Sending best, best wishes to Aimee and David Brooks on the birth of their beautiful baby girl Naia Rumi Brooks. David and Aimee could not be present at the Lobster Trap Tree lighting with new baby born the night before, but we all want to thank David, Shawn Henry, the extraordinary Lobster Trap Tree building crew, Art Haven’s Traci Thayne Corbett and the sweetest buoy painters for their glorious gift to Gloucester.
Wishing the Brooks Family a lifetime of love, happiness, and joy.
The Lobster Trap Christmas tree taking shape, from measuring and laying out the circumference, offloading traps from Makin Movers, to securing the traps while building round and round, level by level; it’s a fantastic day for the community. Thank you Lobster Trap Christmas Tree build Crew!
If you would like to join the team next year, please visit The Lobster Trap Tree website to sign up. There is also a portal to donate to help with recurring expenses such as lights, and information if you would like to become a sponsor.
The Crew: Top row left to right -Tyler Rogers, Emre Kayadibi, Peter Asaro, David Brooks, Jonathan Cooney, Andrew Nicastro, Shawn Henry, Jesse Dole, Oliver Brooks, and Daniel Brooks.
Bottom row left to right – Nichole Frontiero, Christian Maki, Nard Doyle, Steve Allwood, Pietro Cannavo, David DeAngelis, Jose Leland, Josh Oliver, and Steve Larkin
Not pictured are Bryanna Porter, David Pratt, Rob Moran, and Miriam Brooks
SAVE the DATE: The Lobster Trap Christmas Tree Lighting is December 14th, 4:30 to 5pm.
Check out the Lobster Trap Christmas Tree’s brand new website at thelobstertraptree.org. The website was a donation from, and built by, Andrew Nicastro of the live stream and AV production company Streamography.
On the new website you will find links to the buoy painting schedule at Art Haven, how to be a sponsor, how to join the team, and how to donate to help with annual recurring costs (lights!).
There is also a portal to submit your Lobster Trap Christmas Tree photos, new and vintage!
This is the second year in a row that the Lobster Trap Christmas Tree is located at Solomon Jacob’s Landing.
Video of the Lobster Trap Christmas Tree Build
Keep cozy on this longest night of the year, and throughout the season <3
David Brooks and Jim Knott
Riverdale Mills CEO, Jim Knott, Jr., was in attendance at Saturday evening’s wondrous Lobster Trap Tree lighting. Mr. Knott generously donated the 400 traps used in creating the 2023 Lobster Trap Tree. The gift of 400 traps is permanent and will be used in the building of future trap trees. 400 trees were donated to symbolize Gloucester’s 400th anniversary.
Additionally, the labor for building the 400 traps was donated by Brooks Trap Mill in Thomaston, Maine, and contributions were made by Three Lantern Marine Fishing and Supply, Gloucester.
Jim Knott, as quoted in the Gloucester Daily Times, “We’re here for the lobstermen, and we’re trying to support both the current event and the future,” he said. “The reason for the donation is that we wanted to help the community out. The lobster fishing industry is a big part of our business and we have a long history in the lobster industry making wire mesh that was invented in Gloucester. My father has two patents that date back to the 1960s and that wire mesh supplanted wood almost completely (for lobster traps).”
The wire mesh, called Aquamesh, that you see inside modern lobster traps, was invented by Jim’s Dad, James Knott, Sr. He spent summers on Cape Ann with his family, fishing for lobsters during his teenage years. Mr. Knott knew there had to be a better lobster trap. Since the mid-1960s, he “had been tinkering with designs for wire lobster traps. The traditional wooden traps were buoyant and needed to be weighed down with bricks or rocks to sink. Once immersed, they became water logged and extremely heavy. They also wore out more quickly than metal cages.” James Knott converted an abandoned mill on the banks of the Blackstone River, in Northbridge, Massachusetts, which had been used to manufacture bayonets during the Civil War, and founded Riverdale Mills to manufacture coated wire and Aquamesh.
For more information read here:
The Wall Street Journal: James Knott Pioneered Modern Lobster Traps and fended off the EPA
Worcester Business Journal: The Backbone of Lobster Traps
Gloucester daily Times by Gail McCarthy: Gloucester’s Lobster Trap Tree Grows
World’s Best Lobster Trap Tree!
The Lobster Trap Tree looks extra splendid in fresh fallen snow!
Please share your Lobster Trap Tree photos by tagging @lobstertraptree on Facebook. Our fun funky tree has a way of lifting people’s spirits and the community would love to see your snapshots. Thank you!
