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Saturday, March 21, 2021
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Massachusetts will advance to Step
2 of Phase III of the state’s reopening plan
Westport Women Taking Care of
History
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Massachusetts will advance to Step 2 of Phase
III of the state’s reopening plan on Monday,
March 1, and also announced its plan to transition to Step 1 of
Phase IV on Monday, March 22. Today, an additional 1,108 businesses
are receiving COVID-19 relief grants totaling more than $49 million in awards
to help with expenses EverythingWestport.com Friday, February 26, 2021
BOSTON — Today, the Baker-Polito
Administration announced that Massachusetts would advance to Step 2 of Phase
III of the state’s reopening plan on Monday, March 1, and also
announced its plan to transition to Step 1 of Phase IV on Monday, March
22. With public health metrics continuing to trend in a positive direction,
including drops in average daily COVID cases and hospitalizations, and
vaccination rates continuing to increase, the Administration is taking steps
to continue to reopen the Commonwealth’s economy. The Administration also announced
more than $49 million in awards to 1,108 additional small businesses in the
eighth round of COVID-19 relief grants administered by the Massachusetts
Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC). These new awards are the result of work by
MGCC to engage with applicants that meet sector and demographic priorities
but are missing certain documents that are necessary to be considered for an
award. Phase III, Step 2: On May 18, 2020, the
Baker-Polito Administration released a four-phased plan to reopen the
economy conditioned on sustained improvements in public health
data. As of October, 2020, the reopening had Since the beginning of this year,
key public health data, such as new cases and hospitalizations, have been
closely monitored and a significant decline has been documented, allowing for
a return to Step 2 of Phase III, effective March 1 for all cities and towns. This
includes the following updates to businesses, activities and capacities:
“Residents must continue to wear
masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, and are encouraged to avoid contact
outside of their immediate households. The Travel Advisory and other public
health orders remain in effect.” Gathering Changes and Phase IV
Start Provided public health metrics
continue to improve, effective on March 22, all communities in
Massachusetts will move into Step 1 of Phase IV of the
state’s reopening plan. This will open a range of previously
closed business sectors under tight capacity restrictions that
are expected to be adjusted over time if favorable trends in the public
health data continue. Effective on the planned advancement to Step 1 of Phase
IV, the following industries will be permitted to operate at a strict
12% capacity limit after submitting a plan to the Department of Public Health
(DPH):
Additionally, dance floors will
be permitted at weddings and other events only, and overnight summer camps
will be allowed to operate this coming summer. Exhibition and convention
halls may also begin to operate, following gatherings limits and event
protocols. Other Phase IV sectors must continue to remain closed. COVID-19 Business Relief Grants Today, an additional 1,108
businesses are receiving COVID-19 relief grants totaling more than $49
million in awards to help with expenses like payroll, benefits, utilities and
rent. To date, the Baker-Polito Administration has awarded more than $563
million in direct financial support to 12,320 businesses impacted by the
pandemic through the Small Business and Sector-Specific Grant Programs. Each business meets sector and
demographic priorities set for the two grant programs. More than half of grantees
are restaurants, bars, caterers, operators of personal services like hair and
nail salons, and independent retailers. Over half of the businesses receiving
relief are women-and-minority-owned enterprises. Today’s awards are the result of
a process by MGCC to engage directly with applicants that met sector and
demographic priorities but were missing documents necessary to be considered
for an award. MGCC is continuing to work with business owners in targeted
sectors and demographic groups to allow for applicants to submit necessary
documents. A little history to distract you
from the present We welcome your contributions to
The Bell School Bugle. You can share your own memories or old photos by
sending them to westporthistory@westporthistory.net. Westport
Women Taking Care of History Written by Jenny O’Neill and Betty
Slade EverythingWestrport.com Sunday, March 21, 2021 A Tribute to
Commemorate Women’s History Month It is striking how many women
have been leaders in the effort to preserve Westport’s history. This series
of profiles celebrates the contribution made by Westport women towards
historic preservation, whether through documentation, education, building
restoration, artistic expression, writings, and activism. A common thread that links many
of these individuals is their shared experience living in, having reverence
for and restoring historic houses. Most had a broad interest in artistic
expression, decorative arts, and traditional handiwork. Some were educators,
teachers or writers. These individuals were not from
the world of professionally trained historians. Many, over time, were
motivated to save specific historic sites, or as newcomers to Westport, were
driven by a curiosity to learn about their adopted home, participating in
committees, forming local organizations and working behind the scenes as
volunteers for many decades. We welcome suggestions of other
Westport women who have contributed to local history and preservation. Our
criteria include: must have lived in Westport and please note that although
there are many women currently active in this field, for the purposes of this
project, our focus is on those who are deceased. Anne “Pete” Watson Lewis Baker
(1929-2011) was born in Providence, R.I.
