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Located at the southern end of the Great Bay, the Great Bay Discovery Center provides education and inspires environmental awareness of this wonderful natural resource. The Great Bay Stewards support the Center's activities with financial and volunteer support, and work to further community outreach through independent programs.
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Inquisitive in the garden
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Kids in the snow
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The Stewards provide financial support for the following programs at the Great Bay Discovery Center:
- Bay Views weekly summer lectures on topics pertinent to the seacoast.
- BayVentures vacation programs for children, emphasizing the flora and fauna of the Bay.
- Once Upon An Estuary summer story-telling, play, and craft programs for younger children.
- School trips to the Discovery Center for over 5,000 children annually. The spring theme for these trips is habitat and natural history, and the fall theme is environmental heritage.
- Bringing the Gundalow to the Discovery Center each fall as part of the cultural history program.
In addition, the Stewards reach out to provide information and education to the communities around the Great Bay in the following ways:
Award two $500 high school scholarships annually, based on submitted essays about the environment. The 2007 winners were Rachel Rines from Oyster River High School, and Brittany Tatro from St. Thomas Aquinas High School. In 2008, three scholarships were awarded to Emily Raiche from St. Thomas High School, Nicholas Richards from Portsmouth High School, and Samantha Auger from Dover High School.
Participate in the "Adopt A Highway" program along a 2-mile section of Route 108 in Newmarket. Provide a grant to the Lamprey River Watershed Association toward the purchase of a new water sampling kit. Co-sponsor, with the Coastal Training Program, a presentation of "An Inconvenient Truth" with a discussion following the film Provide for continuing membership for the Great Bay Estuarine Research Reserve in the National Estuarine Research Reserve Association, and play an active role in that Association with other friends groups. Distribute monthly newsletters, via e-mail, to members regarding upcoming regular and special events at the Discovery Center. Invite the public to a monthly speaker series on topics pertinent to the seacoast. |
