Water-and-sewer rates increase
Most Marblehead residents will see about a 5% increase in their water-and-sewer bills this fiscal year after the town’s Water & Sewer Commission approved new rates that took effect July 1.
Water & Sewer Supervisor Amy McHugh said the increase was necessary to cover rising employee health insurance costs, assessments from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and the town of Marblehead, as well as capital investments in the town’s sewer infrastructure.
Post office honor
Marblehead Post Office is one of seven across the state offering a special pictorial postmark to commemorate the 250th anniversary of America and the U.S. Postal Service.
Select Board member Moses Grader and Marblehead Postmaster Christopher King marked the occasion on July 2. The special postmark will be available for 90 days, free of charge.
Marblehead’s post office is among the original 62 post offices that have remained open since 1775.
New social service case manager at Counseling Center
Carol Hawthorne has spent more than four decades helping people in need across the North Shore, with roles at the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, Catholic Charities, Anchor to Windward and as an emergency room volunteer at Salem Hospital. She is now the new social service case manager at the Marblehead Counseling Center.
Since 2022, the Marblehead Female Humane Society has funded the position, which provides support to Marblehead individuals and families experiencing economic hardship or needing help navigating available resources.
The Marblehead Counseling Center offers two areas of assistance: mental health and social services.
“Mental health issues often arise because of other factors, such as becoming unhoused, losing a job and not being able to feed your family, or being embroiled in a domestic violence situation,” Hawthorne said.
The center’s goal is to help alleviate the stress that comes from major life challenges by connecting clients with programs available across the North Shore, she said.
“It doesn’t have to be a big problem to be big for the client,” Hawthorne added, citing one family she helped find low-cost pet food through the MSPCA after its financial situation worsened.
Hawthorne succeeds Teri McDonough, who directed the Counseling Center’s social services department for the past 12 years. McDonough will continue in a supervisory role.
Y honors Lambkin
Jeanne Lambkin, a longtime Lynch-van Otterloo YMCA and YMCA of the North Shore board member, donor, volunteer and advocate, received the David Sherman Community Strengthening Award during a ceremony June 18 at the Y.
The annual award, named for the most generous contributor to the Lynch-van Otterloo YMCA capital campaign that funded construction of the current building, was presented by Kathleen Alexandrou, one of Lambkin’s two daughters and the Lynch-van Otterloo YMCA’s school-age director.
“Everyone knows moms are superheroes, but I’ve never met someone who does quite as much as my mom, and she balances it all with ease and thoroughness,” Alexandrou said.
She was joined by her sister, Nicole, and her father, Leon Alexandrou, to celebrate the honor.
Lambkin, of Marblehead, recently retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers after decades as a change management consultant. She has served on the Lynch-van Otterloo YMCA and YMCA of the North Shore boards for more than 20 years.
In her current role on the YMCA of the North Shore strategy committee, she collaborates with Y leaders and staff to advance the organization’s mission of welcoming all, strengthening communities, educating and nurturing children, and promoting healthy living in spirit, mind and body.
