Where he works: A recently renovated WWII-era machine shop filled with vintage architectural elements like a chandelier from a hotel ballroom and fixtures from an early Abercrombie & Fitch store. Grand opening was on Thanksgiving weekend of 2010.

What he’s been selling: “We’ve been selling a lot of Asian items, especially from China. We had an item I discovered just before it was going into an estate sale. We estimated it would bring in a few thousand dollars, but it sold for $300,000.”

How the business has changed: “People are bidding from all over the world. A Chinese vase sold at a little auction company–smaller than ours—outside of London for $87 million dollars. Thanks to the Internet, you don’t need to pay to ship something to New York to sell it.”

What he loves about his job: “We’re green. The antique auction business is about recycling furniture. It’s so nice to be able to incorporate a stained-glass window, old doors, or an antique bookcase into a new home. It adds an architectural element you don’t find otherwise.”

Coming up: April 2, Garden Ornament auction; April 9-10, Asian auction; May 6, Fine Art; May 25-26, monthly Estates auction. Kaminski Auction House, 117 Elliot Street/Route 62, Beverly, kaminskiauctions.com.

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“I feel at home, man,” Matt Chewning says, smiling and taking in the hot North Shore summer air, the afternoon traffic in downtown Beverly rolling by. The 28-year-old is a long way from North Carolina, from where he moved with his wife and kids to start a new venture. It wasn’t a job transfer, though. It was the call of God.  Chewning has traveled a long road in his 28 years, from a humble upbringing as a self-described “Jersey punk” to a Southern corporate climber to an impassioned leader of an Evangelical church he is planting on Massachusetts’s not-so-religious North Shore. “Out here, you get all these preconceived notions,” Chewning says, his relaxed Southern drawl contrasting with the rushed, Boston-accented conversations around him. “Christians shouldn’t have sex, Christians shouldn’t drink, or do this or that. Nah, that’s not it. People know what the churches are against, but what are the churches for? So we came here thinking we should let people know what we’re for.”

Genesis of a Jersey Punk

Devotion wasn’t always his thing. Chewning grew up in Woodbridge, New Jersey, a middle-class town south of Newark. His parents divorced when he was four,  his pregnant mother turning from a stay-at-home mom into a single mother of two with no college degree or income.

“I remember summers when my mom would be at work, and I would be at home with my brother,” Chewning says. “For extra cash, I would go around to some of the stay-at-home mothers in the apartment building we were living in and take their trash to the main dumpster for a dollar.”

Tough times got a little better. His mother got a job as an office manager in a dental office and eventually married a police officer, while his father thrived in his career at MassMutual Financial Group. Aside from what Chewning calls the typical bickering of divorced parents, things were relatively normal and stable for him and his brother.

But at the age of 17, Chewning learned that stability could be fleeting. He arrived home from school one day to find that his brother was missing. Chewning and his mother looked for him for hours, until they received a phone call from Child Protective Services, saying they had taken him from school and were sending him to live with their father in New York.

“There was some verbal and emotional abuse going on at the house from my stepdad,” Chewning says. His stepfather was a police officer in one of the roughest areas of New Jersey and hadn’t had any children of his own. “Although he loved us, it was difficult for him to deal with us in a different way than the teenage drug dealers he was used to.”

Despite trouble at home, and despite being a “Jersey punk,” Chewning managed to stay out of any major trouble. “I partied a little and chased girls, smoked some weed from time to time, but nothing more than what a typical 17-year-old kid finds himself involved in during his high school years,” he says. In those days, Chewning found salvation in basketball. The basketball court was his church, the hoop his altar, the cheering crowds his congregation. He played ball every day and describes himself as a “gym rat.” He also feels his talent on the court was God given and protected him from the fate of so many of his childhood friends—lack of direction, prison, even death.

Saved on a Gurney

One week, Chewning’s father took him up the East Coast, from New Jersey to Maine, to visit colleges. One college, Eastern Nazarene in Quincy, stood out. After his tour of the school, the admissions officer sat him down and told him, bluntly and unequivocally, that he didn’t think it was the right school for Chewning. It was a strict, fundamental Christian school with a zero-tolerance policy for the usual college fun. This took Chewning aback, who was quite non-religious and free-spirited. Chewning remembers that conversation vividly. “[The admissions director] said, ‘They’re going to make you go to chapel three days a week, you’ll never be able to have girls in your room, and if you’re caught drinking, smoking, or partying, you’re gone.’” But Chewning was fine with that.

Chewning isn’t sure why decided to go to Eastern Nazarene. His mother was Jewish and non-practicing. His father was a non-practicing Catholic. Religion had never played a role in his life or worldview. The only kind of religious discussion Chewning recalls is when he tried to wear a cross around his neck to school (a fashion trend, not a spiritual proclamation) and his mother made him wear a Star of David with it—but that had less to do with his faith and more to do with divorced parent territorialism. His church attendance was limited to an occasional Christmas or Easter Mass with his grandparents.

“I did literally get dragged out of a church basketball league in New Jersey because I kept dropping the f-bomb and didn’t understand why they didn’t like that,” Chewning says.

But there he was, a student at Eastern Nazarene College, where the academic realm was just a little more conservative than Pat Robertson. After just two weeks, Chewning was already calling his dad to “get me the hell out” of there. He says the people seemed crazy; grown men sang to God, praying to a deity he didn’t believe was listening, and everyone on campus talked about Chewning as needing to be saved.

“All I was thinking was I needed to be saved from these crazy people,” he says.

Chewning eventually befriended one of those “crazy people,” a basketball player named Ricky who was non-judgmental, not aggressively preachy, and who would play a major role in the moment of Chewning’s Christian conversion. One day, while the two headed to basketball practice, Chewning noticed a painful lump in his groin. The boys’ coach dropped the pair off at Quincy Memorial Hospital so Chewning could be checked out. A doctor ran several tests and asked alarming questions about Chewning’s sexual history. Anxious, Chewning began to pray. This was unusual for him—in fact, Ricky offered to pray for him while he was with the doctor and Chewning simply thanked him dismissively. But here Chewning was, praying for answers, and, ultimately, for God to reveal himself.

“In that moment, it was like I knew God’s presence was there,” Chewning recalls. “I instantly had an overwhelming feeling of love, comfort, peace. I didn’t see an angel, the hospital didn’t shake or fill with smoke, there was no blinding light or anything crazy. I just knew that God was there with me. It was a feeling that I had never felt before, and it was surreal.”

The doctor then told him everything was fine, probably just a virus passing through his body. Relieved, Chewning returned to the waiting room to find Ricky asleep. He woke his friend, asking Ricky what it meant to be saved. An amazed Ricky reported that, in his sleep, he dreamed that Chewning would ask him that very question, and that he knew he should have an answer ready for him.

Ricky explained what being “saved” meant to him: man is naturally prone to sin and rebellion against God and, unlike typical Christian church attendance and the  desire to be good, those who are “saved” believe that Jesus has already done the work and that people should follow Christ because they can, not because they have to. This new point of view, along with his doctor’s office epiphany, dramatically changed Chewning, who had expected religion to be about obeying rules.

“I thought a Christian was someone who didn’t drink, smoke, or have sex before they were married, who didn’t listen to bad music or watch R-rated movies, and who went to church on occasion because that made God happy,” Chewning said. “I had no idea how far that belief system was from the biblical truth and that we could know God through Christ alone and not fundamental legalism. That was brand new to me. Rather than trying to earn a relationship with God by trying to do all of the right things, instead I could know God solely on the basis of what Christ has done and believing in him.”

From that night on, Chewning’s life would be set on a new course of spirituality and religious devotion.

Fruitfully Multiplying

His relationship with Jesus wasn’t the only meaningful one Chewning found in college. It was at Eastern Nazarene that he also met a girl, Beth, who would become his wife. Beth was from Warwick, New York, a New York City suburb not unlike the New Jersey town in which Chewning was raised. Beth grew up just 30 minutes away from where Chewning’s father lived, and they were introduced by mutual friends. Matt was a freshman and Beth was a sophomore. But all was not blissful at first. Beth was not all that impressed with Matt or his personality.

“I really didn’t like him romantically, or even much as a friend, for that matter,” Beth says. “When I first met Matt, he was very vulgar and rude and [would] just say what was on his mind, no matter if it hurt someone or not.”

But one night, that all changed. The same night Matt had his revelation at the hospital and became a Christian, he went back to the campus from the hospital and started telling people, including Beth, what had happened.

“It was really cool to see such a transformation in someone,” Beth said. “Because of our mutual friends, we hung out and he literally became a different person. We became best friends quickly, and, obviously, that turned to more.”

The two dated for three years and then took a leap of faith and got married, when Matt was 20. They had their first child when Matt was in his senior year in college. He was also captain of the school’s basketball team and working 40 hours a week.

“Balancing being a husband, then a new dad, with basketball and work, I think, ‘How did I manage?’” Chewning says, adding that his faith and having a strong partner in Beth were key.

The couple would eventually have four children—Daniel, Abby, Ella, and Jacob—and both say that while most young marriages don’t last, theirs has only grown stronger as they’ve matured through their twenties. “Man, I love her to pieces,” Chewning says of his wife. “I definitely married the right girl.”

After college, Chewning began working in Boston for Humanscale, which specializes in workspace ergonomics and helping organizations to create healthy work environments. Two years later, with their family growing, Matt and Beth decided to move to Greensboro, North Carolina, where the cost of living was much lower and where they could buy a new home for significantly less than they were paying monthly for rent in the Boston area. Matt got a job with a different ergonomics company and climbed the corporate ladder, earning a six-figure income by age 25.

But corporate life didn’t fulfill him. He and Beth saw things they liked in a local ministry. They felt like God was lighting a fire inside them to propel them to do more. So Matt decided to launch his own church.

Casting the Net

Planting a church is not to be done haphazardly; about 80 percent of new churches fail in their first year. So Chewning planned carefully and used his corporate networking skills in his new quest. He joined a church-planting network out of Seattle called Acts 29, which specializes in training pastors and assessing their ability to start churches. They tested him in theology, doctrine, and leadership ability and examined the strength and virtue of his marriage. Eventually, Acts 29 suggested he serve as an intern with an existing church to become more adept at ministry. So Matt served as an intern at 1.21 Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, an Evangelical church referencing first-century teachings in 21st-century life.

The Chewnings would not stay in North Carolina, though. Their sights were set on the North. It was in Boston where Matt found Eastern Nazarene and transcended into his faith and where he met his wife, so that same location seemed right for his next venture. Although a little apprehensive at first, his wife ultimately agreed.

