Playing Hooky With Governor Patrick on Peddocks Island On His Birthday

482 Kids Play Hooky With Governor Patrick on Peddocks Island On His Birthday

482 kids from Save the Harbor/Save the Bay join government officials and VIP’s to help Governor Patrick celebrate improvements on Peddocks Island on his 58^th birthday.

Save the Harbor’s youth program staffers present Governor Patrick with an original flounder print created with the help of their Artist in Residence Sam Schreiber.

Save the Harbor summer youth program staffer Chavelyn Santana takes a “selfie” with the Governor after the ribbon cutting ceremony on Peddocks Island.

On July 31, 482 young people from 10 area youth and community groups helped Governor Deval Patrick celebrate his 58^th birthday on Peddocks Island as part of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s free All Access Boston Harbor program.

Governor Patrick was on the island to cut the ribbon on the restored chapel, where he had so much fun on the island that he said “It feels like I am playing hooky today.”

The Governor expressed his desire to make the recreational and educational opportunities offered by the Boston Harbor Islands more accessible to the region’s youth, teens and families, observing that “It takes partnerships like the one we have with Save the Harbor to make treasures like this island come to life.” 

The groups who took part included:

·      BCYF Tobin Community Center, Roxbury

·      Everett Boys and Girls Club

·      Greater Generations Greater Kids, Brockton

·      Idiil Learning Centers, Boston and Quincy

·      Jackson Mann Center for Youth and Families, Allston

·      Mission Safe, Roxbury

·      South Boston TEAM

·      South Boston Boys and Girls Club

·      Super Teens from the Boston Center for Youth and Families

·      Washington Heights Youth Builders, Dorchester

The free trip was one of 28 excursions to Georges, Spectacle and Peddocks Island organized by Save the Harbor/Save the Bay this season. “By summer’s end our free environmental education programs will have connected 100,000 young people to the Boston Harbor and Boston Harbor Islands since we began them in 2002,” said Save the Harbor President Patricia Foley.  “We are proud to share these spectacular urban natural resources with the next generation of Boston Harbor stewards.”

Save the Harbor’s free All Access Boston Harbor trips begin at the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in the South Boston Seaport, where the kids make fish prints, murals and other art on the shore, haul lobster traps and learn about the history of Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor cleanup from Save the Harbor’s maritime historian David Coffin. The groups then board the Provincetown II and spend the day hiking, swimming, fishing, crabbing, creating art on the shore, engaging in healthy outdoor activities on the beach and actively exploring the Boston Harbor Islands National Park.

On Georges Island youth have a chance to tour historic Fort Warren and meet the infamous “Lady in Black”. On Peddocks Island they can explore the remains of historic Fort Andrew, visit a classic New England chapel and enjoy the new visitor center and the Harbor Islands’ only Frisbee Golf course.  On Spectacle Island they swim, hike and discover sea glass, pottery, and other historic artifacts on Treasure Beach that reveal the islands’ history as a municipal landfill before it was transformed into one of the most popular destinations in the National Park.

“The Boston Harbor Islands are a laboratory for learning about Boston Harbor,” said Save the Harbor’s Director of Strategy, Communications and Programs Bruce Berman. “They are a great place to create art on the shore, engage in healthy outdoor activities, and have some fun exploring the marine environment.”

Last summer Save the Harbor’s youth and family programs connected 15,903 young people to Boston Harbor and the Boston Harbor Islands and they expect serve even more young people this summer. “Its great to see so many smiling new faces and so many familiar ones as well” said Save the Harbor’s Bruce Berman, who directs the program. “Many of the 120 youth and community organizations who take part in this program join us for more than one trip, and they return year after year. They tell us that these free trips are one of the highlights of their summer.”

Save the Harbor’s free youth environmental education programs are made possible with Leadership Grants from Bay State Cruise Company, Distrigas/GDF SUEZ, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Ludke Foundation, and the Yawkey Foundation II.

Save the Harbor is grateful for Partnership Grants from Forrest Berkley & Marcie Tyre Berkley, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, The Chiofaro Company, The Fallon Company, Hampshire House Corporation – Cheers for Children, John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., Massachusetts Bay Lines, Massachusetts Port Authority, National Grid Foundation, P&G Gillette, William E & Bertha E. Schrafft Charitable Trust, and the Clinton H. & Wilma T. Shattuck Charitable Trust.

Save the Harbor also appreciates funding support from Lawrence J. & Anne Rubenstein Foundation, Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation, Blue Hills Bank Foundation, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Boston Center for Youth and Families, Breckinridge Capital Advisors, Carnival Foundation, Circle Furniture, Clippership Foundation, Department of Conversation and Recreation, Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation, HYM Investment Group Inc., Lovett Woodsum Family Foundation, Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, South Boston Community Development Foundation, Reebok Foundation, Santander Bank Foundation, Boston Bruins Foundation, Thomas & Lucinda Foley, Red Sox Foundation, TD Charitable Foundation, Goulston & Storrs, Rowan Murphy & Andus Baker, Matthew J. & Gilda F. Strazzula Foundation, BOMA, Community-Suffolk, Inc., Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation, and hundreds of individual donors.

Save the Harbor/Save the Bay is a non-profit, public interest, environmental advocacy organization made up of thousands of citizens, scientists and civic, corporate, cultural and community leaders whose shared mission is to restore and protect Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, the region’s public beaches and the Boston Harbor Islands and share them with the public, for everyone to enjoy.

To find out more visit Save the Harbor’s website at www.savetheharbor.org, read their youth blog “Sea, Sand and Sky” at www.blog.savetheharbor.org and follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/savetheharbor.