Category Archives: Newburyport

The city of Newburyport, MA, the small, coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, 35 miles northeast of Boston.

Newburyport, Paid Parking

What I sense as I walk around town, on the subject of paid parking for downtown Newburyport, is still a deep, conscious and unconscious resistance.

Not to the degree that the resistance to downtown Newburyport parking existed when it was proposed about 10 years ago, but it still runs deep.

And my father, who was a very astute man, I think would have said, that the resistance is not just about paid parking, but possibly that people might feel that they are “losing their town.”

I think he would be right.

And I asked Mayor Donna Holaday about this. Her response was, as I understand it, that, yes, there could well be a feeling of a loss of control.

But to make sure people feel that they are in control of their town, the mayor, as I understand it, is proposing, for a fee, and a hugely discounted fee for seniors, a sticker for residents that not only would provide free parking for Newburyport’s downtown, but also for Newburyport’s compost heap, and for parking on Newburyport’s Plum Island Point. And there would be something worked out for businesses and people who work downtown (specifics not asked by me) as well.

So I am very impressed by our mayor. It does not appear that Mayor Donna Holaday would like to mess with the people of Newburyport as far as downtown parking goes and torture them. It appears that her goal would be to give the people of Newburyport a Newburyport parking Christmas present instead.

Newburyport, Planning and Development

As far as civics goes, the thing that most fascinates me is Planning and Development. Especially when it is done well.

And in looking over the job description for the job of Newburyport Planning and Development Director, two things struck me.

One–the emphasis is on zoning, zoning, zoning–planning, planning, planning, and in mind this is a very good thing. I love this.

Two–Under “Knowledge, Skills and Abilities,” there is a very interesting paragraph: “Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with City officials, contractors, architects, land developers, associates and the general public.”

Another words the onus is on the Planning Director to get along with people who work at City Hall and the various architects and developers, etc., not visa-versa.

And that small paragraph tells me volumes about how our new mayor, Donna Holaday governs.

The emphasis appears to be on “team,” not on anyone person, no matter how brilliant, when it comes to the workings of running the large business of Newburyport’s City Government.

And from what I understand there is a wealth of highly qualified and exciting applicants from all over the country.

I am going to be very interested in how the whole process of selecting Newburyport’s new Planning Director unfolds, and who Mayor Holaday ends up appointing for this crucial job.

Newburyport Planning, Things Take Time

There have been howls of protest about The Clipper City Rail Trail, or The Newburyport Rail Trail, as I remember it, for about a decade.

The Rail Trail from underneath the High Street over pass.

The Rail Trail from underneath the High Street over pass.

And what I have found is that it is difficult for people to imagine what a project of a large magnitude would be like, and why should anyone’s money be used for it?

The same applies to the renovation of Brown Square. Now that people see tall (unplanted) trees in the renovation area, what I am hearing is that people are wondering if the goal is to make Brown Square look like it did in the old photographs and postcard.

Brown Square, courtesy of the Newburyport Library

Brown Square, courtesy of the Newburyport Library

The answer is yes, yes and yes. And BTW I’m pretty sure it’s going to be beautiful and help our tourist economy no less.

Now that the first part of the Newburyport Rail Trail is finished, people appear to finally see it as a huge asset to Newburyport, MA, one which everyone in Newburyport can enjoy, and also a help in attracting the tourist dollar.

And I was so pleased to see Geordie Vining of the Newburyport Planning Office finally get some well deserved recognition in the full page spread in the Spring issue of Newburyport Magazine, for the unbelievable work that he has done concerning this first completion of the Newport Rail Trail.

Ever since working with Geordie Vining on the restoration of High Street, I have had the utmost respect and admiration for the gentleman. Geordie measured every stretch of sidewalk along the High Street corridor, and as a result has been able to convince all and sundry that High Street met the ADA sidewalk codes, and the nature of the street never had to be altered. This attention to detail is not only thoughtful, but huge.

Eventually, like one or two years ago, the High Street Master Plan was finally voted on by the Newburyport City Council.

Things take time. Things take lots and lots of time.

