Local News - Marblehead Current

Marblehead Rotary surprises volunteer extraordinaire Siegel on 90th birthday

22Mar

By William J. DowdNo Comments

Local News, Nonprofit corner, Top Stories

Marblehead Rotary surprises volunteer extraordinaire Siegel on 90th birthday

Marblehead Rotary Club members pulled out all the stops for fellow Rotarian Carl Siegel’s surprise 90th birthday on March 16. The club devoted the entirety of its weekly meeting to showering praise and commendations on the volunteer. Carl Siegel blows out the candles on his 90th birthday cake during a surprise party staged by his fellow Marblehead Rotary Club members on March 16. CURRENT PHOTO / NICOLE GOODHUE BOYD Select Board Chair Moses Grader presented a proclamation declaring March 16 as “F. Carlton Siegel Day” in Marblehead in honor of Siegel’s decades in public service. Grader read the citation recognizing everything from Siegel’s work with youth football and baseball and the town signs he has fashioned to his military service in the Navy and his current...

22Mar

By Kris OlsonNo Comments

Local News, Top Stories, Uncategorized

Three-year terms for Marblehead Select Board? Proposal headed back to Town Meeting

The proposal pops up periodically — including as recently as the 2020 Town Meeting. But is this the year that voters decide to extend the terms of members of the Select Board from one to three years? Article sponsor Jim Zisson certainly hopes so. His research has shown that Marblehead is an outlier among towns with select boards in electing their members annually. A common misconception is that the Select Board is like a city council, Zisson said. The two bodies may have a similar number of members, but the similarities end there, he explained. “The Select Board is an executive function,” more like a mayor, Zisson said. Mayors almost always serve multi-year terms, which makes sense, Zisson argued. “The reason is there are a lot of long-term strategies and objectives that...

22Mar

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Entertainment, Local News, Top Stories

Marblehead native credits Glover School teacher with start in movies

Marblehead native Ethan Feldbau may have been at an Oscar watch party in Los Angeles when his movie “Everything Everywhere All at Once” won seven Academy Awards, but he was thinking about his hometown and former Glover School teacher Jane Graham. “I owe a lot to my third grade teacher. She took our class to the magic show ‘Le Grand David’ in Beverly and I became infatuated with magic and special effects. She started me on a path toward theater, movies and art.” Ethan Feldbau grew up in Marblehead making movies with friends. Feldbau was the lead visual effects artist and visual designer on “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” a sci-fi multiverse movie that dominated the Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Film Editing, Best Director and several other top awards. “This was a very...

22Mar

By Melissa StaceyNo Comments

Local News

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT: Chestnut Sweet welcomes visitors from near and far

The following is an interview with Francie King, owner of Chestnut Sweet, conducted by Discover Marblehead. To learn more about this rental in the historic shipyard district of Marblehead, call King at 617-293-8523 or visit chestnutsweet.com. King also serves on the Marblehead Current board of directors. Frances King Tell us about Chestnut Sweet and why you started it. My husband, Robert Erbetta, and I started Chestnut Sweet (at 36 Chestnut St.) in 2013 after deciding that the structure behind our house that had served for years as a three-bay garage and full workshop might have more practical uses and even some revenue potential. We spent about eight months converting half of that building into a two-floor space that could be used either for our businesses (our original thought...

22Mar

By William J. DowdNo Comments

Business, Local News, Top Stories

END OF AN ERA: After century in business, Bartlett’s Garage to shutter March 30

Bartlett's Garage, an Old Town institution whose owners have repaired 'Headers vehicles for three generations, will soon close after more than a century in business. Thursday, March 30 will be the last day for one of the oldest continuously operated independent auto shops in the county, according to Greg Quillen. Marblehead natives and brothers Greg and Mike Quillen will retire March 30, closing Bartlett’s Garage, one of the country’s oldest continuously operating independent auto shops. COURTESY PHOTO / STEVEN ROOD A private buyer has bought the Stacey Street garage and has other plans for the property. "It's not going to be an auto shop after we leave," Quillen told the Marblehead Current. By "we," he means himself and his older brother, Mike. The brothers are re...

