01945 Spring 2021

.K.O. 

INSIDE 

Bike bonanza 

Sweet therapy 

Masked music 

SPRING 2021 

VOL. 4 ISSUE. 1

28 PEQUOT ROAD 

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02 | 01945 

A publication of Essex Media Group 

Publisher 

Edward M. Grant 

Chief Executive Officer 

Michael H. Shanahan 

Directors 

Edward L. Cahill 

John M. Gilberg 

Edward M. Grant 

Gordon R. Hall 

Monica Connell Healey 

J. Patrick Norton 

Michael H. Shanahan 

Chief Financial Officer 

William J. Kraft 

Chief Operating Officer 

James N. Wilson 

Community Relations Director 

Carolina Trujillo 

Controller 

Susan Conti 

Editor 

Thor Jourgensen 

Contributing editors 

Gayla Cawley 

Cheryl Charles 

Contributing writers 

Mike Alongi 

Elyse Carmosino 

Gayla Cawley 

Dan Kane 

Anne Marie Tobin 

Guthrie Scrimgeour 

Photographers 

Olivia Falcigno 

Spenser Hasak 

Julia Hopkins 

Design 

Edwin Peralta Jr. 

Advertising Design 

Sean Casey 

Advertising sales 

Ernie Carpenter 

Ralph Mitchell 

Eric Rondeau 

Patricia Whalen 

ESSEX MEDIA GROUP 

110 Munroe St., 

Lynn, MA 01901 

781-593-7700 ext.1234 

Subscriptions: 

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01945themagazine.com 

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER 

A number (32) of things 

Not that you care, but I began my career as a sportswriter at The Daily Item (now, like 01945, an Essex 

Media Group publication). In those days, in high school football season, writers were assigned a team to 

cover throughout the season. And because it was my first go-round, initially I had no idea how lucky I was 

to be assigned Marblehead. 

The team was coached by Alex Kulevich, whom, along with a few players from that team, I still see, four 

decades later. I generally sit a few pews behind Alex at 4 o’clock Mass on Saturdays at Star of the Sea. I 

buy appliances from Alex’s son, Tom (an extraordinary tight end in those days), at Tri City Sales; and have 

had reason to know what former lineman Lane Forman is up to these days. 

I loved covering that team and those players. The team -- is the nickname still the Magicians? -- was, 

well, magical. It went 8-2, led by a quarterback, John Wolf, who had a big arm and a bigger personality. 

I had a reason to catch up with him a couple of weeks ago and we talked a little about that team and a 

lot about a fullback and linebacker on that team: little brother Robert Wolf, who was a better basketball 

player -- captain his junior and senior years -- and who went on to Penn. 

As indicated by Guthrie Scrimgeour's story, Robert has done OK for himself. He founded a holding 

company, 32 Advisors (yes, that was his uniform number), is a contributor on Fox News, and includes 

among his friends a guy you may have heard of, named Obama. 

This edition of 01945 has a few other great reads, as well. 

You may have noticed we live in stressful times. Everywhere we look, there's something that puts 

someone on edge. In every facet of life, there seems to be built-in stressors that induce panic. Even the 

harmless stuff, like watching Tom Brady win a Super Bowl with another team, can leave some panicstricken. 

Wendy Tamis Robbins was only 6 years old when she had her first panic attack. And, she says, they 

never stopped. She told our Gayla Cawley she suffered from what she called "treatment resistant anxiety" 

for nearly 40 years. By the time she was in her 30s, she wondered whether she could ever live life without 

some kind of panic, and it was a debilitating disorder. 

Robbins outlines her issues, and how she has dealt with them, in a book that's due out in May, "The Box: 

An Invitation to Freedom from Anxiety." 

Elsewhere, this now-yearlong pandemic has required different ways of doing things all over the board. 

One such endeavor is the high school band. 

Anne Marie Tobin writes that Jack Attridge is a 13th-generation Marblehead resident, principal of 

the Attridge Group at William Raveis Real Estate, and the founder of All Marblehead, a social-media 

initiative created as a place for people who are interested in the town to learn about local events and 

discuss town topics in a positive and constructive way. 

Also, entertainer and local personality Johnny Ray has teamed up with his old friend, executive chef 

Edgar Alleyne, to open Beacon Restaurant & Bar downtown, in the former Wick's; Guthrie Scrimgeour 

writes that Doug Hill has transformed his four-story house into an informal "Marblehead Museum;" and 

Peter Jackson, who told our Elyse Carmosino that being Black played a big role in his decision to take 

part in Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine trial; and that while the COVID-19 pandemic has affected some 

small businesses in negative ways, that hasn't been the case for Marblehead Cycle. 

How can someone who died more than 600 years ago be an influence on a person's life? When that 

person is Leonardo da Vinci it's easy to see how. Da Vinci was a major influence on the life of artist 

Jonathan Sherman. 

Then there's our knockout cover story by Mike Alongi about Zach Calmus. It packs a punch. 

And did you know that it should be "Chandler Hovey Light Tower?" 

Neither did I. 

04 What's Up 

06 Talk of the town 

12 House Money 

14 Two-wheel titan 

18 Heavy hitter 

20 True Townie 

22 Wolf man 

INSIDE 

24 Sweet talker 

28 Sherman's march 

30 Beacon brothers 

32 Pioneer Pete 

34 Mask music 

37 Wall buster 

40 Love pup 

TED GRANT 

COVER 

Zach Calmus is a force 

to contend with in the 

boxing ring. 

PHOTO BY 

Julia Hopkins

It's all in the 

name 

Dubbed "Marvell Head" 

or "Marble Harbour" by 

Capt. John Smith, the 

town's name is also rooted 

in the mistaken impression 

held by settlers that the 

local granite ledges were 

marble. History holds that 

Marblehead was called 

"Foy" by immigrants from 

Fowey, Cornwall, England. 

George was here 

The Revolutionary War hero and first 

president, George Washington, visited the 

town in 1789 during his presidential tour. 

Marblehead was the 10th largest in the 

United States at the time. 

Birthplace battle 

The enduring feud 

between Beverly and 

Marblehead over 

which community is 

the birthplace of the 

American Navy includes 

Marblehead's claims 

that the first vessel 

commissioned for the 

Navy, the Hannah, was 

equipped with cannons, 

rope, and provisions, 

including the indigenous 

molasses/seawater cookie 

known as "Joe Frogger." 

Tent town 

It's a tower, not a house 

The “lighthouse” at Chandler Hovey Park is 

actually a light tower. It was originally built as 

a lighthouse in 1835 and was 23 feet high. The 

current one, which is 105 feet high, was built in 

1896, to better withstand the wind and waves. 

The town's earliest 

dwellers were Native 

Americans and, later, 

planters who moved 

from Salem. Residents of 

Nashua, N.H. and Lowell 

set up tent colonies 

dubbed "Lowell Camp" 

and "Nashua Camp" 

to serve as a fresh air 

getaways from their city's 

smoggy mills. 

Is it Gerry? Or Jerry? 

SNL Shoutout 

Stand-up funny 

guy John Mulaney’s 

grandmother lives in 

town and formerly 

taught English at 

Marblehead High. 

Mulaney often 

mentions the town in 

Saturday Night Live 

skits. 

BY ALLYSHA DUNNIGAN 

Gerry or Jerry? 

Pronouncing Elbridge Gerry's name 

correctly is a town litmus test. History 

attaches the former governor's name 

to a political maneuver dubbed the 

"gerrymander" designed to reconfigure a 

voting district to provide a candidate or 

party a decided advantage at the polls. 

Most people pronounce Gerry's name 

like "jerry." But a Gerry descendant 

was quoted in a 2018 Wall Street 

Journal article stating that his ancestor 

pronounced the family name "gary." 

Wonder how he knew?


WHAT'S UP 

Town Meeting time 

What: This town rite of spring includes 

Town Meeting where residents put 

democracy into action. 

Where: Our Lady Star of the Sea, 

community center parking lot, 

80 Atlantic Avenue 

When: Monday, May 3, 7 p.m. 

Arts alert 

What: The Marblehead Festival of Arts is 

always looking for volunteers. 

Where: To volunteer, simply go to 

marbleheadfestival.org/volunteer and click 

the button. 