And I have always been grateful that Geordie has stuck with us (i.e. Newburyport), because I have witnessed first hand the kind of flack that he receives (and it can be really nasty).

So, I know Geordie Vining would never think this way, but for me the enthusiasm now being expressed about the Newburyport Rail Trail is a vindication of sorts for all his hard work. And it would be great if people would trust any project that might be in Mr. Vining’s hands, and realize that “things take time,” lots and lots of time, and Geordie Vining has the vision, knowledge, patience to see this sort of thing through.

We as a city are very luck to have him in the Newburyport Planning Office. (And it’s called “Planning” for a reason, planning takes time–years, very often decades.)

Newburyport and Governing

One of my huge questions about President Obama, was yes, this is an intelligent man, yes, he could run one remarkable campaign, but, when push comes to shove (pun intended), could he govern?

And after Sunday’s historic vote on Health Care Reform, love it or hate it, the answer is in my mind, most definitely, “Yes.”

I was concerned that as a nation we had done something so historic by electing our first black president, that just that accomplishment alone would paralyze us from going forward. That after (and yes, probably during) the election of President Obama, there seems to me to be a blistering undercurrent of often collective unconscious racism, and could President Obama and the country move forward with this added obstacle.

And after our own Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown’s election, would President Obama still be as unrelenting in his quest of Health Insurance Reform?

I am moved and inspired by this remarkable and persistent accomplishment.

And one of the things that also concerned me, was that expectations for our new president were so high and unrealistic, that there was no way anyone could live up to those hopes and anticipations. It was a very long fall from the exceedingly high pedestal that he had been placed on.

Conversely, in Newburyport, MA what I have heard since the November election for Mayor of Newburyport, is that the expectations for Mayor Donna Holaday were low if non-existent. This perplexed me, but it has also worked in her favor, big time.

So many people have said to me that they are “surprisingly” impressed with our new mayor Donna Holaday. My response is always one of surprise, and I am delighted to not only reassure people that Donna Holaday, in my mind, is already one terrific mayor, but also to fill in some of the details in why I would think that.

And the question with any new mayor is for me, “Can they govern?” And my hope is that, yes, Donna Holaday would be able to govern Newburyport, MA in a remarkable way.

Newburyport, Meeting Governor Deval Patrick

I get a call asking me if I would like to meet Governor Deval Patrick at a small “meet and greet.” This meet and greet is to take place in a half an hour. Short notice. The caller thinks that this might “cheer me up.”

Why the caller would think I would need cheering up? Possibly my deep, abiding funk at losing Senator Kennedy’s seat to a Republican Scott Brown. Or the fact that it is February in Newburyport, New England.

I think, “What the heck. It would cheer you up. You’ve never met the Governor. It’s not snowing and it’s actually light outside.”

I look at what I am wearing, my artist painting attire, and quickly change into something slightly tidier. I figure if I keep my coat on, who’s to know? This does not exactly appear to be “black tie.” Nor does it appear that the “fashion police” are going to be about.

I make my way down to our historic Newburyport downtown, and realize, what can I say, I wasn’t paying that much attention to the phone call, that this is a campaign meet and greet for the Governor. Fine by me.

The Governor Patrick gets out of the car without a coat. I immediately would like him to have a coat. It’s freezing outside. This has no relevance. The Governor also is a lot shorter than I imagined him to be. This has no relevance. The Governor also has one firm handshake, and I wonder if I was a politician whether or not I would have a firm handshake as well. If I would do handshake strengthening exercises. Or if I would go the limp handshake route, thereby saving my handshake muscles. This has no relevance whatsoever.

There is a lot of talk among the “meet and greeters” that the Governor is in re-election trouble. Obviously the election of Republican Scott Brown has people spooked. There is talk of a feckless (I love that word, it was one of my father’s favorites) state and federal Democratic Party, that might throw the Governor to the proverbial wolves. There is talk that the Governor has made too many enemies. (Well, of course he’s made enemies, that’s what happens when hard choices are made during the governing process. Good grief.)