22Mar

By Kris OlsonNo Comments

Local News, Top Stories, Town Election Guide

Tweaks to election process on Marblehead Town Meeting warrant

Compared to a proposal to extend the terms of members of the Select Board to three years, three other Town Meeting articles that would tweak the way local elections are administered may prove to be less controversial. In Article 53, the second-to-last article on the warrant, resident Jonathan Lederman is proposing that the town accept the provisions of a state law, G.L.c. 53, §9A, which would clarify that the final date for obtaining blank nomination papers for nomination to town office shall be “48 weekday hours” prior to the hour on which nomination papers are required to be submitted for certification. Lederman told the Current that his article may get amended before Town Meeting, as there are lingering questions about the overlap between the deadline he is proposing to move and...

21Mar

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Community resources, Local News, Nonprofit corner, Top Stories

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: Remembering the donkey games at Seaside

Name: Liz Michaud Born: I was born at the old Mary Alley Hospital on Franklin Street. Age: 81 How long have you lived in Marblehead? My entire life. Liz Michaud with her husband, Bert, at the Council on Aging. COURTESY PHOTO What are your fondest childhood memories? I grew up on Bubier Road near Seaside Park. Seaside Park was always a big part of my childhood.My brother and I would go watch baseball games there with my dad. We loved the donkey baseball games when the team would be riding donkeys. The hitter would ride a donkey. Sometimes the donkey would go to third base instead of first base. All the neighborhood kids would go. I remember the year we lost all the willow trees at Seaside in a bad storm. They were replanted. Behind Seaside Park there were great blueberry ...

21Mar

By William J. DowdNo Comments

Local News, Public safety, Top Stories

Marblehead fire captain commends National Grid crew for life-saving actions

Fire Captain Eric Ridge commended two National Grid employees for their life-saving actions in rescuing an 80-year-old woman on Marblehead Neck at 4:10 a.m. on March 10, when a storm had closed the Veterans Memorial Causeway during high tide. "During winter storms that close the causeway, we stage an engine on the Neck along with a National Grid crew, a water and sewer crew, light department crew and a police officer," Ridge said. "We do this to ensure we can respond to emergencies such as fires, medical situations, gas leaks, etc." The Eastern Yacht Club hosts the public safety and utility crews, a protocol that Ridge credited with saving the elderly woman's life. National Grid employees Mark Weinberg, Michael Plunkett and Derrick Cutter discovered the woman lying on her side in th...

19Mar

By Kris OlsonNo Comments

Local News, Police Log, Public safety

Police log, March 9-15, 2023: Blown kisses fail to bait neighbor; pizza scam yields no dough

Excerpts from the Marblehead police log of Thursday, March 9 through Wednesday, March 15, 2023. Consistent with state law, Marblehead Police have adopted a policy of not providing to media outlets reports related to incidents related to domestic violence, juveniles and matters that remain under investigation. Thursday, March 9 7:59 a.m. An officer investigated the report of a stolen bike on Cheever Avenue. 8:59 a.m. The pedestrian signal at Ocean and Atlantic avenues was reportedly not working. 10:12 a.m. Officers investigated the report of larceny, forgery or fraud on Naugus Avenue. 10:14 a.m. A 21-year-old Marblehead resident was arrested and charged with breaking-and-entering in the daytime, a felony, and malicious destruction of property valued at over $1,200. He was al...

18Mar

By William J. DowdNo Comments

Local News, Municipal Matters, Top Stories, Uncategorized

Marblehead Select Board to include schools in override proposal

For the first time in a public meeting, the Marblehead Select Board acknowledged the Marblehead Public Schools would be included in the Proposition 2 1/2 override proposed under Article 31 of the 2023 town warrant. "We have been working hard to develop a more collaborative relationship with the town," Superintendent John Buckey told the Marblehead Current, calling the Select Board's direction "a very encouraging sign." Buckey added, "The Select Board's inclusion of the schools in its override request affirms that they recognize the school district's financial constraints and will join us in asking voters to invest appropriately in public education here in Marblehead.” Marblehead Finance Director Aleesha Nunley-Benjamin addresses the Select Board during a budget discussion on Fr...