Flooding at Collins Center, roof issues at schools
After a busy summer spent repairing school buildings, Plant and Facilities Director Joe Piantedosi says several school buildings still need attention:
A recent rainstorm came close to flooding the entire Collins Center performing arts facility at Andover High School, he said. Water rushes down the hill, toward the center's rear entrance, which only has a four-inch storm drain. Piantedosi and his crew will begin to set up a new emergency drainage route, he said.
Bits of the ceiling at the Doherty Middle School auditorium have been falling, both inside and outside. Town crews have been patching it year after year, Piantedosi said, including installing chicken wire to keep loose pieces in place.
"We're at the end of our rope," he said.
High Plain Elementary has a "totally failed roof," Piantedosi said. The school, the newest in town and built in 2002, has a 20-year warranty for the roof, and Piantedosi has been "fighting" with the manufacturer about the problem, he said. The roof has 104 failed seams.
"It's in pretty serious condition, which has to be addressed before winter," Piantedosi said. "We'll do temporary repairs, to get through the winter."
— Bethany Bray
Sept. 11 ceremony
Andover's Sept. 11 ceremony will be held on Thursday, Sept. 11, at 8:30 a.m. at the Andover Town Offices. This will be a brief ceremony honoring the victims of Sept. 11 and marking the seventh anniversary. For more information, contact the Veterans Office at 978-623-8218.
Get the grant you want
The Andover Cultural Council's annual Grant Writing Workshop will be held on Saturday, Sept. 20, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Memorial Hall Library's third floor. Jenifer Lawless, program coordinator for the Massachusetts Cultural Council, will discuss grant writing topics including:
Guidelines for funding with the Massachusetts Cultural Council System
Finding the right match for your project
Writing a grant proposal that wins
Andover Historical Society part of Trails and Sails weekend
"Shawsheen Village, A Different Kind of 'Company Town'" is one of the more than 200 free events offered as part of the Trails and Sails 2008.
The Andover Historical Society is one of 140 organizations in Essex County participating in the seventh annual Trails and Sails on Sept. 26 and 28.
The program will allow residents to "discover one man's fascinating vision of a corporate community where company managers and their families lived and worked together in a virtually self-contained environment. The tour will point out how the village contained a variety of structures: company facilities mills, administration buildings and sales offices, homes carefully divided between upper and middle management, and community spaces commercial, professional, and recreational/social."
The tour will last 90 minutes, beginning Saturday, Sept. 27, at 8:30 a.m. and departing from Brickstone Square, off York Street. Call 978-475-2236 for more information.
September health clinics
The Andover Health Department will offer mini clinics on Monday, Sept. 8, from 2 to 3 p.m. at Andover Commons, and on Monday, Sept. 22, from 1 to 2 p.m. at Frye Circle. Senior center clinics will be held 2 to 3 p.m. each Wednesday, Sept. 3, 10, 17 and 24. No appointment is necessary.
Singers needed for new Merrimack College chorale
Merrimack College is currently recruiting singers for all sections of a new chorale group. There is no audition required, and it's open to Merrimack students, alumni, staff, faculty, and members of surrounding communities.
The new Merrimack College chorale will be dedicated to the Augustinian values of truth, justice, peace, beauty, understanding and love that Merrimack embraces as a Catholic college in the Augustinian tradition.
Rehearsals will be held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. starting Sept. 10 in Austin Hall on the Merrimack College campus.
The chorale will perform two major concerts a year, one of which is scheduled for Dec. 5 in the Rogers Center for the Arts at Merrimack to benefit the Augustinian Mission in South Africa. Singers will perform a variety of seasonal music including Benjamin Britten's "A Ceremony of Carols"; Mao Tsur; and "How Lovely are the Messengers" by Felix Mendelssohn.
For more information, contact Monica Steele, director of Merrimack College Chorale, at 978-430-7922 or e-mail monica.steele@merrimack.edu.
Samantha's Harvest Charity Golf Open
The friends and family of Samantha Gibbs will be hosting the seventh annual Samantha's Harvest Charity Golf Open on Sept. 15 at the Andover Country Club in Andover. The proceeds from the tournament will benefit organizations including the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, Reading Integrated School Experience, Preschool in Reading, Criterion Stoneham Early Intervention Program of Woburn, ARC of East Middlesex, Department of Cardiology at Children's Hospital, Boston, Woburn Launch Program and Special Olympics Northeast Golf Program. Samantha's Harvest also provides scholarships for people entering the field of education to further enhance the lives of those with Down syndrome.
Andover Country Club, the location of this year's tournament, boasts a championship Donald Ross golf course and is one of New England's finest. Lunch and registration will begin at 11:30 a.m. The golf tournament is an 18-hole scramble format with a shotgun start and will begin at 1 p.m. There will be great contests and prizes and a dinner immediately following the tournament.
To register to golf, purchase tickets to the dinner, make a donation to the raffle or silent auction, provide sponsorship or inquire about the scholarships please contact: Samantha's Harvest Co. Inc., P.O. Box 425, Reading, MA 01867; call 781-354-0544; or visit samanthasharvest.org.
Lisa and Rob Gibbs, the founders of Samantha's Harvest, reside in Reading with their three children, Douglas, Alec and 7-year-old Samantha, who was born with Down syndrome. Lisa Gibbs is currently serving a position on the Reading School Committee and is employed by the Winchester School District. Rob Gibbs is a teacher at Woburn High School and an assistant varsity basketball coach at Lexington High School.