Ed Cameron, the organizer of all of this, is unflappable (another one of my father’s favorite words). He shepherds both his two young daughters and the gaggle of meet and greet with an astounding calm.

Ed Cameron can deliver. In charge of Newburport’s campaign to elect Governor Deval Patrick , he did a masterful job. And getting out the base for Martha Coakley, he was more than competent. Newburyport voted Democrat in the special election for the Massachusetts Senate seat. By a squeaker, Newburyport was a blue dot, surrounded by a red mass in Essex County. Ed Cameron is no one to be trifled with.

And even with the “mistakes” that Governor Deval Patrick may have made while governing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, good grief, I would not want to see another Republican Governor. My funk would be deep and possibly intractable.

Newburyport, et. al–One Step Back

Newburyport et. al (“et. al”=abrr Latin, et. alii=”and others”), “two steps forward and one step back.”

“Two steps forward and one step back,” according to Wikipedia, “Is a catchphrase reflecting on an anecdote about a frog trying to climb out of a water well; for every two steps the frog climbs, it falls back by one step, making its progress arduous.”

George loves this. George being one of the political consultants to the Newburyport Blog. Finally, after all this time a reference to “frogs.”

george_thumbs-up.jpg

George extremely happy that frogs are once again being “taken seriously” on the Newburyport Blog.

George, btw, has been lobbying for his own “Fan Page” on Facebook, as the consultant to the Newburyport Blog. (I might just do it, to show him that his “fans” are most likely froggy few and far between.)

And for this “Liberal Democrat,” the election for the Massachusetts Senate seat is most definitely “one step back.” (A lot more than “one” step.)

And in my funk, (I am most definitely in a funk about the result of the Massachusetts special election), I’m thinking that the “two steps forward and one step back,” applies to almost every political attempt at progress, whether it is from a Liberal, Democrat, Republican, Progressive, Conservative, Rightwing, Independent, whatever point of view.

It’s just how stuff works. The Democrats made huge history, giant leap forward, with the election of an Afro-American president. In the cyclical nature of things, at least “one” step backwards probably could have been expected.

And in Newburyport, MA, the election of 2007 ushered in one of the most “progressive” Newburyport City Councils that I have ever seen. The mantra was for “hang on to your hats,” “full speed ahead” with a progressive agenda.

Election 2009, for a myriad of reasons, a progressive Newburyport Council, not so much. And why this should surprise me? It should not. In Newburyport, it has been my observation, that from whatever point of view, the path is never linear, it always seems to me to be, “two steps forward, one step back.”

Newburyport, Massachusetts Election Postmortem

Oy Vey.

I still haven’t calmed down. But Jon Stewart pretty much nails it for me in the segment the day before the “historic” Massachusetts senate race (a few things I disagree with, maybe more thoughts on that later).

The Massachusetts Election
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mass Backwards
January 19, 2010

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Health Care Crisis

And with all scathing criticism leveled at President Obama from the Right, Middle and Left, Jon Stewart also pretty much nails it for me on that subject as well.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Barack Obama is Not a Magic Negro

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes		 Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Newburyport–Finding Out Where to Vote

People are trying to find out where to vote in Newburyport.

If you live in Newburyport and do not know where you go to vote, the Newburyport City Clerk has this link. Press HERE.

You just put in your street number, city/town, state and zip code.

It works for everyone in Massachusetts. It is from Secretary Galvin’s Office.

And vote for Martha Coakley, the Democrat (D).

Newburyport Winter Light

One of the things that I think Mother Nature definitely got right, is as the days grow shorter, and the sun is low in the sky, to make sure that the leaves fall from the trees, thereby letting in lots more light.

And in Newburyport, there comes a time in the fall when I am actually glad to see the last of the, by then, translucent, often yellow leaves float down to earth, letting oh, so much more light shine through into my dwelling, as the winter time frame for light becomes more and more undersized.

And there is always a point, sometime in the fall, when the light changes. It is a subtle change, but the hue is different.

