Month: September 2022

State Senator Ed Kennedy attended the celebration for the northeastern Massachusetts recipients of  Mass Cultural Council’s FY22 Cultural Facilities Fund grant award Monday, September 19th. Created in 2006 by an act of the legislature, the Cultural Facilities Funds program is funded annually by the Governor’s capital spending plan, and is administered jointly by the Mass Cultural Council and MassDevelopment. The grant program seeks to  Enhance Massachusetts’ creative economy through financing for acquisition, construction, expansion, renovation, and repair of cultural facilities;  Increase employment, entrepreneurialism, and tourism in the regions where these facilities are located; and Stimulate further investment in the arts, heritage, and sciences by preserving cultural resources.

The Cultural Facilities Fund supports investments in cultural facilities and projects across Massachusettsthrough the use of capital and planning grants for nonprofit organizations, colleges, and municipalities that own or operate facilities primarily focused on the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences. Since 2007, 1,290 projects across Massachusetts employing more than 33,410 architects, engineers, contractors, and construction workers have been awarded over $150 million. 

Congratulations to the Lowell Memorial Auditorium on their $200,000 FY22 Cultural Facilities Funds grant award which will be used for repairs and renovations to the exterior envelope, stabilization work, ADA improvements, and for interior, roof, and stairway renovations. 

Visit the Mass Cultural Council website for the list of recipients in the northeast region of Massachusetts.

Fall Fest returned to Pepperell this past Saturday, September 17th for the 2022 celebration. This year’s event featured around 100 booths. Crafters, vendors, food trucks and non-profit organizations were busy all day at the crowded festival that marks the beginning of the Autumn season in Pepperell. This year’s Fall Fest also featured hayrides, pony rides, a petting zoo, pie-eating contest, and demonstrations by the Creative Dance Center and Luth’s Karate.

Congratulations to committee members, Sandy Herman, Bob Poulin, Laura Rizzo, Rachael DeGrandis, and all of the volunteers that helped make Fall Fest a huge success again this year.

On Saturday, September 17th, State Senator Edward Kennedy was the keynote speaker at the National Register Listing Celebration for the Old Groton Meeting House. Created by the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act, the National Register of Historic Places serves as the official catalog of historic buildings, but of districts, objects, and archeological sites worthy of preservation in the United States. The register is part of a nationwide effort to support both public and private efforts identifying, evaluating, and preserving American archeological and historic resources.

Constructed 267 years ago in 1755, the Old Groton Meeting House has played a central role in both the civic and religious life of the Groton community. The current version of the building was the fourth of its kind to be built in town. The first building was constructed in 1666, when Groton was a frontier settlement, and was razed ten years later in 1676 during King Philip’s War. Returning settlers would construct a second structure in 1678, and subsequent population growth would necessitate the construction of a third meeting house in 1714, and the present one in 1755.

This past July the Old Groton Meeting House joined the Bennett-Shattuck House, Governor George Boutwell House, the District 7 School, Groton High School, Groton Inn, and Groton Leatherboard Company on the National Register as a place of historic significance.

Congratulations to Chairperson Louis DiMola, the Honorable Robert S. Hargraves Emeritus, Treasurer Allen King, and the rest of the members of the board on this auspicious occasion.

Photography Credit: Old Groton Meeting House Board Member and Groton Herald Photographer Steve Lieman.

On Saturday, September 17, State Senator Ed Kennedy was the official starter for the fifth annual Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race. The Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race is an annual STEAM event held on the third Saturday of every September in Lowell. Kinetic sculptures are human-powered, all-terrain sculptures made from new and repurposed materials and engineered to race over streets, water, mud, and sand. The Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race strives to inspire artists, engineers, performers, and visionaries of the future by promoting the synthesis of the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) fields, disruptive innovation, and physical activity. This year’s race was the largest yet with 19 entries from across the country participating.

The first Lowell Kinetic Sculpture took place in September of 2016, when Senator Kennedy was the Mayor of Lowell. Since that time, he has been a big supporter of the race. “Bianca and Michael do a spectacular job of organizing the race down to the last detail. It is my favorite Lowell event”.

The Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race always draws a large crowd and somehow the weather is always great on race day. After successful races in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, the race was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. But the 2022 version of the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture was the best ever. Congratulations to Maxine Farkas, Howard Amidon, Charlotte Niedermann, Sarah Atherton, Meghan Harrah, Lisa Corkum, and everyone else who helped to make the Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race a huge success.

On Thursday, September 8, State Senator Ed Kennedy was honored to join with members of the Raymond Riddick Family, the John F. Abraham Family, the Ramon Rivera Family, members of the Lowell City Council, members of the Lowell High School Building Committee, State Representative Vanna Howard, State Representative Rady Mom, former Mayor and LHS Headmaster Bill Samaras, and City Manager Tom Golden at the ribbon cutting ceremony of the new Lowell High School gymnasium building. The gymnasium building will be known as the Raymond Riddick Athletic Center. The second-floor gymnasium is named for John F. Abraham and the basketball court is named for Ramon Rivera. 

The ribbon cutting for the new gymnasium building marks the completion of the first phase of the four-phase Lowell High School building project.  

On Thursday, September 8, State Senator Ed Kennedy joined the City of Lowell, the Greater Lowell Chamber of Commerce, Lowell Public Schools and Middlesex Community College to launch the first annual “September In The City” event at the JFK Plaza. The event was meant to introduce the incoming students at UMass Lowell and Middlesex Community College to the events, restaurants, artists, and the unique cultures that are found in the city of Lowell

The event featured live music, food and refreshments, games and raffles to win gift certificates from local downtown establishments.