By Alan Burke
Staff writer
June 25, 2009 05:00 am MARBLEHEAD — Singing sensation discovered warbling in the shower. You always thought it would happen to you, but if Marblehead songbird Casey Rae Macomber, 25, becomes a big success, that's what they can say. Really. It all started when her college roommate heard her singing in the shower back at Savannah College of Art and Design. Casey impressed enough that she was encouraged to try karaoke, the Japanese art of publicly singing along to pop music (stripped of the vocals). Casey is now in the running to qualify for the 2009 World Karaoke Championship to be held in, where else? Finland. The Massachusetts finalists will be clearing their pipes for a face-off tomorrow at Downtown Crossing. A 2002 Marblehead High graduate, Macomber works as a production manager for a printing company and has sung locally — outside the shower — at Fantasy Island in Salem and, closer to home, Sweeney's Retreat and the Hurricane Restaurant and Bar. "It's my dream to be on the stage and do this all the time," she says. For that matter, she works with voice coach Michael Smith, also a Marbleheader. And she competed (unsuccessfully, alas) for "American Idol," among 7,000 who tried out at Gillette Stadium this month. If she goes to Finland, she'll want to take mom and dad, Rick and Cindy, along. "My whole family needs a vacation," she says. Finding founders fun Saturday night, Jeremiah and Martha Lee are holding a big party. Which is saying a lot, considering they've both been dead for 200 years. Overcoming that infirmity, they will nonetheless be there, in full costume, welcoming guests to the Lee Mansion. The building, in turn, will be illuminated via candlelight in order to catch the period musicians and dancers looking as they must have looked in 1768. All this won't be cheap, however (Hold onto your tricornered hat): A ticket is $100 or $300 for two admissions plus a beautiful Lee Mansion plate. But all the profits go toward the upkeep of the historic structure, which is celebrating 100 years as the property of the Marblehead Museum and Historical Society. "We really don't do usually these high-ticket things," director Pam Peterson says. The money is needed to keep the mansion in good shape. Besides, in July, the Lees will go slumming, providing for the rest of us with a beer tasting at $25 a pop. In case you missed it Two Proposition 21âÑ2 overrides passed this week, allowing Health Director Wayne Attridge to spend more than $600,000 on remedying any town-generated waste that might be hidden on private property near the transfer station. Only 784 people voted, about 5 percent of those eligible. Attridge concedes that he's since caught grief from some decrying the expense of an election that no one seemed to care about. "I was a little disappointed in the turnout," he says. "The people choose the process. I respect the process." He adds that if the measures hadn't passed it would have sent the town to court against the state Department of Environmental Protection, costing a lot more. "I'm happy with the results." If only three people voted, he notes, "and I got two votes, I was all set." One of those votes would have been his — he voted. Both measures passed, but the more expensive ($500,000) passed by a lesser margin. Y-dentity crisis One resident at Tuesday's meeting to discuss YMCA traffic demanded that the Planning Board identify itself. Someone noted that there are nameplates in front of each member, but the man pressed, "But who are you?" "We're the Planning Board," Chairman Phil Helmes explained. Y members are straining the nerves of neighbors, according to testimony. They race through the stop sign at the entrance and seem oblivious to their surroundings. Mothers dropping off their kids irked one resident, who noted they were often on their cell phones, barely paying attention. "It's absurd." Londonderry Road resident Andrew Rodger complained, "We've had six months of this horror show. People are worried about their children and their dogs and themselves." "I think you're doing a great job of controlling the audience," resident Faith Kramer told Helmes. "It's not over yet," he replied.
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