![]() What's in your water? Find out on Saturday, August 13 when Dr. Laurel Schaider of the Silent Spring Institute speaks about Contaminants of Emerging Concern at The Brewster Ponds Coalition's Annual Meeting. The meeting takes place from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM at the Captain's Golf Course, 1000 Freemans Way, Brewster. A buffet breakfast will be served. A brief business meeting will include the nomination of Board Members and a summary of accomplishments and goals. Seating is limited. Reservations are required. RSVP to [email protected]. Deadline Tuesday, August 9. For more information telephone 508-258-9801. Attendance at Pond and Neighborhood Association Summit Demonstrates Clear Concern About Pond Issues7/31/2016
More than forty leaders of pond and neighborhood associations in Brewster participated in a discussion about pond issues on a beautiful summer morning at the Brewster Baptist Church. Included were representatives from Blueberry, Canoe, Cobb's, Dark Bottom, Elbow, Greenland, Lees, Lower Mill, Long, Myricks, Roland T. Nickerson State Park (Cliff, Flax, Higgins, Keeler's, Little Cliff, Ruth and Triangle Ponds) Owl, Pine, Seymour, Sheep, Smalls, Sol's, Upper Mill, and Vesper Ponds.
This first of its kind event provided pond neighborhood leaders with a forum to discuss common issues, learn from each other, and to create actions that can help stop the degradation of our fresh water ponds. Click here for meeting agenda. Click here to see PDF of the PowerPoint presentation.
The culmination of a cooperative effort by The Brewster Ponds Coalition and the Town of Brewster Conservation Commission, with assistance from the Barnstable County Americorps Cape Cod Program, came to fruition this week, with the publication of a Pond Waterfront Improvement Guide. (PWIG.) Many homeowners have asked how they can protect and improve their pond's water quality. The PWIG provides citizens with a how-to guide for designing and building storm water remediation projects - rain gardens and bio-swales, in their pond neighborhoods and yards. It will serve as a model for other Cape Cod towns and is now available on the Brewster Ponds Coalition Website (PDF file link here) (Word format here provides enhanced functionality of embedded files) and at the county website. ![]() “Property owners are sometimes intimidated by the process of going before a Conservation Commission,” said Gwen Pelletier, BPC Board Clerk in a presentation before the Brewster Conservation Commission on July 12th. “Our goal is to make the process easier to understand, so that people will know how to go forward with projects that improve pond water quality and protect ponds from further impairment.” (Click here to watch video of discussion before Conservation Commission, July 12, 2016. Starts at 9 minute mark.) “The Brewster Ponds Coalition has surveyed storm water run off problem areas in Brewster both from above and on the ground,” said John Keith, Vice President of the BPC. “We have found an inventory of roughly thirty-five medium to high priority locations that impact ponds. As we go forward, we will work with pond and neighborhood groups as well as the town to bring forward cost-effective solutions,” he said.
“Storm water run off carries with it significant amounts of pollution that wind up in our ponds, estuaries and bays,” said Jan McGann, a key member of the BPC Science Team that created the PWIG. “Much of it is preventable. And, getting these beneficial projects underway is easier than it might at first seem,” she said. "It was a pleasure to help create the Pond Waterfront Improvement Guide. It was a great team effort, drawing on the backgrounds of Gwen in Education and Communication, Jan in Biology, and John in Engineering. We worked well together in collaboration with Noelle Bramer, the Brewster Conservation Agent, and ended up with a solid document that empowers citizens to take action to improve water quality in ponds," said AmeriCorps volunteer, Ben Howard, who researched the Conservation Commission approval process and drafted the guide. “This is a really big deal,” said Tom Vautin, BPC President. “Because citizens, when faced with the notion that they will have to go before the Conservation Commission in any town, often just walk away. Now, projects will seem less daunting and that will lead to more work getting done,” he said. Thank you to all of you who helped out and visited on Brewster Conservation Day! It was a very well attended event. The cool weather did not hurt and many beach goers opted to discover how the many local conservation/environmental groups are helping our community. Our gratitude to the Brewster Conservation Trust for the invitation.
Thank you to all of our member volunteers who participated today in building the Be A Pond Hero Game - debuting on Brewster Conservation Day, July 9th at Drummer Boy Park. Game winners will receive a Be A Pond Hero Badge shown above. There will be a number of fun take-aways including the Brewster Ponds Coalition pollinator seed pack. (Below right.)
![]() Be a Pond Hero is the Brewster Ponds Coalition's new interactive game for children and parents where a player's choices at a garden center, supermarket, home, or pond edge determine the fate of our ponds. Players who succeed in making the right choices win a POND HERO BADGE. The game debuts at Brewster Conservation Day on July 9th. But First We Need Your Help! Help Us Assemble the Game - Join us at the First Parish Church Barn in Brewster on June 26th from 1:00-2:30pm to fold paper, glue, and collate, and make educational posters. Be a Game Guide - for 2-3 Hours on Brewster Conservation Day. July 9 Train from 2:30-3:00 pm on June 26th at the Barn to role play and help game players learn about important choices for healthy ponds. [Alternative training times can be arranged if unavailable on June 26th.] Location: The Barn at the First Parish Church in Brewster Directions: Enter the driveway to Kinlin Grover, 1990 Route 6A Brewster. Continue past Kinlin Grover, and take a right onto a long dirt driveway. Take this driveway to end where there is a parking lot. The building at this lot is the barn. Click to Sign up Below and Tell us when you are coming and what you'd like to do, but please come and help even if you don't RSVP ![]() in Wonder what all those weeds are your favorite pond? Discover what should and should not be there at a Weed Watchers Workshop – Saturday, June 4, 2016 at 10 AM at First Parish Brewster, 1969 Main Street, RT 6A. Plants will be provided, but participants are also encouraged to bring their own plant samples from local ponds. Presented in collaboration with the First Parish Brewster Environmental Action Committee. A total of 1160 pounds of combined trash and recycling materials were picked up all over town on Beautify Brewster Day. The BPC teams included 23 people who picked up 23 yellow bags of trash, 9 black bags of recycling and 1 beautiful terrarrium in a bottle!
Special thanks to Alan Ani, Dorothy Babbitt, Roger and Mary Beers, Terence Cordner, Margaret Cummings, Diane and Arthur Driscoll, Lucy Duffy, John Fracasso, Myra Frain, Felicity Luebke, Charles Madansky, Adelita Orefice, Jeffrey and Chu Race, John Roman, Nancy Gustafson-Smith, and Douglas Smith from BPC Board members Karen Malkus-Benjamin, Rick Kuzman, Patricia Monahan, Gwen Pelletier, who also participated in the days events. BPC Board Members Gwen Pelletier (top) and Karen Malkus-Benjamin (center below) show
cyanobacteria under the microscope to future scientists at the recent 4th Annual Science On The Street event at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, Rt 6A, Brewster. The event was produced in collaboration with the Cambridge Science Festival’s Science on the Street outreach program, and was a fun interactive learning experience about STEM (science, technology, engineering & math.) Topics included: Bees, Turtles, Fish, Butterflies, Electricity, Archaeology, Osprey, Whales, Sharks, Chroma Key, Mystery Plankton, Storm Chasing, Gardening, Chain Reaction, Pipette Art, Kite Flight and much more!!!! |
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