Sand sculptures highlight Salisbury Beach party
If you need some beach castle inspiration, the pros are at Salisbury Beach tomorrow through Sunday.
Master sand sculptor Sean Fitzpatrick and others from Fitzy Snowman Sculpting of Saugus build creations from 12 tons of special sand delivered to the beach, and lead activities for kids from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
The weekend also includes live music on the beachfront stage. The six-piece Fat City Band performs a mix of rock, jazz, rhythm and blues, and swing from 7 to 10 p.m. tomorrow.
On Saturday, the Bruce Marshall Group presents a pre-fireworks concert with a range of rock and roots music, including blues and southern boogie, from 7 to 10 p.m. Formed in 1991, the group has been recording and performing steadily throughout New England.
Fireworks, shot from a barge in the ocean off Salisbury Beach center, are scheduled for 10 p.m.
Events are presented by the Salisbury Beach Partnership Inc., and the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce. Admission is free.
SUMMER ENRICHMENT: Prep@Pingree, a summer academic enrichment program at the Pingree School in Hamilton, has been awarded a $6,000 grant from the Greater Lawrence Summer Fund.
The money will support the program for middle school students from Lawrence and Lynn schools. Conducted on the Pingree campus for five weeks each summer and continuing through off-campus outreach during the school year, the program enables 35 students who have completed seventh and eighth grades to sharpen their math, verbal, analytical, writing, and study skills.
The curriculum also includes classes in engineering design and history. Classes are taught by Pingree and Lawrence High School faculty and alumni. Past participants also return as mentors.
Since 1990, the Greater Lawrence Summer Fund, a fund of the Essex County Foundation, has provided an opportunity for donors to support summer enrichment opportunities for urban youth and agencies.
Visit www.pingree.org and www.eccf.org.
ICE CREAM SOCIAL: The Marblehead Museum & Historical Society joins with the Marblehead Family Fund to host an old-fashioned ice cream social in the Lee Mansion garden on Saturday.
“The Independence Day weekend provides a wonderful opportunity to enjoy traditions of an earlier time, and what better place is there to step back in time than at the Lee Mansion,’’ said Susan Gessner of the Marblehead Museum, cochairwoman of the event with Lisa Hoguet of the Marblehead Family Fund.
The Lee Mansion is a colonial Georgian home built in 1768, when Lee was the wealthiest merchant and ship owner in Marblehead’s fishing trade. In 1909, the Marblehead Historical Society purchased the house to keep it from being torn down.
The mansion and all properties of the Marblehead Museum are open free from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The ice cream social runs from noon to 3 p.m. Admission is $3 per person; $10 per family, and it’s all you can eat. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
The Marblehead Family Fund is a nonprofit group of parent volunteers that supports the health and well-being of local children and families.
WHO’S WHAT WHERE: Lawrence Velvel, dean of the Massachusetts School of Law in Andover, is the winner of the 2009 gold medal in the essay/creative category of Independent Publisher, a trade journal for the independent publishing community. The award was for his piece, “An Enemy of the People: The Unending Battle Against Conventional Wisdom,’’ published by the law school’s Doukathsan Press. Velvel cofounded the law school to open the legal profession to minorities, immigrants, and mid-life and low-income students. . . . James L. Ridley of Lynn has been appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to a three-year term on North Shore Community College’s board of trustees. A former principal of the Breed Middle School in Lynn, Ridley is director of the Lynn Vocational Technical Institute. He also has been the Lynn Tech football coach for more than two decades and is a member of the Lynn Tech Hall of Fame. He is a graduate of North Shore Community College and Salem State College, and has a master’s degree in education from Cambridge College. He’s a member of the NAACP, Community Brotherhood of Lynn, and Black Coaches Association, and is a Mason of Mount Carmel Lodge, Lynn.
Items can be sent to wdkilleen@gmail.com. 
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