A ceremony was held Tuesday to launch the Beeline, Gloucester’s new online community calendar.

"I had heard from so many businesses, organizations and foundations what a hard time they were having planning their special events while not knowing what was going on in the rest of the county," said Hilton Snowdon, Gloucester’s tourism director. The new online calendar (www.gloucestercalendar.org) will provide individuals and organizations a quick look at various upcoming community events, he said, even providing information several years ahead in some instances.

The online calendar came about by a partnership of a number of community agencies, Snowdon said. East River Marketing of Gloucester was hired as a consultant for the project, Snowdon said, and a lot of input came from representatives of the Gloucester Main Street Preservation Trust, the Gloucester County Chamber of Commerce, and the county departments of Parks/Recreation/Tourism, Community Education and Informatio...