SALEM — Bernie McDaid came back from Ireland on Monday.
McDaid, who was abused by a Salem priest as a boy, made headlines in his ancestral homeland by calling for a "Reformation Day" at the Vatican on Oct. 31.
McDaid hopes to rally survivors of priest sex abuse and other concerned citizens in the U.S., Ireland, Germany and other countries to join a silent demonstration and candlelight vigil at the Vatican to confront the Catholic Church over what he sees as its failure to deal with the crisis.
He spoke at the Humbert Summer School, a prestigious national forum in Ireland that drew coverage from the country's major newspapers. He was joined by some of the leading advocates for reform in Ireland, which has been roiled by its own priest abuse scandal.
McDaid, a house painter, appeared on the national stage in 2008, when he was part of a small group of abuse victims, to meet with Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to the U.S.
Showtime, which is making a documentary about Reformation Day, sent a crew to follow McDaid.
The former Salem man said he isn't merely trying to draw attention to the church crisis. He wants to change the church.
"It's an awakening," he said.
Chimney cat
Henry McGowan woke up a few weeks ago in his little house on Federal Street and heard meowing. He peeked outside and saw a couple of kittens and a mother cat, which he fed.
But the meowing continued — for a couple of days.
He listened closely, scratched his head a few times and tried to figure out the origin of the sound. After a while, he had his answer. The meowing was coming from inside a section of his chimney that went under the house.
He tried lifting a chimney cap and reaching inside. He got his daughter to crawl under the house. He tore open the kitchen wall. He even called the Animal Rescue League.
Still no kitten.
Finally, he got the Salem Fire Department, which sent over a truck and firefighters. Using a large drill, the firefighters were able to pull out the nearly lifeless kitten and get it breathing.
"The cat was at death's door," he said. "The firemen were holding it like it was a child ... and blowing air in its mouth. They were holding it like it was a piece of crystal."
The mother and her litter apparently had been up on the roof when one of the babies fell into the chimney.
McGowan, who runs BarTime Bartending School in Beverly, kept the kitten, which he named "Ezzie" after Ezzard Charles, the famous boxer.
"She fought for her life..." he said.
Birthday girl
Were you invited to the mayor's birthday party?
Kim Driscoll celebrated the big event Sunday with a party at Camp Naumkeag attended by a few thousand of her closest friends and supporters. OK, it wasn't a few thousand, but there was a nice turnout.
How old is the mayor?
We're not saying, that would be indiscreet. But we are hinting. If you're a fan of Syracuse football, it's the same number worn by Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and other great Orange running backs.
Comic relief
Jake Segal, the chairman of the board of trustees at Salem State College, provided one of the few light moments during the 13 speeches — yes, that's right, 13 speeches — the audience had to endure at the dedication of a new residence hall Wednesday.
Before thanking a long list of people for their contributions, Segal said, "I ask you to hold your applause to the end, or 'til you're on your way home."
Boat on the run
The whipping winds and rough waters on Wednesday were strong enough to shake a 38-foot sailboat loose from its mooring in Salem Harbor, but thank goodness, Todd Doehner was at the ready.
"Todd was going out to the mooring field in his launch and he spotted an unmanned boat careening through the mooring field," said Dave Porter, operations manager of Salem Water Taxi, where Doehner works.
The boat, called My Way, had already bounced off another vessel and was cutting a path toward more moorings, according to Porter.
"He took his taxi out, managed to grapple it onto his launch and got the thing over to the mooring ball," Porter said. "If there had been two or three guys on the launch to do this, I'd be impressed — but he did it all by himself. He did a heck of a job.
"He (prevented) the thing from going into another field and winding up on the rocks."
The boat that was hit, by the way, belonged to visitors from Florida.
"The damage was minor," Porter said. "They'll probably be sailing away (today)."
Halloween in August?
In Salem, work on the spookfest gets going well before October. This week, the 5,000 pounds of brochures for the monthlong Haunted Happenings festivities arrived. Yesterday, Mayor Driscoll also met with city department heads and the folks behind Haunted Happenings.
"Yes we're talking about October already!" she tweeted. "It's never too early."
Weekly Quiz
Question: What was the loud, bellowing sound that could be heard all over the city Wednesday morning?
Answer: The coal ship CSL Argos blowing its fog horn as it arrived at Salem Harbor Station power plant in stormy weather.
Question: Who was that woman with a film crew at Winter Island the next day filming the coal being off-loaded from the ship?
Answer: Lori Ehrlich, the Democratic state representative and environmental activist from Marblehead who wants to close down the coal plant.
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