TTC_12_27_17_Vol.14-No.09.p1-12

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Page www.TheTownCommon.com December 27, 2017 - January 2, 2018 How to Submit Letters to the Editor Marc Maravalli, B.S., R.Ph. Publisher/Editor, The Town Common Letters to the Editor provide a useful way of communicating concerns, issues, or suggestions to all members of the community. The Town Common encourages all citizens to submit letters concerning issues of interest and concern to the local community. Letters selected for publication may be edited for length and clarity. Some letters may serve as a catalyst for other articles or coverage, and community leaders and agencies will be offered an opportunity to respond to letters concerning their areas of responsibility. All letters must be signed and include a daytime telephone number. Letters may be submitted to: The Editor c/o The Town Common 77 Wethersfield St. Rowley, MA 01969 or preferably via e-mail to: editor@thetowncommon.com. The Town Common deadline is 5pm Wednesday (except when a federal holiday necessitates an earlier deadline). The Town Common serves the communities of the Upper North Shore of Mass. & Coastal New Hampshire and welcomes your participation. Send your Organization or Group Notices, Birth or Engagement Announcements, Photos, Articles and Letters to the Editor, by mail, phone, fax, or e-mail to: 77 Wethersfield St., Rowley, MA 01969 Phone: 978-948-8696 Fax: 978-948-2564 E-mail: news@thetowncommon.com The Town Common Marc Maravalli, Publisher / Editor editor@thetowncommon.com Graphic Design Services graphics@thetowncommon.com Advertising Opportunities advertise@thetowncommon.com Event and Announcement Submissions events@thetowncommon.com 77 Wethersfield Street Rowley, MA 01969-1713 Phone: (978) 948-8696 Fax: (978) 948-2564 www.thetowncommon.com The Town Common is not responsible for typographical errors or omissions, but reprint opportunities do exist for prompt notification of such errors. Advertisers should notify The Town Common of any errors in ads on the first day of issuance. No credits &/or refunds are offered or implied. All material and content cannot be duplicated without written consent of the publisher. The right is reserved to reject, omit, or edit any copy offered for publication. Copyright 2004-2017 The Town Common © - All Rights Reserved In loving memory of Liz Ichizawa, Reporter (1956 - 2005) Letters To The Editor Community Announcements 100 Rowley Seniors Celebrate the Season at the Ipswich Country Club Community Connections Dear Editor, Business Spotlight A good time was had by all as we enjoyed a delicious luncheon, For Sale a 50/50 raffle and the Real opportunity Estate to be the • For lucky winner Sale of 48 Christmas baskets - donated by our members. The event was sponsored Sports by the Friends • Sports of the Rowley • Sports Council on Aging, and we are always open to new members. Stop by the Center at 39 Central Street, Rowley and see what we have to offer. Trips, large and small, Pets, Veteran’s Animals, Day dinner for Veterans, Plusbirthday celebrations are just a few of the events we enjoy. Health & Fitness Sincerely, The Friends of the Rowley COA Vox Lucens will open 2018 Jean C. Wilson Music Series Vox Lucens will perform “Ave Maria: Music from the Golden Age of Franco-Flemish Polyphony” on Sunday, Jan. 7, at 4 p.m. at the First Religious Society Unitarian Universalist Church, 26 Pleasant St., Newburyport. This is the first of four concerts in the 2018 Jean C. Wilson Music Series. Composers through the centuries have written some of their most beautiful sacred music in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Join Vox Lucens for masterpieces by Joaquin and other Franco-Flemish masters from Ockegham’s austere “Ave Redemptoris Mater” to Joaquin’s soaring “Gaude Virgo,” to Gombert’s grand 12-part “Regina Caeli.” Vox Lucens is a 13-member vocal ensemble that came together in 1998 to explore the Renaissance sacred and secular a capella repertoire. Under the direction of Jay Lane, the former FRSUU Music Director, they work cooperatively to develop programs combining popular favorites with lesser-known works, often in their own editions. They approach the repertoire and rehearsals with a sense of fun and in performance enjoy bringing out the dramatic aspects in the music, particularly in the secular repertoire. The choice of the name Vox Lucens, Latin for “a shining voice,” echoes not only the ensemble sound they bring to audiences but also their hope to shed light on the wide variety of styles and textures of the Renaissance repertoire. The Jean C. Wilson Music Series is named for one of the founders and its first director. Now, under the auspices of the First Religious Society Unitarian Universalist Church, the Music Series offers four concerts during the winter months. Suggested donations are $20, $10 for seniors, children and students free. For more information about the concert go to frsuu.org/jeanwilson-music-series or call 978-465-0602 x401. GROW YOUR BUSINESS IN 2018! ADVERTISE TODAY IN The Town Common call 978-948-8696 Holiday Trash and Recycling Collection Schedule Newburyport – Curbside trash and recycling collection will be delayed by one day during the weeks of December 25 and January 1. For those whose usual day for trash/recycling is Monday, collection will be Tuesday, Dec. 26 and Tuesday, Jan. 2, and so forth. Friday routes will be picked up on Saturday, except for the downtown district, which will have their usual pick-up early Friday morning. For Christmas trees- if you put your tree at the curb by Thursday, January 18, Newburyport will save considerably on the cost of disposal, and the Newbury Volunteer Fire Department will benefit. Mello Disposal will take the trees to the Tendercrop