Town leaders want to let residents know there will be no townwide Fourth of July celebration held on the Common this year, due to the fact that no one stepped forward to organize the festivities after retiring Recreational Coordinator John Price recently stepped down. One of the selectmen, native Jack Cook, says this is the first year in his memory that the Common will be empty of families on the Fourth of July. He and fellow board members are disappointed but hope in future years someone will pick up the mantle and get the celebration going again. Paid Recreational Department employee Price had been organizing the event, but in past years, the job fell largely on the shoulders of residents volunteering their time to the event, Cook said.

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Resident Malcolm Patterson sought and received the endorsement of the town's Board of Selectmen this week to serve at the request of Essex Agricultural Institute on the school's Board of Trustees. The former Holbrook superintendent and longtime Gloucester school administrator says he's excited to serve on the other side of the table at the Aggie and had good things to say about the education his children and grandchildren have received as residents of Rowley.

"I've lived in Rowley since 1974," he told selectmen. "My kids were well educated at Pine Grove School and Triton. They've done very well, and now my grandson is in the preschool."

Selectmen were impressed by Patterson's resume, and heartily recommended his appointment.

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He's been trying to step down from the position of shellfish constable, but Jack Grundstrom is not going to leave Rowley in the lurch. Grundstrom accepted a temporary reappointment through August on the condition the town continue to search for his replacement. This should give selectmen enough time to weed through some of the letters they've received from prospective candidates who've expressed interest in taking over for Grundstrom.

The town has received four letters so far, three of which came from residents of nearby towns. Selectmen are concerned those candidates may not be aware of the compensation available for the position, which at $240 a year falls far below what other towns like Newbury and Ipswich are offering for the same job.

"I think some of these people think it's a $10,000- a-year-job," selectmen Chairman Dave Petersen said.

Having Grundstrom accept the temporary appointment gives them more time to fully assess what the job entails, Petersen said, as it's an appointment that's crucial to the historic shellfishing industry in Rowley.

"We want to move forward with it, but I don't want to rush into it," Petersen said.

Petersen added the town had received correspondence from one Rowley resident offering to take over the job — Grundstrom's son, John, who currently serves as a shellfish commissioner and makes his living shellfishing in Rowley.

Lynne Hendricks covers Rowley for The Daily News. She can be reached at wiehe@verizon.net.