When: Festival 2021 will look different due 

to the pandemic, but event planning 

is underway. 

Service before self 

What: Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor 

is dedicated to Rotary International's motto 

of helping others. 

Where: Rotary has helped support the 

Marblehead Food Pantry and Club Harbor 

Heroes and Shelter Box programs. 

To find out more about Rotary, email info. 

rcomh@gmail.com 

Memories wanted 

What: The Marblehead Museum's 

COVID-19 Archive Project seeks to collect 

pandemic stories and preserve them for 

future generations. 

Where: Call the Archive Project voice 

number, 978 414 5093, to record a message. 

For more information, visit 

marbleheadmuseum.org 

Want to dance? 

What: Marblehead School of Ballet 

offers live, online dance classes. 

Where: Go to 

marbleheadschoolofballet.com/classes 

for class schedules and information. 

When: Spring term classes running 

from March 29-June 5 are 

posted online. 

SPUR equals fun 

What: SPUR is a "community of doers" 

dedicated to inspiring, volunteering, 

connecting and learning. 

Where: Visit www.spur.community for 

activity information. 

SPUR is slowly re-opening volunteer 

opportunities as COVID-19 precautions 

are eased.


A man about town 

BY ANNE MARIE TOBIN 

Left, real estate agent Jack Attridge is surrounded by 

photgraphs from his All Marblehead Facebook page 

mirroring Marblehead faces and places. 

ATTRIDGE PHOTO — JULIA HOPKINS 

ALL OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY OF JACK ATTRIDGE 

Jack Attridge is a 13th-generation 

Marblehead resident, principal of 

the Attridge Group at William Raveis 

Real Estate, and the founder of All 

Marblehead, a social media initiative 

created as a place for people who are 

interested in the town of Marblehead to 

learn about local events and discuss town 

topics in a positive and constructive way. 

The platforms also promote Attridge's 

real estate business. 

In 2009, Attridge launched the All 

Marblehead Facebook page as a place to 

"put my real estate going forward and to 

share a lot of community information. 

"It started organically and just grew," 

Attridge said. "The platform is there 

for everyone to use and we decided to 

leverage it to connect the community. 

Really the mission, outside of the 5 

percent that supports my business, is to 

support Marblehead, Marblehead people, 

Marblehead businesses and nonprofits." 

The All Marblehead Facebook 

page has more than 17,000 followers, 

while Instagram has about 8,600. 

Both platforms feature anything and 

everything happening or about to happen 

in Marblehead as well as thousands of 

some of the most beautiful photos you 

will ever see. 

From amazing sunsets to Christmas 

trees in dinghies in Marblehead Harbor 

to historical sites and places, the photos 

bring out Marblehead's unique charm 

and give people plenty of reasons to

SPRING 2021 | 07 

smile. There's even a photo of a moose 

dog-paddling his way across the harbor. 

The photo generated more than 1,100 

likes on Instagram. 

The platforms also feature many 

contests, including photo contests and 

"Guess the Depth" snowstorm contests, 

one of which raised more than a $1000 

for the town, as well as food drives and 

other community services, including 

posting important emergency notices and 

messages. 

"For that contest, we pledged to 

donate $10 for every inch of snow in 

the first storm of the year and we asked 

people to match it," Attridge said. "It's 

just a fun way to promote the community 

and engage people while supporting local 

businesses by giving away gift cards to 

contest winners. We are also active in 

helping keep the community informed 

about things like snow emergencies and 

other things that people need to know." 

Attridge feels that Instagram is so 

much more friendly than Facebook, but 

Facebook allows people to post links 

while Instagram does not. Both allow 

posts to be automatically shared. 

Attridge said he read an article in 

a real estate publication that the Los 

Angeles Times was getting rid of its real 

estate classified section. 

"That was the beginning of the 

decline in real estate print advertising, at 

the same time the Marblehead Reporter 

and The Salem News began publishing 

their articles online," Attridge said. "They 

were allowing anonymous-type postings 

in blog-like settings and I saw that as 

incredibly community busting. Sadly 

what used to be okay to do anonymously 

is now okay to do even when you have 

your name on it." 

Attridge said the model for All 

Marblehead is about 95 percent 

community-based and 5 percent real 

estate. 

"I'm part of a 13th generation 

Marblehead family and a lot of us 

have been in business for ourselves 

and helping out in the community so a 

lot of this information comes my way 

naturally," Attridge said. "It's worked 

phenomenally for the community and my 

business where we are able to leverage 

our social channels for our business as 

well." 

Attridge has sold more than 400 

homes representing $400 million in sales. 

He said the past two years he has sold 

more real estate in Marblehead than any 

other competitor. He said he has been 

approached many times by others to sell 

his Facebook account and others have 

suggested he incorporate a paywall. He 

has done neither. 

"It's all free and we would never 

monetize the platform," said Attridge. 

"I think it all goes back to the goal, 

which is to promote Marblehead and 

my love for the town and making it 

a better community," said Attridge, a 

past president of Marblehead Museum 

and two-time president of Marblehead 

Rotary. "It's totally free and worth 

it as we are able to follow a lot of 

organizations and share what other 

people have posted." 

Attridge said he used to have an All 

Marblehead Happenings Facebook group 

that also has about 18,000 followers 

but has had to archive the group on two 

occasions when "people started to talk 

about crazy stuff, like killing coyotes 

because there were too many, instead 

of promoting the good in Marblehead, 

especially last April with the pandemic. 

People would start getting online after 

dinner and were basically keyboard 

warriors. The thing is that a lot of 

times people try to lift themselves up 

by bringing others down, so we took it 

down again so we can focus on doing 

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good deeds on all of our Facebook and 

Instagram." 

As far as the photos go, Attridge 

said it's difficult to pinpoint followers' 

favorites, but sunsets and harbor shots 

are always a sure bet. 

"The sunsets are just amazing, but 

we also had a huge interest in the Adam 

Sandler movie scenes (from "Hubie 

Halloween"). They were just amazing 

as well," said Attridge. "We also had 

some great photos in 2019 when the 

July storm came through and Glover's 

Regiment, the Festival of Arts, but my 

favorite is just the subject of Marblehead. 

I love the fact that our content is totally 

Marblehead-based." 

While Attridge may be the man 

about town, there is a woman behind the 

curtain — Cindy Schieffer. 

“Managing consistent and engaging 

social media channels while running a 

successful local real estate business and 

(Left) Brian Crowley, left, shares 

a minute with Jack Attridge. 

All Marblehead Facebook highlights 

the town's beauty. 

other local initiatives takes more than 

one person," Attridge said. "Cindy is 

an irreplaceable part of my team (and 

is my social media manager. Cindy and 

I meshed right out of the gate with 

a shared perspective and community 

connection to our content.” 

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A MAN ABOUT TOWN, from page 08 

A MAN ABOUT TOWN, page 10


A MAN ABOUT TOWN, from page 08 

Attridge joined William Raveis Real 

Estate in 2007 after 20 years at Carlson 

Real Estate. He is vice president of the 

Marblehead Museum and Historical 

Society. 

His professional website describes 

how "it always felt natural to work 

in town and with the residents of 

Marblehead. From a very young age, I 

worked at F.N. Osborne's Fine Grocers 

alongside my grandfather and his 

brothers, a business that they took over 

from their father. After that, I worked 

at Osborne's Greenhouses, my uncle’s 

plant and flower shop. Although I didn't 

realize it at the time, I was learning 

important lessons alongside my family. " 

Attridge is a member of the North 

Shore Association of Realtors, the 

Massachusetts Association of Realtors 

and the National Association of Realtors. 

A member of the Chairman's Elite Club, 

he has been a consistent top performer in 

his 27 years in the industry. 

Jack Attridge was the listing agent for 27 Brown St., built by Paradise Construction and sold last 

September for $2.7 million. 

PHOTO COURTESY: JACK ATTRIDGE 

When asked where All Marblehead 

will be in 10 years, Attridge said he 

doesn't see any significant changes in the 

future. 

"We've been in this for 10 years now. 

