Community Corner

Community Update

1. History Notes by Betty Dean Holmes: 

The Sir John Humphrey House had visitors Monday morning. The Swampscott Girl Scout Troop # 63133, led by Kayla Nigren, toured the historic house. The Girl Scouts are Ariana Casella, Mia Freddo, Tyler McCoy, Charlotte Andrews, Jamie Gaber, Brooke Stout, and Caleigh Hopkins. The parent volunteer is Sabrina Casella.
This troop of Girl Scouts are working on obtaining the Bronze Award, the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can earn.

The Junior Girl Scouts have developed a scavenger hunt of the historic sites in Swampscott.  They have already toured the Swampscott Library and the Mary Baker Eddy House. The Humphrey House was third on their  list. They will research several other historic sites in town.

Lou Gallo showed them some of the treasures in the historic house and told them of the history. He told them the story of the beaded bag, and the visiting Native Americans. He showed off the Edison talking machine. The girls liked the mustache cup, as they’d never seen one before.

The upstairs rooms were interesting with the Native American berry juice decorations on the wall. The floor had a few illegal boards, for the wide boards were saved for the king’s use, and were called King’s Boards. The old one person tin bathtub took lots of kettles of hot water and baths in the olden days were few and far between. A bed from 1860 had rope springs, which had to be tightened almost every night, which is why we still say, “Sleep tight.” The ancient house timbers are held together with wooden pegs. The girls were interested in seeing the picture of a very young Lou Gallo in his wicker stroller.

The Girl Scouts cringed when seeing the dentist drill operated by a foot pedal, for if the tooth could not be filled, out came the tooth pulling pliers.

The Humphrey House will be open to the public again on Friday September 27, from ten to one,  as part of the Essex County Trails and Sails tours.

2. Weather Watch: 

Wednesday's forecast calls for isolated showers and a high temperature of 72.

  • Sunrise: 6:04 a.m.
  • Low tide: 11:18 a.m.
  • High tide: 5:42 p.m.
  • Sunset: 7:23 p.m.
3. School Notes:
The doors open and the bells sound for the 2013-14 school year.

4. Academic Notes:

Swampscott resident Suzanne Murphy graduated from Stonehill College with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

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Stonehill is a selective Catholic college located near Boston on a beautiful 384-acre campus in Easton, Massachusetts. 

5.Good Works:

The Alzheimer’s Association 2013 Northeastern Massachusetts Walk to End Alzheimer’s® will take place on Sunday, September 29, 2013 at 200 Brickstone Square in Andover, Massachusetts.

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