The Sippican Woman’s Club will talk turtles at its monthly meeting in March.

The club's guest speaker will be Deb Ewing, who will discuss "The Turtle Garden," established to restore the diamondback terrapin’s nesting habitat at The Cove on Hammetts Creek in Marion. The meeting will begin at 12:30 p.m on March 9.

As Cove Association residents, both Landis Major and Deb Ewing enthusiastically embraced the work initiated by Don Lewis, AKA "The Turtle Guy," and his wife Sue Wieber Nourse. Lewis and Nourse aim to protect the once-endangered reptile, the diamondback terrapin.

In the 1900s, the diamondback terrapin species was once considered a delicacy to eat and was hunted almost to extinction. The numbers also decreased due to the development of coastal areas and, more recently, wounds from the propellers on motorboats. This placed the terrapins on the endangered list.

Ewing will talk about the terrapins’ habitat, egg laying, diet, predators, hibernation, etc. Work done by volunteers like Landis and Deb has aided in changing the conservation status of this turtle from "endangered" to "special concern."

The Sippican Woman's Club meets on the second Friday of the month (September through March) at 12:30 p.m., with a finger-food luncheon, followed by a business meeting at 1 p.m. and program at 1:30 p.m.

The meetings are held at The Sippican Woman’s Club, Handy’s Tavern, 152 Front Street, Marion. Parking is available at Island Wharf Road parking lot. Guests are asked to RSVP to Info@SippicanWomansClub.org.

For membership information, contact Jeanne Lake at (508) 748-0619 or visit  www.sippicanwomansclub.org.