On July 8, 2015, amongst intermittent storms and sunshine, Manomet Trustees, Councilors, special supporters, and staff gathered for a festive evening of appreciation, stories from the field and the reveal of Manomet’s new logo, tagline and messaging.

 

Upon arrival, guests were greeted with locally-sourced appetizers and spirits, as well as music from Billington Sea. The farm-to-table dishes continued through dinner and the program provided both information and inspiration.

 

Manomet President John Hagan revealed Manomet’s new logo, tagline and messaging. You can read President Hagan’s letter explaining Manomet’s journey and decision to go through a rebranding process and the inspiring results.

 

Next, we ventured into the field as program leaders shared stories of engagement from Sustainable Economies, Climate Services, Shorebird Recovery, and Landbird Conservation.

 

Sustainable Economies’ Director Andy Whitman recounted a story of the 96% of Cabot Creamery farms committed to a sustainable future for their dairies and the Vital Capital Index tool created by Manomet. Climate Services’ Senior Program Leader Eric Walberg brought us to Alabama with his novel-like retelling of commercial forestry company, Resource Management Service, joining the Climate Smart Land Network.

 

Shorebird Recovery’s Director Stephen Brown gets the award for most exciting stories from the field for detailing the up-close and personal visits from black and polar bears on two separate shorebird expeditions to Alaska and Canada this spring and summer. Our team was still able to conduct the largest survey ever of breeding shorebirds in Alaska’s Yukon Delta, and put out 29 geolocators on Semipalmated Sandpipers at Coats Island.

 

Landbird Conservation’s Director Trevor Lloyd Evans spoke next. He has gathered and overseen 50 years of dedicated data collection and provided bird-in-hand experiential learning to generations of people. School children, especially, continue to be given the rare day at Manomet’s Banding Lab, but not all children have access to it.

 

Following Director Lloyd-Evans, we heard from teachers on this issue, including Manomet Councilors’ Vice Chair Deb Harrison. Councilor Harrison, who first came to Manomet in 1994, during the fall banding season and a sabbatical year from her role as a biology teacher at Noble and Greenough School, gave us an eloquent glimpse of her perspective as both a bander and teacher.

 

She explained the power of the Banding Lab: “From kindergarteners to college students, eager groups of kids discovered the magic of migration. From the tiniest to the tallest, they perched on the edge of their seats on the banding lab deck, a place of initiation that connects its visitors with nature, a place that opens the door to understanding and embracing the importance of environmental stewardship.”

 

Many of these special moments occur out on our banding deck. However, in its current state, the banding deck is not accessible to some of our visitors. If one student finds Manomet inaccessible the entire class cannot visit.

 

The evening concluded with our fund-a-need and Councilor Harrison’s request for support. We raised $14,000 that stormy Wednesday night and we are currently at $20,270. Our goal is $50,000. You can learn more about the Banding Deck Accessibility Project and how you can help here.

 

Click here for PICTURES of Summerfest.

 

 

 

And a special, special THANK YOU to our amazing sponsors who made this event possible:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GOLD LEVEL SPONSORS

  • CBIZ Tofias
  • Rockland Trust
  • Rogers & Gray
  • S-Bank
  • Windhaven Investment Management

 

SILVER LEVEL SPONSOR

  • HUB International

 

And thank you to the following businesses providing in-kind support for our Summerfest event

  • Cabot Cheese
  • Carole’s Flowers & Gifts
  • Fugazzi’s
  • Island Creek Oysters
  • Mayflower Brewing
  • Powder Horn Press
  • Rentals Unlimited