Olliepalooza !

WOOOO, Olliepalooza

Being a resident from South Boston this event really gets me excited. Nothing brings the community closer together than events like these. From the slush icee's to the Kayem hot dogs that are served to all - this event is truly phenomenal. As everyone knows, this years event was held on arguably the hottest day this summer. And when I say everyone I am referencing those who heard my minute by minute commentary on the weather that did nothing but potentially make us hotter.

Nora telling some great stories to a young lad

The evening went well. It was right after our fan pier fishing tournament. We had great staff attend and things ran smoothly for the children. We did some fish printing and a ton of story telling with Nora our Pirate friend.

There was not a dull moment at this event. Personally I think its because of the free Hood Ice Cream cups but hey thats just me.

-Ahmed

Over 400 Enjoy an End of Summer Beach Party with Mayor Martin J. Walsh!

This past Saturday, September 12th, more than 400 people joined Mayor Marty Walsh at the BCYF Curley Community Center in South Boston for a spectacular end of summer beach party on one of the cleanest urban beaches in America! 

The beach was covered in fun activities such as KanJam, Cornhole, Spikeball, volleyball, hula-hoops, beach balls and more! Joanne and Jethro Mills provided fun music at the start of the party and were followed by the band Endless Summer for some classic beach-worthy tunes! 

Endless Summer rocked the beach!

 Boating in Boston provided free stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking for kids and families to enjoy- it was a perfect day to be out on the water! During the afternoon, Sweet Cheeks Q was there to feed everyone a fantastic pig roast that included burgers, salad, fruit and more!

Larry the Lobster even made an appearance thanks to Save the Harbor's marine educators! Everyone was fascinated by his size- it's not often we find a 5lb lobster! The kids loved picking him up and holding him for a photo opportunity, what a great photo to bring back to school for show and tell!

Larry the Lobster making his beach party debut! 

Also on the beach were hundreds of blue and white marbles hidden by Save the Harbor's staff. These marbles are part of Save the Harbor and JetBlue's Simply Marble-ous Treasure Hunt! Finding one of these marbles will enter you into a contest to win a pair of round-trip flights with JetBlue! If you found one on the beach, or any beach in Boston for that matter, please send a photo of yourself holding the marble along with your contact information and where you found it to info@savetheharbor.org. Please see our blog here for more information on the Simply Marble-ous Treasure Hunt! 

Mayor Walsh found a marble, will you?!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this beach party happen! 

We would especially like to thank:

The City of Boston

The Mayor's Office of Tourism, Sports and Entertainment

Boston Centers for Youth and Families and the BCYF Curley Community Center

Sweet Cheeks Q 

Endless Summer

Joanne & Jethro Mills

Boating in Boston

Boston Police Department

Thank you to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, 
the Metropolitan Beaches Commission and all of our
Better Beaches Program Partners and Funders

For more information about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay visit their website at www.savetheharbor.org, their blog Sea, Sand & Sky at www.blog.savetheharbor.org or follow savetheharbor on Facebook and Twitter! 

South Boston City Point Neighborhood Association End of Summer BBQ

On Saturday, September 7th Save the Harbor attended the South Boston City Point Neighborhood Association's End of Summer BBQ sponsored by Sullivan's of Castle Island and Save the Harbor/Save the Bay in Marine Park. The SBCPNA held the event to celebrate the successful summer in Southie. No end of Summer Celebration would complete without hamburgers, hot dogs, sunshine, and laughter. It felt like summer wasn't quite over.

South Boston City Point Neighborhood Association's End of Summer BBQ

Vice President of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, Matt Wolfe and I, set-up a touch tank with Larry the Lobster and a smaller lobster friend. Matt showed the families of Southie the anatomy of the lobster, described where Larry lives and what he eats, and even convinced the animal to display his powerful back stroke for the children.

Matt Wolfe, VP of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, holding Larry the Lobster

Many from the neighborhood gathered to eat, learn, and even paint with help from South Boston's Watercolorist Laurete, Dan McCole. I always enjoy events in Southie, because there is a strong sense of community, and the community is welcoming and willing to offer a helping hand. 

To read more about this event, please follow this link from South Boston Online:
http://www.southbostononline.com/CPNAsummerparty.cfm

Until Next Time,

Iris Ayala

Carson Beach

Testing water.

Last Saturday, I had a event at Carson Beach. The event started at 1pm.  We set up the chairs and table. We told everyone about the clean water. We told them about Carson Beach is clean or not. We told them about another beaches. We introduced our workplace. We tested the ocean at Carson Beach, it is clear. We also tested water bottle and drinking fountain. Both was clear. After that, we cleaned up and went home.

Swim and Paddle 2013: What a Blast!