growing fields to be used in the Newbury Fire Department’s annual bonfire fundraiser. This is a win-win situation in that the trees will not have to be hauled to North Andover. Please do not bag the trees, but do remove tinsel and lights. A new option could add a third winner! Newburyport High School’s National Honor Society members are offering their personal service to pick up Christmas trees and transport them to Newbury for the bonfire. This unique fundraiser is sure to be an extra convenience for some residents. You may contact the National Honor Society at this email address: nhstreepickup@gmail.com After January 18, Mello Disposal trucks will collect Christmas trees along with the trash. They will continue that service through the month of January. The Recycle Center on Colby Farm Lane (formerly Crow Lane) will be open Saturday, January 6, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. For responsible disposal, bring electronics (anything with a cord or batteries), appliances (large and small), metal, bicycles, fluorescent bulbs, oil, tires, rechargeable batteries, and clean bubble wrap. If you need any additional information please see the Recycling and Energy page on the City of Newburyport website, or call the City Office of Sustainability at 978-499-0413 or Mello Disposal at 978-352-8581. Great Marsh Adaptation Plan Finalized and Available On Line Newburyport – We are excited to announce that the final Great Marsh Coastal Adaptation Plan is now on line and accessible to all! Please visit www.nwf.org/greatmarshadaptation to download the plan or see the city’s website. The Great Marsh Coastal Adaptation Plan details an adaptation planning effort led by NWF in partnership with the Ipswich River Watershed Association that focused on six vulnerable coastal communities in northeastern Massachusetts (Salisbury, Newbury, Newburyport, Essex, Ipswich, and Rowley). This report assesses regional and town-specific vulnerabilities to current and future coastal threats and identifies near and long-term ecosystem-oriented strategies that reduce risk and increase target resiliency. Strategies include natural and nature-based solutions, building retrofits, policy measures, and outreach and education initiatives— all of which are operationally feasible and can be implemented in the near to moderate term. Shovel-ready projects have been identified and vetted and relevant municipal policy measures have been identified that incentivize climate-smart development and/or prohibit development in hazard-prone locations. In addition, this plan provides key recommendations for advancing the implementation of nature-based adaptation strategies in the Great Marsh Region. This report was developed by the National Wildlife Federation, in partnership with the Ipswich River Watershed Association, with financial support from the U.S. Department of the Interior, administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program, and from the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management’s Coastal Community Resilience Grant Program. This NWF Plan was a regional effort and by nature was limited in scope and details within each community. The City is currently preparing our own local Resiliency Plan that will incorporate many of the items in the NWF Plan. Our local Plan will require public meetings and public input and should be completed in mid-2018. Don't miss what's important to YOU! Sign up for your weekly e-mail service at www.thetowncommon.com
December 27, 2017 - January 2, 2018 www.TheTownCommon.com Page 3 Amesbury Lowers Tax Rate -- Again Continued from page 1 dollar from $19.95, according to calculations from the city’s Department of Administration and Finance. “This is good news for Amesbury’s taxpayers,” Gray said. “From 2007 to 2014, Amesbury’s tax rate was soaring on a steep rise, leaving us with the fourth highest tax rate in the state when I took office. Since then, the trend has reversed. For the fourth straight year, Amesbury will take another successful step toward getting our property taxes under control, and we’ve done it without cutting services or programs.” But Gray readily concedes that “we have a long way to go.” Amesbury still has one of the highest tax rates in essex County. The town of Wenham is a close second at $18.79. Of the neighboring North Shore communities, Georgetown is next highest at $16.21 last year. The town of Newbury continues to be one of the lowest in the area at $10.90 per thousand dollars of assessed value. The town of Salisbury is at $11.78 per thousand this Continued from page 1 and enthusiasm for their child. talia’s bright smile and blue-green eyes drew everyone in to her circle and taught them something they didn’t know about themselves. We truly felt blessed. “But then, when she was four, a horrible thing happened. She began to slowly lose those motor milestones that were so hard to achieve in the first place—that doctors and therapists felt were delayed because of her Down Syndrome. She was never able to walk up stairs, but she could crawl. And her crawl became a funny sort of tripod crawl, using her chin to help her up each step. She was sick all the time. And with each sickness, she became a little weaker.” talia’s father, John, the dean of enrollment services at North Shore Community College; her mother, Jocelyn, a physician’s assistant; and her older sister teaghan, refused to accept the prognosis that she could not be cured. They began researching the disease. Knowing that finding a cure would be expensive, the Duffs created the talia Duff Foundation, now called Cure CMt4J. They partnered with Dr. Jun Li at Vanderbilt University, who envisions introducing year. Newburyport is at 13.26. Ipswich posted a $14.24 rate for 2018. Rowley was slightly