Coloring and Painting Away :)

     This last Friday, I arrived at the Curly Community Center ready to begin this amazing last day for the groups that were coming. I knew many individuals in each of the groups since they had all been to All Access at least once. I set up the art station in between the white expansive walls and began to prepare myself for the onslaught of kids who would run to me to put a scale with their name on it on the huge striped bass I had drawn. Just as I finished up setting and sat down for a breather in the shade, I could see from the gate that there were kids in green t-shirts running to the art station. Here is David coloring in a lobster!

By the time it was nearing lunch time, many of the kids didn't want to bring their papers with them so they asked Bri, Carly, and I to put them up on the wall so the other kids could see their artwork! Here is a collage of just some of the amazing pieces the kids made.

I had so much fun with all of the kids and I can't believe it was almost the end of the summer. It was a bittersweet ending, but I can't wait to see them next summer!

Thi Tran

Beach Bash 2012!

Save the Harbor's second annual Beach Bash was last Friday at M Street Beach -- over 600 children from across Boston came to South Boston to have a day of sports, sand, and swimming!  We had a beautiful day, and some great entertainment!

After a jam-packed morning of playing on the beach the kids got to here some great songs from our very own David "D-Money" Coffin and Will "Big Willy" Clark.  Kids and counselors alike sang and clapped along to the old-fashioned sea shanties and raps.  Bruce Berman, Director of Strategy, also had a few words for the kids about how much Save the Harbor has done to clean up the harbor and beaches.  At noon, everyone "splashed" into the water at once -- over 700 Save the Harbor staff and youth groups!!

I was on hot dog duty, so after the splash I was overwhelmed with children and counselors looking to grab a hot dog, cold drink, and some fruit after a morning spent running around the beach.  Not to toot my own horn, but I made some mean hot dogs...and lots of them.

Having so many kids on the beach at the same time is definitely overwhelming, but in a good way.  It was especially nice that so many of the groups had come out on All Access at least once this summer, so I saw lots of familiar faces -- I even took the bus down to M Street beach with Paige Academy, one of the our favorite groups at All Access!

Spending the day at the beach made for a great Friday, and a great end to most of our summer programing.  And I fully expect the third annual Beach Bash to be even more amazing than this one!

-- Carolyn

PS:  Another one of my favorite pictures from the Bash!

Making a Real Splash

On Friday, we held our annual Beach Bash and Splash at the M Street Beach in South Boston and the day did not disappoint. It was an amazing turnout, with the attendance of over 600 kids from Boston and its surrounding communities.

 Throughout the day, kids were able to choose from a variety of activities, including art, sand castle building, sports, swimming, exploring the harbor (five Southie lobsters made an appearance!), kite flying, and fishing. Halfway through the day, the hundreds of children in attendance, along with their counselors, and even some STH staffers made a splash in the water altogether. It was an awesome moment, especially when thinking about how far the harbor has come in the struggle for true water quality. Aside from a minor accident, the day went spectacularly! Okay okay... I suppose "minor" is relative in this case; one of our staffers may have gotten a fishing hook in his thumb because of an overzealous child who couldn't wait to fish. After a quick trip to the ER, our staffer came back with a band-aid and a great story to tell.

Making a splash!

The best part of my day was the visit from kids of the Harry McDonough Sailing Center. In case you didn't know already, I've affectionately considered that my site this past summer. What's great about McDonough is that many of the kids who start out their summer there often show up week after week. It has really allowed me to form some great connections with the kids and I can safely say that I'll really miss them once the summer finally ends.

Cheers to Southie!

Thank you to Save the Harbor, the youth staffers, and the kids from McDonough for an amazing summer. Don't worry though, it's not over yet (thank goodness!) - we've still got another week to catch more lobster!

Best,
Mary

The Best Beach Bash In Boston!

