Tuesday, May 18, 2021
Delivered Dory Adorns Cape Ann YMCA
Many Cape Ann residents have stepped through a doorway to get to a dory over the years, and now, in the new Cape Ann YMCA, the dory is inside the doorway.
When the final phases of construction of the new Y were underway at the Gloucester Crossing site, Tim Flaherty, the Executive Director of the Cape Ann YMCA, invited me for a tour. On that tour, we talked about the space above the front doors - a perfect spot to feature something that speaks to the character of Cape Ann. I immediately thought that the right thing to put there would be a dory, the type of rowing vessel used for decades by Cape Ann fishermen, and now used in the International Dory Races between Gloucester and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
To me, the dory is a perfect manifestation of the true character of Gloucester as a fishing port. Ted and I started a search that brought us to the local and legendary dory builder Geno Mondello. David McKechnie of Beauport Financial Services LLC and his wife Elaine acquired the dory as a gift to the Y. Next, we recruited a crew to help move and successfully navigate the dory to its perfect place.