If you are not on Facebook, feel free to email your photos to me at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com and I will post them for you.
When you post on Facebook, simply tag us at @lobstertraptree and your photos will go directly to The Lobster Trap Tree Facebook page. Thank you so much <3
Despite a major power outage earlier in the afternoon, Sunday evening’s Lobster Trap Tree lighting went off without a hitch. Gloucester’s Fire Department arrived right on schedule. Using an aerial ladder, the firemen hoisted the star to the tippy top of the tree, where Shawn Henry was waiting to secure. Ten, nine, eight… Mayor Sefatia gave the virtual countdown and the vibrantly colored buoys and lights shone brightly.
The Lobster Trap Tree is a very special tradition for our community and we are especially grateful to David Brooks and Shawn Henry for their continued dedication in building, organizing, and sharing through Shawn’s films, particularly during the global pandemic
I love that the tree’s star is currently switched to alternating between colorful and white lights, simply wonderful!
Snapshots of Shawn Henry and David Brooks installing buoys today.
Virtual Lobster Trap Tree Lighting – Sunday, December 13th at 4:30
Since we can’t gather and celebrate this wonderful tradition together, let’s jump on Facebook and be together virtually. Thanks to Good Morning Gloucester and the crew from Gloucestercast, they will be bringing to you live – Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, Ken Riehl from the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce and the Gloucester Fire Department as they light the Lobster Trap Tree. This tradition is made possible by the Lobster Trap Tree volunteers, Three Lanterns Marine and Fishing and Cape Ann Art Haven. Please do not come to this area of downtown as we do not want a gathering during this very critical time.
VIEW THE LIGHTING LIVE ON THE LOBSTER TRAP TREE FACEBOOK PAGE.
Check out this super fun time lapse video of the 2020 Gloucester Lobster Trap Tree Build from Shawn Henry!
With thanks and deep appreciation to Three Lanterns
Tree Builders: David Brooks, Jason Burroughs, Gregg Cademartori, Dave DeAngelis, Shawn G. Henry, Andrew Nicastro, Josh Oliver, and George Schlichte
Hi Friends, If you take a photo of the Lobster Trap Tree and post on Facebook, we would love to share with the community. Please tag us with our new username @lobstertraptree. Thank you!
In response to lots of questions, David Brooks and Shawn Henry share that it appears as though there are enough lights in stock leftover from previous years! This is great news as most of us are on a tighter budget and lighting stocks are running low.
As soon as the lights and buoys are in place, the tree lighting will take place sometime this week, depending on the weather. Because of the global pandemic, the tree lighting will be a virtual tree lighting, hosted by Mayor Sefatia. Stay tuned for time and date!
Follow The Lobster Trap Tree on Facebook for all the latest updates <3
Photos from Saturday evening’s tree lighting event, including several of Traci Thayne Corbett, Art Haven’s director, and her super helpers Lily and Cee Cee. Traci is the person who helps the kids in creating all the fabulous hand painted buoys that adorn the tree.
Traci, Lily, and Cee Cee
Tremendous thanks and huge shout outs to David Brooks, Shawn Henry, Traci Corbett, Warren Waugh, Cape Ann Art Haven, Three Lantern Marine Fishing, Great Marsh Brewing Co, Gloucester Fire Department, the City of Gloucester, and to all the great people volunteering their time and money towards continuing this fabulous and uniquely Gloucester tradition <3
David Brooks, also known as Spider Man, securing the star atop the tree.
WONDERFUL FUN AT THE LOBSTER TRAP TREE LIGHTING TONIGHT!
Check out the new starry, starry night interior lights. Posting more photos tomorrow.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6EbtVrH522/
Our one of a kind Lobster Trap Tree at twilight.
Thank you to Sheree Zizak, owner of the Beauport Hotel, who shared that the bride and groom that braved Saturday’s snowstorm to have photos taken in front of Lobster Trap Tree are Molly Ross and Ryan Stokes. Molly and Ryan held their reception at the beautiful Beauport Hotel.
Many of us marveled at how relaxed were the wedding party, especially the bride and bridesmaids, wearing sleeveless dresses and gold heels in the slush and freezing snow. Art Haven’s program director Cathy Kelley, on the spur of the moment, quickly painted a buoy with wedding rings and the date, and David Brooks presented the buoy to the happy couple. Congratulations Molly and Ryan!
Simply beautiful!
A wedding party shows up during the Lobster Trap Tree lighting preparations and David Brooks has on hand a buoy to give to the newlyweds 🙂