July 27, 2011, Boston, MA. On July 20th and 21st, Over 30 youth from The Boys and Girls Club of Charlestown set sail from Boston’s Bank of America Pavilion for a hands-on program to learn about Boston Harbor’s marine environment and Spectacle Island’s unique treasures through Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s All Access Boston Harbor.
All Access Boston Harbor is a free educational and recreational program that offers 5,000 kids from Boston’s neighborhoods and the surrounding communities the chance to explore and discover Boston Harbor and the Harbor Islands. For some of these participants, it will be their first excursion to the national park to experience Boston Harbor first hand. For others, the harbor has become a regular part of their summer.
After learning about the colorful history of Spectacle Island, from maritime historian David Coffin, participants set sail from the dock at the Bank of America Pavilion. On the island, participants can choose to take part in an archeological expedition called “The Treasures of Spectacle Island” along the South Drumlin; hike to the top of the North Drumlin to fly kites and see 360-degree views from the highest point in the harbor; or go swimming on the North Beach.
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay’s “Treasures of Spectacle Island” program offers Boston’s youth and teens the opportunity to discover relics from Spectacle Island’s past, and to learn a little bit about the history of the harbor and our city. Once a landfill, Spectacle Island is now part of our great new Boston Harbor Islands National Park, where kids enjoy examining pieces of sea glass, broken pottery, and other artifacts. As part of the program the young people are encouraged to use their discoveries as a window into the past, and figure out what the items they found were, who used them, and how they came to be on Spectacle Island.
“Every object on Spectacle Island has a story to tell”, remarked Bruce Berman, Communications & Programming Director of Strategy, “Our job is to find that story and learn from it.”
Kids learn how important it is to clean up after themselves, and to return their finds to the beach for others to enjoy, although the temptation to keep a piece of trash from the past can be enormous.
“Every child deserves the chance to spend some time every summer at the seashore,” said Save the Harbor President Patricia Foley. “We are proud to share the benefits of Boston Harbor and the Harbor Islands with a new generation of youth, who we hope will become ‘Harbor Stewards’ of the future.”
These 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.
To find out more about Save the Harbor / Save the Bay’s All Access Boston Harbor trips,
visit their website at www.savetheharbor.org, their youth blog, “Sea, Sand and Sky” at www.shsbkids.blogspot.com, and their Boston Harbor Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bostonharbor.