FINAL-21 CP_MBHC_20230315_1_A01 Mon, Mar 13, 2023 3:03:06 PM
IN THIS ISSUE
RECREATION
OPINION
HISTORY
Pickleballers swing back into action
Learning to shovel water
Regiment gifts wood carving to town
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MARBLEHEAD, MA PERMIT NO. 25
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NEWS FOR PEOPLE, NOT FOR PROFIT.
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March 15, 2023
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VOLUME 1, ISSUE NO. 16
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MARBLEHEADCURRENT.ORG
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ON SOCIAL @MHDCURRENT
RIGHTING A POST-WWII WRONG
Rep: Black vets’ families owed benefits BY LEIGH BLANDER Local social justice and affordable housing advocates are praising Congressman Seth Moulton’s bill to restore GI Bill benefits to surviving Black World War II veterans and their descendants who did not benefit equally after the war due to systemic racism.
“We at the Marblehead Racial Justice Team applaud this effort as an attempt to make up for a historical wrong that perpetrated a legacy of segregation,” said Rev. Jim Bixby with the MRJT. “It is unfortunate that even this kind of legislation is too little too late. The Black GIs missed out on investment opportunities during
our most productive years of economic development, the post-war years. White Americans got to be at the forefront of home ownership and education. Black Americans were left in the back seat.” The GI Bill was signed into law in 1941 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, offering a range of benefits to veterans,
including low-cost mortgages and low-interest loans to start a business or farm, unemployment compensation and education assistance. These loans were regularly denied to Black veterans due to racism at the time. “In 1947, out of 67,000 VA mortgages in the New York and New Jersey suburbs, less
PLEASANT STREET
than 1% went to non-whites,” Moulton told the Marblehead Current. “In Mississippi, only two out of over 3,200 home loans administered by the VA went to Black borrowers. And these are just a couple examples. There are many others that illustrate the injustices faced VETERANS, P. A5
GROWING SHADE
Library transformation Tree fans help town gets underway build out canopy
Inventory will help town plan for future BY WILLIAM J. DOWD
CURRENT PHOTOS / NICOLE GOODHUE BOYD
Abbot Public Library Executive Director Kim Grad puts on her hard hat during a celebration of the library’s renovation on March 8.
Substantial completion expected in spring of 2024 BY WILLIAM J. DOWD A bundled-up crowd gathered in the Abbot Public Library courtyard the morning of March 8 to celebrate the start of a $10 million renovation to the public library’s Pleasant Street building. The event brought together elected officials, contractors, employees and
residents weeks after the project kicked off in late January. “Our motto throughout this campaign has been ‘Our 17th-century town deserves a 21st-century library,’ and we are truly thankful for everyone who has supported us in that vision,” Gary Amberik, chairman of the Abbot Public Library Board of Trustees told the small crowd fanned
out before him. “Today, we celebrate the start of the transformation of the Abbot Public Library.” More than 30 years have passed since the library’s building underwent significant upgrades. Once the renovation concludes, Amberik pointed out the following upgrades to
Several initiatives to further cultivate and grow Marblehead's "urban forestry and tree canopy" are afoot. As the springtime approaches, Sustainable Marblehead is raising awareness about Marblehead's tree fund and urging members of the public to send in donations. "Every spring in April, Sustainable Marblehead's tree group collaborates with the tree warden to do tree planting," the nonprofit organization's executive director, Louise Yarmoff, told the Marblehead Current. "So, the more people know about this tree donation fund, the more money he will have to buy trees to replace all the trees that do die and have to be taken down." Jon Fobert, Marblehead's tree warden, said the town established the tree-donation fund in the mid-1970s after disease decimated the Dutch elm tree population in town. Many trees that were planted in the aftermath need to be replaced today.
LIBRARY, P. A8 TREES, P. A4
STATE DRAMA FESTIVAL
On an epic journey MHS’s ‘Beowulf’ moves on to semifinals BY KRIS OLSON The spotlight may shine on Gywneth Anderson, Molly Grant and the rest of the cast of “Beowulf.” But Elizabeth Erskine may be the real star of the show, according to those involved with Marblehead High School’s entry in the state drama festival. The ever-patient Erskine, the production’s prop designer, has had to see her handiwork — mostly swords fashioned out of discarded smartboard boxes — undone when one of her classmates brings a bit too much exuberance to one of the play’s battle scenes.
BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW
But her persistence and the hard work of the rest of the cast and crew paid off, as MHS’ “Beowulf” advanced out of the preliminary round at Beverly Middle School March 5 to this weekend’s semifinals. The Marblehead cast and crew will be taking its show on the road to Norwood High School with their sights set on advancing to the state finals in Boston March 30 through April 1. Overseeing the production is first-time director Tom Rash. A postal worker by day, Rash was coaxed into the role by his partner, English teacher Ashley Skeffington, MHS’ regular drama
supervisor, who is taking a year off. Rash has a degree in theater but said what ultimately got him past his reticence to pursue the position was his realization that Marblehead is rich with young artistic talent Marblehead, and many of his cast members would have cut their teeth in the Marblehead Little Theatre or North Shore Children’s Theatre’s youth productions. He is “very glad” he pushed that initial hesitancy, Rash said. “I’m having such a good time,” he said. “The kids are extremely DRAMA, P. A5
COURTESY PHOTO/SYLVIA KANE
Tyler Earp’s Hrothgar converses with CJ English’s Beowulf during the Marblehead High School production of ‘Beowulf.’