Beach Party

On Friday at M street Beach Save the Harbor Hosted 450 kids from all over the Greater Boston Area. The day was a blast with everything from sand castle making to kite flying. I worked in the sports category playing soccer, jackpot, and catch. Their was never a lack of excitement or something to do. Eventually I was sent over to help out with fishing because everyone wanted to get a chance to catch a monster. Then David had yet another great speech before everyone jumped into the water at the same time which was quite a site. Then came lunch where we had hot dogs, cheese, and some vegetables with dip. The whole beach was covered with kids eating hot dogs, swimming, and having just a great time. After lunch things began to cool down because everyone was so full from lunch, but not for the staff, we were busy maintaining the workshops and cleaning the beach. When the day ended everyone one left tired and in a great mood after having such a great time. Can't wait until next time.

Sincerely,
Tim Grogan

Mayor's Question

On Tuesday morning the most powerful man in Boston paid Save the Harbor a visit to praise Patty and Bruce, and meet some of the staff. After a brief speech the Mayor asked a great question, How do we want to see the harbor being used in the future. Save the Harbor has already done so much, but still the harbor could be a better place. Save the Harbor has worked hard to get locals to use the harbor often, but I hope that one day not only do locals flock to the beach, but for tourist from all around the U.S. to visit not only to follow the freedom trail, but to visit the harbor. I want south beach, Venice beach, and Revere beach to be placed in the same group of highly regarded tourist attractions.

Sincerly,
Tim Grogan

The Only Bad Thing about Vacation

For all of last week I took a relaxing vacation to Canada with my family on our annual trip. I had lots of fun, but still missed out on a lot of Save the Harbor fun such as the glorious capture the flag game at Spectacle Island on Staff Day. I was extremely disappointed to find out my trip would interfere, but I had to go. I spent my week fishing for large mouth bass, small mouth bass, yellow Perch, and the annoying sunfish. If I had to compare and contrast lake fishing and sea fishing, I would argue that lake fishing has a much higher success rate, but the reward is not quite as big. The largest fish I caught in Canada was an 18 inch large mouth, but at the Harbor I could catch a striped bass more then twice that size. I just finished my first day back and my first day this year at Mcdonough Sailing Center, but it was a slow day because of the threat of heavy storms. Not many kids showed up, but at least we had two very interested and persistent kids to boost our spirits.

Sincerely,
Tim Grogan

Return of the Kid

Hey guys, I'm Tim, and this is my second year at Save the Harbor / Save the Bay. Last year was so much fun, and I learned so much that I had to return to have another awesome time. I'm fifteen years old. I love the harbor and all it has to offer, and all I want to do this summer is help spread the love to the thousands of kids in the greater Boston area. As a returning staffer, I am confident about teaching just about everything that I learned last year, and look forward to spurring kids on to try something new. I would love to get to know all of the new staff as well as some of the kids at the programs. I've had a couple of days at the Children's Museum, a day at Community Boating, and another day for the first time at Constitution Beach. The Children's Museum is a lot of fun because you deal with a wide variety of kids of different ages. We have had some kids over thirteen and some under one year old. Although we have had no luck with fish anywhere, the kids are still ecstatic to see some of the many crabs we have pulled up from the bottom the harbor. The days have been hot, and it is a challenge to keep some kids focused on bagging a fish.

Bye now,

Tim

Last Day :(

Today was my last day of work which I spent at Courageous Sailing Center Dorchester.
I spent most of my time playing football with the kids. The only part that wasn't really any fun was getting the ball thrown into the water, but it was eventually retrieved.
I had a great time throughout the summer at many different sites, and I appreciated the help some more experienced staff gave to me. I learned not only about the harbor, but about the kids, which to me is the most important part. Even on my first day I had no trouble fitting in with the staff. Today was my last day of this summer, but I hope I will have the chance to have many more Save the Harbor days!

-Tim Grogan

Crabs and More Crabs!

Today on All Access we visited Warren Fort on the historical George's Island. The kids today seemed more energetic then usual and went right through the dark tunnel of the lady in black with ease. I was assigned to look after a group of 5 and 6 year olds, who were almost fearless when it came to the dark, wet passages of the fort. Before we got to the fort I organized a race between my kids. They ran with enthusiasm, and were still smiling even if they placed towards the end. Once at the entrance to the tunnel, the kids ran inside, but were restrained by their group councilors. After the bigger groups emptied from the tunnel, it was our turn. I was surprised when most of our kids went through the tunnel with no hesitation. After the tunnel, we took a stroll around the top of the fort, and back to the beach. Once at the beach kids began skipping stones in the water, but soon joined Conor Newman and I in a search for Asian Shore Crabs. ONce we had over turned dozens of rocks the kids had found hundreds, but some refused to hold the as they quivered in their hands. Once the kids got bored of the miniture crabs we went home, with a smile on every face!