higher at $14.58. West Newbury is at $14.56, and Groveland is at $14.69. In an interview, Gray said the lower rate was achieved by a combination of economic growth and good management of the city budget. He said Amesbury’s city government is functioning well. “We do this together,” Gray said of his office and the city council. Amesbury in the past was plagued with feuding factions in city government. “We are pretty much on the same page,” he said. New and growing businesses in the city generated an extra to $954,161, the highest level since 2004, Gray said. “Since day one, we have been focused on economic development as a means to expand the tax base and create new revenue,” Gray said. “I am very encouraged that this year’s new growth will reach nearly $1 million. This recent progress only reinforces the need to stay focused on our economic development goals in order to Finding a Cure for Talia Duff healthy copies of faulty genes to the body as a potential solution. trials on mice has stopped the progression of a disease and even reversed some of the damage. The community in Ipswich and surrounding areas has rallied to raise the money needed. Her fellow sixth grade students at Ipswich Middle School in early December created a video that has gone viral around the world. The video from the Ipswich sixth grade class has attracted national and local news coverage. Funds raised during local school spirit weeks, food sales at sports games, restaurant donation nights, and more have gone to Cure CMt4J this year. Her teacher, Kathleen Simms, turned an annual math and science project into a fundraiser. The students use equations to put together a business plan for gift-ready jars of holiday cookie dough ingredients, which they filled and decorated with special Cure CMt4J ribbons. Simms said they made 300 jars, and people snatched them up. They have raised more than $5,500, and students have volunteered to make a second batch. When Laura Wheeler, a business teacher at Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District and a truly solve Amesbury’s property tax problem.” Property values are also on the rise. The average value of a single family home in Amesbury climbed to $354,891, a 7 percent increase over last year. The higher tax rate in the past hurt property values, he said. The Sea View Retreat -Since 1954 An extended Care Community Come in for a visit and compare! (978)-948-2552 •Private & Semi-Private Rooms The Town Comm with Baths and Beautiful Views • Medicare/ Medicaid certified • Social Services-Speech, rate “scared off buyers.” Fewer Physical, Occupational, & buyers kept values lower, he said. Massage Therapies • Full Activity Program • and much more... It is also good news for the city that total excess levy capacity will be over $4 million, the highest on record in Amesbury’s history, he said. It has nearly doubled since Gray took office. “excess levy capacity is the amount of money the city chooses to leave in the pockets of taxpayers by taxing significantly less than the maximum allowed by Proposition 2 ½ under state law,” Gray said. “Many cities and towns often tax their residents to the legal limit. However, in RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER Amesbury, we are doing the opposite. Rather than taxing to the levy limit every year, we are keeping annual tax increases to SHARE THE GIFT OF READING a minimum, allowing taxpayers to keep as much of their hardearned money as possible.” resident of Ipswich, heard about the fundraising for talia, she asked Recycle her students This Newspaper to develop a campaign on social media to raise awareness. In the course of four hours on a Wednesday afternoon, 12,000 tweets were sent with the hashtag #RUDuffenough. The New england Patriots tweeted a link to the video Wednesday evening, Share the Gift of Reading Share the Gift of Reading Recycle This Newspaper Share the Gift of Reading www.seaviewretreat.com MANSION DRIVE • ROWLEY, MA • JUST OFF ROUTE 1A • Errands Recycle This Newspaper Share the Gift of Reading Recycle This Newspaper Antique Call 978-462-6162 The Town C The North Shore’s Largest Independe Wednesday Jan 3 rd & Feb 7 th 8am - Contact 9am $5 Early your Buying Advertising fee Consultant today! 9am - 1pm FREE ADMISSION Recycle This Newspaper Weekly Community Ne Senior Care for Peace of Mind. • Meal Preparation • Assistance with Mobility • Friendly Companionship • Respite Care for Families challenging #PatriotsNation to donate to the cause. Her website added: “We have accomplished an impressive amount in one year’s time, but we must raise the funds necessary to support the continuation of this impressive Recycle This work. Newspaper We need to move quickly for talia and others. If we can travel this road together, proving the science that Share the Gift we believe is there—that has been shown possible in other similar www.visitingangels.com/newburyport of Reading diseases–then we can make history together.” to donate to the talia Duff Foundation, visit https://donate. curecmt4j.org • Light Housekeeping • Bathing Assistance • Alzheimer/Dementia Care • Up to 24 Hour Care • Medication Reminders www.visitingangels.com/newburyport www.VistingAngels.com 978-462-6162 P: 978-948-8696 • F: 978-948-2564 advertise@thetowncommon.com at the Dover Elks Hall, 282 Durham Rd., Rte. 108, Dover, NH Exit 7 off Rte. 16, 1.7 miles south on Rte. 108 on the left For More Information Call Rachel Gurley 207-396-4255 or email rachelgurley@gmail.com a
Page 1: Mayor Ken Gray The Region's Largest
Page 5 and 6: Letters To The Editor December 27,
Page 7 and 8: December 27, 2017 - January 2, 2018
Page 9 and 10: December 27, 2017 - January 2, 2018
Page 11 and 12: Community Calendar December 27, 201

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