Beverly Friends, Marblehead Athletes Help Out: Patch Weekender
BEVERLY, MA — Happy sunny Sunday on the North Shore after everyone braved the snowstorm that turned out to be not exactly so much for most on Saturday.
As you do some cleanup, maybe a bit of decorating and holiday shopping, and get ready for the Patriots game later this afternoon, here is a little look back at some stories you may have missed on Patch this past week.
Beverly Community Rushes To Aid Of Family Flooded Out Of Home
Within days of losing nearly everything, Nicole Green said she gained a new appreciation for human kindness in her adopted hometown.
Green moved from Salem to Beverly six years ago and rents a Cabot Street apartment with her husband and three young children. But at nearly midnight a week ago, the walls of that apartment literally came crashing down around her family when a pipe burst and unleashed a torrent of water that soaked through the ceiling and left Green wading through a flood of calf-high brownish water.
"It was like a typhoon lagoon," Green said. "It was nuts."
Once the fright and adrenaline of the nightmare sequence subsided, the realization settled in that most everything in the apartment — nearly everything they own — was destroyed.
Marblehead Girls Lacrosse, Volleyball Players Deliver Big Assist
It has been more than one full year since the Marblehead High girls volleyball team last took the court for a competition together. It has been nearly 18 months since the Magicians girls lacrosse players last walked off the field following a hard-fought game.
While players in both programs await a hopeful return to working together in practices and contests over the next six months amid the coronavirus health crisis, those players found a way to work together for the greater good in recent weeks through the Marblehead-based nonprofit SPUR's sixth annual Holiday Cheer Drive.
Patch Readers Say They Shopped Small, Stayed Home On Black Friday
Patch readers on the North Shore said they were more apt to shop small businesses or stay home and buy holiday gifts online instead of hitting malls and big box stores in the days following Thanksgiving this year.
With rising coronavirus rates across the region, those who responded a Patch question about any change in their shopping habits cited safety and the desire to help small businesses struggling with virus-related restrictions for this year's adjustments.
Peabody Store Owner Does 'Right Thing' In Coronavirus Case
Heather Scanlan knows as well as anyone how serious contracting the coronavirus can be.
The owner of Ginger's Closet Consignment in Peabody said in March her mother — a Nahant resident — was the 38th person in the state to die of complications from the virus that would become a worldwide pandemic.
So, when Scanlan was told a person in her women's clothing shop on Lynn Street on Nov. 19 had tested positive for the virus, she was not about to take any chances or keep any secrets from her customers.
Peabody's City Hall Christmas Tree Crashes Down In Wild Storm
Even the Christmas trees aren't safe in 2020.
The storm that brought fierce winds and rain to the North Shore Monday night sent the Peabody City Hall Christmas tree tumbling into the city's World War II memorial. Both the tree and the veterans memorial were "damaged beyond repair," according to Mayor Ted Bettencourt.
North Shore Officials Urge Extension To Use CARES Act Funds
A group of 37 mayors and town administrators — including those in Danvers, Marblehead and Salem — sent a letter to the state's Congressional delegation asking it to press for an extension for the time allowed to use money allocated in the coronavirus CARES Act this spring.
Under the current restrictions, that money can only used be used as reimbursement for costs incurred due to the pandemic — and not to make up for revenue lost because of the health crisis or to earmark for costs that are expected to be ongoing into at least the start of 2021. The deadline for using the funds is Dec. 31.
'Stay Local Salem' Aims To Bring Holiday Business Downtown
Before heading to the mall or a big box store this holiday season, Salem officials are asking North Shore residents to consider heading downtown or to a local retailer's website to see if they can get the same item for about the same price.
Salem on Friday launched the "Stay Local Salem" campaign aimed at supporting local businesses struggling during the coronavirus health crisis.
Beverly 'Suspicious' Raccoon Deaths At Dane Street Beach
Multiple dead raccoons were found on Dane Street Beach in recent days, leading Beverly police to ask dog walkers and nearby residents to be on the lookout amid the "suspicious" rash of dead animals.
Police said in recent days its Animal Control Division found dead raccoons, which may have been poisoned or illegally trapped, on the northern end of the beach near where the stream feeds into the ocean.
This article originally appeared on the Beverly Patch