And in the winter morning, as the sun rises later in the sky, the light touches the tips of the now leafless trees, and ignites them in a yellow-crimson light, that makes them luminous, and they glow in a way, that they never glow any other time of year.

And my discovery, as I sit in a reading chair one Sunday afternoon, after a Newburyport snow storm. The sun as it goes down around 4:30, lights up the now retreating clouds. And my neighbor’s 3rd floor windows facing West, hidden by trees in the summer, becomes an astonishing deep pink, yellow, blue color.

The windows are so bright that I wonder if my neighbors have done over their third floor, or gotten some exotic light fixture. But the color of their windows slowly changes to a dark and penetrating purple and then finally fades to black.

No, it is not a new decor, but a spectacular Newburyport winter light show, for free, put on by none other than Mother Nature.

Snow and the Newburyport DPW

I’ve lived here in Newburyport, MA a year shy of 3 decades now. Not to brag, but Newburyport City Councilor, Tom O’Brien, called me “an almost native.” May seem weird, but this really and truly is a big, huge compliment (I’m actually not kidding here).

And driving on Rt. 1A after a New England snow storm, one could always tell when one was entering a new town because of how the roadway was plowed. And for 3 decades, Newburyport, in the roadway being plowed department, has always stuck out, not in a good way. Definitely in the not as well plowed department. And after 3 decades, I’m beginning to think it’s just a Newburyport systemic thing.

I have found over the years, that calling the Newburyport Department of Public Works (DPW) and requesting better plowing on my street has worked wonders. At one point, I even sent them a “thank you” note, which they promptly pinned to their bulletin board. I think that they said that it was to boost moral, and that it might have been the only thank you note that they, the Newburyport DPW, had ever received.

During this recent snow storm, the first of January 2010, I called to say that the plowing job on my street was the worst I had seen in 13 years. The foreman (I believe that’s who it was) showed up on my street within about 15 minutes, and we had a very nice chat. Really, it was very nice.

Apparently, in its hope to do a good plowing job last year, the plows got too close to people’s property, and lawns and driveways were damaged (I believe that this was the gist of the informed information that I received). So this year to compensate, the folks (a lot of new folks apparently) were told to be very careful, the result being, plowing very far away from the Newburyport curbs.

I explained to the gentleman from the DPW who came for a visit, and the very nice and patient lady who answers the phone at the Newburyport DPW, that my neighbors and I were snow-blowing and shoveling our street, which, I was pretty sure was not the goal. They agreed.

When the plow returned to our street to finish up the job, it did one spectacular job. And I was impressed. So a big thank you from me to our Newburyport DPW.

Newburyport Mayor-Elect, Donna Holaday

One of the things that puzzles me is that people approach me, and almost in a whisper and ask, would Newburyport’s mayor-elect, Donna Holaday be supportive of “X” issue.

And my response, so far, has always been, “You bet” (I’m tempted to say “You betcha,” it’s so catchy). “Have you seen her voting record on “X,” it’s even better than “Y’s,” in fact it’s way better than “Y’s.”

And then I go onto say that Donna Holaday is very approachable, easy to talk to, a very good listener, responsive, and on top of it, a “lovely lady” (and, because I am a woman, I can say this last phrase “lovely lady,” without being sexist, plus it’s an accurate description).

And people who have asked me about Donna Holaday with great concern on there face, relax and smile, and say something to the effect of, “I feel so much better,” or “I think maybe I can relax now.” It’s Ok, as they say in New York, “Relax already.”

My sense is that Donna Holaday will be a mayor who governs from the center (one of the reasons that she got elected), with leanings to more “progressive” issues like historic preservation. Why “historic preservation” could be seen as a more “progressive” issue in Newburyport, MA, is still a mystery to me, after all these years.

I think that she will listen to different points of view, and may move in the direction that she senses her overall constituents feel would be the right way to go, which will definitely piss some people off.

I think too, that mayor-elect, Donna Holaday won’t be afraid to admit that she has made a mistake. I saw this first hand at the second public hearing on Newburyport’s now “controversial” wind turbine. She was very out spoken in the fact that there was so much excitement about the new wind turbine, that there was a rush to judgment on the part of the Newburyport City Council (the vote, I believe was unanimously in favor, or at least very close to unanimous, including Donna Holaday), and the whole issue would need to be seriously reevaluated.

