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December 1, 2009

Our view: Reason to celebrate

What better way to start off the month than with a listing, by no means complete, of deeds and events worth celebrating here on the North Shore?

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When budget cuts temporarily resulted in the elimination of an elementary instrumental music teaching position in Beverly last year, participation by fifth-graders plummeted. Thus the middle-school band program this year was without its normal complement of sixth-graders heading into the holiday concert season.

Into the breach stepped Beverly High School junior Alison Buchsbaum and four of her fellow musicians who volunteered to help recruit and teach any students at the middle school who might become part of the Briscoe band.

Numbers are up, and the December holiday concert will take place as scheduled.

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The Ipswich Tigers chose the day their school's football field was formally named for legendary former coach Jack Welch to end their 31-game losing streak.

Ipswich had gone almost three years without a win after its victory in the 2006 Super Bowl. And what better way to halt the skid than with a dramatic, 14-13 win over archrival Hamilton-Wenham on Thanksgiving Day?

Hopefully the wins will keep coming when the Tigers resume play at Jack Welch Field next fall.

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Doug Bollen, whose many hats include that of recreation director in Salem, has turned the Witch City into a hub of recreational road racing.

This year's Turkey Day Road Race drew some 1,300 participants from throughout the North Shore and as far away as Italy. What better way to work up an appetite for the dinner that awaits than with a 5-mile jaunt through one of the most historic cities in the country?

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Kudos to Danvers' Michael Scalia who, clad only in his pajamas, rushed out of his home to rescue a woman whose car had hit a tree on Strawberry Hill Lane early last Wednesday morning. At week's end Kristina Vetree, 23, also of Danvers, was listed in good condition at the Boston hospital where she'd been taken for treatment of her injuries.

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Thanks to Habitat for Humanity, neighborhood activists Peter and Jeannette McGinn and a generous contribution from the city, three derelict properties in downtown Peabody are being transformed into new housing.

This is a win for the families who will occupy the new dwellings, those currently living on Park Street and the city's effort to breathe new life into the downtown area.

Bill Power, president of the Peabody Historical Society, who's been instrumental in preserving various landmark structures in the city, sees the restoration of the crumbling properties as "a model for neighborhood revitalization."

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And here's wishing the best of luck to Rhode Island businessman William Hanney who's got a deal to purchase the North Shore Music Theatre property from Citizens Bank.

Many area residents were saddened to see the venerable theater stay dark this summer. Hopefully a more businesslike approach such as that espoused by Hanney can get the lights turned back on and performers back on the circular stage once again.

December just isn't the same with NSMT's version of "A Christmas Carol" being performed in Portsmouth, N.H., rather than North Beverly where it belongs.

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Congratulations to Express Yourself, the after-school arts and humanities program that operates on Rantoul Street in Beverly, which was one of 15 organizations around the world honored with a "Coming Up Taller" award at the White House early last month.

Some 300 area youths participate in the program whose African drumming group was the only one selected to perform for an audience that included First Lady Michelle Obama.

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How many private schools are lowering their tuition these days?

The Clark School in Danvers is one of the few. It reduced tuition by about $5,000 in celebration of its 30th birthday and recognition of the fiscal realities facing many of its families.

Located on Locust Street, the school offers individualized instruction to about 100 students and its new high school program had its first person graduate this past spring.

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The Jewish Federation of the North Shore has come to the rescue of the Jewish Community Center in Marblehead.

Federation officials have offered a $750,000 loan to help keep the JCC afloat while it works its way through recent financial difficulties. Now both organizations are working together under the capable leadership of local businessman Richard Bane to see that the facility off Atlantic Avenue stays afloat.

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