-Tim Grogan

PICTURE COMING SOON

One Awesome Staff

Hello all! I had a great second week in South Boston, Dorchester, and the Boston Children's Museum. I would definitely stay at these sites for the rest of the summer if I could, but I'm also SO excited to move forward and see what Quincy and Camp Harbor View are all about. I know they'll bring their own amazing memories to what is already an unforgettable summer.

While there are so many aspects of my job this summer that get better and better with each passing week, there's one aspect I'm growing particularly fond of--- and that's getting to build great relationships with my co-workers and to see how much they are growing as individuals this summer. We have a great set of seasoned college assistants, and a talented, bright group of junior assistants, including many MLK Summer Scholars. We span a decade in our ages (pictured, you can see our youngest staffer, Timmy "The Kid" Grogan, holding our biggest catch of the summer so far), we live in various Boston neighborhoods, and, besides the Harbor, we have our own interests and hobbies. Regardless of our different backgrounds, however, I really felt us come together in the last two weeks. Now that we've finished up Week 4 and are heading into Week 5, almost everyone has gotten to work together at the different sites, and we've all comfortably settled in to working with one another. And now that we've all had several chances to see what works at the different sites, we're learning from each other's best practices. It's also great to see the younger staffers take on so much responsibility with such ease and confidence, so much so that I am completely comfortable with taking a step back and letting them steer the day in their own personal direction. I am proud to work alongside such a great group.

I was especially impressed with Mark Rose this week, who took on the responsibility of setting up and using our new underwater camera in South Boston. As the kids gathered around to monitor a submerged crab trap for signs of an unsuspecting victim, Mark ran the show; and if the camera started to act up, Mark diagnosed and remedied the problem like a pro. I'm blessed to be surrounded by talented people like Mark, passionate people like LaToya, hilarious people like Conor and Tom, and many other staffers with strengths of their own, all summer. Everyone brings something different to the table. Dare I say it? I know I'm learning more from them than they are learning from me this summer.

Harbor Love,

Michelle

Reflecting along the Fort Point Channel

Today started out beautifully, as I walked along the Fort Point Channel from South Station to the Boston Children's Museum. Along the walk I made time to stop and observe my surroundings. It was low tide and I could see the bottom of the channel was filled with seaweed, pilings, rocks and odd pieces I could not make out. I started to wonder when the Tea Party Museum would start construction, so I could give the participants of Fishing 101 a better time frame. The Boston Tea Party Museum will be a great addition to the Fort Point Channel.

After a rather short reflection on the Channel, I quickly moved myself to set up for fishing 101 at the Boston Children's Museum. I was rather early to the site today, which allowed me some time to observe the pier before it became crowded. A businessman on his laptop, a mother with her son chasing the gulls, and a Boston Children's Museum staff member who helps me every morning. This gentleman is always excited about our work and stays involved with our daily catch. This morning we had some time to reflect on the marine life and Fort Point Channel progress and future. He always has advice for me about the fish!

Once the Save the Harbor Staff arrived I knew today was going to be a success. Although no live worms were available, we had Bologna and bagels to bait our traps and hooks. Unfortunately I could not stay for the Fishing 101 excitement today, but I knew Emily, Conor, and Tim would hold down the fort.

As I walked away from the Fort Point Channel, I hope for a touch tank full of surprises. A few hours later I was informed of a fish filled day at the Museum. Crabs and cunners were the stars of the day and no worms were needed. Great Job everyone and lets do it again on Monday.

- Jennifer Last

Crab Count 2010

Hello everyone!

I just got back from another eventful day with All Access at Georges Island. All this week David, Thi, Denise, BJ, Tim, and I have been taking almost 200 kids around the island every day. It's been a lot of fun-Tuesday was my birthday so David started singing happy birthday to me during lunch and soon everyone else had joined in! I've spent some days wandering through Fort Warren looking for the Lady in Black and others were spent at the beach looking for crabs, sea glass, and pottery.

