Columns - Marblehead Current

01 Nov

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: The games we play

Virginia Buckingham0 CommentsColumns, Opinion, Virginia Buckingham

I recently saw a headline about a new study that showed that running as little as two miles three times a week could extend your life. That seems doable, I thought, until I asked my knees, who immediately protested that it was not doable at all (you idiot, they added!). Thus, I’ll stick with the original guidance I’ve tried to follow in recent years that a regular walking routine is the key to a healthy aging body. Yet, I am reaching that age where the…

01 Nov

FROM THE VAULT: Cats and bears, oh my!

Lauren McCormack0 CommentsColumns, Local History

On the morning of Jan. 29, 1855, the ship Favorite, a cargo vessel out of New Orleans heading for Boston, ran aground near Baker's Island. According to one newspaper article, the crew was rescued by quick-acting Marbleheaders. The cargo and vessel were a complete loss, however. The painted iron cathead recovered from the wreck of the Favorite in 1855. COURTESY PHOTO / MARBLEHEAD MUSEUM One piece that survived and was likely scavenged by the rescuers or later salvagers was a cast iron cathead. A cathead…

01 Nov

PLAYING THE GAME: The starbright thrill of truth

Bob Baker0 CommentsColumns, Opinion

All kinds of truth: feel good, justice is done, where else would you be?, oh yeah, kickass, mistake corrected, real deal, heartbreaker, 'bout time, puzzle solved, joy to the world!, never could've guessed, one of a kind, what a hoot, rip-roaring, rollicking, wow ... try some on: — Connor Cronin, waterboy for the Marblehead High football team in 2016. Five years later, his 83-yard lightning bolt catch-and-run that takes your breath away and seals Marblehead's win over North Attleboro in the 2021 Super Bowl. —…

01 Nov

MARBLEHEAD CHRONICLES: Letters in the Select Board’s room

Pam Peterson0 CommentsColumns, Local History

Several years ago, four letters from the Marblehead Historical Commission’s archives were conserved and scanned, with high-quality copies framed for the purpose of displaying them in the Select Board room at Abbot Hall. These letters highlight Marblehead’s role and importance in the American Revolution. The signatures are impressive, including President George Washington, Patriot Paul Revere, then-State Sen. John Adams, patriot and Declaration of Independence signer John Hancock, and Continental Congress delegate Elbridge Gerry. Some of these men were at the peak of their careers when…

27 Oct

SUSTAINABLE MARBLEHEAD: Working toward net zero

Dr. Eileen Mathieu0 CommentsColumns, Environment, Opinion, Uncategorized

This year marks the 5th anniversary of the landmark 2018 Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report for Marblehead, prepared by Sustainable Marblehead and presented to the Select Board. This report measured the town's carbon footprint and identified key sources of emissions contributing to global climate change. A piechart depicting Marblehead's gashouse emissions by source. Among the key findings, resident passenger vehicle emissions stood out as the largest contributor at 27%, with commercial and municipal vehicles contributing an additional 2%. These findings were particularly noteworthy given that in…

25 Oct

MY MARBLEHEAD FIRST TIME: A hunt for a harvest leads to a cranberry bog

Court Merrigan0 CommentsColumns, Court Merrigan, Opinion, Top Stories

Nearly a year into my Marblehead sojourn, I think harvest is the time of year I miss being back home the most. That time of year when a whole year's worth of planning and sweat come together in a few glorious weeks, and all that matters is bringing in the harvest. Crimson carpets of cranberry fields evoke bittersweet memories of harvests past. COURTESY PHOTO / COURT MERRIGAN Harvest is when you find out if you come up snake eyes or money ahead. Did the yields…

25 Oct

ASK LIZZIE: Preparing little ones for Halloween

Lizzie Assa, parenting strategist0 CommentsColumns, Parenting

The Current is proud to partner with columnist Lizzie Assa, founder of The Workplace for Children, a parenting strategist, play expert and mother of three who lives in Marblehead. Send your questions to Lizzie at AskLizzie@marbleheadnews.org. Dear Lizzie, My preschooler is really excited about the idea of Halloween, but he’s also a kid who gets scared easily. How can I make sure he has fun with all of the spooky decorations and costumes? Dear reader, Parenting strategist LIzzie Assa COURTESY PHOTO Your child is lucky…

19 Oct

CUZNER IN NATURE: Eastern screech owl finds refuge in tree nook

Rick Cuzner0 CommentsColumns, Top Stories

I found this eastern screech owl snoozing in the fracture of a tree late one afternoon. Usually after finding a screech owl, I can return from time to time and find it again in the same location. The unfortunate thing is they seem to pick old rotted trees for their homes. Over the years I have gone back to half a dozen screech owl locations (or more) to find the tree had fallen over in a storm or was taken down due to being a…

18 Oct

THE DIXEY COLLECTION: Sightingseeing trips

Dan Dixey0 CommentsColumns, Local History, Local News, Top Stories, Uncategorized

The India Star , from Salem, and the Marblehead ferry Delta, sighseeing trips on a foggy day in 1979. The Marblehead Current is proud to partner with photographer and historian Dan Dixey, who regularly shares photos of Marblehead from his extensive collection, along with information about each shot. Dixey was recently named the Person of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce. The India Star from Salem and the Marblehead ferry Delta are seen running sightseeing trips on a foggy day from the State Street…

18 Oct

OUR OPEN SPACES: Looking back at Ware Pond

Joan McDuff0 CommentsColumns, Environment, Local News, Top Stories

Ware Pond has been a town-owned conservation area for almost 60 years, but appreciation of its natural beauty extends much further back in history. The earliest records of the Ware Pond area indicate that on May 2, 1636, the neighboring town of Salem granted 500 acres known as the Plains Farm to John Humphrey of Marblehead. Ware Pond from the viewing platform and boardwalk built by the Marblehead Conservancy in 2005. As one historian put it, Humphrey “was given this land to improve and to sell…