This past Saturday instead of sleeping in or watching another re-run of Saved by the Bell, I was up bright and early to help out at Save the Harbor's Swim and Paddle Board for Boston Harbor.  This swim and paddle board race was held at the Curley Community Center in South Boston, and we had a GREAT turnout.  This was the first year that a stand-up paddle board competition was part of the event, and I thought it was pretty cool.  I first tried paddle boarding on a family vacation and although I was nervous that I would topple over, I thought it was easy once you get out on the water.  This year the paddle boarders were very impressive, racing out to the buoys and back again before I could even believe it!

Noses at the starting line

I and several other summer staffers teamed up with the office staff to man the registration table and distribute food tickets for Tasty Burger after working up a sweat in the races.  There was also paddle boarding lessons at the end of the race, Vita Coco water tastings (but no Dustin Pedroia sightings unfortunately) and SurfRider apparel for the boarder in your life.

Despite the overcast skies, everyone had a good time and raised a ton of money -- good job to everyone involved!  Make sure to have next year's swim and paddle on your calendar!

-- Carolyn

2013 Swim and Paddle Board for Boston Harbor

On Saturday morning, at the BCYF Curley Community Center in South Boston, 50 swimmers and 35 paddlers took part in Save the Harbor/Save the Bay's Swim and Paddle Board for Boston Harbor, a one-mile, chip-timed, professionally staffed, competitive swim followed by the Boston Harbors first chip-timed Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) competition.

Competitors gather for a group photo 

"What a great way to spend a summer day" said Boston College Law Professor Sharon Beckman, who was the largest fundraiser and won a round trip ticket courtesy of event sponsor JetBlue Airways. "In the early 1980's I trained for my English Channel crossing on these beaches when they were filthy. Now I delight in the sparkling water and clean sand."

Katie O'Dair of Watertown and Adam Homaki of Boston won the swim for competitors without wet suits. Geoff Melton of Brookline and Anna Sheridan of Lexington won the swim for competitors with wetsuits. Mark Jacobson of Lexington and Cathleen Franey of York, Maine, won the Stand Up Paddle Board race.

O'Dair and Franey won JetBlue tickets as well. 

Paddle Boarders in action

Competitors raised more than $5,000 to benefit Save the Harbor / Save the Bay and the Massachusetts Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. Following the races, participants celebrated on the beach with refreshing beer and burgers, courtesy of event sponsors Harpoon Brewery and Tasty Burger.

"It was a pleasure to walk on the beach and see smiles on everyone's faces and to hear people already planning for next year" said Noel LaPierre of Surfrider.  "We can't thank our sponsors, the competitors, and most particularly Save the Harbor, Save the Bay, enough: mahalo nui loa!"

"Just a few years ago even a small summer rain would have forced us to cancel this event due to pollution from storm water" said Save the Harbor spokesman Bruce Berman. "Today we are proud to celebrate the fact that the South Boston beaches are now safe for swimming virtually every day, no matter what the weather."

The winners of the 2013 Swim and Paddle Board for Boston Harbor

These free Better Beaches programs are made possible with Leadership Grants from Harpoon Brewery, JetBlue Airways, P&G Gillette, the Harold Whitworth Pierce Charitable Trust.  Save the Harbor also appreciates funding support from National Grid, Comcast Massachusetts, and Russo Marine. 

We also want to thank our program partners at BCYF Curley Community Center, the Department of Conservation & Recreation, the Massachusetts Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, YMCA of Greater Boston, Tasty Burger, and Mix 104.1 FM.  Special thanks goes out to the 500 splashers and supporters of this year’s Cupid Splash and the 70 swimmers and paddlers who participated  in the Swim & Paddle for Boston Harbor. Together, they raised $38,000 to fund free event sand programs on our public beaches this season. 

If you want to learn a little more about water quality on the Boston Harbor Region's public beaches, you can download a copy of Save the Harbor's 2013 Beaches Report Card at http://www.savetheharbor.org/beachesreportcard/2013reportcard.pdf

About Save the Harbor/Save the Bay


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. 

About the Massachusetts Chapter of Surfrider

The Massachusetts Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation was founded in 1996.  They are an all-volunteer chapter composed of local New England surfer/environmentalists dedicated to the preservation of the New England coastal environmental, elimination of pollution, and open access to our beaches. 

For more information about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, please visit:www.savetheharbor.org. 

For more information about The Surfrider Foundation, please visit: http://www.surfrider.org.

Treasure Hunters Have Plenty to Be Thankful For

Five treasure hunters from Greater Boston had something special to celebrate this Thanksgiving, as Save the Harbor / Save the Bay announced the winners of their "Simply Marble-ous" Treasure Hunt, sponsored by JetBlue Airways.

