The Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands are sponsoring a Northern Lighthouse Tour on Saturday, June 13, from 10 – 3. The Tour will depart from Boston Harbor Cruises’ headquarters at Long Wharf, Boston. Cost: Adult $68.25, Senior (65+) $63.00, FBHI member $57.75, Child under 12 $57.75. Ticket price includes 5% City of Boston sightseeing surcharge. Buy tickets direct from FBHI to support its programs. The tour will pass the Lights of Boston Harbor, then cruise north for close-up views of the lighthouses at Hospital Point, Fort Pickering, Ten Pound Island, Marblehead, Gloucester Breakwater, Eastern Point and Baker’s Island. The Twin lights on Thacher Island will be the farthest destination. On the way back, view Boston Light and Graves Light. Extensive narration throughout. Snack bar on board. Be prepared for changeable weather. Route always at Captain’s discretion. For more information, log on to www.fbhi.org, email info@fbhi.org, or call 781-740-4290. To book tickets in advance, send your check and a stamped, self-addressed envelope to FBHI, 349 Lincoln Street, Building 45, Hingham, MA 02043-1601.
Month: June 2009
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Tuesday, June 16, 5:30 pm – Alley Tour with William Young
William Young, senior preservation planner for the City of Boston Environmental Department, will lead a tour of Back Bay alleys beginning at The Gibson House Museum, 137 Beacon Street, on Tuesday, June 16, beginning at 5:30 pm. The event is free for Gibson House Museum members and $10 for non-members. Space is limited. RSVP to 617-267-6338, or email info@thegibsonhouse.org.
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Friday, June 12 – Saturday, June 13 – Buds, Blooms & Books
The Community Garden Club of Duxbury presents “Buds, Blooms, & Books”, a small standard flower show, at the Duxbury Free Library. The show opens at noon on Friday, June 12, until 5 pm, and continues Saturday, June 13, from 10 a.m. until 5 pm. For more information, contact Sandy Dapprich at 781-934-2236.
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Sunday, June 21 – Opening Reception, “All Creatures Great and Small”
US Art magazine says Sarah Lynn Richards is “An Artist we think you should know better.” Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, Massachusetts agrees. Richards’ wonderful hummingbirds, frogs and horses are whimsical and moving. Her watercolor florals compliment the gardens in full bloom. Richards is regarded as the most prominent equine artist in the country. Her use of watercolor illustrates her sense of balance, form, and an intuitive understanding of the nature of things. A nationally exhibited artist, Sarah Lynn Richards currently works in her home studio on the coast of Maine. Her watercolors are vivid interpretations of horses and wildlife. You can learn more about Richards’ work at her website, www.sarahrichards.com. The reception will feature a cash bar and light refreshments. Free and open to the public. The exhibit will run from June 16 through July 26, 2009. For more information, call 508-869-6111 or log on to www.towerhillbg.org.
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Saturday, June 13, 10 – 12 noon – Tour of Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate
Come enjoy this twentieth century estate in nearby Canton, Massachusetts, featuring a country home, farm buildings, manicured lawns, and a walled garden. Once a farm known as Cherry Hill, the property evolved when Dr. Arthur Tracey Cabot hired architect Charles Platt to design a complex of buildings, gardens, and open fields. The property is now managed by the Trustees of Reservation, and the tour is free to members of the Trustees, and $5 for non-members. Space is limited. Please pre-register by calling 781-784-0567, extension 7001. For more information on other properties open for viewing during the summer, log on to www.thetrustees.org.
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Thursday, June 11, 6 pm – The Preservation Society of Newport County Annual Meeting
Please join The Preservation Society of Newport County at its Annual Meeting Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. at Rosecliff, 548 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island. Enjoy a snapshot of the past year and the year to come. Following the election of trustees, the Laurel Awards will be presented, including one for Horticulture given to volunteers Denise Aguiar, Marilyn Archibald, Blake Billings, Brian Burns, Charles Gardner, Lillian Kimball, Sheila Lang, and Raymond Picozzi for weeding, watering, and working tirelessly in the Society’s many gardens. A light reception of wine and cheese will follow on the terrace. For more information, log on to www.newportmansions.org.
