By Alan Burke
Staff writer
September 04, 2008 05:46 am MARBLEHEAD — Just walking there could give you all the exercise you need. The new YMCA might seem to loom over Salem and Marblehead, but that's mainly a function of its location high on Leggs Hill Road. In reality, says Director Paul Gorman, it's not a particularly tall building. "The top of the Y is no taller than the peak of a house," he says. He hopes to see the building opened for exercisers on Dec. 1. Gorman reports few public concerns about the building's size, but plenty of anticipation over what will be inside of it. "All the talk is around all the programs we're going to have." School begins for parents "Parents are inundated with syllabuses and responsibilities," says School Committee member Patricia Blackmer. Not all kids are self-starters, she notes. Some need a little help. For all that, the Marblehead schools are off to a good start. "The opening did go very smoothly," Blackmer said. "No one alerted me to any problems." Earth, business hand in hand Green policies make for good business. At least, that's what therapist Monique Illona, owner of Hand in Hand Massage in Marblehead, believes. She is starting the Green Business Association, an organization to certify when a small business has done its bit for the environment. "Customers want to shop green," she says. "And they need a way to easily identify when businesses are green." She envisions a system where businesses that take steps to be green — using low-energy bulbs, for example — are permitted to fly a green flag and attach green decals to their windows. Here's the rub: Illona will charge $225 a year to belong to the Green Business Association. "These things cost money," she says, adding that she expects to make no salary. Illona says her work as a massage therapist alerted her to the importance of good health and healthy environment. Hang on, arts association Director Deb Greel of the Marblehead Arts Association has been making calculations. She estimates that her organization has been hanging (and placing) at the King Hooper Mansion about 1,200 works of art per year. "If you think you've seen the Marblehead arts before," she says, "think again." The gallery changes every three weeks. After 70 years in the mansion, the 85-year-old organization might have displayed up to 85,000 works of art. That's a lot of paint, sweat and tears; enough for every Marbleheader to have bought at least four works. "And that doesn't mean we think everybody's tapped out buying art," Greel says. "We think there's room on those walls for more." Some of the artists have been top people. Greel has a flier from the '40s promoting a single exhibit featuring internationally famed artists Frank Benson, J.O.J. Frost and Samuel Chamberlain. Benson is an impressionist. Marbleheaders Chamberlain and Frost produced primitive paintings and etchings, respectively. Chamberlain was an important longtime member of the association. "He lived right down the street," Greel says, "with his wife, Biscuit."
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