MARBLEHEAD — The transfer station will close for four days in May. "It's some routine maintenance," Health Director Wayne Attridge explains. "We do it every year." Yet, he wants the word out for those who have, believe it or not, made the transfer station a part of their daily lives.
"The one-baggers," he says. "The people who come up here with their little CVS bag. They'll have to wait." That will be difficult, he concedes, for residents who just don't like to let the trash accumulate and come nearly every day, always at the same time.
The repair dates are Thursday, May 8, and Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, May 13, 14 and 15. Attridge urges those whose trash absolutely, positively has to be there — to try the Salem transfer station.
Ready for prime time
Well, 7 p.m. isn't exactly television prime time, but over the years "60 Minutes" has been one of the nation's top-rated television programs. It was in the midst of last Sunday's broadcast that the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism ran an ad for its Massachusetts Vacation campaign.
The spot was enough to warm any Marbleheader's heart, including a series of charming pictures all taken in Marblehead, from the harbor to the downtown to "The Spirit of '76" to Abbot Hall. If the streets are especially crowded with tourists this summer, we'll know who to blame.
The ad is part of a campaign that includes dozens of the state's most photogenic cities and towns. But they don't all get the kind of exposure provided by "60 Minutes."
Don't it make your brown hair blue?
"I'm relatively unknown in town," joked Biff Michaud when he spoke at Town Meeting in favor of purchasing the Mario Angenica property as open space. As the father of a 15-year-old, he lamented that wooded areas are fast disappearing. "And then we wonder why the kids are hanging around the house playing video games. Having their hair dyed blue and red and hanging around the stores."
"My kids have blue hair!" responded a resident who opposed the purchase and did not identify himself. "That's my fault. Not because you don't have open spaces. ... Don't do this for my kids. That's my job."
Despite the majority support of residents like Michaud — whose own hair is prematurely gold — the measure failed to get the needed two-thirds majority.
Before the mast no longer
Retiring from the School Committee, Rob Dana has been awarded a plate designed by local artist April Frost. It reflects some of the murals of Marblehead scenes created by Frost for the high school — a project that is part of Dana's legacy after nine years on the board.
At Town Meeting, School Committee member Amy Drinker compared Dana to his ancestor, Richard Henry Dana, author of the classic "Two Years Before the Mast," an account of the Harvard graduate's experience as a common seaman and a plea for better treatment of merchant sailors. It was published in 1840.
"Like Richard Henry Dana, his ancestor, Rob has spent his years before the mast," Drinker said. She praised Dana for his devotion and hard work on behalf of the town's schoolchildren. Town Meeting voters offered warm applause.
For town employees in harm's way
Probably the most popular Town Meeting article was one permitting Marblehead to compensate employees called to active duty in the military. "This will make up the difference if their military pay is not as large as their town pay," Veterans' Agent Dave Rodgers said.
Members interrupted the presentations several times with enthusiastic applause, a salute to those in service.
"This is an article that's long overdue," Selectman Harry Christensen said. "Allow us to compensate that individual who is defending our liberties."
In a show of hands, every Town Meeting voter agreed.
