North area seniors compete in talent show

IDOLIZING SENIORS: Not to let the "idol" craze pass them by, a dozen senior citizens took to the stage at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill last week to compete in the second annual Life Long Learning Talent Show.

From comedy, to singing, to fiddle picking and tap dancing, the performances were viewed by about 200 people in the audience.

June Dion's daughter, son, and granddaughter were all on hand to hear the 90-year-old Haverhill resident sing "Me and My Shadow" and "That's My Desire."

Dolores Bourque, 60, of Haverhill, who eight years ago learned to play fiddle at Northern Essex in a personal enrichment class taught by local musician EJ Ouellette, returned to perform a duet with Marty Kriegsman, 65, also of Haverhill, on guitar and vocals.

Several members of the Comedy Masque Revue also participated.

Winning first place, and $100, was the tap dancing duo of Barbara Skofield, 76, and Richard Ricker, 72, both of Haverhill, who danced to "Anchors Aweigh."

Keyboardist and vocalist Larry Dudley, 60, of Haverhill, took second place. Third place went to vocalist Bob Gregory, 76, of Groveland.

Life Long Learning is a program of lectures, study groups, trips, and events geared for people 50 and older, but it is open to anyone interested. Visit www.necc.mass.edu.

RUSSIAN ROOTS: The annual meeting of the Jewish Historical Society of the North Shore on Sunday marks the first Dr. Richard A. Winer Annual Memorial Lecture Series.

Winer, fascinated with his Lithuanian background, had completed his first family tree and was doing research on a second volume at the time of his death in July, at age 80.

Winer graduated from Salem High School, Bowdoin College, and Tufts Dental School. He was a practicing endodontist in Salem from 1954 until his retirement in 1992. He lived in Marblehead for more than 50 years.

Active in Jewish and community affairs, he was a past president of Temple Shalom in Salem and past president of the North Shore Historical Society.

A well-known genealogist, he was contacted through his website by people from all over the world trying to find their family histories.

Joel Ratner, coordinator of the LitvakSIG Vilna District Research Group from 1998 to 2006, is the guest speaker at the annual meeting. The group seeks to assist researchers by procuring, translating, and distributing genealogical records for the towns in what was the Vilna district of Imperial Russia.

The event, at the Jewish Community Center of the North Shore in Marblehead, begins at 2 p.m. It is open to the public and free.

Call 978-564-0741.

WHO'S WHAT WHERE: Miranda Gooding is rejoining the firm of Glovsky & Glovsky in Beverly as an associate specializing in real estate law. Gooding, of Beverly, worked for the firm from 1998 to 2003, when she took a five-year leave from practicing law. During the interim, she was active in the community and elected to the Beverly City Council. She continues to serve on the Beverly Harbor Management Authority, Community Advisory Council to the Beverly Police Department, and as a board member of Beverly Main Streets. Gooding is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Boston College Law School. . . . Sharon Finberg has been awarded the Harvard Club of Boston 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award for her efforts to interest young women in the fields of science and engineering. Finberg is in her third year teaching pre-calculus, calculus, and physics at Our Lady of Nazareth Academy, an all-girls school in Wakefield. She previously taught at Bentley College and Clark University. She has a master's degree in optics from the University of Arizona and a doctorate in physics from Penn State. . . . Two Newburyport High School students recently won awards for outstanding participation at a Model United Nations held in Montreal. Sophomore Mackenzie Kelleher, representing the Republic of Azerbaijan, received the Lester B. Pearson Award for Peacemaking. Senior Christopher Fischer, in the role of prime minister of Pakistan, was awarded the Pierre Trudeau Award for Diplomacy. They were among 16 students from Newburyport High School and 1,200 students from throughout North America participating in the conference.

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