Essex National Heritage Commission Announces 2007 Pioneers in Partnership Awards and Trustee Emeritus Designation
As I set out to prepare these columns each month, I have always tried to add a little flavor of the time of the year to make the news more topical. This month. I was startled to realize that we were already into November. I am not sure where the better part of another year has gone, but I suspect that it might have something to do with a combination of advancing age, and a September and October that was like an endless summer. During the past two months the region has experienced some wonderful weather, and the weekend almost directly in the middle of that period, September 29 and 30 was truly spectacular. That weekend was significant to Essex National Heritage Commission, as we celebrated the sixth edition of Trails & Sails: A Weekend of Walks and Water.
Best Attendance Ever at this Festive Weekend
This year’s event topped all of the previous Trails & Sails, as we had more sites participating and certainly more residents and visitors to the region enjoying the opportunities provided. We want to thank the 100 or so non-profit organizations and their staff members across Essex County who opened their doors, or donned their jackets to lead thousands of participants through 150 free events that had its strongest audience participation ever. We are particularly appreciative of the contribution from the event’s long-time sponsor and partner, TD Banknorth whose generosity and continuing commitment to this region makes this event possible.
ENHC Provides Pioneers in Partnership Awards at Annual Meeting
Last month ENHC conducted its 2007 Annual Meeting at the Richard Wylie Conference Center at Endicott College in Beverly. We want to take a moment now to thank the college for their support to this organization and their continuing commitment to this region. The college is a wonderful partner of ENHC, and is certainly one of the most spectacular resources in the region. The annual meeting was attended by over a 100 Commissioners, partners and friends. At the meeting, ENHC provided awards to several regional partnership initiatives. The ENHC Pioneers in Partnership award was first created and awarded ten years ago, and over the past decade ENHC have made fifty of these awards to some of Essex County’s most engaged and participatory individuals and organizations. These awards are annually provided to individuals and organizations that make a difference with their support of regional initiatives that have a substantial impact on the region where we all live and work. The award winners for 2007 were:
- Joseph Knapp of the Georgetown Historical Society and the Georgetown Historical Commission for their work in bringing a community of citizens together to rescue and restore the historical 1732 Union Cemetery in Georgetown.
- Mr. Michael Ristuccia, Builder, Contractor and Preservationist for his work together with the Town of Andover in moving and restoring three 19th-century buildings in Andover that were slated for demolition.
- Mr. William Whiting of the Topsfield Historic Society for his work in organizing the archives of the Society and making then available to interested parties. And for the development of a partnership with the local public library.
- Ms. Hilda Ramirez of Live Lawrence Initiative, who has brought a wonderful coordinating presence to the Lawrence Cultural scene. She has coordinated and implemented numerous cultural programs that highlight Lawrence’s cultural talents.
- Mr. John Goff of Salem Preservation Inc., for his work in organizing a coalition of partners to continue the restoration work on Pioneer Village in Salem, and for his efforts to build a coalition of partners to help develop this innovative project.
New Class of ENHC Trustee Created
At the meeting, four long-time ENHC Board of Trustee members whose terms of office have been completed were named Trustee Emeritus. The new designation will allow Robert Bradford, of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, Attorney Malcolm F. MacLean, of MacLean, Holloway, Doherty, Ardiff & Morse PC, William R. Power, Peabody Historical Commission, and Attorney, William J. Tinti, of Tinti, Quinn, Grover Frey PC to continue the long association with the ENHC, and to continue to provide guidance and council to the Commission on regional matters. At the meeting, they were recognized with Special Recognition Awards for their dedicated service over the years.