Life in Gloucester, Part I

I swim nearly every day at a nearby health club which is part of a motel complex. Now, at the height of summer, there are people there from all over the country and, when I tell them I live here, they sigh and say, “What’s is like to live in Gloucester?”

Well, it’s great. That’s why I live here. When I moved here in 1987 - first to Salem, then to Marblehead, then here - I wanted to be as close to the sea as possible. I didn’t understand what motivated me, I just knew I had to do it. I grew up in Pennsylvania’s hill country but I have always loved seasides best. That does not make me unique - many people say that. Most of them don’t understand it either.

But of all the places I’ve been, Gloucester has the most unique character. Because it is still, despite heavy government regulation. An active seaport with a considerable fishing population, there is that earthy, working class side of the town that is dwindling in the seaside communities that have become too precious with their adorable shops, gaudy mansions and “private” beaches. Great piles of lobster traps line the harbor when the lobstering is poor and there are still many working boats among the sailboats and recreational boats that fill the harbor.

However the economics of a town like Gloucester are problematic. Last year we lost our Ames store and nothing has surfaced to fill the gap. Everyone had dreams about a Wal-Mart but those of us with backgrounds in business knew that wasn’t going to happen. When a company like Wal-Mart does a feasability study, they count on the population of the surrounding area to support the business. Since Gloucester is at the tip of a peninsula - an island technically speaking - over 200 degrees of the “surrounding area” is blue and wet and populated by finned creatures who don’t do much shopping.

Gloucester has traditionally had two industries - fishing and art. Artists came here because of the quality of the light and the beauty of a working harbor. Now it may be the artists that provide the future of this town. For a couple years now I’ve been involved with a group called SEArts (Society for the Encouragement of the Arts) and people are beginning to get it that the Arts bring people into Gloucester and get them to spend money.

Cultural tourism has become very popular in recent years. People from inland areas are spending more and more time and money visiting places where history and the arts provide a view into a life they have little experience of. SEArts is working to make Gloucester such a destination.

I love Gloucester. I call it my “hometown of choice”. And I want to see it retain its unique character as much as possible. Summer is winding down now and autumn brings leaf-peepers but once winter settles in Gloucester goes back to being Gloucester - with fishing boats coming and going and fishermen sitting in coffee shops bitching about the terrible fishing. Only the year-round artists remain and the line the harbor bundled in polar fleece painting snow piled on boats from the backs of their battered old SUVs. I think of artists Joe Rimini now who painted from inside his station wagon for years. He had a makeshift easel set up in the passenger seat and could be found parked all over the island on freezing days painting inside his car. I saw him one day pulled over on Nautilus Road just staring out at Salt Island and the Thacher Light Houses. “I sure am gonna miss it,” he said to me as I walked up beside him.

“Where are you going, Joe?” I asked. “Well,” he said, “I don’t suppose God is going to let me stay here forever!”

Joe’s gone now - but somehow I suspect he really isn’t.

Thanks for reading.