Mark Your Calendars for the Lloyd Center for the Environment's Clambake XXXIII, "Celebrating Science and Education!"

Mar 13, 2018

It’s time to mark your calendar and secure your ticket to one of the summer’s most popular events, the Lloyd Center for the Environment’s CLAMBAKE XXXIII “Celebrating Science and Education!”

Those who have attended this event in the past, know it to be the unofficial “kick-off” of the South Coast’s summer season – an event not to be missed!

“This year we’re getting “Back to Basics” – enjoy live music, a classic menu including whole lobsters, clams, barbeque chicken, and top shelf open bar” said Nina Weeks, who spoke enthusiastically about the Clambake. “The event will have an extraordinary silent auction. New items are coming in daily, the auction currently features round-trip airline tickets, Disney World park-hopper passes, exciting nights out on the town, and much, much more!”

Nina is a full-time sales associate at Milbury Real Estate, and lives in Padanaram Village with her husband Rob and their four children. Having grown up on the South Coast and attended schools in Fairhaven and Dartmouth, she is intimately familiar with the area. Prior to pursuing her career in real estate on the South Coast, Nina worked in the marketing field with companies including Reebok, Microsoft, and Dockers. She enjoys boating in the summer and is a member of the New Bedford Yacht Club. She is actively involved with the Rotch Jones Duff House, Community Boating Center, and Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust.

She is excited about the opportunity to plan this year’s event with a dedicated group of experienced volunteers, assisted by members of the Lloyd Center’s staff and Board of Directors.

Members of Clambake XXXIII’s Steering Committee are Nina Weeks, Chair, Kathy Clear, Myrna Hall, Sandra Hall, Winnie Phyfe, Suzanne Prescott, Peter Macdonald, Mary Mandeville, Jane Rheaume, and Daphne Siegal.

A tradition upon which so much depends, the Clambake helps to underwrite the costs of the Lloyd Center’s critically important environmental research and education programs. Today, the Lloyd Center is working hard to protect the nature of our beautiful coast and to bring first-rate environmental science classes to thousands of deserving children in our area’s public schools.

The Lloyd Center for the Environment, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, founded in 1978 and situated with its headquarters and spectacular nature preserve overlooking the scenic Slocum River estuary, 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.

The Center’s 82-acre property offers over five miles of walking trails, the “Bridge to Discovery” dock on the Slocum River, vernal pools, oak-hickory forest, freshwater wetlands, salt marsh, estuary views, and is home to two injured raptors (a screech owl and red-shouldered hawk).

The Visitor Center is open from 10am to 4pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays, and on Sundays, June - September, free of charge. There, aquarium exhibits offer unique views of live freshwater and saltwater species of fish and other marine critters.

The Center is also home to a fascinating collection of live local reptiles, amphibian and fish species. At the always popular touch-tank, youngsters learn the hands-on joy of socializing with gentle spider crabs, elusive minnows, sea stars (starfish), whelks, hermit crabs, periwinkles and mussels.

The top-floor Osprey Room Observatory, with its magnificent views of the Elizabeth Islands and Buzzards Bay, has been designated by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs as one of the Commonwealth’s top-fifteen “Special Places”. Through telescopes there, one can get a close-up view of formerly endangered Ospreys, and their chicks, nesting on platforms erected by members of the Center’s research staff.

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. For more information, visit www.lloydcenter.org or call 508-990-0505.