Community Health and Safety Fair
The Merrimack Valley Hospital will host the seventh annual Community Health and Safety Fair, co-sponsored with Trinity EMS, on Saturday, Sept. 13, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The fair will take place on the hospital campus at 140 Lincoln Ave. in Haverhill.
The Community Health and Safety Fair will feature numerous interactive screenings and educational stations. Experts will be available to help children properly fit existing bicycle helmets, and a limited number of free helmets will be distributed. The fair's health education incorporates a wide range of topics about adult education, cancer prevention, new medical procedures, CPR, resources for the elderly and much more. Blood pressure screenings will also be available free to the public. Numerous community organizations and companies will be on hand to answer questions and offer valuable information and resources.
The fair will also feature a free old-fashioned barbecue and lots of giveaways and raffles.
For more information, call 978-420-1157 or e-mail mary.oneil@merrimackvalleyhospital.com.
Elder Services offers fall workshops
Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley Inc.'s SeniorNet Learning Center is designed specifically for senior learners and limited to five student per class. It offers adults over 50 a relaxed setting to learn computer skills.
Technology workshops:
Create Greeting Cards, Friday, Sept. 12
How to Click Right, Friday, Sept. 19
Where's my Stuff, Friday, Oct. 3
How to burn CDs, Friday, Oct. 10
Laptop Computers, Friday, Oct. 17
Explore Microsoft Works, Friday, Oct. 24
Computer classes, one day per week:
Computer Basics I, Monday, Sept. 8, 9 to 11 a.m.
Computer Basics II, Monday, Sept. 8 to Oct. 27, 1 to 3 p.m.
Advanced Graphics, Tuesday, Sept. 9 to Oct. 28, 9 to 11 a.m.
Basics Graphics, Tuesday, Sept. 9 to Oct. 28, 1 to 3 p.m.
Internet and E-mail, Wednesday, Sept. 19 to Oct. 29, 9 to 11 a.m.
Exploring Windows XP, Thursday, Sept. 11 to Oct. 30, 9 to 11 a.m.
Intro to Microsoft Office, Thursday, Sept. 11 to Oct. 30, 1 to 3 p.m.
Word Processing, Friday, Sept. 12 to Oct. 31, 9 to 11 a.m.
The class fee for SeniorNet members is $75, or $115 for nonmembers. This $115 fee includes a one-year membership in SeniorNet. Advance registration is required by Sept 3. The SeniorNet Computer Learning Center is located at 260 Merrimack St., Lawrence. For more information, call 1-800-892-0890, ext. 1516, and leave a message.
Alzheimer's Association Northeastern Massachusetts Memory Walk
Join the 16th annual Alzheimer's Association Northeastern Massachusetts Memory Walk on Sunday, Sept. 21, which is also World Alzheimer's Day. The walk begins at Brickstone Square in Andover. This walk combines two others, formerly known as the Northern Essex and Northern Middlesex walks. Form a team or walk as an individual. Volunteers are also needed for the walk to help with pre-walk preparations, hang posters and distribute fliers. Money raised by Memory Walk helps provide care and support for individuals and families touched by Alzheimer's. For more information about the Northeastern Massachusetts Memory Walk, call Debra Katt-Lloyd at 978-937-5576 or debra.katt-lloyd@alz.org, or visit www.memorywalkma.org.
Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society announces MassCats membership drive
The Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society is holding a membership drive for MassCats, an e-mail network of cat rescuers, shelters, foster-parents, bottle-feeders, feral cat trappers, spay-neuter clinic organizers and others. The group is used to post information on meeting announcements, spay/neuter clinics, feline medical and behavioral issues, and allows members to network.
"MassCats is the networking tool I had always wished for," said founder of MassCats Jannel Fitzpatrick. "It has brought over 350 cat-rescuing individuals together to share resources and advice as well as bring assistance to the thousands of cats in need all over the state."
Those interested in helping homeless cats and kittens in their community, volunteering for a cat/kitten welfare organization or would like to learn how to start a group can visit www.masscats.org to sign up or for more information.
New Samaritans help line available
Through a joint effort with the Department of Public Health and in cooperation with the other four Samaritans offices in Massachusetts, the Samaritans of Merrimack Valley is pleased to announce that a new statewide toll-free crisis help line is available at 1-877-870-4673. Now people across the state can reach a Samaritan office anytime of the day or night.
The trained volunteers at Samaritans of Merrimack Valley will continue to answer their current crisis lines, 1-886-912-4673 and 978-688-6607, as well as calls generated from the 978 area code through the new telephone number. Callers using the new telephone number will be directed to the nearest Samaritan location. This new number is not meant to replace the existing crisis lines but to enhance them by reaching new callers.
Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center
Starting Sept. 11, the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center will begin its Volunteer Training Academy. The goal of the academy is to provide community volunteers with the skills, knowledge and confidence necessary to assist victims of domestic violence in a meaningful way. The academy classes will be held on Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m. and will run for 10 consecutive weeks.
Upon completion of the academy training, volunteers will have the opportunity to assist in a variety of programs and services, including a 24-hour hot line, court advocacy program, rapid response program and children's advocacy program.
There are many other opportunities that do not require training, such as special events, outreach projects and administrative work.
For more information about the upcoming Volunteer Training Academy, contact Cintra Warden at 978-465-0999, ext. 13, or e-mail CWarden@jeannecrisiscenter.org.
