For Immediate Release

Monday, Oct. 7, 2019

Contact: Kelsey Bode
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: kelsey@jgpr.net

*Media Advisory*

Essex Tech to Host Catherine Larkin Memorial Cottage Groundbreaking

DANVERS — Superintendent Heidi Riccio is pleased to announce that Essex Tech will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the Catherine Larkin Memorial Cottage project this week.

WHEN:

Friday, Oct. 11 at 8 a.m.

WHERE:

Smith Hall, 562 Maple St., Hathorne

WHO:

• Superintendent Heidi Riccio
• Essex Tech School Committee
• Cummings Foundation Representatives
• Project donors including representatives from the Larkin Family and Laborers Local 22

WHAT:

Essex Tech students, faculty, staff, local legislators, donors to the Catherine Larkin Memorial Cottage project, members of the public and media are invited to attend this week’s groundbreaking ceremony.

Those attending the ceremony will gather in front of Smith Hall on Friday, Oct. 11, and walk a short distance to the Larkin Cottage site, located directly across Route 62 from Essex Tech’s Farm Stand.

The Larkin cottage rebuild project will take approximately two years to complete, and will erect a new facility featuring an agricultural museum, learning center and community function space. The cottage will also house historic artifacts from the school’s long history, and will include a kitchen to support various events.

Students have already collected useful materials and items of historical significance from the original cottage, built in 1950 and named after a former student of the homemaking program and World War II nurse, Lt. Catherine Larkin, who died in a plane crash in 1945.

Essex Tech has set a fundraising goal of $1 million to fund the project. Those who have supported the project thus far include the Cummings Foundation, who awarded the school a competitive $100,000 grant to support the cottage, and donors including the Larkin Family, Laborers Local 22, CN Wood, New England Laborers Labor Management Corporation, Essex Aggie Alumnus Bob Woods, Hancock Associates and David Ray of Leslie Ray Insurance Company.

“We are thrilled to be hosting a groundbreaking ceremony to kick off this project, which will involve hundreds of our students over the coming months,” Superintendent Riccio said. “When completed, this new facility is going to be a wonderful resource for our students, faculty, staff and community, and it will also showcase the rich history of agricultural and vocational education in our area.”

Over the coming months, students in Essex Tech’s carpentry, masonry, electrical, plumbing and agriculture programs, among others, will come together to construct the cottage.

Pastries, made by culinary arts students, will be served at a reception after the groundbreaking ceremony at Smith Hall.

Those who plan on attending are asked to RSVP by emailing Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent Candy Levesque at clevesque@essextech.net.

To learn more about the project, purchase a ticket to the Homecoming Gala later this month or to donate, click here.

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