“It wasn’t like he sprung this idea on me out of nowhere,” Beth says. “I was excited to come here because it is where I felt God leading our family as well. But, naturally, as a mother, I was anxious for my kids. I wanted to make sure we were in a good area, that the school systems were good, etc. That was the only anxiety I had. I knew we could make a home anywhere. As long as our family was together, we could make any location a home.”

Thus, Netcast Church was conceived. The name Netcast is derived from the Book of Matthew, Chapter 4, in which Peter the Apostle is casting his net to catch fish. Jesus walks by and says, “Follow me, and I’ll make you fishers of men.” Chewning aims to be like early Christian church founders and cast a net to gather those who haven’t found Christ, rather than just setting up a church for those who already have.

The name Netcast is also meant to capture Boston’s thriving technology culture. Chewning wants his church to be relevant in the high-tech age: he spreads his message via Facebook and Twitter and blogs on the church’s sleek Web site.

Dan Milette has been the pastor at Danvers Church of the Nazarene for three years and has gotten to know the Chewnings in recent months, even providing Matt guidance when asked.

Milette says one of the biggest challenges Matt will face is the location. When Milette and his wife, Rebekah, planted a church years ago, they did so in Kansas City. Out here, Milette says, it’s a whole different environment.

“There are challenges to patience, when you want to just get going, but you can’t,” Milette says. “You have to build a core around you, a leadership core. It’s really a gift that God gives to special people, and you have to find those people.”

Milette has also advised Chewning that before he can preach, he must build friendships and trust, which poses its own set of challenges. That’s where the patience comes in.

“It’s all about relationships. That’s the way it’s set up,” Milette says. “It’s about having a personal relationship with God. We do the same thing. It’s got to be about relationships. When people know that you love them and care about them, you earn the right to be heard.”

Gospel According to Matt

Matt Chewning is definitely eager to be heard. After a couple years of planning, the Chewnings packed up and hit the road. It wouldn’t be an easy road, though. Finding housing proved to be a nightmare. They spent months looking for a home they could afford. After seeing a Craigslist ad for a house to rent, Matt drove up to the North Shore to check it out, but another tenant beat the Chewnings to it. The only other house, on Pierce Street in Beverly, was in deplorable condition.

Most people might take this as a sign of bad luck, but Matt calls it a revelation of God’s work. They ended up staying in Massachusetts for nine days instead of the planned three. Eventually, the owners of the unsanitary house took such a liking to the Chewnings that they agreed to gut and renovate the place, ripping up the floors, installing a Jacuzzi tub, gutting the kitchen—renovating the whole place. They offered the Chewnings reduced rent and even threw in utilities.

When recalling this sudden turn of events, Matt references a story in which Jesus feeds 500 people, telling them they only return to Him because of their physical hunger, not their spiritual. Matt feels that for them to only turn to God because they are hungry and want something would be like the 500 people turning to Jesus when they wanted to eat. By struggling and going through despair, Matt said, they were able to connect with God without expecting things in return, with nothing to their names but still having their faith, which led to their fortunate outcome.

“Isn’t that something?” Matt says. “The lesson for us is that God was calling us to live here. He gets us to the point where God is enough, and then He throws in bread.”

Netcast doesn’t have a church building. Instead, Chewning holds services at the downtown Beverly YMCA on Sundays at 10:30 a.m.  According to Milette, this is nothing out of the ordinary for church plants.

“I’d say 90 percent of all new church plants don’t have a building,” Milette says. “There’s not a base of givers yet. It’s a vision, it’s a dream, an aspiration.” In fact, facing financial crisis a few years ago, Milette’s church sold off most of its land. It now has no mortgage and no debt.

While he hopes to have a house of worship some day, Chewning is content at the YMCA. He practices responsive preaching—connecting with the community and engaging people in discussion about God. He feels that basing a church on a piece of real estate would corrupt his mission and lead him to focus sermons on raising money to pay for it all. He wants the church to be about a message, not a building.

“We believe that Jesus is our hero; He is God and historically, He lived perfectly, then He died and He rose,” Matt says, his Jersey roots glimmering through with a slight hint of Newark swagger. “So if all that’s true, then it’s not about giving $10 on a Sunday, is it?”

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Bodiscience, a holistic spa in Beverly specializing in treatments drawn from Ayurvedic and ancient Chinese philosophies, is making the most of the holiday season by reaching out to an often-overlooked segment of the spa-going population: soldiers and their families.

A new program called “Welcome Warriors” offers complimentary Chromatherapy and other services designed to help military families deal with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) brought about by wartime.

“We opened our center in 1991, and since then, we have seen increasing cases of PTSD crop up in our business,” says BodiScience owner Dawn Tardif, who helped conceive the Welcome Warriors Project with Robert and Melanie Sachs, owners of Diamond Way Ayurveda in California. Tardif and her colleagues noticed a spike in PTSD after 9/11 and saw that sufferers were self-medicating in unhealthy ways.

“We’ve had soldiers coming to us who are being deployed as often as four times, and this is taking a toll on the whole family,” Tardif says. “Psychotherapy can have an impact, but physical touch, done intentionally to release emotional traumas, can take them through the healing process more quickly.”

The project has the support of Brig. Gen. James Cook, creator of a non-profit community-based initiative called the Warrior Water Center Project that offers help to returning soldiers and their families. Cook is lobbying for funds to subsidize the wellness treatments, but for now, BodiScience is picking up the costs. To help defray the expense, Tardif and her partners are asking other practitioners to join the project with free or discounted treatments or memberships.

“When a soldier or family member enters our office, the first thing we do is say, ‘Thank you for doing what you do for us.’ Some of us don’t agree with the war, but we put that aside and we don’t judge. They have already gone through trauma, and someone has to help them through it. That’s why we’re here.” 100 Cummings Center, Suite 150F, Beverly, 978-927-9909, bodiscience.com.

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On Saturday afternoons for the last seven years, Kevin O’Connor, host of PBS’s “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House,” has been captured on film climbing and crawling his way through viewers’ houses, remedying their most perplexing home improvement hang-ups. And while O’Connor, who resides in Beverly, has become somewhat of a fixture in homes across the country, what devotees of the shows might not know is that his path to do-it-yourself stardom—and to domestic bliss on the North Shore—was anything but planned.

Kevin O’Connor will be the host Honorary Chairperson of the 2010 North Shore Design Show to be held Saturday –Saturday, May 15 – 22 to benefit the Wenham Museum. Click here for all the details.

A New Jersey native, O’Connor earned degrees from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester and from Boston University, a course of study that would lead him to a career, however brief, in banking. After stints at Fleet Bank and Bank of America, O’Connor, a longtime home-improvement hobbyist and all-around handyman, and his wife, Kathleen, felt the urge to take on a new kind of project: finding a fixer-upper and turning it into their dream home.

“We really wanted to dive into a big, old, historical Victorian home and fix it up, live in it for a while, and either turn it around and sell it or hang on to it,” O’Connor says of beginning the search for their new home. While the couple initially set their sights on Boston, their search proved fruitless. Finally, a friend already living on the North Shore emailed the couple a listing of a Queen Anne-style home built in Beverly in 1894 that seemed to fit the bill. Little did anyone know that the simple gesture would ultimately change the O’Connors’ lives.

The home in the listing, it would turn out, wasn’t even on the market yet—never mind the fact that neither of them had ever been to Beverly—but that didn’t stop the O’Connors in their pursuit. “We really didn’t know much about Beverly because we didn’t have much occasion to come here. But we saw the listing and it was one of those sort of ‘Eureka!’ moments,” O’Connor says. “My wife came up on a weekend. The house wasn’t even on the market yet, and she called the realtor and said, ‘Will you please let me in? I’ll be there in 20 minutes.’ It was that kind of thing. Within two or three days, we’d both seen it and had an offer in on the place, and we were working towards closing on it.”

With their search successful, O’Connor says the next step was getting to know their new town. “After we made the offer and after it was accepted—closing was completed on Halloween of 2001—we looked at each other and said, ‘Wow, what is Beverly?’” At the time, he was working in Boston at the bank and Kathleen was working in New Hampshire, so a tour of Beverly was much needed. “I walked to the train station because I wanted to know what my commute was going to be like,” says O’Connor. “I went out and walked down to the beach, too. The train station was seven minutes away and the beach was three minutes away. Then we were saying, ‘Wow, Beverly is awesome!’ Now we know we love the house and we love the town.’ We just dove in with both feet.” And dive in they did, pouring the proverbial blood, sweat, and tears into the complete and total transformation of their new home.

It was during this initial process that O’Connor had his first encounter with the folks at “Ask This Old House,” whom he emailed in frustration, hoping for guidance in removing some troublesome wallpaper, among other annoyances. “It’s typical in older homes that the outside corners of walls will be rounded, whereas in today’s homes those corners are sharper. We had the rounded corners, and we were scraping plaster and wallpaper and in a couple of those corners needed to be fixed,” O’Connor says. “I just didn’t know how to do it. We were scraping wallpaper in every room of the house, layers of wallpaper, each that had been painted and then wallpapered over. We were scraping like crazy, and this stuff just wasn’t coming off.” Finally, O’Connor says, the pair got fed up. “We thought, ‘There has to be a magic bullet out there, a clever way to do this, and if anyone would know, our friends at ‘This Old House’ would know.’”

Not only was the O’Connors’ email received, but the show’s producers responded with a request to bring the crew out to film a corresponding segment at their home. “We were psyched,” O’Connor says. So the crew, including Tom Silva and painting expert Jim Clark, came out to the home and began filming. Silva and O’Connor filmed a scene on how to replace rounded corners, and then O’Connor and his wife filmed a scene on how to strip multiple layers of wallpaper.

“It was a ton of fun,” O’Connor says. “I remember running down to the front porch as they all walked away and saying, ‘Hang on a second! I’ve got to get a picture of you guys. I’ll never see you again, and I’ve got tell my buddies that you were here.’” After he snapped the picture on the front porch he figured that was the end of it. Turns out, it was just the beginning.

A couple of months after filming his help segment with the crew of “Ask This Old House” in 2003, O’Connor says he received a phone call “out of the blue” from the show’s producers, asking if he’d like to host the show. And the rest, as they say, is history. “It doesn’t happen in this industry at all,” O’Connor says of his serendipitous rise to TV show hostdom. “And the fact that it happened this way is such a testament to ‘This Old House’ and who they are.”

