Opinion

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Get thee to a fire pit
Columns, Opinion, Virginia Buckingham

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Get thee to a fire pit

Lest I be accused of being obsessed with fire, let me share that one of us eight Buckingham siblings once played with matches and lit a neighbor’s yard on fire and subsequently ran away from home. That sibling was not me! But if not obsessed, I am indeed, let’s call it, enthralled. Last year around this time I wrote a column about embracing the onset of early darkness. Wearing it like a cozy blanket. My theory was that if my attitude was one of welcoming the opportunity to retreat and reflect, then these days of waning sunlight would not be something to get through, but something to cherish. As I often do, I found a book with a wise author’s words to support my approach. Katherine May’s “Wintering” offered a guide through. This year, I need an additional strategy and another ...
EDITORIAL: Volunteering our thanks
Current Editorials, Opinion

EDITORIAL: Volunteering our thanks

This week family and friends will gather around the holiday table and count their many blessings. Thanksgiving arrives at a particularly meaningful time this year, with so many facing hardship and loss both at home and around the world. At the Current, we will be giving special thanks to our loyal readers, subscribers, advertisers and donors. Without your support, bringing you quality local journalism, week after week, would not be possible. We truly appreciate you. In that spirit, we also owe a debt of gratitude to the many volunteer-based organizations and programs that help make Marblehead a more caring, inclusive, eco-friendly and culturally vibrant community. A non-exhaustive list of worthy organizations would include: ~ SPUR Inc. (781-451-7787, info@spurnorthshore.or...
LETTER: Flags signal our values
LETTERS, Opinion

LETTER: Flags signal our values

To the editor: Flags are symbolic and have meaning to the person who displays them. My husband and I fly an American flag on our home; in June, we hung a pride flag. In Marblehead, the Black Lives Matter flag hangs in our high school; the colors of the pride flag are painted on the sidewalk near the visitors’ information booth. I assume we display these because Marblehead values inclusion. I read in the Marblehead Current that parents who send their children to MHS from their home in Boston were upset when an unauthorized individual took down the BLM flag from a high school classroom. The parents said this act made their children feel unsafe and, further, one parent said, her child does not feel welcome in Marblehead. As residents of Marblehead, we are all hosts of a METCO progra...
LETTER: Giving thanks, voicing concerns
LETTERS, Opinion

LETTER: Giving thanks, voicing concerns

To the editor: The recent conflicts in Marblehead — the leadership of the School Committee and its lack of transparency, racism and the question of what flags to fly at our schools and how to manage town property — reflect the conflicts we are having as a country. As we approach Thanksgiving, I’d like to share my thoughts on these events with thanks and concerns. Thanks to the Marblehead Current for giving us a newspaper that reflects the values of democracy and good journalism, reporting the facts —  good and bad, including letters to the editor that help readers understand how others in town think. Democracy depends on an independent press to hold officials and the government accountable. I was impressed with the editorial on Nov. 8, which provided a thoughtful, thorough expl...
MARBLEHEAD CARES: Shower the people you love with love (and those you don’t)
Columns, Health, Opinion, Viewpoints

MARBLEHEAD CARES: Shower the people you love with love (and those you don’t)

Lots of things come to mind when we think about Thanksgiving. We might think about turkey, stuffing, turkeys crossing Pleasant Street, football, turkey trots, powder puff football, pumpkin pie or family gatherings. Traditionally, Thanksgiving invites each of us to consider the things we feel grateful for in our lives. As our world feels so rife with struggle, violence and painful conflict, it can be a welcome pause to reflect instead on gratitude. As a concept, it seems easy enough to think about, but as an expression, giving thanks unfortunately appears to be losing its value. There is evidence that when we concentrate on things that we appreciate and feel grateful for, our serotonin and dopamine levels increase. These chemicals in our brain control some of the moods that we experi...
EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: It’s okay to look away sometimes
Columns, Opinion, Virginia Buckingham

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: It’s okay to look away sometimes

Initially, I planned to entitle this column “Don’t look away.” The topic is the toll of consuming news during these painful times in the country and the world. And the importance of staying informed, and bearing witness.   I still believe those things are important. I also have come to understand that taking a break from doing so preserves our energy to engage at all. I’m a daily newspaper reader and have noted in the past that Twitter (or that platform now known as X) was a handy news aggregator for me. It seems less so now — more clickbait than content. I still check the world’s goings-on there, it just takes more effort. TV news? That’s been hard to watch. During the pandemic, my daughter and I made a habit of watching Anderson Cooper on CNN every night. It fed our need t...
EDITORIAL: Expanding Marblehead’s Board of Health makes good sense
Current Editorials, Opinion

EDITORIAL: Expanding Marblehead’s Board of Health makes good sense

EDITOR’S NOTE: A previous iteration of this editorial incorrectly stated the number of drug-related fatalities in Marblehead in 2022. There was one. In a welcome moment of harmony, the fractured Marblehead Board of Health recently voted unanimously to seek to expand its elected seats from three to five members. We strongly endorse the board’s prudent proposal to bring the matter before the Town Meeting in May. Adding two seats makes good sense considering the complex, pressing issues within the board’s authority. As extensively reported by the Marblehead Current, meetings too often degenerate into palpable distrust and tension among members. The aging Marblehead Transfer Station exemplifies these challenges. Its long-delayed, $1.6 million renovation has faced years of plannin...
LETTER: A big thank you to Clifton pumpkin patch supporters
LETTERS, Opinion

LETTER: A big thank you to Clifton pumpkin patch supporters

To the editor:  I would like to give a big thank you to the people of Marblehead, Swampscott, Nahant, Lynn and Salem, as well as friends and families who committed to buying pumpkins this year at the Clifton pumpkin patch. It's been a busy season and I am happy to say we ran out of pumpkins on Oct. 31. Clifton Lutheran Church will be sending a check to benefit the Navajo Reservation for the pumpkins that they grew, harvested and shipped up here to Marblehead. The check, which is just over $27,000, is the largest check we have ever sent them. And it is 100% because of the generosity of this community. Thank you again for your support.   Thank you, Karin Ernst, on behalf of Clifton Lutheran Church Lafayette Street
LETTER: ‘I hear you and believe you’
LETTERS, Opinion

LETTER: ‘I hear you and believe you’

To the editor:  During the Marblehead School Committee meeting on Nov. 2 we heard from a couple of METCO mothers on how they feel that their children are not heard or seen. My heart broke because her child is being bullied by a staff member of the school. Time and time her words were not heard. METCO mama bear, I hear you and believe you.  My child received an added birthday gift on her birthday. A teacher overheard another student teasing/bullying her about being adopted. That teacher brought it to the attention of her team teachers. Bravo to the Burke/Volpe/Deana team at her school for having all 42 kids come together and hear that families are made up of all different ways. You see, my child has been teased/bullied for three years. The counselors have worked hard ...
LETTER: Addressing the absenteeism issue
LETTERS, Opinion, Uncategorized

LETTER: Addressing the absenteeism issue

To the editor: Absenteeism at the Veterans School is not isolated. Having taught at Marblehead High School, I have observed the same problem. There is a viable and easy solution: Schools should adopt a policy that if students miss more than 17 days in a school year, they receive an NG (no grade) and must repeat the year. Every parent/guardian should be required to sign off on this at the beginning of the school year. There should be no exceptions to the rule. Experience tells me that schools often make policies and then spend more time coming up with exceptions to the policy than they spent on creating the policy. Parents should not be told, “We would greatly appreciate your assistance ...” They should be made aware of the school's absentee policy and its potential consequences. ...