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Preserving and promoting the historic, cultural and natural resources of Essex County.
April 2006

Essex Heritage Photo Safaris
The ENHC is working with Hunt's Photo & Video to present three Essex Heritage Photo Safaris in 2006. Participants will have the opportunity to test the newest digital photography and optic equipment from Canon, Nikon and Olympus with backdrops featuring some of the Area's best natural, cultural and historic landscapes. Each event will feature demonstrations, lectures and tips from professional photographers and camera manufacturers. Participants will be able to take their images home on disc and receive a $50 gift certificate for a future equipment purchase at Hunt's! Join us for these exciting events. Space is limited, registration is required. Visit Essex Heritage Photo Safaris for event dates and registration, Explorers receive a discount!

In this issue
  • Upcoming Explorers Events
  • Trails & Sails 2006 - Event Submissions due May 1
  • Essex County Birding Trail Takes Flight!
  • Archives Alive! Spring Workshop - May 12
  • ENHC & MassInnovation, LLC
  • Commissioner Corner - Frank Drauszewski
  • North Shore Music Theatre Offers Discount to Explorers
  • Partnership Grant Spotlight: Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center
  • National Heritage Area Highlight: Rivers of Steel NHA

  • Trails & Sails 2006 - Event Submissions due May 1
    Trails & Sails logo

    This September, ENHC will host the 5th annual Trails & Sails: A Weekend of Walks and Water! ENHC looks forward to a full compliment of new and returning events. The weekend of free events, on September 23-24, will feature trails and sails that celebrate and explore our natural, cultural and historic resources as well as events that fit two new categories - Doors Open and Art Escapes. For more information, contact Kate. Submission guidelines and forms are available here.

    Trails & Sails 2006 is sponsored by TD Banknorth and Eastern Bank.


    Essex County Birding Trail Takes Flight!
    Parker River Kayak

    With more than 400 species of birds living in Essex County for all or part of the year, the Area has become one of the finest for bird watching in the country. To encourage residents and visitors to learn more about one of the region’s most valuable resources, ENHC has created the Essex County Birding Trail, an on-line resource containing detailed information on approximately 35 of the finest birding locations across the region. The Essex County Birding Trail will be officially launched on Saturday, April 29, with a series of free, guided walks!

    The ENHC created the Essex County Bird Trail with the help of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Resources, Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Massachusetts Audubon Society, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Newburyport Birders.


    Archives Alive! Spring Workshop - May 12

    Please join us for the spring Archives Alive! workshop on Friday, May 12 from 9am - 2:30pm at the Hamilton-Wenham Public Library in South Hamilton. Click here for event registration, information, directions and agenda.

    Historical records and archival collections offer our clearest insight into the past. If thoughtfully promoted, these collections also offer a great opportunity to grow new audiences. Through presentations and best practice discussions, workshop participants will learn about the value of crafting an overall public message, preparing for a promotional campaign, and developing a public relations plan to promote archival collections. Workshop attendees are encouraged to bring their project and program ideas to share, as a portion of each session will be devoted to extensive questions and answers.

    Co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, the Northeast Massachusetts Regional Library System, and the Northeast Document Conservation Center.


    ENHC & MassInnovation, LLC
    Bob Ansin

    The Essex National Heritage Commission is thrilled that MassInnovation, LLC, is a mural sponsor for Essentially Essex County. MassInnovation, led by President & CEO Robert Ansin, is in the process of redeveloping the Worsted Wood Mill in Lawrence. At a remarkable 1.3 million square feet, the Wood Mill is the largest original mill building standing in Lawrence. This beautiful building stretches along the Merrimack will soon be reinvented as Lawrence's first premiere mixed-use residential community. MassInnovation has sponsored the original painting by Julia Purinton of the Merrimack River Valley. The painting will be on display at the Essentially Essex County event on June 1st.


    Commissioner Corner - Frank Drauszewski
    Parker River Kayak

    Commissioner Frank Drauszewski has been on staff at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (PRNWR) for nearly fourteen years. A key partner in the development of the Essex County Birding Trail, Frank has contributed details and insight regarding the region’s birding and natural resources. The Refuge and the Great Marsh have both been named Important Bird Areas by the MA Audubon Society. In addition, PRNWR is a regional site in the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN), identifying it as a significant site for shorebird survival. Frank loves the area because, “There are so many resources – cultural, natural and historic. The Birding Trail is a natural fit because this is one of the top birding sites in the world.” Frank has also hosted kayaking events for Trails & Sails and the Refuge visitor center hosted the ENHC’s annual meeting in October 2005. ENHC would like to thank Frank for the work he continues to do for the preservation and promotion of this region's resources.