What we have works in that we will 

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parents of two daughters, Jessica and 

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HOUSE MONEY 

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOEL GROSS


A peak inside 

1 Sargent Road 

SALE PRICE:$3,875,000 

SALE DATE: January 14, 2021 

LIST PRICE: $3,995,000 

TIME ON MARKET: 

350 days to sale 

LISTING BROKER: 

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Sotheby’s 

SELLING BROKER: 

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Sotheby’s 

LATEST ASSESSED 

VALUE: $3,107,500 

PROPERTY TAXES: $32,287 

YEAR BUILT: 2006 – rebuilt 

LOT SIZE: 

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LIVING AREA: 5,640 square feet 

ROOMS: 9 

BEDROOMS: 4 

BATHROOMS: 4.5 

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"The pandemic has brought a bike boom world wide," said Marblehead Cycle owner Dan Shuman. 

PHOTOS: OLIVIA FALCIGNO 

The pandemic has people pedaling 

The COVID-19 pandemic 

has touched some small 

businesses in surprising ways, 

as one Marblehead bike shop owner has 

discovered. 

“I’ve been here a long time,” said 

Marblehead Cycle owner and resident 

Dan Shuman. “The pandemic has 

brought a bike boom worldwide. There 

are more people out riding than ever 

before, so we’ve been very busy.” 

Shuman, who bought Marblehead 

Cycle in January 2020, has been in the 

bike business for most of his life. He 

started as a teenage apprentice at the 

shop in 1986. 

The father of two purchased his first 

bike store, Salem Cycle, in 2000 and has 

remained a steady fixture in the local 

cycling community ever since. 

According to Shuman, when the 

coronavirus pandemic hit the North 

Shore in March, sales at both of his 

shops skyrocketed. 

An incentive for people to spend 

more time outdoors, coupled with this 

year’s unusually mild winter, has made 

for a perfect storm of factors resulting in 

the most frantic season of bike buying — 

and bike fixing — he’s ever seen. 

“I don’t know how many repairs we’re 

doing every day, but we’re busy enough 

where it’s taken a week to 10 days to get 

them done,” Shuman said. “People are 

coming from all over for bikes. We have 

someone coming from Connecticut this 

weekend.” 

A report published in September 

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO 

by market research firm NPD Group 

found that shortly after the coronavirus 

pandemic hit stateside last year, U.S. 

sales of traditional bikes, indoor bikes, 

bike parts, and other accessories grew 

a combined 75 percent, resulting in 

a nearly $1 billion increase in sales 

compared to April 2019. 

“There are no bikes available anywhere 

in the world right now. They’re so hard to 

get. I can’t order more Redline (bikes) in 

any color,” Shuman said. “I have orders 

with a bunch of different suppliers. I 

placed a lot of the orders back in May, 

and most have just started to come 

in. For a lot of bikes, we won’t see any 

more until April, May, June, except for 

sporadically.” 

Extremely high demand, plus global


factory shutdowns, mean bike parts have 

become scarce everywhere. 

“Manufacturers don’t have the parts 

to build the bikes because the people 

that manufacture the parts don’t have 

the parts,” Shuman said. “Because of the 

pandemic, factories have shut down. 

“Most of the parts are made overseas 

in Asia, so they got shut down first, then 

they couldn’t supply the product to the 

bike companies to build the bikes, and 

then the shippers got shut down.” 

He added that strokes of plain bad 

luck have also played a part. 

“A lot of the bikes come on big 

cargo holds across the ocean, and 

about a month or two ago, one of those 

freighters hit a big storm, and about 

1,500 containers went over(board)," he 

said. “It’s just one thing after another.” 

Although he’s never seen such a 

demand during his decades-long career, 

Shuman said he does have colleagues 

in the industry who witnessed a similar 

spike in sales in response to the 1970s oil 

crisis, during which a petroleum shortage 

resulted in elevated gas prices that 

forced many to turn to cheaper modes of 

transportation. 

“Usually when the world has issues, 

whether it’s a war or there’s a stock 

market crash or an oil crash, the bike 

Serving the North Shore since 1972 

Cycling popularity during COVID-19 has made 

bicycle parts scarce. 

PHOTOS: OLIVIA FALCIGNO


Marblehead Cycle mechanic Marcie Clawson, of Manchester by the 

Sea, repairs brakes. 


Stage it. 

Sell it. 

Mindy McMahon 

Realtor ® | Certified Home Stager 

617.834.4439(c) | 781.631.9511(o) 

marbleheadandbeyond.com 

Look your best 

online and in person 

“You never get a second 

chance to make a 

first impression.” 

business still does well because people 

need to get out and ride, and they need 

transportation,” he said. 

However, current demand is already 

ensuring bikes are less affordable. Shuman 

recently received a notification from 

one of his suppliers informing him the 

company’s prices had risen nearly 15 

percent. 

Thankfully, most customers have been 

understanding. 

“They’ve been pretty OK with it 

because there’s nowhere else where they 

can find (what they need),” he said, noting 

that he does still receive complaints about 

his business’ strict COVID-19 safety 

measures, which include asking customers 

to wait outside the store’s front entrance 

instead of going inside for assistance. 

Although the strain of running two 

wildly-popular bike shops have meant 

months of little sleep, Shuman said 

he’s simply grateful to see his business 

flourish. 

“It’s a lot. I don’t get sleep or rest,” 

Shuman said with a laugh. “Both stores 

are busy. Usually service this time of year 

would slow down quite a bit, but it’s still 

been steady.”


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His eyes are 

on the prize 

BY MIKE ALONGI 

PHOTOS BY 

JULIA HOPKINS 

Zach Calmus was ranked 8th 

nationally among amateur 

heavyweight boxers before 

turning pro. 

When Marblehead’s 

Zach Calmus won his 

professional boxing debut 

back in November, it was the culmination 

of years of hard work and determination. 

But after the fight, he was back in the 

gym like it never happened. 

“I didn’t really get hit in that fight 

and it didn’t even go one full round, so 

I was pretty much ready to go the next 

day,” said Calmus, who graduated from 

Marblehead High in 2009. “I honestly 

felt like I could’ve done even better that 

night, so I just wanted to keep working 

and get another shot.” 

Calmus, a heavyweight who trains at 

Private Jewels Fitness in Lynn, picked 

up that win at Granite Chin Promotions’ 

"Gold Rush” at New England Sports 

Center in Derry, N.H. He won via 

technical knockout just 2:48 into the very 

first round against his opponent Yhago 

Goncalves. Calmus hurt Goncalves with 

a short punch and the referee called the 

fight when he determined Goncalves was 

unable to continue. 

While Calmus has kept many things 

the same since winning his first pro 

fight, he’s also changed some things. 

He’s continuing his workouts, sparring 

sessions at Private Jewels and his day job 

of moving large furniture, but he’s also 

made crucial changes to his diet that 

have had a profound effect on his wellbeing. 

“I had been having stomach issues for 

a long time, so we made a total change 

to my diet and it’s been totally different,” 

said Calmus, who prior to turning pro 

had been a top-ranked amateur boxer for 

much of the past nine years, including 

being ranked No. 8 in the nation among 

heavyweights in 2018 after winning the 

New England Golden Gloves title in 

2017. “I’ve lost 15 pounds since the fight 

and I feel better and stronger than I ever 

have.” 

He’s continued his work with trainer 

Alex Sepulveda at Private Jewels, a place 

that Calmus says is second to none in 

terms of training boxers for a fight. 

“The reason why the fighters who 

come out of Private Jewels are so good 

is because we focus on the fighter here,” 

said Calmus. “This is a place to make 

yourself a better fighter, and Alex does a 

great job of raising everyone’s level.”


Sepulveda also sets up sparring 

sessions for Calmus with some of the 

best heavyweight fighters in the world. 

Just the other day, Calmus went down 

to Dorchester to spar with Steve Vukosa 

— who won the WBC United States 

heavyweight title back in 2019. 

“I’d rather work with a guy who’s 

going to knock me down because that’s 

what makes you better,” said Calmus. 

“Alex sets up these sparring sessions 

and it’s incredible. Without him, there 

wouldn’t be a me.” 

“Zach’s work ethic is unmatched,” 

said Sepulveda, who also owns Private 

Jewels. “The guy just can’t get enough. He 

always wants to work on his craft and get 

better.” 