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Friday, June 26 – Sunday, June 28 – The 2009 Newport Flower Show – Glorious Green: The Natural Path
The Newport Flower Show celebrates its 14th year as America’s premier summer flower show. Glorious Green, The Natural Path, will lead us to discover the extraordinary beauty of nature, as well as how to preserve and protect these treasures. All proceeds from the Newport Flower Show are dedicated to the ongoing restoration and maintenance of the Preservation Society of Newport County’s 88 acres of gardens and landscapes. The show will take place at Rosecliff, and the hours are Friday, 10:30 – 5, Saturday and Sunday 9 – 5, with an opening night cocktail party on Friday June 26 from 6 – 9. Tickets may be purchased on line at www.newportmansions.org. Don’t miss the Butterfly House, created exclusively for the Show by landscape architect Charles Carberry on the front lawn of Rosecliff. Walk through a gazebo filled with butterfly-friendly plants and see thousands of indigenous butterflies, including monarchs, swallowtails and painted ladies, making a unique and colorful official entrance to the Newport Flower Show. Each day of the 2009 Newport Flower Show offers guests opportunities to enjoy judged horticultural specimens and floral designs, special garden exhibitions, free lectures and demonstrations, as well as wonderful shopping experiences in both the Oceanside Boutiques and the new Gardeners’ Marketplace. Tickets are also available for special luncheons, lectures and workshops.  You’ll find that there are many choices as you select which ticket or package offers you the best opportunity to fully enjoy all the hues of Glorious Green, The Natural Path. Special guests are David Howard, long time Head Gardener to HRH Prince of Wales, and Hitomi Gilliam, internationally renowned floral designer. For more information you may email info@newportmansions.org, or call 401-847-1000.
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BostonZest
Our Back Bay friend Penny Cherubino writes and maintains one of the best websites in Boston, www.bostonzest.com. For those of you unfamiliar with this treasure, log on right now (and I mean right now) and add it to your favorites list. The June 1 blog shows a photograph of an elm on the corner of Commonwealth and Massachusetts Avenue suffering from Dutch Elm disease. Penny has a number of enthusiasms – dogs, gardens, farmer’s markets, living well (sustainably), and you will find so much valuable information here on people and events that you’ll wonder how you did without the source. Beautiful photographs, book recommendations, current affairs, music – there is something here for everyone. Brava, Penny!
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Saturday, June 6, 9 – 2 – E-Waste Recycle Day
E-Waste is a popular informal name for consumer and business electronic equipment that has reached the end of its useful life. Over 130 million mobile phones alone were discarded in 2005. The National Safety Council projects that nearly 250 million computers will become obsolete in the next five years. Researchers have estimated that nearly 75% of E-Waste is in storage. Here is the opportunity for FREE, safe and environmentally sound and friendly disposal and recycling. Recycling is a resource conservation issue. Today’s consumer electronics contain highly recyclable materials that would otherwise require mining of virgin materials from the earth to meet today’s need for raw materials. Today’s electronics recycling technology reduces consumer electronics into separated commodity streams of metals, plastics and glass that are processed into raw materials for reuse in new manufactured products. For example, one ton of recycled computers will yield about one ounce of gold. To produce this same ounce of gold from a virgin resource requires mining 7-11 tons of ore and the energy to mine and process this ore. Clearly, recycling helps us save our precious natural resources and the planet we live on. Materials accepted at the event on Saturday, June 6 include monitors, LCD displays, laptops, servers, televisions, DVDs, VCRs, stereos, camcorders, cameras, radios, games systems, fax machines, photo copiers, printers, scanners, telephones, and a host of others. The complete list can be found at www.boston.poweron.com. The materials may be brought to the Bayside Expo Center, 200 Mount Vernon Street, Dorchester, MA 02125, and directions can be found on the web site noted above.
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Saturday, June 6, 10 – 2:30 – Cruise to Rainsford Island
Ride the M/V Culebra to Rainsford Island, nestled between Long and Peddocks islands, on The Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands cruise-expedition on Saturday, June 6. The boat departs from Rowes Wharf Water Transport, 60 Rowes Wharf, at 10 a.m. and returns at 2 p.m., rain or shine. Friends volunteers lead guided tours, or you may explore on your own, but be sure to pack a picnic. There is no food or drink on the boat or on the island. This trip offers rare access to the 11-acre island. There are ruins left from two centuries of institutional use: quarantine hospital, poorhouse. Space is limited. Advance paid registration recommended. Available tickets will be sold from 9 a.m. on a first come, first served basis, cash only. Adults $28, Seniors $25, Children 4-12 $18, Babies under age 3 free. For more information, visit www.fbhi.org, email info@fbhi.org, or call 781-740-4290.