Yesterday was arguably the most fun day of the entire summer. Not only did I get to end my day over at Constitution Beach in East Boston for a Better Beaches event, but I got to begin my day by arriving at the Curley Recreation Center in South Boston to help set up for our end of the summer beach bash! This incredible event invited our summer youth participants down to the beach to help us celebrate a successful summer with activities including kite flying, fishing, sand castle sculpting, art, swimming, sports and an unbelievable lobster touch tank! All throughout the day, you could see and hear nothing except for smiles and laughter coming from the kids, and seeing them have a day full of fun and excitement was the perfect way to end summer programming. I personally thoroughly enjoyed the day, getting to spend the majority of it directly in the water, helping the other lifeguards monitor all of the swimming! Kids continuously swam up to me through the afternoon, asking questions such as "Are there sharks here???!!," and "Will a crab bite me?!" I find it really hard to express in words what the day meant for everyone, so hopefully the photos below will help sum the day up!

-Ashley Wakefield, Senior Harbor Educator at Boston Children's Museum and Community Boating

Wiffleball in the sand!

More fun!

Ready to dive in?!

King of the water!

Friends and partnerships!

A Sea of Smiles!

Hundreds of kids from across the city make a big splash on the beach in South Boston.

On Friday 400 youth and teens from across the City of Boston joined Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay for a day of celebration on the beach at the Curly Recreation Center at M Street, hosted by Save the Harbor's Youth Committee in partnership with the Boston Center for Youth and Families.

Participants at the "Blue is Back" Kids Beach Bash and Splash included  Save the Harbor's youth program partners from South Boston, Dorchester, East Boston, Jamaica Plain, Chinatown, Roxbury, and Hyde Park. They spent the morning on the beach making sand castles, flying kites, and learning about crabs and lobsters from Save the Harbor's youth program staff.

At noon the kids simultaneously plunged into the cool clean water of Boston Harbor to celebrate Save the Harbor / Save the Bay's 25th Anniversary - under the watchful eyes of a team of lifeguards from greater Boston YMCA's, who were on hand to make sure that the event was fun and safe for everyone.  The splash was followed by a traditional cookout on the beach.

"It was a sea of smiles!" said Save the Harbor's Youth Committee Co-Chair Will Clark, 19, of Boston who now attends St. John's University. "Having some good clean fun on one of the cleanest urban beaches in America is a great way for kids to spend a summer day."

Save the Harbor's Youth Committee Co-Chairs Will Clark, Conor Newman and Thi Tran join Save the Harbor's Maritime Historian David Coffin in leading the traditional Sea Chantey "Haul Away Joe"

While heavy rains earlier in the week forced numerous beach closings across the region, on Friday blue flags were flying on the beaches of South Boston and North Dorchester Bay.

"In the past the South Boston beaches have been closed as often as one out of every five days in a typical year" said Save the Harbor / Save the Bay's spokesman Bruce Berman. "With the completion of the South Boston project earlier this year, there have been no combined sewer or stormwater discharges whatsoever on these beaches this summer, and nearly no beach closings. Though there will still be red flags on these beaches from time to time, these beaches are now among the cleanest urban beaches in the nation. That's cause for celebration - and that's what we intend to do!"

Save the Harbor's free summer youth programs are made possible by the generosity of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s youth program partners, Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation, Inc, Forrest Berkley and Marcie Tyre Berkley, Coca Cola Foundation, Distrigas of Massachusetts, Friedman Family Foundation, John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., Massachusetts Port Authority, Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, Mayor Menino’s Summer Youth Employment Program, National Grid Foundation, P & G Gillette, P.I. Garden Fund, State Street Foundation and by the contributions of other corporate, and philanthropic partners and hundreds of individual donors.

Save the Harbor / Save the Bay is a non-profit, public-interest environmental advocacy organization, whose mission is to restore and protect Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, and the marine environment and share them with the public for everyone to enjoy. Since 2003, our free youth programs have connected more than 50,000 young people to the harbor they have worked so hard to restore and protect.