In addition to training, he’s continued 

working with his manager, Patty Herlihy, 

who Calmus calls “a godsend.” 

“I’ve known her since I was 17 and 

she’s the best manager in the game by 

far,” Calmus said of Herlihy. “She’s 

helped me with so much over the years 

and she continues to help me every day.” 

All of that work led him to a 

tryout for the Bare Knuckle Fighting 

Championship in February, where he was 

one of 120 applicants selected from a 

group of 6,000. 

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship 

(BKFC) is the first promotion allowed 

to hold a legal, sanctioned and regulated 

bare knuckle event in the United States 

since 1889. Based in Philadelphia and 

headed by former professional boxer 

David Feldman, BKFC is dedicated 

to preserving the historical legacy of 

bare knuckle fighting, while utilizing 

a specifically-created rule set which 

emphasizes fighter safety. 

In BKFC, only fighters who are 

established professionals in boxing, 

Mixed Martial Arts, kickboxing or Muay 

Thai are allowed to compete. 

Calmus made the trip down to 

Tampa, Fla., on February. 5, where he 

and 50 other fighters battled through 

a grueling seven-hour tryout. Out of 

the 50 fighters that day, only five were 

selected for an interview. Calmus was one 

of them. 

“It was a crazy couple of days,” 

Calmus said. “I had to arrange a flight for 

me and Patty just 24 hours in advance 

and get down there quickly, but once I 

got there I felt totally prepared. To be 

honest, I look exactly like the BKFC 

logo so I think I’m the perfect fit for the 

organization.” 

Whether or not he gets a shot 

with the Bare Knuckle Fighting 

Championship remains to be seen, but 

Calmus isn’t only banking on that. He 

Zach Calmus (left) has been 

training with Alex Sepulveda at 

Private Jewels Fitness in Lynn for 

four years. 

had a big fight offer in Mexico that he 

had to turn down due to passport issues, 

but he’s willing to get in the ring against 

anyone, anytime. 

“In a normal year, I probably would 

have fought three or four times by now,” 

said Calmus. “Things have been a little 

less busy because of COVID, but places 

are slowly starting to open up and I 

think the opportunities are going to start 

flowing in again pretty soon.”


Home is 

where the 

museum is 

BY GUTHRIE SCRIMGEOUR 

Over more than thirty years, Doug 

Hill has transformed his four-story house 

into an informal "Marblehead Museum," 

an ode to the town that he calls home. 

"I am a military dependent and 

grew up moving all around as a kid, 

and I would routinely collect mementos 

from where I had lived. I'm just a 

collector by nature," said Hill. "Because 

I lived in Marblehead for 35 years, I've 

accumulated a lot of Marblehead stuff." 

Every inch of the home is bursting at 

the seams with memorabilia, including 

maps, paintings, books, plates, sculptures 

and trinkets. Certain rooms can be 

difficult to squeeze through for fear of 

upsetting the piles of accumulated items. 

The walls of the house are covered in 

artwork, so high, in fact, that Doug said 

he needed a ladder to hang many of the 

pictures. 

Hill estimates that there are more 

than 200 mementos scattered throughout 

the house. 

The "museum" is also a library, 

featuring walls and walls of books, many 

on the history of the area. 

Much of the merchandise is 

Marblehead-themed. For example, one of 

the first things that you notice walking 

through is a stained —glass octagonal 

window depicting the Marblehead 

coastline. 

The house is also filled with sculptures 

and pictures of animals, with ducks, 

whales and elephants as the primary 

focus. 

Even the bathrooms are not safe from 

the abundance of items that Hill has 

collected. One bathroom he refers to as 

his "Marblehead Bathroom" is packed 

wall-to-wall with town-themed items. 

His "Duck Bathroom" is packed with 

dozens of figurines and images of ducks, 

inspired by his time living in Annapolis, 

Md. 

The stuff comes largely from yard 

sales, though some items were given to 

him as gifts, or purchased from local 

Doug Hill has filled his Togan Way home with all things Marblehead. 

artists. 

"You can get some incredible finds 

at yard sales," he said. "They're great for 

finding treasure at reasonable prices." 

He refers to his home as an organized 

chaos. While he doesn't plan any rooms 

out in advance, he will never pick up 

an item at a yard sale without having a 

specific place where he imagines it fitting 

into his home. 

"I always find a spot, and it always 

PHOTOS BY JULIA HOPKINS 

feels like it's a perfect fit," he said. 

Hill's favorite treasure is the very first 

piece of Marblehead artwork he bought 

— a painting by Elaine Daly, a local 

artist who later happened to become a 

friend of his. 

"I have special feelings about that 

particular piece," he said. 

For Hill, there's no doubt that 

Marblehead is his home. 

"I immediately felt this connection


with this place," said Hill, who first 

visited in 1978 while on leave from 

the Air Force, where he was serving in 

Germany. 

In a stroke of good luck, he happened 

to be stationed at Hanscom Air Force 

base only months later, which gave him 

the opportunity to live in the town for 

good. He moved to Marblehead in 1980, 

though he only stayed for six months. He 

returned in 1985 and has lived in town 

ever since. 

"Marblehead is a great community, to 

move to and get involved in," he said. 

After retiring from the Air Force, he 

served as vice president of a consulting 

firm in Westford, Mass. His next job 

consisted of working at the desk of the 

Marblehead YMCA. He later moved to 

F.L. Woods, a nautical clothing store, 

where he worked until his retirement last 

year. 

Hill became involved in the 

Marblehead Little Theater, playing the 

role of a soldier in "South Pacific," which 

wasn't much of a stretch for him, he 

said, considering his military history. He 

grew to love the company, and became 

president of the organization in 2000, 

where he oversaw the transition to 

the firehouse space where the theater 

currently resides. 

He has also served on the board of 

the Arts Association, and was the cochairman 

of the North Shore Hospice 

Regatta. 

Through all of those roles, Hill 

became well-known throughout 

town and often bumps into a familiar 

face whenever he walks around the 

downtown. 

"It's the kind of place where you know 

people," he said, "And people know you." 

It is this sense of community that 

makes Marblehead a special place for 

him. 

"When you first see Marblehead, you 

are taken by the history, the quaintness, 

the harbor. But what makes Marblehead 

special is the people and the sense of 

community," said Hill. "It's at the end of 

the line. Nobody comes to Marblehead 

because they're lost. When people come 

to Marblehead, they come to come home. 

What we have is pretty special." 

70


Political power player has 

Marblehead roots 

B Y GUTHRIE SCRIMGEOUR 

Just a kid from Marblehead — Robert Wolf has risen to the pinnacle of Democratic politics as 

economic advisor to former President Barack Obama. Wolf with President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2019. 

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Before Robert Wolf served as an 

economic advisor to former President 

Barack Obama, founded his holding 

company 32 Advisors, and became wellknown 

as a contributor on Fox News, he 

was just a kid from Marblehead. 

"I just loved the town," said Wolf, who 

grew up on Atlantic Avenue. "I loved the 

summer at the beach. I literally spent every 

summer either at Devereux or Preston 

playing stickball. I lived and breathed 

everything Marblehead." 

He was a three-sport athlete at 

Marblehead High School, playing 

football, basketball and running track and 

was inducted as a member of the town’s 

Athletic Hall of Fame. 

Always an ambitious student, he 

went on to the Wharton School at 

the University of Pennsylvania, where 

he studied business and health care 

administration, while continuing his 

athletic career as a varsity football player. 

"It was very humbling," he said of the 

heightened level of athletic competition 

at the Division. 1 college level. "You go to 

college and you're suddenly the low man 

on the totem pole." 

After graduating, he decided to take 

his talents to Wall Street, where he joined 

Salomon Brothers in 1985. He wasn't 

initially interested in the work, hoping to 

go to medical school, but was pulled into 

banking when he did a practice interview 

on the company's trading floor. 

"Being a Wall Street guy in the 80s 

really fit me, because I was competitive, 

aggressive and thrived in that 

environment," he said. "For a young kid 

who's 22 years old, going to Wall Street 

was an incredible opportunity." 

He left in 1994 to join Union Bank of 

Switzerland (UBS) with hopes of building 

something from the ground up, like 

Salomon Brothers and other investment 

banks had done before. 

