Beverly Family Seeks Help Finding Kelly A Kidney: Patch Weekender

BEVERLY, MA — It's starting to warm up on the North Shore as cities and towns look forward to a much more lively spring and summer amid easing coronavirus-related restrictions at the same time they navigate the timetable about when to lift regulations and allow bigger events.

Salem is keeping its downtown mask mandate, at least for now, and postponing its Fourth of July fireworks until a possible August date around Heritage Days. Meanwhile, Beverly seniors are pushing forward with a prom and 10 North Shore communities are coming together to advocate for the vaccinations they feel will lead to a safe summer for all.

In Beverly, one family is hoping to find a kidney donor for a woman who has already lost a leg to Type 1 diabetes. While in Marblehead, a 17-year-old blind and deaf dachshund was found safe by the river's edge after a harrowing day away from home.

Here is a Sunday sampling of Patch stories you may have missed on the North Shore this week.

Beverly Family Asks For Help Finding Kelly A Kidney

Kelly Raymond says she is incredibly thankful for the way her friends and the Beverly and Danvers communities have supported her in the past as she's battled Type 1 diabetes and recovered from a leg amputation from eight years ago.

Now she has an even greater ask for help that she said she and her family would never make if not for the urgency and importance.

She needs a kidney and is looking for a match.

North Shore Unites On 'Safe Summer' Vaccination Campaign

As Gov. Charlie Baker laid out a pathway to the end of the state's coronavirus-related business restrictions on Tuesday, officials from 10 North Shore cities and towns unveiled their plan to accelerate that process as much as possible and bring back events across the region as soon as they can.

The North Shore Coalition for a Safe Summer is a joint effort from Beverly, Danvers, Gloucester, Hamilton, Marblehead, Nahant, Newburyport, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott to encourage residents to get vaccinated and by doing that help hasten the return to normal across the region.

"The North Shore does have a unique identity and we view ourselves as all part of this one beautiful part of the state," Peabody Board of Health Director Sharon Cameron told Patch on Tuesday. "There are all these places to go, all the beautiful beaches that we have where maybe people weren't able to go and enjoy last year with the concerns around the virus."

Blind, Deaf, 17-Year-Old Dog Found Safe In Marblehead Mud

A 17-year-old, blind and deaf dachshund that wandered away from her Pilgrim Road yard when a gate blew open was safe and sound Monday night after a search crew found her stuck in the mud off May Street.

The Prom(s) Will Go On At Beverly High School

The prom will apparently go on in Beverly this spring. Perhaps, more than one of them.

Salem 4th Of July Fireworks Celebration Postponed For 2021

There will be no fireworks on the Fourth of July for the second straight year in Salem. Only this year, the hope is it is more of a postponement than a cancellation.

Downtown Salem Outdoor Mask Order Stays In Effect

Visitors to downtown Salem still have to mask up indoors or outdoors for at least the next couple of weeks.

Salem High Drama Club Set To Hit The Big Screen

That Salem drama club's 17-song production got its well-deserved due in the Salem High parking lot Friday night when "Stage 2 Screen: A Musical Revue" was shown on a 26-foot-high screen as part of a drive-in movie experience for students, staff and the performers themselves.

Beverly Hospital Honors Its Pet Therapy Volunteer Teams

Beverly Hospital and Addison Gilbert Hospital honored their Pet Therapy Volunteer Teams as part of this week's National Therapy Animal Day.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)