Cooking Up Thanksgiving Spirit On North Shore: Patch Sunday

Peabody MA

21 November, 2021

1:53 PM

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PEABODY, MA — Welcome to the start of Thanksgiving Week on the North Shore. It's the beginning of what will hopefully be a brighter and more engaging holiday season than 2020. Folks will be packing the roads running errands and visiting friends and family, while the traditional high school football matchups are making a return on Thursday morning. For Peabody's Gina Goodwin and her family, however, Thanksgiving is about months of preparations and two weeks of cooking to make more than 4,300 meals for those in need through her Gina's Giving Back campaign. Read about her story and anything else you may have missed last week, in this week's edition of Patch Sunday. Peabody's Gina Goodwin Cooks Up Plenty Of Thanksgiving Cheer Thanksgiving was always a working holiday for Gina Goodwin. As a community nurse for 25 years, the Peabody resident said in the days and weeks leading up to the holiday her patients would begin asking her if she was working that day — often so they could be assured to see at least one friendly face on a traditional day of gathering for family and friends. "So I started making them meals and bringing them to work with me on Thanksgiving," she told Patch. "Sometimes we're the only faces they see. They don't have anybody." "Everybody was really in need (last year) because of COVID, and loss of employment. And it's even more so this year. We have people coming up all weekend from as far as Weymouth. People are really struggling." - Gina Goodwin of Gina's Giving Back. (Gina Goodwin) Salem 'Stop The Spread' Coronavirus Sites Extended Until 2022 The two Salem free state "Stop the Spread" coronavirus sites will be extended until at least March 31, 2022 — more than two years after the virus caused initial lockdowns nationwide. The PCR testing will remain at the two Salem sites at the high school and St. Peter's Church at least another three months after they were previously extended through Dec. 31. First Vaccine-Only Pharmacy To Open In Beverly Beverly's Cummings Center will soon be home to what is being called the first vaccine-only pharmacy in the United States. NIMVAX will open at 600 Cummings Center and will offer a wide variety of vaccinations to those 9 years old and older, including coronavirus, influenza, hepatitis and shingles. Salem Ward 4 Candidates Seek Donations Ahead Of Recount The votes may all be in but the campaign is still not over for Lev McClain and Stephanie Rodriguez in the race to become Salem's next Ward 4 City Councilor. At least when it comes to raising money for recount-related expenses. Marblehead SPUR Seeks Holiday Cheer Drive Sponsors The Marblehead-based nonprofit SPUR is looking for sponsors to help with its seventh annual Holiday Cheer Drive to provide gifts for more than 600 children, as well as adults facing homelessness, in Lynn, Marblehead, Salam and Swampscott. "While for many of us it may feel like life is returning to normal we have seen a greater need for the support the Holiday Cheer Drive provides than ever before." - SPUR Director of Volunteer Engagement Bryan Lamoreau. (Marblehead SPUR) Peabody Generator Opponents Petition State For Additional Reviews North Shore elected officials joined opponents of a planned 55-megawatt surge capacity generator at the Peabody Waters River substation in demanding additional environmental and health reviews of the fossil fuel-powered generator on Wednesday. State Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) and State Rep. Sally Kerans (D-Danvers) joined more than 30 advocates and community representatives in delivering a petition with more than 1,200 signatures to the office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Katherine Theoharides calling on the state to reopen the state Environmental Protection Agency process based on current regulations and the status of portions of Danvers, Peabody and Salem as state environmental justice communities. Marblehead Police Deliver Dump Truck Full Of Candy For Troops Thanks to the generous donations of Marblehead residents, the Marblehead Police Department was able to deliver a dump truck full of candy to the Danvers-based "Operation Troop Support" on Tuesday. Danvers Middle School Meetings After Yet Another Swastika Found Danvers Superintendent Lisa Dana said students at the Holten Richmond Middle School were to take part in a series of educational meetings on Friday after a swastika was found in a middle school bathroom for the second straight week. 'Our Community Has Been Traumatized': Danvers School Committee Nearly 24 hours after a 90-minute executive session ended with no action taken on a public proposal to place Superintendent Lisa Dana on administrative leave amid accusations of racist behavior and homophobic hazing within the hockey program, the Danvers School Committee Tuesday night released a collective statement allowing that "our community has been traumatized," but adding that there is no change in Dana's status as superintendent and reaffirming there are certain aspects of the hockey investigation it cannot and will not publicly discuss. Beverly Police To Host 2nd Connolly Memorial Toy Drive Beverly police are once again hosting the Officer Sean R. Connolly Memorial Toy Drive to collect items for underprivileged children in the area. Polly Titcomb Charts Course As New Swampscott Select Board Chair Ongoing and increasingly aggressive weekly protests, human resources director, library director and police chief positions to be filled, the ripple effect of the town's approval of a $98 million new elementary school, and the ongoing challenges of creating more affordable housing while preserving open space in a 3-square-mile town. Salem Shooting Victim Denied Restraining Order In NH A 33-year-old shooting victim remained in intensive care this week after she was shot in an apparent murder-suicide attempt on Technology Way in Salem on Monday night. No Child Goes Hungry In Peabody Toy Drive Organizers are planning what they hope will be "the largest toy drive in Peabody history" as part of the No Child Goes Hungry in Peabody campaign this holiday season. Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch. (Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)