When asked how he was received by the crew and experts at “This Old House,” O’Connor describes his arrival to the show as being met with open arms. “I definitely appreciated it at the time, and I appreciate it even more the longer I was with the crew, because these guys have been together for many years doing this, and I kind of fell out of the sky on them,” O’Connor says. Turnover on the show is a bit of a rarity. Bob Vila manned the reins for 10 years, followed by Steve Thomas. “But they just embraced me as family immediately, and that’s a testament to their generosity, and probably a testament to the chemistry that we had,” O’Connor continues, referring to the experts’ on-set hijinks at the Beverly “Ask” taping.

“I can remember the day we were filming that ‘Ask’ episode with Tom [Silva] and Jim Clark before I had the job. They felt comfortable enough with me to pull pranks on me, gluing my tools to the cabinets in my kitchen and screwing my toolbox shut. Which is kind of remarkable, you know—the guys show up to help me, and they’re out there messing with my tools. But it was because we had a good rapport, and I think they thought I could take a joke and that I appreciated the jokes.” O’Connor says, remembering his crew’s initial reaction, “They just said, ‘Sure, let the kid come out and prove himself. We’re behind him.’”

Fast forward seven years, and O’Connor now is as much a fixture on the popular program as are any of his castmates. But what he’s not, O’Connor admits, or what he’s not trying to be, anyway, is an expert in home improvement like his colleagues. Even with the ample face time that comes with being host, O’Connor doesn’t feel his role is any more important than that of his team of experts.

“My role is to be the proxy for the homeowner,” O’Connor says. “Every weekday evening, I’ve got three million people sitting on their couches watching this show, many of them simply for entertainment, a lot of them out of curiosity and because they’re trying to go through this themselves: ‘How do I fix this? How do I solve that?’ They don’t have the opportunity to raise their hands and say, ‘Tom, I didn’t understand what you said, can you repeat that?’ or, ‘Wait a second, you forgot to tell me how much it costs.’ So, because they don’t have that opportunity, that’s my job.”

Still, despite having his mark on center stage, O’Connor is quick to dispel any notion that he is himself in the same league with Silva, Clark, and the show’s other DIY doyens. In fact, he says, “I spend my time trying to make sure that I don’t give advice on the show, because why would you take my advice when you could get advice from a guy who’s got 30 years of experience under his belt?” Much like those who make up his television audience, O’Connor considers himself a pupil of the guys he shows up to work with every day.

“You can’t imagine how much I’ve learned on this project, because I’ve been in a master class five days a week for the last seven years with the masters of their trades,” O’Connor says. Despite everything he has learned on the set, he says he can’t hold a candle to the people with whom he works because no matter how smart he gets, they continue to get smarter, too. “They’ve got 30 years and three and four generations of this stuff in their blood.”

That’s not to say, however, that O’Connor can’t hold his own on the home front. “I try to be an expert for my own personal edification, and on my own house, I’m getting much better at it. I feel really confident and my list of questions to the guys is getting shorter every year.”

What O’Connor has had to become adept—if not an expert—at is managing a hectic filming and production schedule, one that limits our time with him to an hour-long call on his cell phone. “This Old House” and “Ask This Old House,” or simply “Ask,” as O’Connor calls the latter, deliberately feature different formats and filming schedules in order to address a variety of topics. “Ask,” now in its eighth season, features relatively simple fixes like hanging a new door, installing a sprinkler system or changing out a hot water heater. On the other hand, “This Old House,” which has filmed for 30 years, covers comprehensive project renovations—from conception to completion—that take up an entire season, or 26 episodes.

“It’s a lot of TV to make,” O’Connor says. There’s also the element of travel involved in the filming of “Ask,” which is filmed on-site at viewers’ homes all around the country. “We’ve been to 30 or 40 cities answering homeowners’ questions because it’s a national show,” O’Connor explains. And while most of the projects tackled on “This Old House” are completed in New England, projects in past seasons have taken some of the crew to destinations as far away as London, Bermuda, and Hawaii in order to allow filming to continue during the region’s unaccommodating winters. It’s an opportunity O’Connor welcomes, noting, “We can show off housing styles and practices that differ from those we’d use on homes here in New England.”

O’Connor is also unabashedly enthusiastic in his belief in the shows’ authenticity and their dedication to the viewers, characteristics best demonstrated by the quality and makeup of the shows’ experts, crew, and content, he says. “On our shows, there are no big lights, no wardrobe, no makeup team, there’s really nobody calling ‘Action!’ and there are no scripts,” he says. “It’s real guys doing the work, and we’re having, in my case, conversations with real experts whose jobs first and foremost are the trades that they are in, and not television.”

So how do these shows compare to the more mainstream variety that, somehow, find a way to inject sex appeal into stonework and septic systems? “[The shows] differ from every other home improvement show on TV, which usually involve good-looking people who wanted to get into acting and happened to be able to swing a hammer or who have learned to swing a hammer in order to make a television show,” O’Connor says (no offense, Ty Pennington). “We’re not that. We’re not dressed well. We’re [in] jeans, flannels, and work boots, and [we’re] guys doing the work. It’s right for ‘This Old House’ and it’s just fine with me.“

O’Connor says that when the cameras stop rolling on the “This Old House” programs, it’s back to life—and in most cases, work—as usual for the show’s experts. “I’m the only guy who’s all TV all the time,” he says. “The rest of the guys maintain their own businesses. These guys are still in the field, doing landscaping, working on the best heating and plumbing systems, etc., when they’re not on the air.”

Hard though it might be to imagine, O’Connor does enjoy the occasional day when he isn’t on-air. Even then, though, he’s apt to peruse his favorite neighborhood spots for anything from inspiration to ironwork. “I like those charming little places that have gotten me through our renovations or are unique on the North Shore,” O’Connor says, citing a few specifics, like the E.W. Packard Co., a.k.a. The Tin Shop, on River Street in Beverly, for “some of the highest level artistry out of metal,” and the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts on Water Street, also in Beverly. Other favorite stops include Walker Creek in Essex for handmade antique and new furniture, Beverly’s Gove Lumber for its huge in-stock collection of moldings, and Salem Plumbing Supply for its impressive showroom.

Perhaps most important to O’Connor, however, are those places near home that he can enjoy not as TV host or handyman, but as husband and dad. Places like Appleton and Green Meadows farms, both in Hamilton; Coolidge Reservation in Manchester-by-the-Sea; and the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, a family favorite. As for the North Shore’s restaurant scene, the recently expanded brood—the couple has a four-year-old son and welcomed twins in 2009—has seen limited outings, with the exception of trips to the Atomic Café and a few other favorites on Cabot Street. “My wife and I like to sit at the bar, have some appetizers and a cocktail to decompress,” O’Connor says. “We don’t do it as much as we used to, now with the little ones. That’s kind of our North Shore life.”

As for the Beverly home that started it all? “It’s been our home for seven years now, and we love it. We basically gutted every room of this house and in the process, we did it to suit the way we live our lives. It’s very comfortable, and it fits well for us,” O’Connor says. But he admits that now with five members of the family living under that roof with three bedrooms, at some point they will have to leave, but he hopes to hold onto the property as an investment. “Maybe in 25 or 30 years we’ll downsize and move back into this house. We’re very emotionally attached to this house. It would be very hard to get rid of it.”

Whatever house he ends up in, one thing is for sure: Kevin O’Connor will make it feel like home. “This Old House” airs Saturdays at 5pm on WGBH 2 and “Ask This Old House” airs Wednesdays at 7:30pm on WGBH 2.

His Old House

The house that Kevin and Kathleen O’Connor feverishly gutted and transformed still is an enormous source of pride for the pair. Naturally, we were curious about the home of America’s resident handyman.

“It’s a Victorian in the Queen Ann style, which means it has a lot of interesting roof details,” O’Connor says. The 1890s-era house originally was a one-family home, but between the 1930s and the 1950s, it was converted to house two families, which, according to O’Connor, wasn’t uncommon then due to a poor economic climate.

After decades of meticulous care, later in the century the house fell into disrepair, the state in which the O’Connors inherited it (which also included a pink paint job and red roof, leading the couple to dub the house “The Pink Lady”). “Our half didn’t even have a working kitchen,” O’Connor says. “For months, we didn’t have a light in our bathroom. But despite the fact that it was all beat up, it had beautiful moldings, windows, and all the original doors.” The original front door of the house is a giant, four-foot-wide oak door that O’Connor counts among his favorite features. “The place had become pretty rough and tumble, but it had beautiful bones,” he says.

Of his favorite features, O’Connor says that the house’s windows are spectacular. “They’re very unique. The least ornate windows are 11 over 2, which is the light pattern, and some are 15 over 15—very ornate,” he says. “And we love the way [the house] sets up to the neighborhood.

It’s got a big front porch that opens right up to the sidewalk and street. You sit on the front porch and see everything that’s going on, and people walk by and say ‘hi.’ That’s probably one of our favorite things about it.”

O'Connor's Home After

KEVIN O’CONNOR’S TOP FIVE HOME IMPROVEMENT TIPS FOR NORTH SHORE RESIDENTS

Weatherization

“It’s the most important thing because of where we live and the type of weather we have,” O’Connor says, noting that temperatures in New England can vary by up to 100 degrees during the course of a year. That huge fluctuation makes weatherization critical, O’Connor says.

“Insulating a house is the first thing you should do. It’s becoming easier to retrofit insulation, which is a big issue for New Englanders because we’ve got lots of the existing housing stock.” O’Connor also says that there are state and federal programs, as well as tax breaks, that will help you in this effort.

Windows

“In a perfect world, replacement windows are great because they’re more efficient than old windows, and they’re going to improve both the comfort and the efficiency of the house,” O’Connor says. “The reality is that old, single-pane windows can be just about as efficient as replacement windows. There are a lot of ways for fairly short money that you can improve your existing windows.” He also notes that for those living along the ocean, hurricane windows are a must. O’Connor says that many homeowners don’t realize how critical it is to have a proper window that can sustain certain wind loads. “What most people don’t understand is that if you lose a window in a high-wind situation, you can lose your house. The roof can blow right off if one of your windows is broken or penetrated.”

Paint and Siding

When it comes to applying high-quality paint or siding to your home, O’Connor says there’s no “magic bullet.” You just need someone qualified to do a high-quality job. He also says that homeowners can upgrade their siding. While most people are familiar with vinyl siding, O’Connor is not a fan of it himself because the look of it hasn’t quite been perfected yet. “As an alternative, if you’re going for the look, something that replicates original wood, shingles, or clapboards, go with Hardie board. It’s going to closely replicate the historic look of clapboards or shingles. But it’s really durable.” PVC is another option, particularly for homeowners who are starting from scratch or are doing some renovation in which they’re taking off old siding. “PVC is going to hold up and will never rot.”