She married Duncan Doolittle and had 4 children. She later married Robert
Howe Baker (grandson of Louis Howe, chief of staff to President Franklin
Roosevelt and boat builder) and had 2 children. Pete was a self-taught
architectural historian who throughout her adult life saved more than 200
historic buildings in Westport and elsewhere. She organized conferences and
workshops, was a consultant for WHALE, the Whaling Museum, Newport and
Martha’s Vineyard historical preservation society. She was the key person
helping Eleanor Tripp preserve the Handy House. She was a long-serving active
member of the Westport Historical Commission, and worked hard to preserve the
Westport Point Historical District and to save the chimney of the
Waite-Kirby-Potter House (Westport’s oldest house) on Main Road. She received
many awards for her work. Like many of Westport’s women
preservationists, she was also a talented artisan known for her ceramic
pottery. During her life working with old houses, she collected many unusual
architectural fragments such as molding samples, hinges, shingles and nails
which are now part of the historical society’s collection. In 2002, she
published a memoir Collecting Houses which chronicles her intense connection
with old houses as well as a deep understanding of construction methods and
craftsmanship. She was always willing to share her experiences with owners of
historic homes, persuading many not to tear down a problematic old house but
to choose instead the option of preservation. Glenda Taber Broadbent
(1918-2014) was the daughter of Andrew Taber
(housewright) and Helen G. Kirby. She was the wife of Walter T. Broadbent.
She lived in Westport Point her whole life. She graduated from Hyannis
Teachers College and taught in several different schools in Westport. She was
also town librarian from 1963-1967. She was an avid reader and historian,
especially interested in the history of Westport Helen E. Ellis (1889-1978) is
perhaps more notable for her contributions to historic preservation in New
Bedford than here in Westport. She was not a historian in the traditional
sense, but her appreciation of the past and her skills embraced a wide-range
of interests such as woodcarving, music, books, antiques, decorative arts,
nature, and education. She typifies the broad range of interests that women
often brought to their community. However, her financial independence,
entrepreneurial drive, and exceptional artistic creativity set her apart from
her contemporaries. A teacher by profession in
woodcarving and physical education at Milton Academy in the 1910s, she found
her way to Westport in 1916, purchasing an 18th- century cottage at Westport
Point. Located at 1874 Main Road, it became known as FivElms, an homage to the
five magnificent trees lining the front. She never married. Her life in
Westport brought many roles: noted woodcarver, curator of decorative arts at
the New Bedford Whaling Museum, owner of a book store, and a tearoom in her
own home! She was devoted to innovative forms of education, founding the
Children’s Museum in Dartmouth in 1952. She was among the founding members of
the Westport Historical Society and active in many other organizations such
as the Women’s Club, Land Trust, and Westport Art Group. Her influence is
still felt strongly locally many years after her death. With the
establishment of the Helen E. Ellis Charitable trust, her name is linked to
many local projects, cultural, educational and, of course, historical! Mary Albright Giles (1909 – 1996)
lived in Westport many years, was born in Ohio, and lived in New York and
Washington, D.C. She was a university teacher and painter. She is known for
founding an artist’s cooperative in the Wing Carriage House (later owned by
Norma Judson) and completing an oral history archives project for the
Westport Art Group. She completed 60 oral history interviews of “old timers”
for the Bicentennial celebration in 1976, which were preserved on tape. Her
deep, melodious voice can be heard in these interviews, gently teasing out
responses from old-time Westporters. These recordings are now available on
the Westport Historical Society website. She is an example of a person coming
from outside Westport, falling in love with it, and trying to make her
contributions to its history. Mary Hicks Brown (1894-1990) could trace her Westport familial roots back to
the 1700s. Born in 1894, she was the child of William B. Hicks Mary Hicks Brown was an
accomplished and sensitive artist, whose deep affinity for Westport’s natural
environment and historical scenery is evident in the Impressionist oil
paintings of fields, dunes, river and landscapes. Her paintings depict a
simple cottage with well sweep, an ice house, hay ricks, farmhouses, summer
and winter seasons. Some scenes are familiar to us today, others have
captured sights that have long since disappeared from our landscape. She was also a keen photographer,
whose snapshots document many visits to historic sites, and especially
providing a visual record of Westport’s oldest house, the Waite-Kirby-Potter
House before it suffered irreparable damage by hurricanes. The Westport Historical Society
is fortunate to have acquired many of her paintings and an extensive archive
of Hicks family papers, including many of Mary’s photo albums and scrapbooks.
Sadly, she did not leave a written record of her local history knowledge, but
her passion for the special beauty of Westport provides an equally valuable
visual document of her mid-20th-century hometown. - - - - - End - - - - - © 2021 Community Events of
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