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Spring, 2024
Spring Beaches Cleanup Results
Click the image for full results
Nahant Native Gardens Walk
Autumn, 2022
Newsletter Insert
Autumn, 2022
Rodent control video
Even worse, a small child could get hold of some... Our own Nahant resident Francene Amari-Faulker created this very thorough and interesting video. Thank you Francene! Please spread this information and help keep poisons out of our wildlife, children, pets and environment.
Additional Resources
Autumn, 2022
SWIM funds tree work at Pleasant Street Playground
Autumn, 2022
Butterfly Program
Autumn, 2022
Book Collection about the natural world
SWIM donated 14 books to our Nahant Library. Go check them out! Click the link below to see the titles.
Autumn, 2022
Techno Trash Cans at our Library – take advantage!
Techno Trash Cans at our Library – take advantage!
SWIM donated two Technotrash Cans to our Library
for public use. These are convenient collection boxes for
CDs, diskettes, DVDs, ink cartridges, cell
phones, videotapes, pagers, PDAs, and all small technotrash. This is
yet another way to protect our
environment from destructive trash. Learn more about the Technotrash can here.
Autumn, 2022
North Atlantic right whales Visited Nahant in May, again.
Click here for videos and photos!
These extraordinary videos show the second largest animal on earth, a Fin Whale (only the Blue Whale is larger) and North Atlantic right whales. Look at all the videos (they are short) because in some you can actually see the right whales opening their mouths to take in plankton-filled water. You can also see the distinctive callosity patterns on their heads which allow ID of each whale. If you would like to try to identify these whales, click here for the New England Aquarium catalog.
May 31, 2021
Nahant becomes a Tree City U.S.A.
Updated Nov, 2021
On May 31, 2021, SWIM's Vi Patek sent out an email to SWIM members announcing that Nahant had become a Tree City U.S.A., with a formal announcement at a Board of Selectmen meeting and a press release in the Lynn Daily Item to follow. A requirement of this designation is the formation of a Tree Task Force for the management of public trees which is described in Nahant's new Tree by-law shown below. The Tree Task Force is already at work serving Department of Public Works' Superintendent Zach Taylor in his efforts to manage Public Shade Trees and the future of our community forest. The first duty will be to inventory all trees on public lands, and good progress has already been made. The leader of the Task Force is Wendy Wornham. The four other members are Tom Price, George MacNaughton, Sharon Hawkes and Kristy Lee. This is a big step forward in the preservation, restoration and management of our town trees.
From the November 2021 SWIM Newsletter:
... [Our] urban forest is declining rapidly due to age and disease. New trees need to be planted and through SWIM, twelve trees have been planted: six pine trees on East Point at Lodge Park on May 2, and six out of ten Arborvitae at the Town compost dump on October 19. ... As part of our Plant a Tree Program, SWIM has pledged gifts to the Town for the planting of trees annually. Trees are good for our health. They cool us with their shade and calm us with their beauty. They clean our air and water. Let's plant trees!
The new Nahant By-Law: Creation of a Nahant Tree Task Forces states:
There is hereby created and established a Nahant Tree Task Force which shall consist of five volunteer residents who will be named by the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works to serve him for the purpose of developing and/or updating annually an inventory of all Public Shade Trees along with a written plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, replanting, removal or disposition of trees and shrubs in parks, along streets and in other public areas. This written plan shall be presented every year to the Superintendent of the Department of Public Works and to the Tree Warden for their convenience.
March 30, 2021
Arbor Day Tree Planting at the Johnson School
On March 30, 2021, in celebration of Arbor Day, Johnson School Principal Kevin Andrews and students planted a tree donated by SWIM in front of the school. Our children are learning about the importance of trees!
March 27, 2021
SWIM Sponsors Dune Grass Planting
On March 27, 2021, for the second year and thanks to our collaboration with DPW Superintendent Zach Taylor, volunteers planted dune grass seedlings along Short Beach to help stabilize our fragile dune. We had a wonderful time planting the little seedlings which hold so much promise for protection of our most critical dune. SWIM paid for 3,300 seedlings.