Ice Dams

O’Connor says this nasty wintertime problem results when ice in a home’s gutters builds up, thus creating a wall that prevents melting snow from draining off the roof. “The ice on your roof could mean leaks in your house,” O’Connor warns. “It happens all the time, and the solution is to either have a cold roof or to insulate your roof. You can’t have an uninsulated roof that lets the heat up from the house.”

Curb Appeal

“There are a lot of things you can do to your house for curb appeal, and a lot of times people overlook them because they feel so overwhelmed with the paint and the roof and the siding,” O’Connor says. “But my approach is to do one or two little things every year to improve your home’s curb appeal, whether it’s freshening up a porch, putting in a fence, or fixing up the landscaping.” O’Connor notes that he finds the process (and the result) not only very satisfying, but also neighborly.

“So many conversations start in the neighborhood with neighbors doing something to the outside of the houses. It’s a very neighborly thing to do. We live among our them even as much as we live among our families. My thought is, I am building it to live in it, and living in it is the way I communicate with my neighborhood.”

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It started with a collective sigh and a wince. A fundraising campaign was announced in late 2008 with the goal of generating $4.5 million to help cover the operating costs and debt of the North Shore Music Theatre. It was a big number—too big, it seemed—and in the spring of 2009, the curtains closed, staff was laid off, and Beverly’s famous theatre-in-the-round was shut down.

Fast forward one year and oh, have times changed. Theatre fans and loyal patrons of the North Shore Music Theatre are getting a gift this year as the facility reopens under new ownership after financial devastation.

“I saw my first musical at the North Shore Music Theatre,” says Haverhill’s Jessica Damron. “My grandfather bought me a ticket to see Brigadoon when I was nine years old, and I was overwhelmed by the experience. Attending a musical quickly became a family treat, and we saw quite a few over the years.”

Founded in 1954, North Shore Music Theatre opened as a summer stock venue to present successful Broadway musical tours. In the 1960s, after Route 128 was constructed, the theatre became more of an established fixture in the region in its own right, with permanent walls and heating installed. Capacity increased from 1,000 to 1,750 and later to 1,800 seats. In 2005, however, a major fire caused by an electrical malfunction beneath the stage, devastated the venue. Although no one was injured, the damage kept it closed for several weeks that summer—and the debt piled up.

In 2009, NSMT’s debts totaled more than $10 million—including large mortgages on its property and buildings, as well as debts to vendors, the state of Massachusetts, and patrons who had paid in advance for the upcoming season. The theatre launched an intense fundraising effort to carry the 2009 season, but that effort fell short at little more than $500,000. So NSMT closed down and scheduled productions were canceled.

The theater was acquired by Citizens Bank later that year at auction for $3.6 million, and the search was on to find a buyer for the property who might lease it back. Then along came Bill Hanney, an investor and venue owner from the South Shore. Hanney owns Theatre By The Sea and Entertainment Cinemas, a chain of 10 movie theaters across New England. In late 2009, Hanney looked into purchasing NSMT and then agreed to reopen it in June 2010.

“I’m in the business, and I was looking for other venues to buy, and this one’s been on the radar for a while,” Hanney says. “I started following it, and after the auction came up, I went for it.” Hanney entered show business when he was 19 years old. He leased and developed movie theaters and later began booking other live performances, including rock shows, and eventually produced Broadway plays. He became president of Broadway Productions, presenting national tours throughout New England including Annie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Peter Pan and later opened the 800-seat South Shore Performing Arts Center.

Hanney has expanded his movie theater ownership over the years, and he has built, operated, and sold more than 30 cinemas. While he has maintained his enthusiasm for cinema, he has always had a passion for live theatre. “The movie theater business is easy, but this [live theatre] is a more exciting business, and there’s a lot more that goes into it,” Hanney says.  In 2007, Hanney bought and reopened Theatre By The Sea in Matunuck, RI, a move which led him to NSMT.

Hanney says that NSMT will not follow the same path that led it to financial ruin before. He’s working out a new business model that will take effect in 2011 and will involve recreating the circuit theatre concept. Plays and musicals are very expensive to produce—shows at NSMT have cost up to $500,000, and more than half the cost of a production is spent before opening night. What Hanney plans to do is work with other regional theatres to have shows tour in multiple cities. That way, rather than NSMT spending money to produce a play, then strike the set while another theatre does the same, the theatres will share productions and increase their profits, even though ticket prices have gone down 10 percent since the theatre was last open.

“There is such hope for this theatre,” says Evans Haile, director of the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, the oldest summer theatre in the country. Haile is helping Hanney reopen NSMT, which will share productions with the Cape Playhouse as part of the new business model. “For many decades, this is how the circuit happened. My first gig was at North Shore Music Theatre. And now, if people really like a show, they can go to see it in another location.”

Haile is enthusiastic about the reopening of NSMT, its partnership with Cape Playhouse, and what it can do to bring NSMT to regional prominence. “I think it’s very exciting that we can reinvigorate it,” Haile says. “It’s important now and then to reinvent and remind people what’s out there.”

The theatre’s first Broadway performance of the season will be Gypsy, starting on July 6. There will be three productions after that, including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with “American Idol” star Anthony Fedorov as Joseph.

“I want to pick titles that have done well and will do well in this area,” says Hanney, who held auditions in New York City for Gypsy. NSMT will also hold children’s shows and concerts. The building is undergoing renovations and the landscaping will get a major makeover. In addition, the theatre’s restaurant will reopen, but a new name for it hasn’t been picked out yet. Hanney is also looking for a big name in music for a gala opening to be held in June and is working rigorously to win back the theatre’s previous loyal patrons. As of April, about 65 percent of the 2009 subscribers were back. He feels his strong theatre expertise and focus on quality performances will give customers confidence in the theatre. He is also bringing back A Christmas Carol, which has drawn large crowds in the past but hasn’t been performed there for the past two years.

“The audience needs to trust that we’re not going to go out of business like last time,” Hanney says. “I’ve always liked show business, movies, whatever. It’s definitely better than selling bottled water or something.”

–By Bryan Mcgonigle, Photographs by Adam Detour

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Steeped in luxury at Beverly’s East Wind Tea Company.

Fulfilling the demand for good tea is serious business. Like selecting fine wine, the best tea begins with the leaves. Knowing how to choose the right leaves requires skill, experience, and finesse, characteristics Curtis Vouwie has acquired in his life-long love affair with tea. East Wind Tea Company in Beverly Farms is where connoisseurs and novices alike will find Vouwie, the purveyor of the highest quality whole-leaf tea available from producers throughout Asia, Sri Lanka, and India.

Make no mistake—East Wind Tea is not a tearoom. The store sells 15 varieties of loose-leaf tea in 50-gram packs, as well as teapots, teacups, bamboo scoops, and infusers. As your personal tea sommelier, Vouwie is well equipped to advise, discuss, or simply reminisce about the very social nature of tea drinking. “I want to educate people on tea, and more importantly, I want people to enjoy the experience,” says Vouwie, who adds that the demand for high-end tea also spurs from its many health benefits. Recent studies suggest that its antioxidants may inhibit the growth of cancer cells and support cardiovascular and bone health.

But good quality comes with a price, and at East Wind Tea Company, top sellers go for $14 to $16, including Jasmine (green), fragranced with fresh jasmine flowers, and White Tip Oolong (dark with a sweet, orangey, muscatel bouquet). Vouwie says he hopes to have Matcha soon, a powerful, thick green tea often used in food preparation.

“There are times when you want something that’s a better quality, and these teas are discernibly different,” says Vouwie. —Leslie Martini, Photograph by Glenn Scott

For more information, visit the East Wind Tea website, eastwindtea.com or visit the store in person at 8 West St., Beverly Farms, 978-921-4734.

Which Brew? For the ultimate tearoom experience, try these.

1. Crumpet’s Tea Room The delightful atmosphere and menu of homemade crumpets, scones, muffins, imported clotted cream, and old-fashioned, three-tiered presentations keeps customers coming back for dessert with their tea. 56 Water St., North Andover, 978-683-3334, crumpetstearoom.com.
2. Leah Mae’s Tea Room Tucked into the Designed to a Tea consignment shop is this quaint little tea and lunch room known for its homemade soups and variety of individual meat pies, quiches, and of course, excellent tea. 179 Rosemont St., Haverhill, 978-372-0889, leahmaes.com.
3. Wenham Tea House Believed to be the oldest continually operating teahouse in the country, this North Shore landmark turns 100 years old in 2010 and still ranks among the best in New England for tea, home-baked food, and ambiance. 4 Monument St., Wenham, 978-468-1235, wenhamteahouse.com.

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Seating is limited but anyone in the area with a child ages 3-12 who is deaf or hard of hearing or uses American Sign Language as a mode of communication is welcome to attend.  Admission is free and can be arranged by contacting Kristin Johnson, kristinjohnson@beverlyschoolforthedeaf.org.

As a provision of the grant, the troupe will also be conducting a workshop for students at The Children’s Center for Communication/Beverly School for the Deaf the day before the performance.  The students will experience activities about creativity in sign language, body movement, and self-esteem.

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Donations for Project: Prom Night will be accepted through March 9th.  Donations include new and gently used gowns, dressy dresses, accessories, etc. All donations are tax deductible and benefit Beverly Bootstraps Community Services, Inc. Donate and tell a friend.

Beverly Bootstraps Community Services provides critical resources to families and individuals so they may achieve self-sufficiency.  Bootstraps offers emergency and long-term assistance including: access to food, housing stability, adult and youth education, and counseling.  Beverly Bootstraps Community Services is community funded and supported.

For more information contact Jackie Hersey at 978-921-4710

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Enjoy the rest of the story here http://bit.ly/d5Bauh

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Holiday Spa Lounge will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 15, from 5-8 p.m. at BodiScience Holistic Day Spa. The public is welcome to stop by and take advantage of specialty items on sale in the boutique store, and enjoy complimentary mini spa treatments — even discover your personalized Chinese Biorhythm. In between shopping and pampering, relax in the comfort of the BodiScience transition room, where delicious and festive holiday treats from Pralines Bake Shop await you.