And I think that she would take very seriously the citizen activist groups on certain issues like Newburyport’s landfill and the wind turbine ordinance, and try to incorporate them more into Newburyport’s city government, understanding that often citizen activists, often out of necessity, become the city’s “experts” in whatever issue it might be.

So, not to repeat myself, but to repeat myself, I am very much looking forward to Donna Holaday’s term as mayor of Newburyport, MA.

Celiac, etc., Too Much Information

Actually readers of the Newburyport Blog haven’t heard from its editor, namely me, for a while, not just because of a post (no pun intended), very long, local Newburyport election letdown (see earlier entry). Something else is “amiss,” but it seems just like “too much information-tmi” for any “discussion” on the Newburyport Blog. So to process this new “amiss” thing, I found starting a new blog, “The Year of Eating Weirdly” to be highly therapeutic.

The newest blog actually takes “comments” (although there are no comments at the moment), figuring that comments on weird eating things would be far less hostile than comments about Newburyport, aka “Cannibal City.” Although this may prove not to be true.

I did not put the blog on my domain name, because I have this notion that it might be enjoyable to be “anonymous,” (although chit chatting about the new blog on the Newburyport Blog sort of destroys that notion.) It has its own domain name, “CeliacSurprise.com.”.

And I went for “easy.” I didn’t use WordPress blog software, I instead opted for “Blogger,” and the people at Google definitely have this blog thing figured out. Good grief Blogger is a breeze to use compared to good old, now going on four years of using WordPress.

So those readers of the Newburyport Blog who apparently are “appalled” at my on going policy of “not commenting for all sorts of reasons” on the Newburyport Blog, would be happy to know that I have joined the legion of bloggers allowing comments and blissful “anonymity.”

Newburyport Walking Winter 2009

I see my neighbor all the way down our Newburyport street. He has a day-glow orange winter hat on. I want one.

My neighbors, a lovely young family, have two dogs, which are technically “hunting dogs.” I never thought that they (the dogs and my neighbors) actually went hunting, but they do.

I find out this missing piece of information when I start my quiz about the nifty orange day-glow winter hat. (I have memories, which I share, of Marisa Tormei’s character in the movie “My Cousin Vinny,” when she laments about the cute little baby deer out prancing around, and then “BAM”), but no, they don’t hunt deer, just tiny little birds, sometimes. And no, they are not like Dick Cheney, they have never shot anyone in the face.

But the hat, I love the hat. During Newburyport winters, often the only safe place, or navigatable place, to walk when there is a lot of snow and ice, is in the middle of the street. And I tend to blend in with the surrounding, no red coats, at least not yet, for moi. And the bright day-glow orange hat would most definitely “stick out.”

I tell my neighbors that I too would like to look like a day-glow orange pumpkin head, and much to my delight, right before Christmas, they appear at my door, with a hat in hand.

On Christmas day, my son, who is now old enough to be beyond the “I am so embarrassed, you’ve got to be kidding me, you’re wearing a day-glow orange hat” phase, and I walk along the narrow car filled street of Newburyport’s historic district.

As a distracted holiday mother with a cell phone, and a busily driving teenager wiz by, my son nods his head in agreement. “Good idea Mom, I definitely get this one now.”

We pass some well known fellow walkers, who do not recognize me in my new day-glow paraphernalia. But when they are aware of who the mysterious person is, who is underneath the orange day-glow winter hat, they want one of those hats too.

So readers of the Newburyport Blog, who know me from my different walking routes, if you see a brightly colored, orange, day-glow pumpkin head moving along the street–c’est moi.

Newburyport Local Political Election Recovery

I think I am finally coming out of my post local Newburyport political election letdown. After the high of Newburyport’s election night, way back in November 2009 (it’s now December, almost January), practically a post-coital event, where I found myself wanting to roll around in bed and smoke cigarettes.