Bridget of South Boston shows off her marble!

More than 1,000 people took part in the treasure hunt, including participants from Chelsea, Dorchester, East Boston, Hull, Lawrence, Lynn, Melrose, Milton, Nahant, Peabody, Quincy, Reading, Revere, Somerville, South Boston, Stoughton and Winthrop.

The five lucky winners were chosen from the more than 100 beachcombers who found a cobalt blue marble on one of the Boston Harbor region's public beaches. Each received 40,000 TrueBlue points that can be redeemed for flights to any of the 45 nonstop destinations JetBlue serves from Boston’s Logan International Airport. 

This year's winners were Bridget McGrath of South Boston, Susan Hardiman of Dorchester, Michelle and Caitlin Cooper of Dorchester, Helen Anderson of South Boston, and Michael Long of Savin Hill, who 

found his marble on Malibu Beach.

Susan and Vanya of Dorchester share their marble!

Caitlin proudly displays her discovery!

Helen shows off her marble on the beach

The "Simply Marble-ous" Treasure Hunt began in June when 100 JetBlue crewmembers and volunteers from Save the Harbor hit the beach in South Boston for an early season cleanup.  Working in teams, they helped the Department of Conservation and Recreation remove trash, weeds, stray sand and debris from Carson Beach.

Michael with his totally marble-ous find!

After the cleanup, each of the participants “released” a single blue marble in the sand at the water’s edge. To spread the fun around the region, Save the Harbor also "released" 100 additional marbles
on the region’s public beaches in Nahant, Lynn, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull. The one-inch tempered blue glass marbles were both beautiful and environmentally friendly. They are made of recycled glass, which was made from sand.

“We have a long-standing relationship with Save the Harbor and with the community in Greater Boston, home to our 2,000 crewmembers, who mirror the company’s philanthropic efforts with their own volunteer work locally,” said JetBlue’s Regional Marketing Manager Ronda Ivy McLeod. “A beach cleanup and treasure hunt is right in line with our fun value and our commitment to the city that chooses JetBlue more than any other airline out of Logan.”

More than 100 JetBlue employees gather with Save the Harbor staff before starting the beach cleanup and kicking off the "Simply Marble-ous" contest in June!

"We really want to thank JetBlue Airways for giving something special back to our community," said Save the Harbor's spokesman Bruce Berman. "They are great partners, and we really treasure their support."

We hope you will take a minute to watch this short video
about this year's "Simply Marble-ous" Treasure Hunt.

Congratulations to all of our winners and many thanks to all of our participants,
and a special thanks to our friends and partners at JetBlue Airways!

BlueCrew Cleans Up Carson Beach!

“Blue Cross Blue Shield! Save the Harbor / Save the Bay! One Community! One Blue!”



Blue Cross Blue Shield volunteers gather in front of the
McCormack Bathhouse before getting started.

Yesterday began with a rousing chant, as about 100 Blue Cross Blue Shield employees joined Save the Harbor / Save the Bay on Carson Beach in South Boston for a day of service.  The effort was part of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts' Service Day, and this year marked the 75^th anniversary of the company's service.  DCR's Jack Kelly welcomed the group beneath sunny skies and tasked us all with a variety of beach clean-up tasks. The group was divided up into eight different teams and quickly set out to various points along the beach to get started.

I had the privilege of joining “Team D”; we started near one of the beach walkways (on the Google Maps satellite image, it appears across from G Street), pulling everything but one particular plant, called Mayberry.  Don't worry - none of us knew what this was at first either!  A little research shows that Mayberry is more commonly known as Elliott's Blueberry, and is, as it sounds, a member of the blueberry family.¹ In our work time during the morning, we cut back overgrown brush, weeded out sea grass and picked up trash among other things. I have to say, I think I was pretty lucky – my group was filled with enthusiastic, hard-working volunteers, and in their company, time flew by.

Among the many fascinating people I got to both work and talk with was Ronnie Bynoe.  Ronnie, from Weymouth and an avid beachgoer, was quick to describe her love of sharing the area with friends, suggesting that I do the same.  She touted the beaches as a great place to come and unplug (she leaves all her electronics in her car!), mentioning that “it's great place to take time for yourself.”

 

"People don't realize all the beauty we have in this state,” said Ronnie. “We don't take enough advantage of it.”


Ronnie shows off our morning's handiwork!

 

Team Leader Amy Dennett of Marshfield and Jamal Noshahi of Somerville were also among our group members. They have been with Blue Cross Blue Shield for 2 ½ years and 4 months, respectively, and work in several different capacities.  All in our group, including Julie, of Hull, who has been with Blue Cross Blue Shield in various positions for time totaling 8 years (!), approached our assigned tasks with gusto, and expressed their enjoyment of being outside and on the beach. 