Carve time out on Dec. 15 to invest in you, and at the same time, shop for others. RSVP by Thursday, Dec. 10, by e-mailing dawn@bodiscience.com or by calling 978-927-9909. BodiScience Holistic Day Spa is located at 100 Cummings Center, Suite 150F in Beverly. Visit www.BodiScience.com for more information, or call 978-927-9909.

About BodiScience Holistic Day Spa
BodiScience Holistic Day Spa 42.5583 -70.887 offers treatments based on Chinese philosophy — ancient secrets that nurture the mind, body and spirit. These treatments are not luxuries, but practices that are an intricate part of taking care of you and creating balance in your life. Blending a variety of ancient techniques, BodiScience professionals will assist you in creating a more youthful, calm, healthful you with award-winning treatments that include the use of custom-designed machines for lymphatic stimulation, as well as energetic vibration and light-therapy, beneficial to your health and recovery from stress. Through exceptional treatments, the BodiScience experience is designed to evoke a sense of stepping out of a stressful environment and into a place of serenity. Visit www.BodiScience.com or call 978-927-9909 for more information.

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William Hanney said he has signed a purchase and sale agreement with Citizens Bank to buy the property and expects to close on the deal soon.

Full story here

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These are the tales of lost souls said to have spooked North Shore travelers and residents for decades. Who are these restless spirits and what do they want? By Lauren Danahy. Photographs by Christopher Churchill.

“When I was young, ghost stories were as essential to my group of neighborhood friends as the bikes we used to investigate them. I knew the “Gates of Hell” legends of Maudslay State Park were ridiculous at best, but the prickling sensation I felt as I got off my bike to take a look for myself had an effect all its own. The story of the human heads said to be propped up by the spikes of the gate was enough to keep me peddling near the head of the pack on the ride home. These ghosts lived and lurked in the woods we explored, so while we listened to the stories, we experienced them, too.

It’s this kind of upbringing that makes locals privy to ghost stories that otherwise fall below the radar. The historically rich buildings of the North Shore seem to validate the ghost stories harbored there and for good reason, it turns out. From college residence halls to the local Town Clerk’s office, ghosts have come to inhabit all types of local places. But why?

“Older buildings are more comfortable for a spirit to reside,” says Denise Bilodeau, vice president for student development at Endicott College. Nearly 29 years of involvement with student and residence life has molded Bilodeau into quite the expert on Endicott’s very own ghost. She suspects buildings today are made of materials that fail to “create an atmosphere where energy would thrive, like a spirit, like a ghost.”

Not a believer? Pay a visit to some of these places before making up your mind. But regardless of your beliefs, the spirits of Massachusetts’ past are embedded in the landscape and thrive today as their stories are passed on by others like Bilodeau. “And hopefully there will always be someone to pass them on to,” she says of the stories, “because they are rich in history and culture.”

Saugus Town Hall, Saugus

At the Town Clerk’s office every election season, a ghost makes his presence known by way of cigar smoke. “We had a man come to the counter one day,” says Town Clerk Joanne Rappa, “asking, ‘OK, which one of you ladies is smoking a cigar?’” As for the ghost’s identity, theories include a building inspector who passed away while in office and a philanthropist named Charles Bond—both known to enjoy a good cigar. Regardless, the spirit is welcome among the employees and is fond of them, too. The smoke was last detected when long-time employee Patty Flickinger visited the office while on leave. “I’m convinced he came by to see how Patty was doing and to say, ‘Keep up the good work,’” says Rappa.

The Garrison Inn, Newburyport

Ask a Newburyport native and you’ll find that room 408 is said to be haunted by Sarah White Banister, the heir to the building’s original owner. Staff members have seen her there in the past. Recently in a nearby room, a woman staying there alone described talking with a little girl. Another occurrence caused the housekeeping staff alarm when they heard what they thought was rushing water from a third floor room. No guests were scheduled to be there, but inside they found the the television blaring static. Even now, the television can be heard turning on when guests and staff pass by the closed door in the hallway.

Old Hill Burial Ground, Newburyport

The stones of this impressive Newburyport cemetery jut out awkwardly from the grassy hills in all directions. Established in 1729, this cemetery has earned quite the grave-robbing reputation. The infamous Pierce Tomb has suffered three known break-ins, the last of which prompted the crypt to be tightly sealed by a wall of brick. The tomb is rumored to be haunted by a man and a woman who have been spotted leaving it in the evening, only to return late at night.

The Charles Street Schoolhouse, Newburyport

The ghost of the all-boys school brought the city of Newburyport national attention in 1872. On one occasion, the small white hand of a child appeared at the window, but when teacher Lucy Perkins raced outside, she found no one. An excerpt of Perkins’ account appeared in the Springfield Republican, where she described the ghost as a neatly dressed boy, but when she reached out to grab him, “he seemed not like a boy but vapory. . . like a thin cloud scudding across the room.” Reporters churned out pamphlets on the ghost, fabricating the story of a student severely beaten and left in the schoolhouse cellar. The excitement soon dispelled when a group of boys came forward admitting to the hoax, though some believe unanswered questions remain.

Maudslay State Park, Newburyport

It is well known that this park was once the estate of the wealthy Moseley family, who settled in Newburyport in 1805. Part of the foundation still remains, but otherwise, the family is somewhat of a mystery. A young woman is said to haunt the mansion’s foundation in the evenings. More common, though, is an uneasy feeling that you can’t quite put your finger on. Some describe it as a sensation of being watched, or the slight raising of the hairs on the back of your neck that can occur on the warmest of days.

Dungeon Rock, Lynn

After a pirate ship landed in Lynn harbor in the summer of 1658, four men rowed its treasure chest to a place now known as Pirate’s Glen. British soldiers captured and hanged three, but one, known as Veal, escaped, making the natural cave his home. Years later, Veal was said to be killed in the cave during an earthquake. But word of the treasure lingered, and in 1852, Hiram Marble, an avid member of the Spiritualist Church, believed the spirits within the cave would lead him to it. On a quest to validate his Spiritualist beliefs, he spent the remainder of his life digging, inviting local mediums to guide his way until his death. Despite his son’s additional efforts, the treasure was never found. Today, some argue that the story negates the validity of the Spiritualist faith, while others think the spirits were having some fun of their own while leading Marble astray.

Howard Street, Cemetery Salem

The old Salem jail looms beside the Howard Street Cemetery and is said to be the site of Giles Corey’s death during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Corey refused to admit his guilt, and as a result, he was pressed to death with stones—a method intended to force out his confession. Rather than confess, he demanded more weight be added, earning him the title of “Man of Iron.” Corey’s ghost is said to have haunted the cemetery ever since. Some say he placed a curse on the town in his last breath, while others claim to have felt the cool touch of a hand when visiting the burial ground. Regardless, the brutality of the story is spooky enough on its own and effectively haunts the minds of those who hear it.

Hammond Castle, Gloucester

Hammond Castle is no stranger to the paranormal. Psychic fairs and galleries frequent the structure today, just as they did when it was the home of inventor John Hays Hammond and his wife, Irene. Frequent sightings of Hammond’s ghost give merit to the rumors, particularly in the balcony area that overlooks the Great Hall. During a school field trip, the ghost was spotted here by a little boy who accurately described Hammond’s appearance down to his favorite tie. While preparing for an event at the castle, Jeffrey Noonan Justice, a psychic and medium of Salem, says an image appeared to him in a mirror. In what he describes as a “flickering instant,” he saw a female face that he later would identify as Irene Hammond. He describes feeling “enveloped in peace and confidence,” as if he had received  “a big thumbs up from the other side.”

Kent’s Island, Salem

According to Justice, this island is “extremely haunted.” In October of 1935, novelist John Marquand purchased Kent’s Island, where he built a mansion. Marquand’s property was sold to the state after his death, where a lack of funds caused decay. Justice believes there is something deeper at play, pointing out that none of the homes built on the island has survived. According to his experiences, the island is haunted by Native Americans who died there. He paid a visit last year and says of that day, “Messages came saying don’t come back, and  [they were] directed at me.”

Dogtown Commons, Gloucester

Tammy Younger and Judith Rhines, just two of the alleged witches from Dogtown’s infamous days, may be among the spirits that linger on the grounds today. Dogtown is said to be haunted by a woman dressed in black, but Ron Kolek of the New England Ghost Project didn’t see her during his investigation here. Instead, he found the town to be a mysterious “dead zone” where electronic equipment failed and “an eerie calm overtook the landscape.”

Stillington Hall, The Buswell Estate, Gloucester

Caretaker Ginger Evans couldn’t shake the feeling that she was not alone in Stillington Hall, prompting the Cape Ann Paranormal Society to investigate last fall. In the changing room under the stairs, a recording captured a whispered “Yes” in response to a crew member who asked if a spirit was still following them around. Other activity from the investigation included the mysterious ringing of the bell tower, and an apparition caught on camera in the cemetery.

Winthrop Hall, Endicott College, Beverly

A young merchant sailor and his bride once resided here. With candles lit in each window, the wife spent her evenings on the widow’s walk watching for his ship. A brutal storm caused the ship to wreck on the rocks miles from the harbor one night as the wife looked on. Grief-stricken, she hanged herself. “And to this day, she still roams the halls,” says Denise Bilodeau. The “pink lady” makes certain a particular picture in the foyer is always upside down. Students in the past have practiced a ritual on Halloween—they light candles in each window, explore the widow’s walk, then wait by the picture, having turned it upright, to see “the pink flowing dress coming down the stairs” to turn the picture upside down again.

Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, Portsmouth, NH

Jeremy D’Entremont, operations manager of the Portsmouth Harbor Lighthouse, says his wife was the first to hear a man’s voice in the lighthouse. Ross Tracy also heard it, as he painted the lantern room. The voice asked, “What are you doing?” Others have heard the voice, which could belong to Joshua Card, a former lighthouse keeper. In recent years, different paranormal groups have investigated the tower, finding various levels of activity.

Ten Center Street, Newburyport

Aside from veteran staff of this chic restaurant, few have heard the ghostly rumors that circulate at the night’s end as bartenders close up shop. Former bartender Lenny Pearl remembers one night when he encountered a ghost. Darkness fell as he turned out the last set of lights, and that’s when he “felt a breath on the back of my neck, almost like a whisper in my ear.” Another bartender had similar experiences at closing time, where sets of lights turned themselves back on again on two separate occasions—the ghost, like the rest of us, vying for just one more round. Some say a young girl and boy do the haunting, though the stories shift, from a mother-daughter duo to a pair of young boys, depending on the teller. To avid ghost chasers’ dismay, you’re not likely to see the ghost during bustling business hours, though rest assured, seated at this bar, you never drink alone.