He rose through the ranks quickly 

and, by the height of his career was the 

chief executive officer and chairman of 

UBS Americas and president and chief 

operating officer of the Investment 

Bank globally, with oversight of tens of


thousands of employees. 

While he worked at UBS, he began to 

get involved in the intersection of politics 

and finance. 

"I think I had politics in my blood," 

said Wolf. "But I didn't know it until I 

started to get involved." 

His first call to action came in 2002, 

when, in opposition to the Iraq War, he 

backed Democrat John Kerry for president 

against the Republican incumbent, George 

W. Bush. 

He became more seriously involved in 

2006, when he got in on the ground floor 

of then-little known Sen. Barack Obama, 

hosting the senator's first fundraiser in 

New York and many more afterwards. 

"I had this inclination that he was 

the right guy, and that the nation wanted 

change," said Wolf. 

The pair hit it off right away. 

"We had a lot in common. It was like a 

checklist," said Wolf. "We bonded over our 

kids, our favorite sports teams — Boston 

versus Chicago — and of course, politics. I 

was all in". 

Wolf and Obama remain close friends, 

frequently golfing together. Wolf also 

serves on the executive board of the 

Obama Foundation. 

"One thing that people don't know 

about him is that he's a husband and father 

first," said Wolf. "We talk family all the 

time. Yes, he is the most powerful person in 

the free world, but he also wants downtime 

to be with people where he can have fun 

and talk about other things." 

In August 2007, he was appointed 

as Obama's economic advisor, where he 

would meet with the future president 

multiple times a week. 

When Obama won the presidency 

in 2008, Wolf continued to serve his 

administration, acting as a member of the 

former president's Economic Recovery 

Advisory Board, the Council on Jobs and 

Competitiveness, and the Export Council. 

In those roles, he advised the president 

on a variety of policies with a focus on Wall 

Street regulation reform and infrastructure 

legislation. 

Wolf considers himself a "pro business 

progressive," believing in health care as a 

right, gun control, immigration reform, 

but not seeking large-scale government 

Robert Wolf, right, with a couple of his golfing buddies, University of Kentucky basketball Coach John 

Calapari and former President Obama, at Farm Neck in Martha's Vineyard. 

PHOTO: JOHN CALAPARI'S TWITTER FEED 

intervention as a solution to those 

problems. He views himself as more 

moderate than those who identify as 

populists. 

"I believe in capitalism," he said. "I 

believe it is important for the private sector 

to be vibrant." 

He believes that his ideology has 

shifted left over the past few years, during 

which time he has grown more concerned 

about climate change and gun reform. 

In 2012, it became more difficult 

for Wolf to straddle the line between 

running UBS and advising the president, 

largely due to the fact that his Republican 

challenger Mitt Romney was the favored 

candidate of Wall Street. 

Wolf decided that it was time to leave 

the firm, and started his own company, 32 

Advisors, named for his high school and 

college sports number. 

The firm is a holding company which 

includes a direct investing arm, 32 

Ventures, and the bipartisan economic 

insights platform Strategic Worldviews, 

which he runs with his partner, former 

White House Director of Communications 

Anthony Scaramucci. 

He has also worked to elect President 

Joe Biden, who he described as "a unifier," 

"real and empathetic." 

Wolf said he spoke with Biden while he 

was considering a presidential run in 2015. 

"It seemed to me that he wanted to run, 

but he was still grieving the loss of his son 

Beau," said Wolf. 

Though he stopped working directly 

with the administration after Obama 

left office in 2016, Wolf has remained 

politically active, frequently appearing as a 

contributor on Fox News and Fox Business, 

presenting a more balanced option to the 

stations' largely conservative viewership. 

"We're in a very polarizing 

environment. I felt like the other stations 

had enough Robert Wolfs telling that 

story," said Wolf, on the importance of 

speaking to people across the aisle. "If you 

don't tell someone on the opposite side 

why you think something is good or bad, 

then don't regret it if they don't hear your 

side." 

While Wolf said that he wasn't very 

involved politically growing up, he credits 

his family and his town with shaping his 

political ideology. 

"I think that my family and my 

community helped me think about what 

is important in life," said Wolf. "Those 

beliefs have led to my political involvement 

and why I am proud to be a staunch 

Democrat." 

Wolf is married with two children, all 

of whom are staunch Democrats (and sadly 

for him, all New York sports fans).


Sweet talk about 

mental health 

B Y MIKE ALONGI | PHOTOS BY SPENSER HASAK 

Gluten free 

dishes are 

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Hand-made macarons are a Soul Sugar staple. 

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Sunday to Thursday: 

11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. 

Friday to Saturday: 

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How many times have you 

found yourself wanting a 

sweet treat but held yourself 

back because you felt like you shouldn’t 

be eating it? At Marblehead’s Soul Sugar, 

you can throw all of those thoughts out 

the window. 

“The aim of Soul Sugar is to open a 

dialogue around the relationship between 

food and mental health, specifically 

exploring ways that popular culture can 

exacerbate things like disordered eating, 

anxiety, depression and the feelings of 

inadequacy that cause so many of us to 

struggle in our daily lives,” said Caroline 

Laramie, owner of Soul Sugar. 

Soul Sugar is a woman-owned small 

business that crafts custom-made sweets 

to celebrate the relationship between our 

minds, our emotions and the foods we 

love. 

Laramie began making macarons 

and meringues as a therapeutic tactic 

— known as “baking therapy” — after 

a culmination of traumatic experiences 

and years of struggling with anxiety, 

depression and an eating disorder. 

Baking macarons involves a very timeconsuming 

and technical process that 

requires one to maintain focus from start 

to finish. She started to get really good at 

it as well, perfecting the art of making a 

delicious macaron and eventually handing 

them out to friends and family. 

“I started getting incredible feedback 

from everyone,” said Laramie. “It really 

grew my confidence quickly.” 

Baking sweets also allowed Laramie 

to get comfortable being uncomfortable, 

as she developed a new relationship with 

what she previously perceived as “bad” 

foods. 

“These cookies are challenging to 

make, and I had to stay so focused and 

present that I wouldn’t drift into bad 

thoughts,” said Laramie. “I started to 

realize that sweets are meant to deliver 

happiness and love, despite being thought 

of as guilty pleasures by many.” 

That self reflection and growth also 

led Laramie to realize that there's still so 

much to be done around educating people


Soul Sugar owner Caroline Laramie said it takes focus and confidence to make her custom sweets. 

on mental health and their relationships 

with foods. 

Laramie pointed to a number of 

reasons why she feels that dealing with 

these issues is important. 

— One in four Americans suffer from 

a diagnosable mental health disorder in a 

given year, and many depressive illnesses 

tend to co-exist or exacerbate each other 

— like depression, anxiety and eating 

disorders. 

— More than 30 million Americans 

live with an eating disorder. That number 

is also growing, as those surveyed indicate 

that popular culture and unattainable 

standards of beauty — as well as perceived 

happiness from fake images on social 

media, for example — cause people to feel 

unworthy or out of control. 

Laramie said food is so emotionally 

and psychologically charged for so many 

people. 

“If using pretty cookies as a way to 

gently introduce people to some heavy and 

sometimes personally terrifying concepts 

helps even a handful of individuals to 

realize how twisted are our relationships 

with mental health, eating disorders 

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Hard-to-make macarons are among Soul Sugar owner-baker Caroline Laramie's specialties. 

and our own self-worth, then this is a 

successful endeavor,” she said. 

But still, Laramie needed a way to 

put her plan into action. Having left her 

job in the consumer products industry — 

specifically the healthy lifestyle and sports 

and nutrition space — in 2018, she was in 

need of a direction. 

She turned to Lynn nonprofit 

Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll), an 

organization that makes economic and 

social impact in communities nationwide 

through inclusive entrepreneurship 

opportunities. Laramie had been a 

mentor there for a couple of years, and 

in September she decided to start using 

the organization’s resources to her own 

advantage. 

“It hit me like an epiphany one day 

while I was driving down Lynn Shore 

Drive,” Laramie said. “I just thought, 

‘what am I doing?’ My experience helping 

people at EforAll had been so rewarding, 

and I think that experience really was a 

catalyst for me doing this on my own. I 

just decided to go for it.” 

