Essex Heritage Supports
the Community Preservation Act and
Reports on the New Regional Vocational Technical School

At the end of last year, I had the opportunity to take a flight over this region in a single engine airplane.  This experience is the result of a long relationship with St John’s Prep and Brother Tim Paul CFX.  Over the last six decades I have been connected to that school in many capacities and for about half of that time, I have had the privilege of knowing Brother Timothy Paul, CFX who has also served in several teaching and administrative capacities at the school, and is the moderator of an Aviation Club at the school.  In that role, Brother Tim has gathered about three-dozen students who have an interest in flying, and through a series of activities both at the school and at Beverly Airport is developing young men who might pursue this avocation later in life.  The school received a financial grant from Prep Alum, who is a flying enthusiast and with that gift, Brother Tim has created a program that provides basic ground training along with some modest flight experience.  Brother Tim believes that to his knowledge this is the only similar aviation high school program in the country.  As the club moderator, Brother received his license to fly early in 2009, and must fly one hour each month to remain current.

On Brother’s late December trip he asked me I wanted to “tag along”.  We left Beverly Airport on a clear, sunny but somewhat windy day and headed north on a course parallel with Route 95 north.  Just after take off, we flew over the “Prep”, and then had a view off the left wing of the City of Lawrence.  We traveled north to about the Hampton, NH area.  From our lofty vantage point, we had a sensational view of the soon to be replaced Whittier Bridge over the Merrimack River, and the communities of Newburyport, West Newbury and Plum Island and the spectacular Essex County coastline.  We turned south and passed over the wonderful marshlands in the northern section of the county, and then flew over Cape Ann where we had views of Rockport and Gloucester and their historic harbors.  The trip lasted all too short a time as we lined up for a landing on Runway 27 at Beverly Airport.  It was quite a treat to view the area we serve at Essex Heritage from 4000 feet, and it became clear to me, more than at any time in the past, that we have a wonderful landscape in this region, and is it even more important that Essex Heritage continues to develop plans to preserve this important resource.

Essex Heritage Partnership Grant Program
We are pleased to announce that the Essex Heritage Partnership Grant Program will be restored in 2010.   Information about the matching grant program, including the new “ON LINE” based application process will be made available by the end of January 2010.  We expect that the announcement of winners for the ten (10) $2,500.00 Essex Heritage Grants will be in made by early to mid spring 2010.   Please continue to watch Essex Heritage communications as the information to signal a start to the process will be widely distributed in more than sufficient time for all who are interested in applying to meet application deadlines.

Preservation Easement Accepted by Essex Heritage
On the final day of 2009, Essex Heritage accepted a Preservation Easement on an apartment project in Lynn at Liberty Square and Washington Street.    Essex Heritage has worked diligently over the final quarter of this past year to complete all of the voluminous paperwork and approvals that were required to complete the planning and acceptance of this first ever preservation easement.  This is a new service offered by Essex Heritage that provides a much-needed opportunity in this region.  If there are other organizations that might want to learn more about this process and how it might be beneficial to them, please contact us at www.essexheritage.org.  Essex Heritage will be pleased to set up a time for a more complete explanation of the benefits to an organization.

In addition to a much broader use of the web site, Essex Heritage is also communicating using traditional methods like this monthly column and social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Linked in as well as using other non traditional methods like the Essex Happenings BLOG that I post information to three times a week that can be accessed at www.essexhappenings.blogspot.com.

Read more about the region from Tom Leonard on his blog.

Thomas M. Leonard is President Emeritus of the Essex National Heritage Commission, Inc., the nonprofit management entity of the Essex National Heritage Area, and can be reached by clicking here.