Windward Grille, Essex

“You always feel there’s something here,” says owner Tim Kennefick of the spirits that reside at the Windward Grille. Built in 1685, this farmhouse-turned-restaurant is no stranger to the paranormal. Customers and staff have watched unruly cutlery and plates jut across table tops while waiting for their meals. Others have spotted a woman wearing a white gown in the loft above the bar. Kennefick’s wife Vicky has seen some odd things, too. She was vacuuming near a dish of peppermints when, Kennefick explains, a “piece of candy came flying out of the dish,” and rested next to her feet. Though the Kenneficks know nothing of events in the building’s history that might explain the haunting, two psychics, on separate occasions, claimed the ghost’s name is Alice, and felt her presence in the same small room near the office.

Who You Gonna Call

They’re not quite the ghostbuster but if you need to explain the unexplained, these local paranormal experts can help.

J. M. and Kristie Jones

For the Joneses of the Cape Ann Paranormal Society, ghost investigations are all about finding hard evidence. The team has expanded to some 200 members since becoming affiliated with The Atlantic Paranormal Society. Most investigations point to quirky household utilities, but the thrill they get when unmistakable evidence is found, such as a voice caught on tape, is enough to keep them going. Gloucester, 978-335-9092, capeannparanormalsociety.com

Jeffrey Noonan Justice

Justice hails from a family of psychic mediums. His grandmother detected his gift when he was young and encouraged him to develop it through the Spiritualist Church. Justice gives readings through a technique he calls automatic writing, where he writes the messages he receives verbatim. Tarot and palm readings are among other services he provides, in addition to instructional courses. Salem, 978-745-8086, jeffreyjustice.com.

Ron Kolek

Founder and lead investigator of the New England Ghost Project, Kolek will travel as far as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to investigate a haunting. Even better, he invites the public to tag along and experience an investigation firsthand. If you’d rather stay at home, you can read about Kolek’s various experiences with psychic/trance-medium partner Maureen Wood in their new book The Ghost Chronicles. 1176 Merrimack Ave., Dracut, 978-455-6678, neghostproject.com.

Debbie McGee

“It’s not what I know. It’s what they’re giving me,” says psychic medium McGee. While always aware of her gift, she didn’t focus on “working the muscle” until after her mother’s death. She says we’re all born with psychic abilities, but developing that gift takes work. Also a trained Reiki healer, McGee offers a variety of services and instructional courses noted on her website. The Energetic Connection, 100 Cummings Center, Beverly, 978-618-3569, theenergeticconnection.net.

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CONTACT:    Carol LaRosa
clarosa@nsmt.org
978-232-7235

NORTH SHORE MUSIC THEATRE UNABLE TO RAISE FUNDS NEEDED FOR NEW BUSINESS MODEL AND UPCOMING SEASON

(June 16, 2009, Beverly, MA) – North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) officials announced today that the financially distressed theater has failed to raise $2 million in philanthropic commitments to fund a new business model and launch a 2009 season. Although more than $500,000 in pledges have been made since the theater announced a turn-around strategy in mid April, officials of the theater say that time has run out to raise the balance and move forward with its plans.

“In the last two months we have been able to make progress toward our fundraising goal, but sadly, this is not enough to fund a 2009 season and keep the theater open,” said David Fellows, NSMT Board Chair. “Without a season this year, we are unable to address the substantial debts of our creditors and restore the theater’s economic health.”

NSMT’s debts include large mortgages on its property and buildings and debts to vendors, the State of Massachusetts, and subscribers who paid in advance for the 2009 season. Theater officials are in discussions with its senior creditor and are reviewing the options available for liquidating and maximizing the value of the theater’s assets for its stakeholders, as well as identifying potential buyers of the property who might consider a lease back of the theater.

“Our new business model represents a road map for any group interested in reviving the theater in the future,” said Fellows. “We are grateful to our loyal supporters and urge all who care about musical theater and arts education on the North Shore to support any effort that would preserve this cultural resource for future generations.”

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“Art enthusiasts, dog lovers, families, residents and visitors will encounter a unique gathering of compelling ‘American Dog’ sculptures (see below) that are larger-than-life, accessible, and attractive to people of all ages. Bringing art to the masses is valuable to everyone—not only people who support the arts but those who enjoy it,” said Rogers.

Dale Rogers Dog Sculptures

This solo exhibition represents more than two years of planning and creation.  Rogers is solely funding the traveling exhibition with an investment of more than $200,000.

“Dale sees this tour as an excellent opportunity to attract national attention to his work as a socially responsible artist with the intention of partnering with a corporate sponsor that shares these values and who can help him take this exhibit to Boston and cities across the nation,” said Kelly Martin, spokesperson for Rogers. “Dale hopes this event is appreciated by all and will consider it a success if people get involved,” added Martin.

For more information, including details about how to get involved, please visit: www.dalerogersstudio.com

About Dale Rogers: Dale Rogers, an award-winning metal artist respected within the arts community, creates sculptures out of cor-ten and stainless steel. Dozens of his pieces are seen in public spaces across the U.S.

2009 Tour Scheudle:

Bradford Common, Haverhill, MA – August 6th-11th, 2009

Peirce Island, Portsmouth, NH – August 13th-18th, 2009

Bartlet Mall, Newburyport, MA – August 27th-September 1st, 2009

Beverly Common, Beverly, MA – September 3rd-8th, 2009

Kerouac Park,  Lowell, MA – September 10th-15th, 2009

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Making the Landmark Auction run (l. to r.): Director of Alumni Relations and faculty member Jeff Fauci, Auction Co-Chair Elizabeth Clifton (Aptos, CA), Parent Karen Ansara (Essex, MA), Auction Co-Chair Karyn Zervalis, (Manchester/Vero Beach), and faculty member Michael Hildebrandt.

Auction Co-Chairs and parents Karyn Zervalis and Elizabeth Clifton were pleased to have such an energetic crowd hosted by celebrity auctioneer Billy Costa of NECN’s TV Diner and Kiss 108 FM radio and serenaded by the Landmark High School Chorus.

The silent and live auction and dinner were held at the Danversport Yacht Club on April 15, 2009.
PHOTO CAPTIONS: © David Pratt Photography

Celebrity auctioner Billy Costa of NECN's TV Diner and Kiss 108 FM radio works the crowd.

Gina Citrano and guest check out silent auction items.

About the Landmark School: Founded in 1971, Landmark School is a leading coeducational boarding and day school specializing in language-based learning disabilities for grades 2-12.  The elementary, middle, and college preparatory high school programs emphasize the development of language and learning skills through one-to-one tutorials and a skill-based curriculum.  The school provides a highly structured and supportive living and learning environment that is tailored to the needs of each student.  Landmark’s mission includes an extensive Outreach Program for professional development courses, workshops and publications for educators, administrators, clinicians and parents.

For more information, please visit the Landmark School online at: www.landmarkschool.org or at their Prides Crossing location: 429 Hale Street, Prides Crossing, MA  01915

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In July of 1776, Captain John Fisk, captain of the brig “Tyrannicide,” set sail from Salem in search of British merchantmen with many New Englanders on his crew, including Beverly, Gloucester and Salem men. The events of the voyage were long forgotten until Ahern read the ship’s logbook. There he discovered the story of a mutiny on board one of America’s first commissioned warships.

In addition to the immediate events of this fateful voyage, Mr. Ahern has performed local research on the lives of some of the crew members.

Dennis Ahern is past vice-president of the Arlington Historical Society and frequent speaker at historical and genealogical conferences. His talk is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, please call: (978) 921-6062 or email: bev@noblenet.org

Start Time: 14:00
Date: 2009-05-17

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(April 15, 2009, Beverly, MA) –  North Shore Music Theatre (NSMT) officials announced a turn-around plan today that would deliver a six-show musical theater season, along with its traditional production of A Christmas Carol and other concerts and educational programs, at nearly half the cost of previous seasons, a $4-million savings in annual expenses. The plan’s success hinges on the theater’s ability to raise $2 million in donations by this July to jumpstart a new business model and launch a 2009 season.

The business model, developed and refined over the last several months, calls for “co-production” with other regional theaters whereby the partner-theaters share shows and their associated expenses. Through co-production NSMT will be able to deliver each show at dramatically lower costs, while maintaining the high artistic quality that audiences have come to expect.

“Our business model is a critical step in the theater’s financial recovery,” said David Fellows, Chair of NSMT’s Board of Trustees. “We also must restructure our balance sheet and enhance our fundraising capability. If monies are not raised in time for a 2009 season, we would continue our fundraising efforts toward a 2010 season next summer, but would run the risk of our creditors giving up on us.”

NSMT’s co-production venture and upfront contributions of $2 million would enable a 2009 season to begin in July and continue into the fall, closing in December with A Christmas Carol. The following season would commence at the beginning of the summer. The initial ’09 season line-up advertised in advance to NSMT subscribers is likely to change based on negotiations with the partner-theaters; however, the shows will consist of popular, mainstream, musical theater hits.

“The shows will still be original for the season but will have a two-week instead of a three- to four-week run, and with shared production expenses, actual costs will be 40 percent less than in the past,” said Barry Ivan, NSMT’s Artistic Director and Executive Producer. “We will adapt each show to our specific space and audience, putting our signature on it. In a way, we are returning to our roots. Years ago NSMT had great success working in partnership with other theaters.”

Though NSMT is ready to run with a new business model, it still faces the financial challenge of delivering a 2009 season and making good on its commitment to subscribers, many of whom have paid in advance for their tickets. “Some subscribers have generously converted their subscriptions to donations,” said Fellows. “But for those who may not be able to do that, they have a credit with the theater and we appreciate their continued patience and understanding as we work toward delivering a season, if not in 2009, then hopefully in 2010.”

“We have work ahead of us but we have a viable business plan,” Fellows added. “We need the funding to launch the new business model and we need the continued cooperation of our creditors and the support of our donors to have a future. With their backing, our revival could serve as a national model to other performing arts organizations who are trying to survive these challenging economic times.

“We are grateful for our loyal supporters and urge everyone who cares about North Shore Music Theatre to make as generous a contribution as possible to assure that this theater and local cultural resource is here for the benefit of future generations,” said Fellows.

One of the largest nonprofit professional theaters in New England and the second largest nonprofit arts organization in Massachusetts, NSMT has produced dozens of new musicals, including national and world premieres, earning it a reputation as one of the most popular theaters in the U.S. Its Theater for Young Audiences, Academy of Music Theatre and school outreach programs have reached more than two million children and young adults across the state.

