Essex National Heritage Area
Tom Leonard, President, ENHC

Tom Leonard,
President Emeritus, ENHC

Tom Leonard writes a monthly column for the community newspapers in the Essex National Heritage Area. This is a reprint of this month's column.
tleonard
at essexheritage.org.

Columns
Friendship in Lynn a Success, and ENHC’s Trails and Sails Scheduled

Another summer is about over, and the month of September, with its usual hint of fall, has arrived. I hope that all of you enjoyed the summer vacation period and took time to experience all that this region has to offer. Many on the Essex National Heritage Commission staff took some time off during these last few weeks and it was good to gather together recently for our annual August staff outing. This year the ENHC has made efforts to connect residents and visitors to Essex County’s tremendous farm resources through the collaborative development of the Guide to Farms & Agriculture bringing to your attention to the importance of farms and the agricultural resources in this region. It seemed only appropriate to hold our staff outing at a local farm.

Valley View Farm, Topsfield

Elizabeth Mulholland, owner of Valley View Farm and an ENHC Commissioner, spent a pleasant August morning showing us around her small family run farm in Topsfield. Elizabeth explained how she and her husband Peter have made an impact on this region and the market in this area with the goat cheese products they produce. It was clear to all of us that tending to her “herd” of approximately 30 Nubian goats, and producing wonderful cheese is truly a labor of love for the entire Mulholland family. We are most appreciative of the time she spent with us to outline her operation, and for the wonderful contribution that the Valley View Farm, and its products make to this region.

Friendship Sail to Lynn a Great Success

The National Park Service’s floating park, the tall ship Friendship sailed into Lynn harbor for a three-day stay late last month. The visit was a wonderful example of the pubic-private partnerships that defines the work of the Essex National Heritage Commission. The incredible support required to bring the ship to Lynn was broad-based. In addition to the support and hard work of the National Park Service and its volunteer crew, support included long-time community activists and elected officials. The Commission received wonderful support from many City of Lynn officials, several components of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the entire Lynn State legislative delegation as well as local community business support. This event allowed thousands of Lynn residents to visit the ship over the three-day visit, and in many cases introduced residents to the Lynn waterfront and the maritime heritage of this region.

We are particularly indebted to the local financial sponsors of this event that made visitation free of charge for all. The sponsors who helped assure the success of this event are certainly not new when it comes to helping out in this community. Old Neighborhood Foods, the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation, Eastern Insurance Group, the Salem Five Bank, the Lynn Daily Item, North Shore Community College, Grant Communications Consulting Group and the Lynn Business Partnership all contributed to the success of the Friendship’s visit to Lynn. The National Park Service the volunteer crew who worked together to bring Friendship to Lynn should all be commended for a wonderful effort that certainly made a difference in this seaside community last month.

September Means Trails & Sails: A Weekend of Walks and Water

Trails & Sails is the Essex National Heritage Area’s weekend of free events. The weekend takes place on the last weekend of September, and 2007’s Trails and Sails Weekend will take place on from Friday, September 28 through Sunday September 30. This weekend offers a diverse weekend of free events and has become the premier event offered each year by ENHC. It is not too early to begin planning a personal schedule to take advantage of this wonderful weekend of free events. Right now you can access a copy of the 2007 Trails & Sails schedule while it’s just hot of the presses. Simply sign on to EssexHeritage.org or TrailsandSails.org and a full downloadable and printable schedule is available now. Don’t miss out on this event! Plan your weekend to take advantage of all that is offered from one end of the county to the other.