Middle School Show Of Pride In Danvers: Patch Weekender

DANVERS, MA — Summer weather has arrived on the North Shore just in time for the lifting of state business restrictions, the return of a true festival season and public ceremonies where are all once again invited.

As several communities plan for LGBTQ+ flag-raising events early in Pride month, one Danvers eighth-grader is making bracelets, anklets and keychains to help those supporting the LGBTQ+ community show their "true colors."

Here is that story, and maybe a few others, you may have missed on Patch this week as you hopefully keep cool and get ready for the week ahead.

Danvers Middle Schooler Designs Impressive Show Of Pride

As schools and communities all across the North Shore celebrate Pride Month with ceremonies and flag-raising events in June, Danvers eighth-grader Marishka Burnett had an idea for an even longer-lasting show of encouragement for her LGBTQ+ classmates.

The Holten-Richmond Middle School student is using her talents to make bracelets, anklets and keychains as part of a small business she hopes will make her school a more inclusive place where students and staff can be themselves and know they have the support of the whole town.

"It was mostly because I have been seeing a lot of Pride people coming out and I want them to show their true colors," she told Patch in an interview from school this week.

Salem Arts Festival Marks Fitting Rebirth For North Shore

It seems only fitting that a weekend of creativity, culture and community marks the symbolic rebirth of the festival season in Salem after the coronavirus crisis caused more than a year of dampened, distanced and canceled programs.

The Salem Arts Festival, which began on Friday and runs through Sunday, is the first major North Shore event of its kind since the onset of the pandemic 15 months ago. With the state lifting all coronavirus-related business restrictions as of last week, that means a much more relaxed and interactive weekend than organizers were hoping for even just a few weeks ago.

"We did not expect it to be quite so open," Salem Main Streets Executive Director Kylie Sullivan told Patch on Thursday. "But we're happy it is."

Danvers Mass Vaccination Site To Give Final Shots By June 30

Five months after it opened as one of the pillars of the state's hopes to vaccinate as many of its residents as quickly as possible against the coronavirus, the Danvers DoubleTree Hotel mass vaccination site will close at the end of June.

$10 Million Lottery Ticket Sold In Peabody

The Massachusetts State Lottery said the "$10,000,000 Gold" instant game ticket was sold at Town Variety on Central Street.

Beverly's Kevin Shrayer Named A State Crossing Guard Champion

Beverly's Kevin Shrayer was honored as one of the state's five Crossing Guards of the Year out of 173 nominations at the Massachusetts Safe Routes to School Awards ceremony.

Marblehead's Jim Laramie Named A State Crossing Guard Of The Year

Marblehead's Jim Laramie was recently recognized as one of the Safe Routes to School program's Crossing Guards of the Year.

Vietnam Memorial Moving Wall Coming To North Shore

The stirring memorial exhibit honoring those killed in the Vietnam War is coming to the North Shore next month.

Marblehead's Maria Piper Earns National Merit Scholarship

Marblehead High senior Maria Piper was named one of 3,100 students to earn a National Merit Scholarship as part of the organization's college-sponsored program.

Beverly's Nancy Frates Narrates MLB's Lou Gehrig Tribute Video

As Major League Baseball remembers Lou Gehrig this week, the voice of his official tribute video is a familiar one with a tragic and undeniable link to baseball's original Iron Horse.

North Shore Students Help Salem State Honor 2 Years Of Graduates

Olivia Perez, of Danvers, and Maria Rodriguez, of Salem, were among the singing performers for the ceremonies that honored 1,500 undergraduate and graduate students from the class of 2021 and more than 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students from 2020.

(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.)