Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
2<br />
INDEX<br />
Classifieds ...............................................................................13-16<br />
Obituaries ....................................................................................... 7<br />
Police Log ...................................................................................... 4<br />
Real Estate ..............................................................................14-16<br />
Religious Notes .............................................................................. 8<br />
Seniors ........................................................................................... 5<br />
Sports .......................................................................................9-12<br />
Taxes rising, new<br />
fire chief hired<br />
BY THOMAS GRILLO<br />
Homeowners will be facing a<br />
3 percent tax hike in 2019.<br />
Board of Selectmen set the<br />
tax rate Monday night.<br />
The average single family<br />
home will see its tax bill<br />
rise from $60 to $160.<br />
Condominium owners average<br />
bill will increase by $400.<br />
The residential tax rate is<br />
rising to $13.91 per thousand,<br />
up from $13.76 in 2018.<br />
Commercial property owners<br />
can expect to see a 5 percent<br />
Pre-Schoolers<br />
Love<br />
Arts Martial<br />
Fun, Games,<br />
Adventure<br />
and the first steps<br />
toward:<br />
CONFIDENCE<br />
SELF -ESTEEM<br />
AND DISCIPLINE<br />
FREE INTRODUCTORY<br />
COURSE<br />
FREE UNIFORM<br />
with enrollment<br />
BOSTON<br />
FENCE<br />
<strong>11</strong>0 Park Street, Beverly, MA<br />
FREE ESTIMATES<br />
1-800-585-7753<br />
All Types of Fencing • www.BostonFenceandVinyl.com<br />
Over 30,000 Satisfied Customers<br />
Duxbury Topper<br />
Baluster Gate<br />
hike in their tax bills as the rate<br />
rose to $17.95 per thousand<br />
from $17.08.<br />
The panel also approved a<br />
three-year agreement to hire<br />
Glenn Davis as the town’s<br />
new fire chief. The job pays<br />
$135,000. In addtion, he will<br />
receive $2,500 once a year<br />
to serve as emergency management<br />
director. Davis will<br />
be provided with four weeks<br />
vacation, a vehicle, and a<br />
clothing allowance of up to<br />
$1,000.<br />
Member BBB<br />
Lattice Transition<br />
Newport Topper<br />
CASH ‘N’ CARRY AVAILABLE AT OUR LOCATION<br />
WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 NOVEMBER <strong>29</strong>, 2018<br />
Family bears its<br />
share of good cheer<br />
BY THOMAS GRILLO<br />
Don’t call her Mrs. Claus, but<br />
the title might fit.<br />
On Christmas Eve, Michelle<br />
Ayles and her two children will<br />
distribute hundreds of teddy<br />
bears to patients at Boston’s<br />
Children’s Hospital.<br />
“I wanted my kids to know<br />
Christmas is not about what<br />
you get under the tree,” she<br />
said. “It’s about what you give<br />
others.”<br />
The drive was launched five<br />
years ago after Ayles had a conversation<br />
when her neighbor’s<br />
nephew, Joey. The 6-year-old<br />
suffers from Morquio syndrome,<br />
a rare progressive disease<br />
that occurs in one of every<br />
200,000 births. Joey is one of<br />
two Massachusetts children<br />
with the ailment.<br />
“He loved to visit with my<br />
dog, and one year, around the<br />
holidays, I asked him what<br />
he had planned for Christmas<br />
Eve,” she recalled. “He said he<br />
has to go to Children’s Hospital<br />
for treatment, and that got<br />
me thinking. How many kids<br />
have to be in the hospital for<br />
Christmas and what can I do to<br />
help?”<br />
So the Teddy Bear Christmas<br />
was founded.<br />
Ayles and her family collected<br />
the stuffed treasures of<br />
all sizes, from a few inches to<br />
7 feet tall. The big ones are reserved<br />
for the hospital’s play<br />
rooms. That first year, they collected<br />
150 stuffed bears.<br />
“Everyone pitched in,” she<br />
said. “Friends and family<br />
spread the request by word of<br />
mouth and on Facebook,” she<br />
said. “My house was filled with<br />
teddies.”<br />
On that first Christmas Eve,<br />
We Specialize in<br />
AFTER SCHOOL<br />
MARTIAL ARTS<br />
WE TRANSPORT<br />
PHOTO | OWEN O’ROURKE<br />
Michelle Ayles surrounded by some of the teddy bears she and her<br />
family will distribute to young hospital patients on Christmas Eve.<br />
Ayles, her 17-year-old daughter<br />
Megan, a senior at Peabody<br />
Veterans Memorial High<br />
School, her 13-year-old son<br />
Brady, a Higgins Middle School<br />
student, and Ayles’ mother<br />
brought them into Children’s<br />
Hospital.<br />
“It was life-changing for my<br />
kids,” Ayles said.<br />
That night in 2013, her<br />
mother met the Children’s CEO<br />
in the hospital’s lobby who told<br />
her they have 385 beds. That<br />
was enough to make the goal<br />
of 385 teddy bears in 2014, she<br />
said.<br />
“And we did it,” she said.<br />
“Last year, we distributed more<br />
than 1,000.”<br />
This year, as in previous<br />
years, the stuffed animals will<br />
be given to nurses who distribute<br />
them to children in their<br />
rooms. The Ayles family and<br />
friends will be greeters in the<br />
lobby.<br />
In addition, they plan to make<br />
a special donation to the ninth<br />
floor of Children’s Hospital in<br />
honor of Ella O’Donnell. The<br />
Peabody girl died last year from<br />
a brain tumor, one month before<br />
her <strong>11</strong>th birthday.<br />
Ayles refuses to take the<br />
credit for the program’s success.<br />
She said it’s a result of<br />
generous donations from families<br />
and businesses in Peabody,<br />
<strong>Lynnfield</strong> and all of the North<br />
Shore.<br />
The 47-year-old mother<br />
of two credits what she calls<br />
an army of people, including<br />
Northrup Associates, Coca<br />
Cola, the North Shore Dance<br />
Academy, ReMax on the River,<br />
the Peabody Public Schools,<br />
and more to make it a success.<br />
“Everyone rallies around<br />
this,” she said. “It’s the real<br />
spirit of Christmas.”<br />
If you want to contribute a<br />
stuffed animal, Teddy Bear Day<br />
will be held at the Northshore<br />
Mall on Sunday, Dec. 2 from <strong>11</strong><br />
a.m. to 7 p.m. There are drop<br />
off boxes at Peabody City Hall,<br />
Sidelines Sports Bar & Grill<br />
on Canal Street in Salem, and<br />
Salem Liquors on North Street<br />
in Salem.<br />
We want to hear<br />
from you!<br />
Send us a letter at<br />
editor@weeklynews.net.<br />
Letters should be no more<br />
than 300 words.<br />
BRUCE MCCORRY’S<br />
MARTIAL ARTS Est. 1978<br />
Route 1 South, Newbury Street, Peabody,<br />
MA 01960<br />
978-535-7878<br />
Visit our website for more about us!<br />
www .brucemccorry.com