    North Shore Music Theatre Offers Discount to Explorers
    Damn Yankees

    North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) is offering all Essex National Heritage Explorers a special discount ticket offer to their all new production of Damn Yankees, 25 - May 14, presented in association with The Boston Red Sox. This newly revised musical, created specifically for NSMT, puts a new spin on this classic which now tells the story of a die-hard Red Sox fan who makes a deal with the devil to help the Sox take the pennant from the dreaded Yankees. Based on a concept by Jon Kimbell, Joe DiPietro (Memphis, All Shook Up, I Love You! You're Perfect! Now Change!) has adapted the original book by Douglass Wallop and George Abbott - for this production only - to feature plenty of surprises and special appearances that will thrill theater-goers and Red Sox fans alike!


    Partnership Grant Spotlight: Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center
    GMHC

    Visit Cape Ann this spring, and stop at the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center (GMHC). The GMHC features the oldest continuously operating marine railway in the country, a Gulf of Maine aquarium, ongoing construction of wooden boats, and educational exhibits and programs. The exhibits are geared towards both children and adults in the wonderful setting of old Gloucester Harbor. GMHC has participated in the ENHC Partnership Program many times since it’s founding on Harbor Loop in 1999. The grants have helped fund various educational programs related to maritime history and marine science, focusing on Gloucester. This past year the Center received a History in the Making grant that explores five themes important to Gloucester’s history through site visits and art projects introducing children to the evolution of their community. Visit the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center.


    National Heritage Area Highlight: Rivers of Steel NHA
    bike trail

    Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area encompasses 3,000 sq miles in southwestern Pennsylvania. Committed to preserving, interpreting, and managing the historic, cultural, and natural resources connected to Big Steel and its related industries, Rivers of Steel builds on this area's remarkable transition away from heavy industry and bolsters the new regional economy by promoting tourism and economic development based on this historic industrial saga. From 1875-1980, southwestern Pennsylvania was the Steel Making Capital of the World, producing steel for some of America's great icons. During World War I & II, our steel workers carried a nation's defense on their backs, producing more steel, armor and armaments in a single year than entire countries. While many of the region's legendary mill sites have been dismantled, the enormity of the region's steel- making contributions and its historical significance to the nation demand its story be told.


    Upcoming Explorers Events

    Explorers! Please join us for these great upcoming events!

    Sunday, April 23,
    11:30 AM - 1:30 PM

    Vintage Base Ball Endicott Park,Danvers:
    Join us at Endicott Park in Danvers for a Vintage Base Ball game between the Essex Base Ball Club and the Lynn Live Oaks. Learn all about 1860s Vintage Base Ball, a game that banned the use of gloves and had no strike zone. A scrimmage between Essex and Lynn will follow the exclusive lecture. Explorers are then invited to try their hand at Vintage Base Ball and talk to the players.
    Explorers, Free/
    Non-Explorers, $8

    Contact Sheilagh to RSVP

    Essentially Essex County

    Program advertising is still available! Rates begin at just $75 For complete information, contact Kate Fox. The advertising deadline for the program is April 14, 2006.

    ENHC's Semi-Annual Meeting

    Please join the ENHC and our Commissioners on Tuesday morning, May 2nd at the Nevins Memorial Library in Methuen, for the ENHC Semi- Annual meeting. Plans for the celebration of the ENHA's 10th anniversary, updates on ENHA initiatives and programs, introduction of new Commissioners, and award presentations will take place at the meeting. For more information click here!

    Annual FAM Tour!

    On Friday, May 12th, come enjoy the beauty of the Essex National Heritage Area! This year's ENHA Volunteer Familiarization Tour includes sites in Ipswich, and Essex and will expose you to the riches of the Area and help us all better serve our visitors. Contact Chrissy at 978-740-0444.

    Did you know...?

    Famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed one of the country’s earliest “subdivisions” in Swampscott? Read more from the Swampscott Reconnaissance Report.

    Congratulations to the City of Gloucester!

    Maximizing the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Visitor Experience. Announced in March, the City of Gloucester is the recipient of a 2006 Preserve America Grant! Funded at $140,000 the grant will attract and enable more visitors for the Maritime Trail by production of a web- based marketing program, installation of directional markers, and new exhibits.

    Quick Links

    A note from Tom Leonard

    The Thomas M. Leonard Partnership Grant Fund

    Art Escapes Trail

    Visit the ENHC Home page

    Birding Trail

    Visit the ENHC Calendar




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