So now, Laramie’s business is in full 

swing as word continues to spread about 

her sweets. One of the biggest advantages 

to getting an order is the method of 

getting them — Laramie hand-delivers 

each order. 

“Everyone is either personally 

struggling with mental health issues 

or knows someone close to them who 

is, it's math,” said Laramie. “Everyone 

should care about destigmatizing mental 

health and supporting businesses and 

organizations that focus on improving our 

mental health and well-being. People feel 

like crap these days, and this is just a small 

way to pick people up.” 

On top of that, Laramie just wants 

to show her children that they can do 

anything they set their minds to. 

“It’s really important for me to show 

them that they can do anything they 

want,” said Laramie. “I wanted to show 

them that they can overcome obstacles in 

their lives and achieve their dreams.” 

To learn more about Soul Sugar or to place an 

order, visit /https://www.soulsugarsweets.com/ or 

find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and 

Tik Tok.


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Scan To Visit Us Online 

He's worked in clay and bronze, but Marblehead artist Jonathan Sherman won't shun snow when it 

comesto angel sculpting. 


Channeling 

Leonardo 

BY DAN KANE 

Jonathan Sherman says Renaissance 

master Leonardo da Vinci, who died in 

1519, changed his life. 

“He was a big influence for me. I moved 

to Florence, Italy, and studied his drawings 

and paintings,” said artist Sherman, 

relaxing in his large, sunlit studio on the 

second floor of the historic Mugford 

Building at 112 Washington St. 

Sherman’s life-size (25.5 inches by 16 

inches by 12 inches) bronze bust of da 

Vinci is a so-called "open edition" — a 

work of art that can be reproduced an 

unlimited number of times. 

Sherman created a life-size clay model 

of da Vinci and, through the lost wax 

process for creating works in bronze, 

Amesbury-based foundry Sincere Metal 

Works produced the bust. The bust is 

hollow, but still weighs 110 pounds. 

The likeness is from a self-portrait 

drawn by da Vinci toward the end of his 

life and a drawing of the master in profile 

by his pupil Francesco Melzi. 

“What an inspiration to be able to look 

into the eyes of the man who sought to 

understand everything,” said Sherman. 

The first casting of the sculpture has 

been purchased by Maddox & Partners 

of Naples, Fla., and is exhibited in an 

outdoor wine and sculpture garden there. 

There will be five more bronze busts in 

Sherman’s “Great Thinkers” series. Chinese 

philosopher Confucious and ancient 

Egyptian philosopher/mathematician/ 

astronomer Hypatia are next, with the final 

three to be determined. All will be open 

editions and the first castings have been 

commissioned by Maddox to be installed 

in the wine park. 

Sherman's creation coincided with 

the 500-year anniversary of da Vinci’s 

death. His legacy is celebrated worldwide, 

including major exhibitions in 2019 at The 

Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace and 

the Louvre Museum in Paris. 

Sherman lived in Florence from 2003 to 

2009, studying art of the Italian Renaissance. 

Three da Vinci quotes that are 

meaningful to Sherman are included on 

the bronze bust: “The noblest pleasure is 

the joy of understanding,” “Learning never 

exhausts the mind,” and “Where Spirit does 

not work with the hand, there is no Art.” 

“One never knows when a creative idea 

is going to happen,” said Sherman. “One 

day, I thought, ‘You’re going to be making a 

sculpture of Leonardo da Vinci.'” 

And he did. 

Sherman grew up in Marblehead, in 

the shadow of Abbot Hall. His paintings, 

drawings and sculptures are housed 

in private collections in Europe and 

throughout the United States. 

Sherman is teaching virtual classes 

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now at the Marblehead Arts Association. 

It was there in 2011 that New York native 

Elizabeth, then working at Marblehead 

Arts Association, met Jonathan. Today, the 

couple and their son, Apollo, and newborn 

daughter, Alethea, live “in the epicenter of 

Old Town, just down the road from the 

studio. We are so fortunate. Elizabeth and 

I do all this together, and Apollo spends a 

lot of time with us here. We are blessed,” 

he said. 

Elizabeth is studio director and his 

partner in life and business. The couple 

traveled to Paris to experience da Vinci’s 

works firsthand in the Louvre. 

“‘Mona Lisa’ was not the piece of 

Leonardo’s that spoke to me,” said 

Jonathan, lamenting that it was impossible 

to appreciate the painting while surrounded 

by hundreds of phone-wielding tourists 

elbowing one another to get a photo of the 

iconic work. 

It was another da Vinci painting, 

“Virgin of the Rocks,” that captured his 

attention. “I stood in front of it for two 

days. It changed my life,” he said. 

“Leonardo has been a guiding light 

for me for many years. I have studied 

thoroughly with the mind of an artist all 

of his drawings and paintings, which have 

awoken within me a richer appreciation 

for the subtleties of the world in which I 

live,” said Sherman. “Leonardo da Vinci, 

throughout his life, was one of the greatest 

embodiments of this joy and appreciation 

for knowledge. When one is engrossed 

in the process of learning to increase 

understanding of the world, knowledge 

of self expands, and the ability to navigate 

in the world with greater richness, 

appreciation and harmony ensues.” 

Sherman has said that his works of art 

are created from a deep love for human 

beings and the human experience. “By 

utilizing the language of nature: light, 

shadow, depth, form, shape, proportion, 

color and texture, which allow us all to 

perceive the physical world, I am able to 

fix on canvas, paper, in stone or bronze 

timeless truths and wisdom pertaining 

to the ever present loving relationship 

between human and spirit.” 

Bill Brotherton contributed to this story. 

Jonthan Sherman and his wife, Elizabeth, are 

partners in art. 


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Old friends team up 

for a new venture 

Double team— Chief 

Edgar Alleyne (left) 

and Johnny Ray are 

opening The Beacon 

Restaurant & Bar. 

PHOTOS BY 

SPENSER HASAK 

Special for 01945 

Renowned entertainer and beloved 

local personality, Johnny Ray, has 

teamed up with his old friend, 

Executive Chef Edgar Alleyne, to open 

Beacon Restaurant & Bar in downtown 

Marblehead. 

Beacon's 123 Pleasant St. location 

— former home of Wick’s — has been 

closed for several months while the pair 

collaborated with investors, consultants 

and designers to envision a restaurant that 

they believe the town and its neighbors will 

embrace and enjoy. 

“Fortunately for us," Ray said, “the 

owners of Warwick Place are very 

dedicated to the community and wanted to 

continue to provide an excellent venue for 

food and entertainment.” 

Ray explained that the new culinary 

and libation endeavor not only involves 

a renovation of the restaurant but also 

a refurbishment of the entire property, 

including the Warwick Cinema and The 

Dandee Donut Factory. 

The initial plan was to close the 

restaurant and reopen in the spring, but 

then COVID-19 hit and the country went 

into lockdown. 

During those months, the plan was 

expanded into revamping the entire 

property, which included installing new 

luxury seating in the cinema and placing 

a special emphasis on health and safety 

during the pandemic. 

“We resumed our plan as soon as Gov. 

Baker Charlie issued the green light for 

establishments to reopen, and we remain 

committed to the additional procedures 

and training required per the new health 

and safety protocols," said Ray. 

"We will always have one person 

on staff exclusively dedicated to the 

cleaning and sanitizing of all surfaces in 

the restaurants, cinema, and throughout 

Warwick Place to ensure that our 

guests have a safe and healthy dining 

and entertainment experience – and 

that undertaking will continue for the 

foreseeable future.” 

Alleyne is already well-known and 

esteemed on the North Shore, having been 

the executive chef at The Red Rock Bistro 

in Swampscott for many years. 

Johnny and Edgar first met there about 

20 years ago, and as they became friends 

the pair often mused about opening their 

own place together someday. 

They vowed their formula would be 

simple: great food, great ambiance, and great 

entertainment. An attainable concept – but 

their stars didn’t align until just recently. 

Ray has operated an award-winning 

fine-dining establishment in Wellfleet called 

Bocce Italian Grill, where he would host 

and entertain during the summer months. 

When he learned that the Wick’s space 

might be available, he gave Alleyne a call 

and they both decided the time had come 

to realize their dream. 

