Top Stories - 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 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 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, 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 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 Joe McConnellNo Comments

Sports, Top Stories

Marblehead skiers show skill, class on way to second-place finishes

The Marblehead High boys and girls ski teams concluded another extraordinary season under the direction of head coach John Thompson, who just completed his 10th season at the helm. John’s wife, Sarah, was one of his assistants, along with Ned Clark, Will Thompson and Kyle Heffrin. The girls team secured the top spot in the Mass. Bay Ski League East and ended up second to Mohawk Trail (5:13.54) in the state finals, which took place at Berkshire East on March 1. They finished with a time of 5:16.61. The boys were also second against their state peers and were third in the league. But they were No. 1 in the sportsmanship department after discovering a timing error that originally saw them awarded the state title. St. John’s Prep of Danvers (5:02.91 1) was eventually crowned...

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...

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...

18Mar

By William J. DowdNo Comments

Local News, Municipal Matters, Top Stories, Uncategorized

More than two dozen seats open in 2023 municipal election

Marblehead’s 2023 municipal election season is underway. As of Monday, March 20, nomination papers were available for voters interested in running for local office in the Tuesday, June 20 municipal election. Between expiring and unexpired terms, there are 25 elected positions up for grabs across various boards, committees and commissions in Marblehead's decentralized municipal government, even as much decision-making authority over town affairs lies with Town Meeting and the Select Board. Open Town Meeting is essentially the town’s legislative branch, where voters authorize expenditures and budgets, sign off on home rule petitions and enact bylaws. The Old Town House, 1 Market Square, was built in 1727. It is often referred to as 'Marblehead’s Cradle of Liberty' and is one o...