CP_MBHC_20231025_1_A01
IN THIS ISSUE
SPORTS
INNOVATION
BEST BETS
’Header bringing boxing back to the North Shore
Bop It inventor nominated for Toy Hall of Fame
Current Events, spooky edition
Page 9
Page 3
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PAID
MARBLEHEAD, MA PERMIT NO. 25
Page 16
NEWS FOR PEOPLE, NOT FOR PROFIT.
TM
October 25, 2023
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VOLUME 1, ISSUE NO. 46
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MARBLEHEADCURRENT.ORG
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ON SOCIAL @MHDCURRENT
BANNER IS BACK
After disappearing, BLM flag back in school MHS senior: Banner ‘makes students of color feel seen’ BY LEIGH BLANDER After disappearing earlier this month, the Black Lives Matter banner was back at Marblehead High School on Monday, Oct. 23, hanging in the cafeteria. “I was astonished that someone would even take the BLM flag down,” said Shakayla
Baxter, a student of color at MHS. “Doing it on purpose or not, it’s still upsetting. As a student of color at Marblehead High, seeing that flag up makes me feel like there is at least one person in the school that cares about students that look like me. It makes students of color feel seen in a town that’s
predominantly Caucasian.” Baxter said there was no communication from school leaders about the flag. It’s not clear who removed it and whether the flag hanging now is the same one, or a new one. Acting Superintendent Michelle Cresta and MHS Principal Michele Carlson did not return requests for comment on Oct. 23 “Now that it’s back up I just BLM, P. A4
COURTESY PHOTO
The Black Lives Matter banner is back at Marblehead High School.
SCHOOL NEWS
HAUNTED HAPPENINGS
Families get into Halloween spirit Committee gives acting at Brown School Monster Mash super full support BY LEIGH BLANDER
Families lined up down the block to get into the Brown School’s Monster Mash celebration on Friday evening, where all kinds of haunted happenings awaited them. Some of the favorites this year? Fortune tellers, a petting zoo with goats and rabbits, spooky-themed games, a haunted house and, best of all, the dunk tank where kids took turns soaking Principal Mary Maxfield and others. “This is my favorite,” said six-yearold Winnie Gallagher, dressed as an arctic fox and trying to eat a donut off a string without using her hands. “I also liked the corn maze.” The Monster Mash dates back 20 years, when it started at the Coffin School. This is its third year at Brown and it is more popular than ever. Last year, more than 1,200 people came out. “This is a core memory for these kids,” said mom and organizer Kate Schmeckpeper. “We’re trying to create new traditions and include beloved things from the past.” The event is run entirely by volunteers. “My kids love it,” said Karla Strobel, another volunteer. “It’s their favorite event of the year.” In addition to parents, older students from the Veterans School and the high school volunteer at the event. Mona Gelfgatt and Caroline Jones rubbing a crystal ball and telling fortunes. Gelfgatt remembers coming to Monster Mashes at the Coffin when she was a little girl. This year, she was making memories with the next
State gives guidance on deleted text messages BY LEIGH BLANDER
CURRENT PHOTOS / LEIGH BLANDER
Winnie Gallagher, 6, was making quick work of this donut at the Brown School Monster Mash.
»More Monster Mash photos, Page 4 generation. Jones said she was reading the future for some kids by saying, “You’re going to get 100 candy bars.” Hannah Bulger, 7, liked her fortune, that she would meet a prince and a
princess. Then, she ended her interview abruptly when she saw teacher Ms. Sheppard and Dot, a food service worker, lining up to climb into the dunk tank.
After listening to six people speak in support of acting Superintendent Michelle Cresta and her Oct. 12 email stating solidarity with “Israel and Jewish people around the world,” the School Committee voted unanimously that Cresta committed no wrongdoing. “I stand with Michelle Cresta and her statement,” said School Committee Chair Sarah Fox at the start of the Oct. 19 meeting. A mother of two students in Marblehead schools had filed a complaint against Cresta for her email, which did not mention the deaths of Palestinian civilians. In a letter to the editor, Kristi Warab wrote, “I would like to see an email from the school that stands with the right of every race and group of people and their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — not just one group of people.” She said her children, who are Muslim, were facing bullying in school. At least one other Marblehead parent contacted the School Committee criticizing Cresta’s email. “I urge you to take a nuanced approach to this subject. Your words, which show no regard for the loss of Palestinian life, are deeply hurtful to those in this community who value all life equally,” the mother wrote in an email to the School Committee shared with the Current but not mentioned CRESTA, P. A4
HOCUS POCUS
The black cat of Old Burial Hill BY WILLIAM J. DOWD A mysterious black cat bearing an uncanny resemblance to Zachary Binx from the 1993 Halloween cult classic “Hocus Pocus” has residents telling tales of a possible specter that appears annually each autumn. The pitch-black cat with yellow eyes was first spotted five years ago by local resident Carole Brindamour, who lives near Old Burial Hill Cemetery where scenes from “Hocus Pocus” were filmed. Binks was
BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW
a boy turned into an immortal, talking black cat by witches the Sanderson Sisters in the film. “I saw this black cat wandering around the cemetery on an October night,” said Brindamour. “I just thought ‘Wow, that’s weird.’” Since then, Brindamour and Pond Street neighbor Judy Gates have reported separate sightings of the black feline roaming the area around the cemetery and their homes during the month of October. “It comes in October around
the cemetery, so it seems a little spooky,” said Brindamour, who captured photos of the cat napping beneath her porch. For Brindamour, the cat’s persistent attraction to her home may seem odd, but it may be due to the home’s history as the place where the famous psychic Moll Pitcher was born and raised. Her family, known for producing generations of “wizards,” lived in the Marblehead home where Pitcher spent her early years learning
the psychic arts. She would become a renowned clairvoyant and fortune-teller. Pitcher’s grandfather, Capt. Aholiab Diamond, had long been known as the “Wizard of Marblehead” and used his powers to save sailors from shipwrecks, locate thieves and find lost objects. Later in life, Pitcher lived and worked primarily in Lynn, but the Marblehead home remained linked to her mystical heritage. CAT, P. A5
COURTESY PHOTO / CAROLE BRINDAMOUR
An unaccompanied black cat hangs out at Marblehead resident Carole Brindamour’s home.