope as we enter 2017.

To start the year, our administration and the new City Council were sworn in and we committed ourselves to working together on behalf of all Gloucester residents.  We are lucky to have so many dedicated public officials who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work hard on the issues that we face as a community.

I want to thank all City Councilors, city employees, board and commission members, volunteers, organizers, members of the business community and everyone else who has helped to build on the progress that we have made.  No one person can achieve as much as we did and will continue to achieve by working together.  I couldn’t be more proud of everyone’s efforts.

We have put our fiscal house in order by adopting financial policies that will pay benefits for years to come.  For the first time in many years, all City departments lived within their operational budgets allocated by the City Council and we are well on our way to doing that for a second straight year.  This is a critical first step in building a financially healthy City. As a result of our financial policies adopted for free cash and our work with the school department, school committee and MSBA, we are now better positioned to fund capital improvements to our schools like the roof at the high school.

In my short time as Mayor, we have been committed to economic growth in the City.  We will continue to work to expand our commercial industrial base and upgrading our technological services within the City.  At the same time, we worked to repair our coastal seawalls, establish co-working spaces for entrepreneurs, improve visiting areas like Stage Fort Park, continue our cultural heritage in the arts, attend the Seafood Show to promote Gloucester Fresh Seafood including designing the logo which led to a relationship with 99 Restaurants to sell local fish, work alongside Representative Ferrante, Senator Tarr and our federal delegations to secure funds including a new roof at the State Fish Pier, and so much more.

The City welcomed new changes in the Mayor’s Office to help with constituent services, as well as new staff leadership across many City departments, including Harbormaster, Community Development, Tourism, Communications, Police, Human Resources, and, for the first time in a long while, Fisheries Commission Director. I believe our team is stronger than ever as a result of these changes and I am confident that we will continue to provide the best services to all Gloucester residents.

From our seniors to our students, from Ward 1 to Ward 5, for those just moving here to those who have had generations living here, please know that our administration will continue to provide the best results by working with everyone and building toward a strong collective future.  While we respect our culture and heritage for 2017 and well beyond, we must continue to listen to one another and find ways to deepen our contributions, however large or small, to help every citizen.

As I have said many times, my door is always open and I welcome your input and guidance.

I am sure that 2017 will usher in many challenges for us as a community but I know through everyone’s hard work and what we have accomplished in 2016 that we will be successful.  Thank you and I hope you and your family have a happy and healthy New Year!  Let’s keep moving Gloucester forward… together.

Sincerely,

Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken