Let’s Remember the Warmer Months

Cupid Splash 2

Tides Spring Fundraiser 2

Lynn Penguin Plunge 3

Friends’ Receive Grants 3

Upcoming Annual Friends Meeting

3

Representative Carney 4

Storm Damage 4

DCR Changes 4

Nature Notes 5

Summer Jazz Series 6

Inside this issue:

February 2015

Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach Newsletter

Volume 9, Issue 1

With the Tide

www.lynn-nahantbeach.org

Page 2 With the Tide

This year is the 5th annual Save the Harbor/Save the Bay Cupid Splash fundraiser. The splash

involves going into bathing water in March, when it is a tad bit cool. This is a significant fund-

raiser for Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, which distributes the money to various friends groups

to support free programming on DCR beaches. In the past, the Friends have helped raise signif-

icant money to support Friends members who splash. These splashers have included President

Bob Tucker, board member Becky Sucui, Representative Brendan Crighton, and Lynn City

Council President Dan Cahill..

This year, Bob Tucker has agreed to splash again. He has set up a fundraising page on the Cu-

pid Splash website www.cupdisplash.com where people can donate money. Please consider join-

ing the fundraiser and either splashing yourself (register on the website) or supporting those,

like Bob, who are splashing. Thank you!

Save the Harbor/ Save the Bay Cupid Splash

Tides Spring Fundraiser

The Spring fundraiser at the Tides is scheduled for Thursday, April

30th from 6-9PM. As usual, a portion of sales will go to the Friends.

The Tides has been a great supporter of the Friends over the years.

Please come and join us for dinner. We look forward to seeing you!

Page 3 Volume 9, Issue 1

On January 1st, a local group called the Lynn Penguins took their annual dip in the ocean at

Kings Beach to celebrate the new year. As with the last several years, the Penguins also

raised money for the Friends– $350. A BIG THANK YOU to all who participated, especially

Terrence and TJ Cullinane for helping organize it.

Lynn Penguin Plunge

Friends Receive Several Grants

The Friends have been busy during this endless winter. We applied for and received grant

awards from the Massachusetts Cultural Council/ Lynn Arts and the Lynn Office of Economic

and Community Development (OECD). The award from the MA Cultural Council/ Lynn Arts

totaled $2500 and will be used to support the summer concert series. The award from the

Lynn OECD totaled $410 and will be used to support our educational programs at Harrington

and Brickett elementary schools. In addition to these grant awards, we also applied for sever-

al other grants and hope to hear about potential awards in the spring.

Annual Friends Meeting: April 8th

The next Friends meeting is also the annual meeting where members will be able to nominate

and vote on four seats on the board of directors. This meeting will be held on Wednesday,

April 8th at 7PM. The location remains the same: 169 Lynn Shore Drive in Lynn. Hope to see

you there.

Page 4 Volume 9, Issue 1

Representative Phillip N. Carney

After the rehabilitation of what is commonly called the Nahant

Causeway, signage was installed (or at least noticed by the editor)

that identified the causeway as the Representative Phillip N. Carney

Causeway. For those not originally from this area, what follows is a

brief description of Representative Carney.

Mr. Carney lived in both Lynn and Nahant. From 1954-1957, he was

the Lynn City Councilor for Ward 3. From 1961-1968, he represented

parts of Lynn, Nahant and Swampscott in the Massachusetts Legisla-

ture as state representative. One of his accomplishments was legisla-

tion that built the seawall near the intersection of Nahant Street and

Lynn Shore Drive. In 1994, the Massachusetts Legislature passed

legislation that named the Nahant Causeway the “Representative

Phillip N. Carney Causeway”. Mr. Carney passed away in 2005.

The winter weather has been tough on us all. The contractor for clearing the walkways at the

reservations has done an admirable job given the insane amount of snow we have received.

However, we had two of our four interpretive signs damaged from the plowing. The Lynn

Painters sign along Lynn Shore Drive was broken, while the Red Rock sign is missing-in-

action. Some think it fled to Florida. Others think that it is buried in snow or on the other side

of the wall. We will have to wait until the current glaciers recede before we know. The Friends

are in discussions with DCR about replacing both signs.

Storm Damage

DCR Comings and Goings

As Governor Baker took office, he replaced many of the existing department heads. One he

did not replace is Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Jack Murray.

The Friends have developed a good relationship with Commissioner Murray since he became

commissioner in 2013. He has maintained staffing at Lynn and Nahant beaches, even in the

midst of overall budget cuts. Commissioner Murray attended our last annual meeting in April

2014 and we will be inviting him to our upcoming meeting in April.

Ray Faucher, who has been the manager for the Lynn and Nahant reservations for the past

several years is retiring in April. We developed a good relationship with Ray and will miss

him. We wish him the best in retirement.

Dennis Kelley, who has worked at the reservations for a number of years, is NOT transferring

to another DCR park. This is great news for the reservation and the Friends, as he is an amaz-

ing worker and a great guy. If you see him around the parks, let him know you are happy that

he is staying put!

Nature Notes by T.J. Cullinane

Page 5 Volume 9, Issue 1

Dear Friends,

I promised an article on Harbor Seals this issue, but I hope you won’t mind me sharing news of

intriguing finds that came ashore on harbor side beach. This beach is hands down the best place

to find sea glass in our area and usually holds a few interesting shore birds as well. On this par-

ticular visit however, I came away with some real treasures to include the bowl of a Civil War

era clay pipe and some seashells that are not normally found in our area.

Civil War Era Pipe Bowl. Lynn Harbor has an extremely interesting history and once sup-

ported a small whaling fleet during the Age of Sail. This clay pipe bowl might have originated

from one of those old ships. A scientist who studied hundreds of clay pipes found in and around

colonial Williamsburg devised a way to determine a clay pipe’s age by measuring the stem. Us-

ing this methodology, I’ve dated this pipe to the type manufactured between 1840–1860.

West Indian Top Shell (Cittarium pica). This snail is native to the Caribbean and is only

rarely found in the Florida Keys. So how did it get here? One of the Friends has suggested that

it may have hitch-hiked up from the Caribbean to Lynn Harbor on Michael Celona’s yacht, the

S.S. Mindy, during his last foray to the Bahamas….

European Flat Oyster (Ostrea edulis). There once was a time when oysters were so plentiful

around the waters of Boston that their towering beds were capable of stoving in the side of a

wooden ship. This particular species of oyster was originally found in the Belon River in France.

In the 1950’s scientist began cultivating them in Boothbay Harbor as well as in Washington

State. I’ll work with our friends at Northeastern University to see how these shells ended up

here. Wouldn’t it be great if these beauties could be cultivated right in our back yard?

_____ Yes, I would like to join or renew my membership in the Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach.

Membership entitles you to: Name:________________________________

• An invitation to programs and events Address:

• Periodic updates on our progress and the condition of the Beaches ______________________________________

• The satisfaction of knowing that you are acting locally to impact the ______________________________________

environment in a positive way. Email: ________________________________

Membership

__Student/Senior: $15 __ Individual: $25 Mail To: Membership

__ Family: $50 __ Corporate: $100 Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach

__ Sponsor: $200 P.O. Box 2264

I am already a member. Please accept my gift of $_________. Lynn, MA 01903

Membership in the Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach

Membership Renewal

Summer Jazz Concert Series

The Friends rely on the generous support of its members for the financial well-being of the or-

ganization. Our membership continues to grow as the Friends become more involved with other

community groups, and we continue to be vocal advocates for the Lynn and Nahant Beaches.

Membership dues help pay for the Summer Concert Series, publication and printing of the

newsletter, Friends T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats, postage, refreshments for volunteers at the

beach clean-ups and the Friends contribution towards matching grants for special projects.

We want to thank all members who returned their 2015 membership forms (which were mailed

recently) and welcome all of our new members. The Friends need your continued financial and

volunteer support so our organization can continue to be a strong advocate for our beaches.

The summer concert series at Red Rock Park has become a huge success.

On July 3rd and seven Thursdays thereafter, several hundred people

gather to listen to live, local music in a beautiful, natural setting. One

question that the Friends get asked often is whether the series could be

extended to include more bands on more days. For a variety of reasons,

including volunteer burnout and expenses, extending the series is not

practical. However, we do feel that there are other opportunities to sup-

port local musicians, and listen to live music in the great outdoors. This summer, the Friends

are going to offer two free summer morning jazz concerts at the Ward Bathhouse. Stay tuned

for more information!