The Marblehead Historical Commission got a surprise check recently. They were given a check of $697,711 as a bequest from longtime residents Rita and Ross Terrien. The donation has four caveats. The principal and earned interest is to be used to create a repository to house Marblehead’s historical documents and records. The management of the facility is supposed to be under the control of the Marblehead Historical Commission and the facility that is created will be named for Ross and Rita Terrien.

Finally, the money should not be used in any way for the operating budget.

The Board of Selectman Chairman Jackie Belf-Becker described the Terriens’ donation as “special — something you don’t see very often.”

Rita died in 2009 and Ross died in 2012. The couple were married for 65 years and were antique dealers who owned the town’s Old General Store.

On November 16th, the Fit Girls Run Club of Marblehead had their first annual Full Hearts 5K at the Village School. Of the proceeds from the event went to their program to promote a healthy lifestyle through running, community service and reading.

175 girls showed up in total to run the 5K both from Marblehead and Swampscott. Marathon sponsors included the Marblehead Opticians, B&S Fitness and Friends of Marblehead Public Schools. Other sponsors include the National Grand Bank and the Haynes Design. For the 10K sponsors included the Marblehead Bank, Precision Motor Works, Ford Painting, Swampscott Soccer Association and more.

Do you know a Harbor Hero? The Marblehead Harbor Rotarians are looking for students whose deeds and contributions to the community are worth recognition. Anyone in town can nominate a student. As chairperson Judith Black explained, the recipients have to be in grades 4-12 and either live in Marblehead or attend school there. They should have demonstrated service above self, improving the lives of others, or bringing important issues to the attention of people and then offering solutions.

Last year, the Harbor Hero was Jacob Abbisso. He found a clever way to raise money for the Marblehead Animal Shelter by making balloon animals at parties. Two years ago, the Harbor Hero was Maisie Kate Miller who stood up to bullying. The student who is picked will get an award in front of classmates and then be publicly recognized in the Marblehead Reporter and on MHTV.

Here is the nomination form: http://www.rcomh.org/pdfs/HarborHeroes1107.pdf

On November 9th, Bob Newman who grew up in Marblehead will be at the Abbot Public Library to discuss his new book.

Newman has globetrotted around the world. After college he was in the Peace Corps for two years in India and became an anthropologist. He taught at an Australian university for 16 years and then returned to Marblehead to teach English as a second language to the new Russian immigrant community on the North Shore.

The book is a collection of 29 stories that are autobiographical. Readers of “Marblehead Traveler” will find stories set in Marblehead, India, Australia, Thailand, Korea, Ireland and other areas.

Everyone is invited to the book reading on November 9th.

Author Marjorie Agosin will be coming to the North Shore on Sunday, January 25th for a special book group discussion on her book “I Lived on Butterfly Hill.” The book is based on true events in Chile.

Agosin is an award-winning poet, essayist, writer and activist who has received honors by the United Nations for her work on human rights.

The event will take place from 5-7 pm at the Aviv Centers for Living at 240 Lynnfield Street in Peabody. The program is open to Jewish girls between the ages of 10 and 14 and their mothers and grandmothers.

Any girls who RSVP by December 1 will get a free copy of the book.

The Marblehead Arts Association has just announced its selection of Kristine Fisher as their new executive director. She began on August 12th.

As they said,

“The Marblehead Arts Association is excited to have Kristine join the organization as executive director,” said Emily Cantor, president of the MAA Board of Directors. “Her extensive professional experience in conjunction with her knowledge of the regional arts community will greatly benefit our association. We look forward to many successes for years to come under Kristine’s leadership.”

Fisher said,

“I have long valued the rich legacy of the Marblehead Arts Association. I look forward to expanding membership and community outreach by continuing to bring vibrant exhibits, events and educational opportunities to MAA.”

Not that this information would come as a surprise to those of us in Marblehead, but Marblehead is one of the state’s most educated communities according to data that comes from the American Community Survey compiled by WCVB-TV.

The survey looked at the percentage of residents in each of the communities in Massachusetts with graduate degrees or higher. Marblehead came out number 31 in the state. 30.7% of the residents who are 25 or older have a graduate degree – which is the highest percentage of any of the communities on the North Shore.

Seconsett Island has the most educated of all of the populations in the state. It has 63.6% of the adult residents with a graduate degree or higher.

Since December of 2008, Atlantic Ambulance Service, a division of Cataldo Ambulance Service, has been providing ambulance services in Marblehead. They just renewed their exclusive contract as of July 1 for another two years.

Cataldo Ambulance explains that it has a proven track record of working with community partners to ensure the health and wellness of the community members.

If you’re a beer lover, you just might want to look at the Wormtown Brewery in Worcester. They were just named the Grand National Champion of the US Beer Open that took place in Atlanta on July 4.

Wormtown won gold medals for its Hopulence (Imperial IPA), Be Happy (American IPA) and Biere De Miele (Belgian/French Ale). It also won a silver medal for its ALS Farmhouse (Belgian/French Saison).

As brewer Ben Roesch said, “It wouldn’t be a stretch to say everyone at Wormtown Brewery was surprised. It’s only our second time entering. We’re certainly not known for Belgian beers – we really haven’t done too many of them – and to have push us over the top to win the competition was kind of cool.”

Our very own Danvers-based ShoeString Shoes has just announced the launch of United Shoes of America. This is a children’s sneaker brand that is made 100% in the US with US materials and components. They have styles with red, white and blue colors and the collection debuted on July 4^th.

As Marblehead resident Art Rogers, the general manager of ShoeString Shoes said,

“To celebrate the launch of our one-of-a-kind American-made brand, we are introducing this distinct line on the Fourth of July. Our shoes are entirely made in the U.S., drawing on expertise from component factories across many states.”

He continued, “The idea for United Shoes of America was born almost two years ago and has taken months of planning to bring these classic, American-styled shoes to market. We know that American consumers feel strongly about buying products made here at home and know this point of differentiation will resonate.”