Local Firefighter Recognized As "Hero Among Us"

Danvers resident John Salvanelli will be honored at the Annual Heroes Among Us ceremony on Thursday, July 19, 2012 at the Massachusetts State House.

On Dec. 7 last year, Danvers resident John Salvanelli was walking into the Latitude Fitness Club in Peabody, when he heard someone screaming for a doctor.  "I quickly followed the person to the third floor where I found a man laying on the floor with a pool of blood around his head," Salvenelli recalled. The man, he later learned, had suffered a heart attack.  It was then that Salvanelli, a Beverly firefighter and EMT, made a life-changing decision. "I turned him over with the help of another women and realized he was not responsive and not breathing," he said. "I asked for a defibulator and someone gave it to me. Myself and a ER Nurse Cheryl Seaman open the machine and applied the pads. After starting up the defib. I advised everyone to …

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Saoirse Fitzgerald's Parents Start Cancer Fund in Her Memory

Family and friends will flood the Today Show plaza on Monday, June 18, to promote the Fitzgerald Cancer Fund.

One hour before 18-month-old Saoirse Fitzgerald passed away on Dec. 13, 2011, her father Mike told her he would do everything in his power to prevent other children from suffering with Neuroblastoma.  Now, just six months later, with a Board of Directors established, and the proper legal work completed, the Fitzgerald Cancer Fund has been deemed an official non-profit organization, and the quest to put an end to Neuroblastoma has begun.  Saoirse (pronounced Seer-sha, meaning "freedom" in Gaelic) was first diagnosed with Stage Four, nMYC amplified Neuroblastoma in May 2011, just three months after her mother, Kezia, had began treatment for an unrelated cancer, Stage Three Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Less than 24 hours after Saoirse entered the …

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Archive Edition: Fifth Grader Spearheads Cystic Fibrosis Walk at Great Oak

May is Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month: Danvers fifth Grader Bailey Witham hopes to bring awareness and support to people with cystic fibrosis, like his mother.

[Editor's note: We're re-featuring this great story from last year about the accomplishments of one Danvers student.] Bailey Witham seems like your typical eleven year old. The freckled fifth grader with big brown eyes is an avid Bruins fan, takes swimming at the YMCA, and plays baseball and football. He participates on the student council and gets straight A’s on his report card, and he loves to ride his bike.  But Bailey has a cause that's very close to his heart. And because of it, Bailey Witham is his mother’s hero. Bailey’s mother, Leeanne Curran, is a Danvers native and former Great Oak School student. She was diagnosed at the age of two with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disease that affects the lungs. Leanne initially showed no signs …

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'True American Patriot' Steward Wood Honored For Community Service

Wood received the American Legion's Joseph P. Conway Award on April 29.

When Steward "Stu" Wood found out he was the recipient of the 2012 Joseph P. Conway award, he said he was "flabbergasted and speechless." "I couldn't believe it," he said. Wood, a veteran who served three tours in Vietnam, was awarded for his dedication to several organizations, including Operation Troop Support, the American Legion Post 180, the Charles W. David VFW Post 2359, and for his "true American patriotism," at the Mass. American Legion Ceremony in Sutton, on April 29. While Wood was surprised by the honor, Mark McDermott, commander of American Legion Post 180 in Danvers, said Wood's resume doesn't even begin to show the real picture of Stu's dedication. Wood has been involved with Operation Troop Support for more than eight years…

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Friend To All, Eddie Moore Awarded Danvers' Citizen of the Year

The Danvers High School sports mainstay was recognized at the Danversport Yacht Club last week.

Lifelong Danvers resident Eddie Moore was awarded the Danvers Citizen of The Year Award for his work volunteering for the Danvers High School sports programs at a ceremony last week at the Danversport Yacht Club. With his family in attendance, and brother Paul Moore by his side, the Danvers Community Council presented the award to Moore before a crowd of about 125 attendees. "Eddie really enjoyed himself the other night,” Paul Moore recounted. “I’m not sure he really understood what it was all about, but he really enjoyed everyone coming out to see him, and being able to see all his friends. I would say the friendship extended to him that night meant much more to him than the actual award.” Moore said his brother overcame serious health …

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Whiz Kids

Ten-Year-Old Danvers Boy Starts Fund For Tornado Victims

Fourth grade cub scout Robert Wolniewicz inspired a fund program at Highlands Middle School.

(UPDATE: Robert Wolniewicz has been chosen as The Huffington Post's Greatest Person of the Day for Wednesday, March 14. You can read about past honorees here.) When devastating tornadoes striking Indiana and Kentucky were reported earlier this month, ten-year-old Danvers resident Robert Wolniewicz's cub scout project took an unexpected turn. The news media picked up the story of a 15-month-old girl discovered in a field, and she was alive. With her parents and siblings among the 39 killed in the twister, Angel Babcock was the only surviving member of her immediate family. The young and impressionable fourth grader's thought's initially ran to all of the things the little girl had lost. When parents Catherine and David Wolniewicz, who are …

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Great Oak Legend Awarded for Americanism

Longtime Great Oak custodian Bob Palardy received the Annual Americanism Award on Feb. 9.

When Danvers resident Bob Palardy retired from his 22-year position as a custodian at Great Oak Elementary in 2008, the students knew they were losing someone special. That year, the school's yearbook was dedicated to Palardy, a tree was planted in his honor, and the school's mascot, a dragon, was even named after him. Now, for his patriotic example to students, and for his lifelong patriotism and respect for the country's veterans, the Drapeau-McPherson Post 180 of the American Legion awarded Bob Palardy the annual Americanism Award on Feb. 9. Palardy, a Holten High School graduate and longtime Danvers resident, is credited as a 'spark plug for patriotic activity' in the Danvers Public Schools. It was about 15 years ago, Palardy said, …

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Rave Reviews for Danvers Filmmaker's 'Sarabah'

'Sarabah,' a documentary about Sister Fa's activism against female genital cutting in Africa, was coproduced and directed by Danversite Maria Luisa Gambale.

Sarabah, a documentary film about activism against female genital cutting, co-produced and directed by former Danvers resident Maria Luisa Gambale, has received critical acclaim from its international audiences. The film's journey began with "Rappers, Diva, and Virtuosos: New Music From the Muslim World," a Link TV program for which Gambale was supervising producer. The show profiled four musicians and their cultures. When deciding on a fifth person to spotlight, a rapper from Senegal named Sister Fa topped Gambale and her co-producer Steven Lawrence's list. After meeting Sister Fa at the October 2009 UN Day Concert, they were both "beyond impressed," not only with her musical abilities, but also her activism in the controversial female …

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