 

After lunch, we pulled the last few weeds out of our initial work spot, and then worked our way along the sea wall towards the north end of the beach, joining other groups to work on clearing out the massive amounts of sea grass there.  Just before 3PM, we headed back towards the bathhouse where we'd started the day, and listened to some closing remarks from Jack Kelly and Save the Harbor / Save the Bay's Matt Wolfe. As a part of the closeout, Blue Cross Blue Shield awarded a “Spirit of Service” Award to an employee who demonstrated the work ethic and level of service that the day aspires to achieve. I'm happy to say Ronnie was the recipient!! Check out this picture of her receiving kudos from team leader Amy in front of the whole group...

Overall, today was a great way not only to get to serve directly with Save the Harbor / Save the Bay and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, but also a really fun day in which I met some extremely engaging people and did impactful work. And now, I can't wait to do it again...

Until then,

Megan

Want to visit Carson Beach? For more information, click here.

Congrats Blue Cross Blue Shield on 75 years of service! For more information on their community efforts, check out this page.

¹ “Vaccinium elliottii /Elliott's Blueberry, Mayberry” OnlinePlantGuide.com 25 Sept. 2012 <http://www.onlineplantguide.com/Plant-Details/2707/>

Megan Rawson

Development Intern

Save the Harbor / Save the Bay

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!

Everyone's a Winner!

Good afternoon!

I took a glance at my calendar and just realized...the summer is almost over! Although it has been amazing, I still feel like there is more I want to accomplish before saying goodbye. Working with the kids of South Boston has been an amazing learning process. Their enthusiasm and desire to learn has been inspiring, and has pushed me to make the extra effort to keep them engaged.

My very first week: a brave boy pets a spider crab.
(We're at the Children's Museum, here, not Southie!)

So, what's been going on at Castle Island, you ask? Well, the past few days have been exceptionally exciting for the children at McDonough. Their counselors - many of whom are avid sailors and instructors - raced each other in Pleasure Bay this past Friday. The kids were numbered off and while some were allowed on the sailboats to help race, the others stayed on the dock and cheered for their respective teams.

Sailing races!

After McDonough Sailing Center counselor Danielle came out victorious, we got back to the activities :) Each day, the kids take turns coming out on the sailing center's Whaler - it's a motor boat! - and help pull up Save the Harbor's lobster trap. And no, of course the kids don't do all the work; that thing is heavy, especially when it has more than ten lobsters hanging out inside it. We spent a LOT of time discussing molting and regeneration in crustaceans. Three of the lobsters had lost a claw at one point in their lives and were all at different stages of regeneration. One lobster appeared to have lost its claw at some point after entering the trap (we found it's lonely claw laying desolate inside). Another lobster's claw was only about an inch long, was bright red, and had not yet hardened into a shell. Last, we picked up a five pound lobster that had abnormally small claws for its body size. Very interesting!

Lobsters galore again!

It was a hot one outside though, so for those who needed a break from the sun, staffer, Brianna also helped make friendship bracelets out on the docks (green for seaweed and blue for the ocean). It seems like we never run out of things to do over there and I'm happy I have another week and a half with the kids and staffers out in Southie.

Until next time,
Mary

Southie: Facebook and Flounders in One Post?!

Good morning!

Emily and Ana banding lobsters on the docks!

Luck has been with us this summer, as we seem to pull up lobsters from our Pleasure Bay trap almost every day. While lobsters are definitely a focus, I take a lot of opportunities to talk about other aspects of the marine environment (sea quirts, anyone?) as well. Speaking of which, the kids were lucky enough to catch a small flounder in our crab trap the other day. After looking up flounders in the guidebooks, Floundy (aka Floppy aka Flipper) was safely released back into the water.

Shall we call it Floundy or Floppy?
No once could seem to decide!

Speaking of South Boston, I have a favor to ask of all our faithful readers... For those of you who have visited area that I've been talking about all summer, I have a request. If you have a Facebook account, please like the Harry McDonough Sailing Center's page! You can access the link here. As seen in its name, the center indeed spends much of its time teaching children about the art of sailing, but it goes beyond that, aiding children in acquiring essential life skills. Each and every day is different at McDonough, and brings with it both challenges and surprises - just like life. Some of the key qualities focused upon include leadership, communication, teamwork, and decision-making. In its partnership with Save the Harbor, children are also taught to have and share an appreciation for the environment.Yes, it is indeed a non-profit organization, just like us, and can use help in the form of many different resources. So please do me and the Program Director (Hi, Bob!) a favor and "Like" the page!

Thank you to everyone who has - and continues - to take the time to read these posts! Until next time my fellow explorers.

-Mary