“Everyone involved really wants to 

create a place that the town can be proud 

of and that will serve as a dining and 

entertainment destination for visitors 

from all over. The décor will pay homage 

to the town in a lot of subtle ways, and


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Chef Edgar has put together an amazing 

menu that will feature tomahawk steaks, 

sword chops, shelled lobster and unique 

flatbreads, plus delicious appetizers like 

tuna tartare and the shellfish tower. And 

yes, when the time is right, there will be 

entertainment. You can count on it,” he 

said. 

In addition to the restaurant’s fresh, 

seaside aesthetic, the property also features 

a large outdoor patio that has been updated 

with landscaping to provide more privacy 

for guests, and a large parking lot adjacent 

to Warwick Place with ample spots for 

patrons. For more dining options, The 

Beacon Featuring Dandee Donuts will also 

offer a full daily breakfast menu and an 

expanded weekend brunch menu. 

“We have collected a great team of 

restaurant professionals. Be prepared to 

see some familiar faces and of course make 

some new friends as well,” Ray promised. 

Although the official restaurant website 

is still implementing some finishing 

touches, the staff wants to welcome 

everyone to join their Facebook page 

@thebeaconmarblehead. 

Old friends Edgar Alleyne (seated) and Johnny Ray are planning to open The Beacon Restaurant & Bar 

in the former home of Wick's on Pleasant Street. 

PHOTOS BY SPENSER HASAK


He answered the call 

BY ELYSE CARMOSINO 

When Peter Jackson received a call in 

July asking him to participate in Moderna’s 

COVID-19 vaccine trial, the Marblehead 

resident didn’t hesitate. 

An executive for a subsidiary of 

healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson, 

Jackson (who was not speaking on behalf 

of his company) said he had no qualms 

about jumping headfirst into the biotech 

giant’s vaccine race, the local trials for 

which would take place right at Brigham 

and Women’s Hospital in Boston. 

“I knew it wasn’t going to kill me, and 

I knew Brigham and Women’s was one 

of the preeminent medical centers in the 

United States,” Jackson said. “If you’re 

going to be a part of any kind of trial for 

a vaccine, you want to be in the academic 

center.” 

Jackson, who is Black, said his racial 

background was largely what prompted 

him to take on the challenge, adding 

that thanks to his professional training 

— which includes extensive working 

Town resident and health executive Peter Jackson 

help test COVID-19 vaccines. 

PHOTO COURTESY PETER JACKSON 

knowledge of Johnson & Johnson’s HIV 

studies — he felt more than prepared for 

what lay ahead. 

“This is the world I live in. I’ve been in 

pharmaceuticals for over 20 years. Even 

though that had nothing to do with me 

being in the study, I had the education,” he 

said. “All I do is talk about clinical trials, so 

I had a really strong understanding of what 

was going on.” 

Moderna, whose vaccine was approved 

by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration 

in December, was the second healthcare 

company — after Pfizer — to receive the 

go-ahead for U.S. distribution. 

However, medical experts across the 

U.S. expressed concern during the vaccine’s 

early trials that people of color weren’t 

accurately represented, despite being one of 

the demographics most devastated by the 

COVID-19 pandemic. 

Minority enrollment was so poor, in 

fact, that Moderna was at one point forced 

to shut down sites with high Caucasian 

enrollment to avoid skewing test results. 

“When you look at the graph, it’s 

amazing,” Jackson said. “If you were a white 

male living in the suburbs, they didn’t need 

you anymore. They had too many people 

living in the suburbs that were working at 

home who weren’t exposed to anything. 

What they really needed was the guy 

driving the bus for the MBTA. He’s at risk 

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Music for 

a strange time 

Marblehead High School sophomore Gwen Trimarchi 

plays the trumpet during concert band practice. 

B Y DANIEL KANE | PHOTOS BY SPENSER HASAK 

It's safe to say that concert bands 

were not meant to play comfortably 

during the middle of a pandemic 

and the band students at Marblehead High 

have gotten a crash course in that lesson 

this year. 

Between mask with built in flaps to slip 

in the reed of a flute, saxophones adorned 

with their own masks coverings at the end 

of their bells and classes spaced out over 

the school's entire auditorium, it's been 

quite the change. 

"Obviously there's a lot less in-person 

time," said senior Chris Williams, who 

plays percussion. "That means less effective 

practice time, even if there is a good reason 

for it. There's just not a lot of time to 

buckle things down." 

Less time for in-person practicing 

has to do with the hybrid system at 

Marblehead High. Students have been 

cut into two cohorts, A and B, for band 

practice once a week. Despite the smaller 

numbers one of the biggest problems 

besides practice time has been the sound 

itself. 

"It’s weird because you can only hear 

yourself with the way the sound is while 

we're this spaced out," said senior Abby 

Schwartz, who plays the flute. "It can be 

hard to keep in time with each other." 

"We're trying to make it work," added 

senior Eleanor Small, who plays the 

saxophone in the concert band. "It's not 

always perfect or anything like that. It's 

really hard to hear some of the lower parts 

because we're missing some lower brass. 

We're missing our best clarinet players 

— they're in cohort B, and some other 

saxophone players too." 

Through all the struggles band director 

Kevin Goddu has scrambled to try to make 

things flow as best they can throughout the 

year. That meant outdoor practices in the 

early fall, fully-virtual lessons at times and 

everything in between. 

"The marching and acapella bands were 

able to do some concerts outside earlier so 

we're hoping to get back to that when we 

get warmer weather again," Goddu said. 

"The kids have just been really resilient. 

Some days are better than others, and we're 

bummed out to not see each other as much. 

That’s where our focus as teachers has been 

this year, making sure the kids are doing 

OK." 

"It was hard to work individually," 

Schwartz said. "Mr. Goddu is doing the 

best he can, really. But it's sad we haven’t 

had any live concerts. That's usually my 

favorite part. I always liked hearing the 

high school band play." 

What's lacking can hopefully make 

some sort of a comeback in the near 

future. And while things are still a work in 

progress, there have been plenty of lessons 

learned along the way — some more useful 

than others. 

MUSIC , page 36

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MUSIC from page 34 

"Marblehead has a lot of wild turkeys 

and they can be aggressive sometimes," 

Goddu said. "We've had some incidents 

but everyone adapted. I’ve been impressed 

with how the kids have been taking it. 

It's turned into a fun experience. I never 

thought I'd learn how to take care of a 

generator to keep things running outside. 

That's not something they teach in music 

school." 

On the technology side, Goddu and 

choral music teacher Andrew Scoglio 

learned to listen to recordings and weave 

them together using Final Cut Pro, a 

video editing software, to create some 

semblance to a full concert. 

It has been up to the students to 

embrace that technology the best they can. 

"As someone who has done that a 

lot it wasn't a big deal for me, but I can 

imagine kids who have never done that 

having a big issue," Small said. "This year, 

we are working with a lot of digital audio 

workstations (DAWs). It's definitely 

a different branch of music. A lot of 

students don't really see it in any music 

class. We don't have a class like that. I 

know that they want to eventually make 

a studio here so students can record and 

I think that it's been a great thing to 

introduce in the school setting." 

Pandemic players-Top: A 

specially - designed face 

mask helps Marblehead 

High School senoir Eleanor 

Small make music during a 

pandemic. 

Bottom: Masked conductor 

Kevin Goddu leads the 

Marblehead High School 

concert band.

She broke down the walls inside her 

BY GAYLA CAWLEY 


Wendy Tamis Robbins was only 6 years 

old when she had her first panic attack. 

"And they really didn't stop after that," 

the Marblehead author recalls. 

For nearly 40 years, Robbins suffered 

from what she calls "treatment resistant 

anxiety." After that first attack, she 

continued to deal with a series of anxious 

symptoms, which included further episodes 

of panic and a number of serious phobias. 

Those symptoms could be debilitating, 

she says. For example, as a child, she had 

an intense fear of the rain, which made 

everyday life difficult. 

"By the time I was in my late 30s, I 

really reached this point in my life where 

I asked myself the question: could I ever 

live a life not limited by this debilitating 

disorder?" said Robbins. 