To donate or make a pledge to NSMT, please go to http://www.nsmt.org and complete the appropriate form.

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There are only 2,000 tickets being sold, and as of this week, and only 500 of them have been purchased.

This Raffle Trip Prize includes four round-trip airfare tickets from the continental US to the Virgin Islands, 7 days & nights lodging at the Maho Bay Resort (www.maho.org) and $1,000 cash for food and taxis… all for only $20 a ticket!

The lodging can actually accommodate 6 comfortably and is reserved for April 18th-25th, 2009 (school vacation), but the dates are flexible through November 21st, 2009.

The Raffle Tickets are only $20 each and the drawing date is quickly approaching on April 3rd, 2009. You and your family could be going to the Caribbean in less than one month!

Please help to support Beacon Christian Academy by purchasing tickets.

You can purchase tickets online at:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=4248269

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The event will benefit teacher salaries and educational programs through the school’s Annual Fund. A silent and live auction will feature a wide range of items including jewelry, vacations, restaurant and spa gift certificates to be hosted by celebrity auctioneer Billy Costa of NECN’s TV Diner and Kiss 108 FM radio. The Auction Committee and Co-Chairs, Karyn Zervalis and Elizabeth Clifton, have been busy planning the evening, which will feature a performance by the Landmark High School Chorus and an exhibit of student artwork.

Tickets are: $50 per person, which includes cocktails, dinner and dessert.

For details and reservations, please call Paula Prifti Weafer at: (978) 236-3408, email: pweafer@landmarkschool.org, or visit: www.landmarkschool.org

LANDMARK SCHOOL – Founded in 1971, Landmark School is a leading coeducational boarding and day school specializing in language-based learning disabilities for grades 2-12. The elementary, middle, and college preparatory high school programs emphasize the development of language and learning skills through one-to-one tutorials and a skill-based curriculum. The school provides a highly structured and supportive living and learning environment that is tailored to the needs of each student. Landmark’s mission includes an extensive Outreach Program for professional development courses, workshops and publications for educators, administrators, clinicians and parents.

Start Time: 18:00
Date: 2009-04-15
End Time: 22:00

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This year’s special guest is Dr. Judith Sturnick, president of Montserrat College of Art. Dr. Sturnick will present a one-half hour talk on the role Montserrat College plays in the community, including the new residence halls currently under construction on Winter and Essex Streets. A question and answer session will follow.

Dr. Sturnick was appointed president of Montserrat College of Art in June, 2007. She is an accomplished pianist and draws in pastels.

The meeting is open to the public. Refreshments will be served, and the library is handicapped accessible.

For more information, please call: (978) 921-6062.

Start Time: 19:30
Date: 2009-04-02

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The ride is a 28 mile bike-a-thon that starts in Lynnfield rides through Middleton, Danvers, Beverly, Manchester and ends at stage Fort park in Gloucester. The ride is in support of the fight to Eliminate cancers striking young adults.

To ride, volunteer, or otherwise be a part of this event, please contact Director Lorraine Sacco at: (781) 632-2025.

For more information, please visit: www.reidsaccofoundtion.org or www.reidsride.org

Date: 2009-07-19

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The breakfast will run from 8am-11:30am, and will include all the pancakes you can eat, scrambled eggs, sausage, ham, applesauce, coffee, tea, and a variety of juices.

Tickets are: $4 for adults and children 12 and older, and $3 for children under 12.

In order for a portion of ticket funds to go to the Bookmobile, tickets
must be purchased at the main library or the Farms Branch, or on the Bookmobile. Tickets will also be available at the Rocci Post the day of
the event.

For more information, please call: (978) 921-6062, or email at:
bev@noblenet.org

Start Time: 08:00
Date: 2009-03-29
End Time: 11:30

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Enjoy a stroll through the Sedgwick Gardens which will be in peak bloom. House and garden tours will be available and horticultural experts will be on hand to answer gardening questions.

The sale opens at 9am for Trustees members; 10am for the general public. Not a member? Join that morning!

For more information, please call: (978) 921-1944 ext. 4018

Start Time: 10:00
Date: 2009-05-30
End Time: 14:00

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“We’ve been making shots of this drink for our regulars and they love it,” says Paras, who plans to serve it two ways: with or without the muddled strawberries. “Our male customers tend to order the fig-infused tequila on its own. They say it sips like a Scotch.” But if you like it sweet, Paras says, make sure you ask for the strawberries. Soma, 256 Cabot St., Beverly, 978-524-0033, somabeverly.com. —Jack Morris

Don Julio Fig-Infused Strawberry Martini
Serves 10
The infusion
1 bottle Don Julio Reposado (750 ml.)
3 cartons fresh figs (about 1.5 lbs.)
2 vanilla beans
3 sticks cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar

Chop figs into small pieces. Slice vanilla beans in half and scrape out seeds. Place figs and beans into a large mixing bowl. Add cinnamon and brown sugar. Toss then place ingredients slowly into hot skillet pan. Sear until mixture becomes a soupy mash (be careful not to cook figs through). Place all contents into bowl and add tequila. Stir thoroughly and let cool. Cover and keep in cool, dry place. Stir for two minutes each day for one month. After one month, strain once through regular strainer (being careful not to press down on figs). Use a finer strainer a second time, then a coffee filter a third time. Should be left with a golden liqueur.

The drink
2 ice cubes
3 strawberries
2.5 oz. infused tequila
Splash of cranberry juice
Makes one drink: Place ice in a glass with two strawberries. Muddle. Add infused tequila, cranberry juice. Cover, shake, and strain into martini glass. Garnish with a strawberry.

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It was the press release that many were hoping to never read. “The not-for-profit North Shore Music Theatre, faced with the reality of the current economic crisis, announced today that without immediate philanthropic support it will close its doors after 55 years of providing performing arts and educational programming to millions.” That was December 28, 2008.

Unable to cover its operating costs, the theatre put the call out to its fans and supporters with the goal of raising $500,000 by the end of January and another $4 million by the end of April. Money began pouring in, but not enough to keep the performances running. Fifty-seven employees were laid off in mid-January and the music came to a halt. At press time, more than $400,000 had been raised, enough to keep it afloat until April.

[Show as slideshow]

Problems for the theatre first began piling up after a fire in 2005. The debt incurred as a result of renovations, combined with lackluster ticket sales, lower than expected donations, and a struggling national economy, led up to the December 28 press release.

But there’s far more to NSMT than just balance sheets and box office numbers. We decided to ask some of the people who helped to make this Beverly stage a local institution what the theatre has meant to them. Overwhelmingly, the sentiment was that this is more than just a stage; it’s a family, and to see it disappear would be a tragedy for everyone on the North Shore. What follows is a brief look back at the North Shore Music Theatre told through a few voices from its past.

Memories, All Alone in the…

Betty White (“The Boyfriend” and “The King and I,” 1960):Performing there was so much fun. I was rehearsing “King and I” while doing “The Boyfriend.” Two such delightful shows to do. We would rehearse with the whole company in the morning and then come back to do the show in the afternoon. Allen [Ludden, White’s late husband] and I would always check the cars in the parking lot to see how many people would be coming to the show. And once I got in there, all these little kids that I knew so well who had watched us rehearse earlier that day were running around with our makeup all over their faces, asking me “Who am I?”

Dixie Carter (“Romeo and Juliet” and “Twelfth Night,” 1971): I’ll never forget the children there. The students would wiggle paper clips back and forth until they broke in two; then, with the sharp broken pieces, they could create deadly slingshots with rubber bands. During a matinee of “Romeo and Juliet,” one of these paperclips nearly hit the eye of the actress playing Juliet. She stopped the play and told everyone in the audience that this was not worth it to her. “I’m not going to give you one of my eyes,” she told everyone. “I’ll be leaving the stage now and once the teachers have picked up all the paperclips, then I’ll come back.” The children were mischievous. They got it, though, and were very grateful for what they saw. Every time we came out for a curtain call, they were on their feet applauding. It made it all worthwhile because the children by the end of the performances just loved it.

Jon Kimbell (Artistic Director and Executive Producer, 1982-2007): I loved every day there and have such a passion for the theatre. It wasn’t like I was going to work. It was a shining beacon in the country for education and the development of new musicals. Everyday was an adventure.

Barry Ivan (Former Director and Choreographer, Current Artistic Director and Executive Producer, 1995-present): As someone who has been at many theatres nationally and internationally, what’s great about working here is that you completely have to think out of the box. By working in the round, you have to look at it from all sides. Actors have to think about where they’re walking at all times. Every single artist, actor, designer says this is the most freeing experience they’ve been involved in. As a choreographer, I can’t hide anyone anywhere in the round. You have to play to people’s strengths and the effect of that is that everyone feels their part is important because they’re always in front of the audience.

Maureen McGovern (“Letters From ‘Nam,” 2001): I will never forget the production of “Letters From ‘Nam.” Two days into it, September 11 fell upon us all. The piece is a very emotional piece to begin with, but it had great humor as well as strong political statements. It was a whole gamut of emotions throughout the evening. We didn’t work the night of September 11 but we did a matinee the following day with a performance in the evening. Wednesday at 1:30 I got a call from my stage manager. He said, “Do you remember we have a show at 2pm?” I hadn’t even showered and we were 20 minutes from the theatre. I put my makeup on in the car. Got there at 2:04. Got in the door, ripped my clothes off, got into costume and was on stage at 2:07. It was hard the first couple of nights getting through the show. At the end of the show, we always acknowledged those who served in Vietnam and those who we lost. Everyone stood up and wept and cheered. As the week went on, we had asked anyone in public service to stand up—first veterans, then firemen, policemen, those who give their lives for the safety of others. It was an intensely emotional experience and an amazing life-transforming moment. We all needed a release of some sort after what happened and this was very cathartic for all of us.

Kimbell: “Letters From ‘Nam” wasn’t selling well initially, and then 9/11 happened. It was like night and day. It was amazing how that piece hit home with everyone.

Milena Govich (“Nine,” 2004 and “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” 2005): Barry Ivan directed “Nine” with Robert Newman. I played Carla, the vamp, who had a big sultry number early in the show. Barry decided to stage it in the shower. I came up in a working shower with five nozzles, lots of steam, and a door. I initially thought that’s crazy and brilliant all at once. It comes up through the center of the stage, I’m singing, wearing a towel, and halfway through the number the water starts spraying. It’s a moment in my acting career that I will never forget. The audience loved it.

