In the News

September 18, 2007

For immediate release

Contact: JoAnn Bernier Cornell
508-990-0505 ext. 20

SUPPORTERS ENJOY THE BENEFIT OF MEMBERSHIP AT THE LLOYD CENTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Dartmouth, MA – Celebrating the coming of the fall season, hundreds of enthusiastic Lloyd Center members gathered at the Center’s Hardscrabble Farm nature preserve last Sunday to enjoy a wide variety of nature related activities at the always popular annual Family Fun-Fest.  Drawn to many attractions, guests were kept busy tagging butterflies, discovering the thrills of kayaking on the Slocum River (thanks to Osprey Sea Kayak Adventures), taking guided walks on nature trails, and participating in unique scavenger hunts.  There was face-painting, wonderfully comic caricatures by a talented artist, seaweed-pressing, bagel-bird-feeder creations, and lots of happy children fashioning nature-masks, wreaths, and Japanese “hanging fish”. 

The Lloyd Center’s new “Raptor-in-Residence”, a handsome Red-Shouldered Hawk, recently rescued from the woods with a permanently crippling injury, made his debut and was introduced to an excited audience. Reptiles were brought out for guests to hold and examine, with “awe” (or “ewe!”), including several enormous snakes and a very friendly large tortoise. 

Members listened attentively to Lloyd Center naturalist Jamie Bogart, an expert in programmatic efforts to save the locally endangered piping plover and took turns guessing the contents of jars filled with unusual “nature” items.  Once in the Center’s main exhibit hall, they marveled at the newest display, a spectacular state-of-the-art aquarium designed specifically to house and “circulate” species of locally captured jellyfish. 

When young (and old) legs grew weary, guests were invited to sit back, have a bite to eat, make their own ice-cream sundae and find respite in the Caribbean sounds of UMass Dartmouth’s El Caribe Steel Drum Band. 

Lloyd Center President Mary Ellen Hawes Lees asked one member, John Fitzpatrick, for feedback and recommendations on how to make the event even better.  Mr. Fitzpatrick replied, “I think it is wonderful.  I wish it could last another hour!”  Mr. Fitzpatrick and his family of eight were just a few of the many that spent this refreshing, sunny afternoon enjoying the wonders of the Center’s 55-acre nature preserve.

When asked why the Lloyd Center put on such a grand, fun event for its supporters, Executive Director D’Arcy MacMahon noted that “Without the loyalty and support of our members, we would have never been able to make the progress we have in educating our community about the importance of our local waterways and the need to protect them.  We want our members and supporters to know what a difference their support has made and how very grateful we are for their dedication to this critical cause”.

Thanks to the Lloyd Center’s new volunteer coordinators, board-member Mary Mandeville and Tammy Greenspan, an unprecedented number of volunteers arrived bright and early to help make the event a huge success. 

Also contributing to the event’s success was support from an impressive number of local businesses, including Toyota of Dartmouth, Oxford Creamery, New York Bagel, and CV General Store.

Located on 55 acres of pristine salt marsh and maritime forest overlooking the spectacular Slocum River estuary, the Lloyd Center for the Environment’s main exhibit hall is open, at no charge to the public, Tuesdays through Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

An 18-foot-long skeleton of a pilot whale, as well as those of a dolphin and an enormous leatherback turtle are all on display. The Center’s aquaria are home to a stunning variety of local freshwater and saltwater creatures and the always popular touch-tank allows all to get up-close-and-personal with lively spider crabs, amazing whelks, entertaining hermit crabs, and a host of others. 

The view from the Center’s “Osprey Room” Observatory has earned the designation as one of Massachusetts’ fifteen “Special Places” by the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. 

Trails are open from dawn to dusk, seven days a week.  The Lloyd Center for the Environment is located at 430 Potomska Road, Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Founded in 1978, the Center has achieved a well earned reputation for excellence in environmental research and education.  Through its innovative outreach programs, it has established itself as a highly regarded leader in the ongoing effort to raise awareness of the area’s fragile coastal resources and the importance of protecting them.