"I had been at rock bottom, and as the 

title of the book alludes to, I had built these 

walls so thick and tall to protect myself 

against what were at first real fears, but 

Marblehead author Wendy Tamis Robbin's book, "The Box: An Invitation to Freedom from Anxiety" is 

scheduled to be released on May 4.


Writer Wendy Tamis Robbins walked a long road to become anxiety free. 

PHOTOS COURTESY OF: TABITHA ROBINSON/ TABI BOOTS PHOTOGRAPHY


then became irrational fears and (eventually 

manifested as) an anxiety disorder." 

The book Robbins is referring to is 

her new memoir, "The Box: An Invitation 

to Freedom from Anxiety," which is 

scheduled to be released on May 4. And 

those walls she spent much of her life 

building? They represent the box that the 

book discusses. 

"I realized (the box) was a prison I was 

living in," said Robbins, who also works as 

a corporate tax and finance attorney. 

Robbins said she kept building the 

walls of her box out of fear. She started to 

avoid the things and conversations that 

were triggers for her phobias and anxiety, 

which only led to the walls getting thicker 

and taller. Metaphorically, that made it 

more difficult for her to escape her anxiety, 

Robbins explained. 

"I thought speaking scary thoughts 

would just take me over," she said, noting 

that she eventually realized avoiding her 

fears was exacerbating her anxiety and she 

had to do the hard work to open that box 

she had built. 

"You can't keep your anxiety locked 

up in this cage. You've given your power 

to the anxiety when you try to lock it up 

again. When you open up the door, you're 

actually taking your freedom back and it 

actually dispels the anxiety and the fear of 

it," Robbins said. 

Getting to that realization wasn't easy, 

though. It was a decade-long process, 

prompted by a major life event, that 

convinced Robbins she needed to escape 

the prison she had built for herself. 

The first breakthrough for Robbins 

came when she was 34 and decided to get 

a divorce from her first husband. Leaving 

that marriage was her first step toward 

finding her way out of the box, she said, 

explaining that it prompted a journey 

of self-discovery that included exposure 

therapy, meditation, and traveling on her 

own. 

However, 10 years later, when Robbins 

was in her early 40s, she found that anxiety 

was still controlling her life on a daily 

basis. She sought advice from psychiatrists 

and other healthcare providers that was 

centered around a simple query: Is it 

possible to have suffered from anxiety for 

this long, and then at some point come to a 

place where anxiety is not plaguing you on 

a daily basis? 

The doctors lacked the answers she was 

looking for, Robbins said, noting that all, 

but one person, told her that they didn't 

know. That one outlier was Martha Beck, 

One in three people are struggling with panic disorders, said writer Wendy Tamis Robbins. 

known for being Oprah Winfrey's life 

coach. 

"Martha Beck was the only person who 

had a different answer," said Robbins. "I 

decided I had to go on her quest to see a 

life beyond anxiety. In that course, I got to 

speak with her directly." 

Part of Beck's course included an 

"amazing meditation," where Robbins 

learned how to sit with her thoughts, 

which for people with anxiety is no easy 

task, she said. 

"Just imagine a horse running and 

running in a cage — it's really your anxious 

thoughts running and running," Robbins 

said. "It was a really amazing entry into 

meditation and learning how to calm your 

mind." 

Now, at 48, Robbins considers herself 

to be anxiety-free, which, as she's quick 

to clarify, doesn't mean that she is free 

of anxiety, but that the disorder doesn't 

control her life anymore. 

In fact, Robbins — who lives in 

Marblehead with her second husband, 

David Robbins, and her two teenage 

stepchildren — now sees her anxiety as her 

"superpower," since it gives her insight into 

what's going on in her brain. 

"Instead of resisting it, now I move 

toward it," she said. "I know it's going to 

give me this gift of resilience." 

That so-called superpower enables 

Robbins to see the open wounds that she 

still needs to heal, and the places where she 

still needs to grow in her recovery, she said. 

"It's actually making my life stronger 

than I ever thought possible," Robbins said. 

Now that Robbins is "living outside the 

box," she's hopeful that her new book will 

help others who are struggling with anxiety 

and panic disorders. She sees her upcoming 

memoir as having particular significance 

during the COVID-19 pandemic, when 

so many people are dealing with mental 

health issues. 

"I think the biggest takeaway from the 

book is you're not alone," Robbins said. 

"One in three people are struggling with 

these mental illnesses, so for the people 

suffering, I would say definitely reach out. 

Find people who have found their way out. 

Use them as examples of what is possible. 

(After) hitting rock bottom, listening to 

other people's stories was life-saving for 

me." 

For more information about Robbins and 

her upcoming memoir, "The Box," check out her 

website at https://www.wendytamisrobbins. 

com/.


A paws for comfort 

BY GAYLA CAWLEY 

A plush cuddly toy with origins in 

Marblehead is now widely used by New 

England police and fire departments for 

its ability to provide comfort to children 

in crisis. 

Trouble the Dog was an inspiration 

flash for Sheila Duncan one night in 2006 

when she was at home with her niece 

watching the St. Jude Telethon. 

The fundraising event to continue 

the fight against childhood cancer and 

other life-threatening diseases sparked 

a conversation among Duncan's family 

members who had suffered several recent 

cancer losses, including the father and 

grandmother of Duncan's niece and their 

family dog. 

"(My niece) was doodling and the St. 

Jude Telethon came on, and she said, 'I have 

to help those kids,' and she instantly drew 

Trouble the Dog," said Duncan. "It was one 

of those divinely-inspired moments." 

From there Duncan started the Kennek 

Foundation, which donates the comfort 

toys to children who need them the most. 

Duncan said people would request Trouble 

the Dog for kids who had been bullied or 

were struggling with anxiety. 

She credits Gary Freedman, owner of 

Marblehead Opticians, for helping the 

Kennek Foundation get its start in 2014 — 

he's been a donor from day one, she said. 

Today, Trouble the Dog plush toys and 

its accompanying storybook are donated to 

first responders across New England and to 

Shriners Hospitals for Children in Boston 

and Springfield. 

In Springfield, Trouble has its own 

spot on the hospital's wall of therapy dogs, 

Duncan said. 

"I think the thing that really warms 

my heart is how grateful the first 

responders are," said Duncan. "They're just 

phenomenal. The stories just bring tears to 

your eyes because they use Trouble right at 

the moment of impact. It's really powerful. 

I'm grateful to be able to do it. It's much 

bigger than me." 

The Marblehead Police Department 

benefited from another donation of Trouble 

the Dog toys this past summer, which 

enabled the department to continue to keep 

one of the stuffed animals in each patrol car 

and at the police station, according to Police 

Capt. Matthew Freeman. 

Since receiving their first donation 

Marblehead Police Officer Andy Clark accepts a 

Trouble the Dog toy from Sheila Duncan, to help 

traumatized children. 

PHOTO COURTESY SHEILA DUNCAN 

about three years ago, Freeman said the 

department's officers have used the stuffed 

animals to calm children down after car 

crashes and domestic violence situations. 

They have also been provided to 

children with behavioral issues who have 

been acting out in school, he said. 

"We use those to help out children who 

are in crisis, or maybe where the family is 

in crisis, to give them something to hold 

onto or love," said Freeman. "It's a really 

nice way to help kids stay calm or regain 

their composure through a bad situation. 

"We were all kids once. We all had 

stuffed animals to hold onto when we were 

afraid. Sheila has taken that to a whole new 

level," he added. 

Duncan stopped by the station last 

August to drop off two additional Trouble 

the Dog toys at the department's request 

— her initial donation was 13 stuffed 

animals, Freeman said. 

"We're just thrilled to death to have 

her think of us and continue to make the 

donations," he said. 

Duncan said she's found that first 

responders are "so passionate about helping 

kids and Trouble is a proven coping 

mechanism that gives them the ability to 

comfort kids when they need them the 

most. 

"He's a special little dog," she said. "We 

call Trouble an angel in disguise because 

there's a little magic to him. For years, 

(children) won't go to sleep without Trouble 

the Dog. He's got a spirit about him."

Historic mansion. 

Seaside cottage. 

Penthouse condo. 

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Kathleen Murphy 

Global Real Estate Advisor 

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Uniting buyers and sellers 

along Boston’s North Shore

01945 Spring 2021

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