Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1039010
100 Gloucester and the ocean are as interwoven as the lines of a gillnet. So perhaps it's no surprise that Gloucester mayor Sefatia Romeo eken's emotions were running high the day after she toured the new Gloucester Ma- rine Genomics Institute (GMGI), a marine bio- tech research laboratory opening in October on Gloucester Harbor. "I was ecstatic. It was like a little kid having their little first piece of cake," she says. " She was thrilled with GMGI's potential to forge a partnership between the scientific and fishing communities, and the "miraculous" medicines that are being sourced from the sea, like a marine-derived pain medication ground and an animal area with alpacas, llamas, pigs, sheep, goats, ducks, rabbits, and deer. ere are always special events, like doll tea parties; fall festivals every autumn weekend, and trick-or-treat hayrides; weekly story and craft times during the summer; and ginger- bread workshops, visits with Santa, and Christmas tree lighting to celebrate the holidays. ere's also a CSA, as well as a sister farm in Boxford called Small Ox Farm, a play on a common mispronunciation of Smolak Farms. Smolak Farms also provides a venue for bigger events like weddings and the Whim Dinner Series, an elegant summertime farm-to- table dinner series that enlists renowned local chefs to create multicourse meals using the farm's produce. "If I sound a little groggy, it's because I was up hosting it until about ten," Smolak says the day after the last Whim Dinner of the season, featuring Turner's Seafood executive chef Yale Woodson. Smolak even talks about venturing into the world of TV. "I want to do a farm reality TV show," he says, and it's hard to tell whether or not he's joking. "I want to give the Kardashians a little bit of competition." Yet Smolak is not only investing in his own life's work; he's also deeply concerned with history and legacy. He's dedicated to preserving the memory of those who came before him and securing the future for those who'll come after him. Carol Majahad, executive director of the North Andover Historical Society, has known Smolak for 30 years and worked with him on an ambitious project to interview North Andover farm families about their memories. Now the historical society is home to a treasure trove of recorded interviews, rare documents, and photographs. e archive reveals stories about the farms and what life was like for those who lived on them. For example, the interviewees remember getting electricity for the first time in the 1930s, and learning that the government was keeping tabs on Italian-Americans during WWII because the United States was at war with Italy. "We're forever grateful to Michael that he came up with this idea and was able to push it through," Majahad says. "e thing about Michael is that he has a real sense of commu- nity and wanting to save it." Smolak was eager to capture the stories of farmers who came before him. History, he says, is an important teacher, but it "disappears really quickly." "Here are these stories from these farmers that really would like to be told," he adds. "And maybe a part of me wants to be remembered for what I did here. ree generations from now, no one will remember my name or me." Clearly, Smolak is also looking toward the future. He is a board member of Land For Good, a nonprofit farmland access organization, and is a presidential appointee for the Farm Service Agency State Committee in Massachusetts. Much of his own farm's land has been preserved as part of a Massachusetts program that will ensure it will always be open land. Jim Hafner, executive director of Land For Good, says Smolak—who runs a profitable and successful multigenerational family farm and a has wide circle of influence in his community— has been a valuable voice and representative for the organization, including furthering its work helping farmers with succession planning and farmland preservation. e issue is a critical one. Land For Good's data shows that 90 percent of these retiring farmers don't have a young farmer lined up to take over, but want their land to stay in farming. "He's always willing to open doors and make connections for us and our work," Hafner says. "We know he will always be in our corner as an organization." As for Smolak, he's thinking about his own succession planning. He has no children of his own, but a niece and nephew have expressed interest in taking up the reins. He says he'd be thrilled if somebody in the family took over. "I'm 66 years old. I should be thinking about retiring. What does retiring really mean?" he asks. For Smolak, it will mean securing the farm's future and enjoying life, friends, traveling, and dining. "I love history, I love art, I love theatre.… I've never been bored one day in my life, and I don't expect to be, ever," he says. "I just don't know how I'm going to fit everything I want to do in this life in the time that I have, but I'll make a good run at it." smolakfarms.com that's 15 times stronger than morphine, but not addictive. "For a city that started the Angel Program, wow!" she exclaims, referring to Gloucester's nationally recognized program that allows addicts to ask the police for help without fear of arrest. Romeo eken's voice breaks as she fights back tears. "I get emo- tional," she says, before quickly regaining her composure. "at is our future." In many ways, Gloucester embodies the familiar American narrative of a community seeking to embrace a new future without losing its heritage, and its centuries-old fishing industry and close-knit immigrant communities have shaped the city's identity. G O D M O T H E R O F G L O U C E S T E R Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken lends her voice to the voiceless in this salty city. BY ALEXANDRA PECCI