August 29, 2020
SWIM Hosts Virtual Arbor Day Celebration
On August 29th, 2020, SWIM went virtual for Arbor Day (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and published its PowerPoint presentation celebrating Nahant residents' favorite trees. Residents submitted photos, poems, and stories expressing what these trees meant to them. The celebration is intended to be open-ended and we look forward to adding more messages about Nahant trees in the future. If you would like to add to the collections, contact nahantswiminc@gmail.com. To view this wonderful celebration of our trees, see the link below. The photographs of the trees seen in the stories were provided by the individuals who submitted the stories; other photographs are by Nancy Cantelmo and Vi Patek, unless otherwise noted.
May 25, 2019
SWIM and the Nahant Wetlands Bylaw Review Committee
Nahant residents, after considering whether or not to rescind the new Wetlands Protection Bylaw at Nahant’s Annual Town Meeting held on April 27, 2019, voted instead to establish a Wetlands Bylaw Review Committee as proposed by Frank Guidara. This committee is to be composed of members drawn from the Conservation Commission, the Board of Selectmen, the Planning Board, the Finance Committee, and SWIM’s President Vi Patek or another named SWIM representative. Before the Annual Meeting, SWIM had collaborated with Conservation Commission and sent in a town-wide mailing on April 22nd relevant information about the Nahant Wetlands Protection Bylaw. For more information, see the SWIM 2019 Wetlands Protection Bylaw Information Sheet.
May 10, 2019
SWIM Co-Hosts Earth Day Environmental Symposium
Five speakers made presentations about their areas of expertise focusing on the diverse challenges confronting coastal habitats today. Rising sea levels, pollution, invasive species and storms were addressed. Actions that can make a difference were presented: for example, planting native plants and trees, continuing to protect nature preserves and studying the interaction of people with the environment.An attentive audience of about 80 residents lingered afterward to converse with the speakers.
To learn more about the speakers and additional information, please see the Earth Day Symposium invitation. For information about composting, please check out the SWIM Composting Flyer.
October 12, 2018
Curbside Composting Service Coming to Nahant
In November, 2018, Black Earth Compost Company will begin curbside collection of compostable waste for participating Nahant households. For more information about this service, and to sign up if interested, please check out their website at blackearthcompost.com.
October 12, 2018
Short Beach Clean-up Held on September 16
This fall, SWIM partnered for the second time with CoastSweep to clean our coastline, and this year our efforts coincided with International Coastal Cleanup Day. We plan to continue with this partnership and timing in future years. For Nahant, this was the first cleanup in a long time that occurred on an actual beachgoing day. Short Beach was full of happy people in their bathing suits, and it was gratifying to see individuals and families leave their fun and relaxation to come to our tables, sign in and pick up bags and gloves to clean the beach. This set an example for everyone on the beach and helped children understand what a difference volunteering can make to our environment. According to our paperwork, about 70 people participated in cleaning Short Beach. Many thanks to all the volunteers!
April 12, 2018
SWIM and Nahant's Arbor Day Proclamation
On April 5th, 2018, the Nahant Selectmen accepted the text of the Arbor Day Proclamation for 2018 and expressed support for planting trees around town, including tree planting by children during a Town activity event. SWIM had requested that the Proclamation be declared by the Selectmen in order for Nahant to comply with its application for designation as a Tree City USA. According to the application process, this Proclamation must be made official one year before applying for that status. The proposal should be included in the Warrant for 2019 and, if the Selectmen and residents choose to make Nahant a Tree City USA next year, monies could then be channeled to the Department of Public Works for a tree maintenance and planting program.
October 28, 2017
Greenscapes Presentation Held at the Johnson School
Students at the Johnson School enjoyed the fourth annual Greenscapes classroom program “Keeping Water Clean” on September 15, 2017. The educational event, sponosored by SWIM, was designed to help children understand why water runoff is a critical issue for the health of the ocean and for our own health.