Geroge Dvorsky (“The Full Monty,” 2005, “A Christmas Carol,” 1989-2005, and many other performances, 1987-2005): During “The Full Monty” in 2005, there was no way to do a light wall. We had to be butt naked with people five feet in front of us. Initially, Kimbell told us to stand naked with our backs to the audience; then we said, “If we’re going to do it, let’s just do it.” It was like a rock concert. People were so nervous for us that they really got into it. That first time, it felt like the lights were on for two minutes. It was one of the most thrilling experiences of my 30-year career. The audience was going wild and crazy, clapping and chanting.

Theater in the Round
White: You’re surrounded by the audience and you change your whole performance to play to everyone so that nobody feels like they’re behind you. It’s hard to have a fourth wall that goes all the way around. And you’re moving around a lot. I had to dance in these stiff shoes for “The King and I” and got infected blisters. Allen would have to bandage my heels when I got home. It was a painful.

McGovern: I enjoy working in the round. I make sure that I included everyone—somehow bringing them to me. It is a large place, but no one is that far away from you, so it has a great intimacy.

Kimbell: I love working in the round—it’s a communal experience. It goes back to telling stories around the campfire and all the way back to the Greeks. When something happens that is emotional, you’re really brought into it. You’re much more connected to the action. If I could take you up there with a houseful of people, you would sense instantly what I’m talking about. There’s an instant connection.

Govich: I had never performed in the round before. There is absolutely nowhere to hide—you can’t get away with anything. You are always downstage center. There’s no such thing as being stuck in the back row. It was very freeing for me because there’s something to react to at every single angle. Barry Ivan made it easy for me. He would start rehearsal by giving a tutorial about working in the round. While you can be seen all the time, you can also be blocked by other people at times. So we had to be aware of the angles of our bodies. He was very clear about what would work and wouldn’t work.

Dvorsky: You have to be true to your character because someone is seeing you as soon as you walk in. You’ve got to stay in character. The aisles are an extension of the stage, so you can’t daydream and let your mind go somewhere else. You’ve got to be there mentally 100 percent of the time.

An Uncertain Future
White: [The audience was] always very warm and kind—and that’s the beauty of a neighborhood theatre. They feel like they more or less own it and they spoil you at the end. This stage keeps theatre personalized to everyone. If it closes for good, they’re going to feel the loss of that afterwards for some time.

Kimbell: There was a real opportunity to develop an arts center with theatre, concerts, and education. We were reaching 100,000 young people every year and developed the Youth Performance Academy (300 students each year) as well as a summer program with Governor’s Academy. If this theatre closes for good, this is going to affect so many people.

Ivan: People are truly wowed because of the intimacy factor of this theatre—being close to the stage. People are usually surprised at the story telling. If it closes for good, it will truly be a shame. The theatre is the creative economic engine of the region. Unfortunately, this is happening to a lot of theatres around the country.

Dvorsky: The audience was great over the years. They were always thrilled and generous and always leapt to their feet. The theatre has to survive. It’s such a great place to work and it’s like family there. To close it would be a real hit to the community. I can’t believe this is happening. —Jack Morris

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The 2009 walk will take place at Lynch Park in Beverly from 10:30am-2pm on May 17th, 2009.

To donate, or for more information, please call: 1 (800) 766-9449 ext. 134, email: mhalpin@arthritis.org, or visit: www.northshorearthritiswalk.kintera.org

Start Time: 10:30
Date: 2009-05-17
End Time: 14:00

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Relay for Life is a 12-hour walk where individuals create teams and raise funds to support cancer research, patient services and to help with cancer related programs.

Relay is a great way to bring together Endicott College students and surrounding communities to fight for a cause that affects many.

The night involves fun and games, as well as ceremonies remembering those we have lost to cancer and celebrating those who have overcome cancer all while fighting back for a cure. This year our goal is to have 30 teams join in this cause and raise $25,000 to
donate to the American Cancer Society. If you are interested in creating a team or donating to the cause please visit our website: www.relayforlife.org/EndicottCollege

For more information or questions, please contact the Endicott Community Service Office
at: (978) 232-2241.

Start Date: 2009-03-27
Start Time: 18:00
End Date: 2009-03-28
End Time: 06:00

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As an added incentive to attend the annual bridal open house, any bride that books her wedding the day of the open house will receive 20% off your room rental in 2009 $ 10% off in 2010.

For more information & to RSVP please call 978-867-1800 or email info@wyliecenter.com
Date: 2009-02-22

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The event will include a silent and live auction, dinner, beer & wine, live music, and more!

The school is working to raise funds for their Early Childhood Program, called “Parent Infant/Toddler Program” (PIP).
Recognizing the family as the most critical educational component in a young child\’s life, Beverly School for the Deaf offers family support and eduction through PIP.

For more information, or details about attending the event, please contact Kelsey Hubacker, Development Director for the Beverly School for the Deaf.

Kelsey can be reached by phone at: (978) 998-9673, or by email at: kelseyhubacker@beverlyschoolforthedeaf.org

Start Time: 19:00
Date: 2009-05-08
End Time: 22:00

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The event will include silent and live auctions and a full course dinner, followed by a wonderful evening of live music, featuring 16 of the region’s most talented vocalists who will compete for the title “North Shore Star.”

At the dinner, a panel of three professionals theatre and entertainment judges will select the winner who will receive cash and other prizes. All proceeds from the event will sponsor The Beverly Rotary Foundation scholarship and charity endowment, which continues to grow each year in terms of scholarship awards and charitable outreach to the Beverly community.

Talent is being pre-screened, and interested vocalists are asked to audition at North Shore Music Theater, on January 5th, 2009 from 6:30pm-9pm.

Tickets for the North Shore Star event are $75 per person, and reserved table of 8 are available for $600. Early booking is recommended.

For more information, ticketing, or auditions, please call Michael Harrington at: (978) 232-0003.
Start Time: 06:00
Date: 2009-03-14
End Time: 11:00

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The celebration will be held Friday, January 16th, 2009 from 3:15 to 4:15pm.

Advance registration for this free event is required. Please call: (978) 921-6062 to register, or for more information.
Start Time: 03:15
Date: 2009-01-16
End Time: 04:15

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Created by the American Pie Council, National Pie Day is dedicated to the celebration of pie.

Bring a homemade or store-bought pie to the library to enjoy with warm beverages.

The event is free and will take place in the Sohier Room on the first floor of the library.

For more information, please call: (978) 921-6062, or visit: www.piecouncil.org
Start Time: 00:00
Date: 2009-01-22
End Time: 00:00

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In addition, community members will meet at the Beverly Depot train station, in the Veteran’s Park opposite the Beverly Post Office for Christmas Caroling from 5:30pm – 7:30pm.
Community members will be caroling for commuters until 6pm, and then spilt into groups of carolers that will parade up and down Cabot and Rantoul Streets, and conclude back at the train station.

For more information, please email: Jan Preston at: prestond@comcast.net

Start Time: 17:30
Date: 2008-12-11
End Time: 19:30

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Maison Esthetique Christiane Bourque Spa, Danvers
www.cbourquespa.com

There were a lot of categories that our “BONS” committee worked on, but only one nearly brought two in our editorial staff to blows…ultimately it was settled with a tie. At Bodiscience, each client undergoes an extensive medical intake before any of the highly trained team members deliver a host of holistic services based on Chinese and Aryuvedic traditions coupled with high-tech tools. It’s consistently five-star customer service in this 4,000 square foot serene oasis in Cummings Center.

Maison Esthetique Christiane Bourque Spa is a welcome retreat for the body and mind. The elegant setting offers the ultimate in luxury and comfort. Of particular note is the lovely waiting room brimming with warmth and hospitality; add the services and you feel like you’re on a vacation, minus the air travel.

Readers’ Choices: Interlocks Salon and Day Spa, Newburyport; La Belle Femme, Marblehead; Andrew Michaels, Salem; Bella Vita Salon & Day Spa, North Andover; Spa Ni’Joli, Methuen; Moksha Spa and Wellness Center, Methuen; M.Lekkakos Spa, Salon, and Boutique, Wenham

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The North Shore is fortunate to have this treasure in our own back yard. The talent showcased in the theater in the round is truly amazing. One editor recalls the joy of introducing her children to the wonder of live musicals at North Shore Music Theatre. Everyone agreed that it’s always a highly entertaining experience to attend the Theatre, whether it is to see a classic or a contemporary production. A round of applause!

Readers’ Choices: Gloucester Stage Company, Gloucester; Firehouse Center for the Arts, Newburyport; Salem State College Theatre, Salem; The Griffen Theatre, Salem

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Celebrations Gourmet Catering is synonymous with creative and inspired menus. When the event is being catered by Celebrations, you are in for a feast.

Readers’ Choices: Timothy S. Hopkins Catering, Ipswich; Tiger Lily Caterers, Beverly; Vinwood Caterers, Ipswich; Classic Cooks Catering, Gloucester; Harborside Catering, Newburyport

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An OMG European‐style pastry shop. We’re talking super buttery croissants, mini pastries and mini truffles to die for plus a hazelnut torte worth trading your first born for a bite. Pastries made with passion for palates that appreciate the best.

Readers’ Choices: Piro’s Bakery, Methuen; Martha’s Bread Basket, Danvers; A & J King Artisan Bakers, Salem; Central Street Bakery, Peabody; DeFusco & Son Italian Bakery, North Andover

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From its early days in a tent to the newly-refurbished 1,500-seat theater, NSMT has consistently brought new and classic productions to those of us off- off- way off- Broadway. Their annual special-effects production of “A Christmas Carol” should not be missed.

Readers’ Choice:
Firehouse.Newburyport – Grog.Newburyport
Crane’s Estate.Ipswich – Chit Chat Club.Haverhill – Palmer’s.Andover

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Owner Dawn Tardif will ensure your visit will be the peak of luxury and serenity. Services are heavily inspired by ancient techniques from China and India. Their Tibetan treasures foot treatment will have you walking on air.

Readers’ Choice:
Interlocks.Newburyport – Andrew Michaels, Salem
Bella Vita.North Andover
Spa Ni’Joli, Methuen – Indra, Andover

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You’ll feel right at home in these three comfy and stylish stores among the plush furniture and one-of-a-kind imports from Europe and the Pacific Rim.

Readers’ Choice:
Milieu.Newburyport
Timeless Interiors.Beverly Farms
Savoir Faire.Andover
Harmonious Interiors.Salem
Piari Luna.Marblehead

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