One new thing we started on Wednesday was "crab count 2010": this is a project Save the Harbor is working on to perform a small experiment to see how many crabs we can find at our sites throughout the summer. This week, BJ and I were on crab patrol. We started at the edge of the water and decided that our sample area should be 4' 6" wide and 162' long; we measured the space by using our 1'6" dip nets-we're very resourceful :) Despite the large sample area, we only found 2 female crabs: one was 3/4" wide but the other was a good 4 1/2". Interestingly enough, we found a lot of baby crabs that we thought were too small to measure and count. The question we're all asking now is why there are so many baby crabs and few adult ones?




From now one, Wednesday is crab day at All Access, so stay tuned for more fascinating crab updates!!

-Carolyn

Fun In the Tunnel!

We went to George's Island today, with a bunch of kids. It was my first time on the island! I spent my time with David Coffin and Carolyn up in the wet tunnels, the kids were excited and afraid of the dark hallway. Both boys and girls spent there time shreaking as they entered the room in the middle of the path. Once in there it was pitch black except for a wole in the ceiling providing some sort of relief, but the older kids began moaning "Lady in Black!" Which was the name of a ghost that haunted the island in the Civil war. Older kids chuckled as everyone else screamed, and ran to each side of the tunnel. Going through the tunnel for the first time was really cool, but some little children were not up to walking through the tunnel. Once we began descending some kids decided to have a friendly race to a tree. Off they went running to the best of there ability. I was at the finish line when they came jetting through. After the sprint we all headed down to the beach where most were skipping rocks or playing with the crabs that they found previous to our arrival. When day ended the kids reluctantly returned to the boat. The boat putted back to where they arrived, and the kids went home with a smile on their face!

-Tim Grogan

Kite Flying 101

Hey everyone,

So this week I'm supposed to be working on All Access and taking trips to Spectacle Island with historian extraordinaire David. I was a little nervous on the first day because it was my first time on All Access, but thanks to David, B.J., and Thi I soon felt much more comfortable. I also got to meet another new co-worker, Tim!

Yesterday after a quick lunch, I went up to the top of Spectacle to fly kites with David, Thi, and a bunch of awesome kite fliers from the Jordan Boys and Girls Club. It was a lot of fun for the kids and on the hike up (and the hike down!) they kept me busy asking questions about the island and the harbor. In the afternoon I got to spend some time cooling down at the beach before we packed up the boat to head back to Boston.

Today, the less-than-stellar weather forced us to cancel All Access for the day :( Conor and I had the task of checking the lobster trap down by the dock (we found one!) and then we headed over to the Children's Museum with Lindsay and Caitlin to set up a crap traps and a touch tank for all the curious kids. Despite the rain, we had another great turnout!

Weather permitting, I'll be back at All Access tomorrow-I can't wait :)

-Carolyn

AABH Spectacle Island

Today was my first day on the job! All Access was great. I met a lot of new people including my co-workers such as Thi, B.J., David Coffin, Denise, and Carolyn. We started out in front of the boats with a touch tank with a gigantic lobster! The kids were staring, but were afraid to touch until they finally touched it. During the Lobster many kids were drawing, and had a very good time filling in the marine animals with crayon and colored pencil. Once we got on to Spectacle, kids sprinted towards the water, and the snack bar. We had a short, lunch then I headed to the beach. I didn't have any trunks, but still managed to have a great time teaching kids how to skip rocks, and helping building forts in the sand. I stayed at the beach for the whole time, and had a lot of fun! This was my first every working for money, and it was definitely an experience. Today was a great start to the fun of Save the Harbor Save the Bay!! :)

-Tim Grogan

SPECTACLE ISLAND :)

Today was the first day of All Access Boston Harbor this week. Also, as a new co-worker, Tim Grogan joined us on his very first day with Carolyn, which was her first day on All Access as well, who I both had the pleasure of meeting. We went to Spectacle Island and had lots fun. I won a hula hoop competition even though opponents were a couple of years younger than me. Hahahahaa :) David, Carolyn, and I went up the north drumlin to fly the rainbow-colored kites. That was quite a hike although we used the shortcut. We had a bit of a trouble getting the kites up there, but once they were up, they stayed up for a very long time. Before we boarded the Virginia C-II to leave, I quickly jumped into the salty water.... only to be grabbed by the foot by one of the kids we took out to the island! David and I flipped numerous kids into the ocean water. This day was very exciting and I can't wait to go on another trip out tomorrow! :D

Thi Mai Tran