The drama. Two good mayoral candidates, and then in the last two weeks, although at first cloaked in euphemisms, it became evident to the collective unconscious of the 35 percent or so voters who actually go to the polls on election day, that one of the candidates, gasp, wanted to put buildings on Newburyport’s Central Waterfront, after 40 or so years of struggling to come to a consensus to basically leave the land naked. The other candidate won. (A gross simplification, I know, but tough luck, voters generally don’t go for complicated political nuance.)

And in thinking about the mayoral candidate that won, Madam Holaday, it feels like a breath of clear Newburyport seacoast air, on a mild, clear winter day, and a dusting of very shovelable, 1-3 inches of powdery, bright white New England snow.

In the mayor elect, Donna Holaday, I have much faith. Sure I’ll disagree here and there, but I trust her to listen to the folks in Newburyport, MA, or to put it another way, to listen to the 35 percent of Newburyport’s electorate that actually pays attention and possibly cares, while considering the remaining 65 percent who don’t have a clue that we actually have something called a Newburyport city government.

She will listen to different points of view, most probably change her mind on local controversial issues, and will be accused, by those who actually pay attention and care of “flip-flopping.” But in my mind, it would not be “flip-flopping,” it would be a careful approach to governing.

She will probably sit down with the Newburyport City Councilors, show great patience and tact with those whom she might disagree, and for those few who look like they are so “green” (green in the “don’t have a clue” sense, not in the “environmentally correct” sense) that it will, if Newburyport is lucky, take them 6 months to a year to figure out what the hell is going on.

My first thoughts of coming out of my post election climax. And as I further awaken from my November induced haze, it could be that I might have something else to mumble and muse about in the days and weeks that await Newburyport, MA.

Newburyport Rail Trail, to the Water

When the leaves are still on the trees in New England October, when the light has changed with the seasons, and the sun is slanted low in the sky, it can be quite dark on the ground. But when the leaves fall, all of a sudden it seems as if the blinds have been pulled away and the daylight can now get through. Sometimes it feels quite bright and delightful, and at other times, especially on overcast days, it seems as if the landscape has been stripped.

Last Sunday, it was another one of those amazing warm, mid-fall New England days, sunny, after the leaves had fallen from the trees, and I thought I would take a look at the second, or first part of the Clipper City Rail Trail, depending on where you might start from. I walked down to Market Street again, and walked along the Newburyport Rail Trail towards the mouth of the mighty Merrimac River.

I am always surprised when I hear hostility towards the Newburyport Rail Trail, and again, it’s usually a feeling that this very extensive project is stealing money from the rest of Newburyport, MA. And as I’ve said in an earlier entry, the money comes from a completely different funding source, one that can only be used for something like this. So why not us? Why not Newburyport, MA? And the Clipper City Rail Trail presents long term benefits for making money for the City of Newburyport.

The Rail Trail that leads towards downtown Newburyport is the part that I took a gander at on Sunday.

And I was amazed again at the enormity of the project. Here is a photo of just one of the many pieces of equipment that is being used.

rtr-machine

Here is a photo of the paved pathway leading to what will be the boardwalk around, under the bridge to downtown Newburyport, as well as a boardwalk in the other direction, to Cashman Park (all blocked off at the moment).

rtr-bridge-water

And here is a photo heading back towards Market Street, where the very complex construction of the Newburyport Rail Trail is evident.

rtr-path

And we have a lot of people to thank for this very exciting addition to our city, but one person in particular for me stands out. And that is Geordie Vining of the Newburyport Planning Office. It has always seemed to me that this particular project, which has been ongoing for so many years, has been a true “labor” of love.

A Picture of Winning, Newburyport Election 2009

I had never really thought that there was any correlation between painting, my painting (see previous post) and my love of local politics. But after this last political race, 2009, I’m beginning to think differently.

When I start a painting there is an idea, the canvas is “blocked in” with shapes, the shapes become more and more detailed until, voila, there is a realistic painting.