October 27, 2017
SWIM Co-Sponsors Annual Nahant Coastal Bioblitz
On Sunday, September 10, 2017, SWIM collaborated with the Ocean Genome Legacy of the Northeastern Marine Science Center in the third annual public scavenger hunt to document Nahant’s coastal biodiversity. Over 120 sleuths of all ages recorded 600 observations about local marine organisms from six of Nahant’s beaches. Volunteers helped the participants identify 60 marine species.
August 17, 2017
SWIM Donates Trees to Nahant
SWIM donated a Red Oak, two White Oaks and a Japanese Scholartree to the town. These four trees were planted in Marjoram park this summer as a gift to the residents of Nahant. The Plant a Tree Program program was inspired by a presentation about trees by Barbara Warren, Executive Director of Salem Sound Coastwatch, at the Nahant Lifesaving Station in April of 2016 under the auspices of SWIM and the Nahant Garden Club. This event generated a lot of enthusiasm to address the need to plant more trees on Nahant. Nahant residents donated money to our program and SWIM bought the trees and gave them to the town.
August 8, 2017
SWIM Provides Scholarships for Nahant Students
Thanks to the continued support of generous donors, SWIM was able to start an annual program of providing scholarship funds for Nahant’s resident middle and high school students interested in attending the Northeastern University Marine Science Center’s Coastal Ocean Science Academy (COSA) summer program. In 2017 we expanded the reach of these funds to high school and college age residents seeking internships at Northeastern University. We are grateful that your generous donations allow us to make this opportunity available to our young people interested in ocean science.
To learn more about COSA, please click here.
August 5, 2017
Drinking Fountain Installed at Wharf
The next time you visit the wharf, try out the brand new water fountain attached to the wharf building’s wall. It features a bubbler and a water bottle filler cleverly installed on a custom made wooden base painted to match the building’s trim.
Two years ago SWIM decided that the public needed a source of drinking water at the wharf and that this would also be a means of expressing our mission to reduce the use of disposable water bottles and increase the use of refillable ones. We asked the Town if we could donate one. The answer was affirmative, but there was a two year delay due to construction plans for the wharf, the first of which was to completely rebuild the water pipe array in the wharf area. The Town has had the water tested and it is clean. In the meantime, our Wharfinger/Harbormaster Rob Tibbo chatted with Mark J. Irvine, President of Robert W. Irvine & Sons, and Mark offered to install the fountain as a gift. More time passed and Mark generously offered to also pay for the fountain itself and requested that we explain that the contribution is from The Nahant Lobstermen. We will be installing a plaque above the fountain with this information.
August 1, 2017
SWIM Works with Greenscapes Program
SWIM is working closely with the town via our Greenscapes Program to satisfy the more stringent EPA regulations for its MS4 Permit Input (Municipal Separate Stormwater Systems) going into effect in 2017, especially in the area of educating the public. The Johnson School will benefit from its third annual Greenscapes classroom event “Keeping Water Clean” to help children understand why water runoff is a critical issue for the health of the ocean and for our own health. We are planning a public event about lawn care and the environment.
April 29, 2017
SWIM Nalgene Bottles Now Available
Please consider eliminating your use of disposable water bottles and changing over to refillable ones. Disposable water bottles are designed for single use and their chemicals can leach into your drinking water if you re-use them, especially if they become hot in the sun or in your hot car. The very best solution is glass refillable water bottles but they are expensive and cannot be used at pools and in other situations.
SWIM has designed its own high quality Nalgene water bottles for you. We are offering them for a suggested contribution of $8.00 each, which is our cost. Please let us know if you would like any. Just email us at nahantswiminc@gmail.com.
April 10, 2016
Right Whale Visits Nahant
SWIM spread the news via our distribution list (which is almost up to 400) and large numbers of people were alerted to admire this magnificent, rare giant gently swimming along our shores. What a privilege – only about 500 are left in the world…