And in this mayoral race it took a long time for me to see a picture taking shape, but the last weekend before the Newburyport election 2009 and especially the day of the election 2009, it seemed to me that there was no question that Donna Holaday would win.

About two weeks before the election it became clear, for a variety of reasons, the interviews in The Newburyport Liberator being one of them, that there was a huge difference in the way the two candidates approached the Central Waterfront (see earlier entries). And the there was no question that Donna Holaday had the “Waterfront” vote, a vote in Newburyport, never to be underestimated.

By that weekend, it was obvious to me that Donna Holaday had the “City Hall vote,” and the folks at Newburyport City Hall vote, and their ties in Newburyport’s community go deep.

It was also apparent that candidate Holaday had the “townie” vote (except for those who were a little concerned that she might not be as firm about the “override” issue as James Shanley). James Shanley was perceived as the candidate who was the “new comer,” who could take away their town. (I do not happen to think that this is true, but that appeared to be the perception.)

Donna Holaday had the enthusiastic education vote, a large block of voters. Ms Holaday had the “Back Bay vote,” basically anyone in town that really disliked the wind turbine (see earlier entries), which is a huge portion (politically correct or not) of Newburyport’s population.

The historic preservation vote was split.

And when the list of contributors came out, it was perceived that James Shanley was in the pocket of the developers. I know James Shanely, and I know that this is absolutely not the case, although it was the perception. (Mr. Shanley had worked very closely as a Newburyport City Councilor with the Newburyport Chamber of Commerce, a member of which was a major player on his very organized campaign, and my guess is that a lot of the business community gave donations as a result.)

And then there was the fact that Donna Holaday has a huge name recognition, for a whole variety of reasons. And also, a lot of folks in town know that we have a mayor, but they don’t know that we have a Newburyport City Council, much less that we have a president of the Newburyport City Council. So the fact that James Shanley was the president of the Newburyport City Council meant absolutely nothing to a large majority of folks that don’t pay a whole lot of attention to Newburyport politics.

Art, Paintings, Newburyport Show

marsh2

“Many locals know her only as the author of the Newburyport Political Blog. But the political junkie that is Mary Baker Eaton is also an accomplished artist whose work has appeared at prestigious New York City galleries and can be found in private and corporate collections across the country.

And, now, her readers ‑ and everyone else ‑ finally will be able to see her artwork up close, as Kerim Kaya, owner of Kaya Jewelers downtown, presents her paintings through Dec. 31.

The exhibit marks her first major local showing in 10 years, and the quirky Eaton, surrounded Monday morning by her exquisitely detailed paintings of Newburyport scenes, took every opportunity to promote her good friend, Kaya.

“This is a great way for two business people to get together,” she said, leaning against one of the jewelry display cases. “I help Kaya. Kaya helps me. Every time I tell someone about the show, I tell them, ‘You should come in and buy your significant other or yourself a nice piece of custom-made jewelry for Christmas…””

“…The paintings on display showcase Eaton’s love for the natural beauty of the community where she has lived for the past 30 years. A contemporary realist painter, she captures, with lifelike precision, the stillness of the Plum Island marshes, the petals of a bright yellow iris in the South End, apple blossoms clinging to a brick wall at the old gardens at Maudslay State Park and the Common Pasture, its vista unchanged by centuries.”

“Putting things in perspective,” by Ulrika G. Gerth, © The Newburyport Current, November 6, 2009

Blue Morning Glory, Oil on Panel, © Mary Baker

Blue Morning Glory, Oil on Panel, © Mary Baker

Kerim Kaya, a long time friend and owner of Kaya Jewelers, approached me about a month or so ago and asked if I would like to show my paintings in his gorgeous jewelry store, Kaya Jewelers, 41 State Street, on the corner of Essex Street. My response, especially in this economy that has hurt the arts so much was, “What a great idea!”

The show is up for all of November and December, and the reception is this Saturday, November 7, 2009 from 6 PM-9PM. Please stop by and say “Hello.” And do be sure to buy yourself or your significant-other a beautiful piece of jewelry for the holidays.

You can read the rest of the story in the Newburyport Current here.