CIA Brief | 2024 Holiday
President’s Memo
Charya Peou
Happy Holidays!
As we head into the holiday season, it is with thanks and gratitude that we can continue to share Preston Beach, Beach Bluff Park, and the parking lot with you, our members and supporters. Now that 2024 is drawing to a close, we are making a final push for end-of-year donations (tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law). As highlighted in this issue of the CIA Brief, we are offering a special holiday discount on gift planks in honor of friends, family, or even your favorite pet. (Please see article below for more information.) We also invite you to visit Beach Bluff Park on Saturday, Dec. 21, for our Winter Solstice celebration when the sun travels its shortest path through the sky (again, see article below).
No matter how you celebrate the holiday season, it’s a wonderful time to be amongst family and friends. I hope you find the time to share a walk on the beach, have a conversation on the bench, or silently reflect next to the sound of the ocean.
On behalf of the Officers and Board of Directors, I wish you all a festive and happy holiday season.
Thank you again, and we’ll see you in 2025!
Putting Your Dollars to Work: Maintaining the Seawall
Sheryl Levenson
Global warming, climate change, melting ice, storm surges, rising tides–the list goes on. We are constantly reminded of these issues that affect our coast. The CIA is the caretaker of a beautiful park that is directly in the path of these weather and tidal events, reminding us we are at the mercy of Mother Nature.
Every year, we need to make expensive repairs to our seawall. You have probably seen some of that maintenance work being completed in recent weeks. Your volunteer CIA Board is working hard to find ways to finance these and other important projects, including more substantial structural work needed to shore up the seawall and protect the park. A new area of concern is the set of stairs leading down to Preston Beach, part of an ongoing list of upgrades and repairs needed to maintain and protect Beach Bluff Park. Because maintaining a secure and safe seawall is of the utmost importance, we want to thank all of you, our members, for helping us continue to maintain this wonderful place for us to enjoy for many years to come.
Fundraising efforts are ongoing, and we hope you will consider us as you make your year-end charitable contributions. We hope to be able to once again count on all of you for support, whether through your membership, purchase of a plank, or making a financial contribution. All of these are welcome! We also welcome your involvement as a volunteer as we continue to implement our fundraising efforts. Please reach out to VicePresident@ciabeachbluff.org if you are interested or have questions. Thank you for your consideration!
Year-End Sale: Planks for Pets, People, and Practically Anything or Anyone
Roberta Chadis
From Memorial Day to Thanksgiving, Beach Bluff Park is covered by message-engraved planks purchased over the years to provide an interesting path to walk on and enjoy. People have used the available 28 characters per plank (including the spaces in between words; no numbers or symbols available at this time) to recognize or memorialize a loved one, pet, family member, or friend, or even to commemorate an event—just to give you a few ideas. We encourage you to be creative and consider giving a plank as a gift, too. Funds received from the purchase of these planks go a long way to helping us maintain Beach Bluff Park. Without these planks, during beach season, the park would be covered with rocks and sand, making it difficult for us to enjoy the park or gain access to Preston Beach. (Note that we store the planks off-site during the winter due to the likelihood of storms, which can damage the planks.)
Although planks are regularly $250 each, we are now offering our annual year-end discounted price of $200 through December 31st. Just go to ciabeachbluff.org and click on Membership, then select Donate to order a plank, which is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. You can use PayPal to complete the process. After you complete your order, you will receive a confirmation. Any planks purchased will be installed by next Memorial Day weekend.
Donating a plank at Beach Bluff Park is a perfect way to make a donation while providing a meaningful message or gift that will last a long time. You may even inspire someone with a phrase or witty saying that will put a smile on their face as they walk over these planks to Preston Beach.
Wishing you all a very happy holiday season and a healthy and joyful new year.
Winter Solstice
James Keating
The Winter Solstice, or Hibernal Solstice, occurs when one of Earth’s poles (North or South) is tilted away from the Sun. For those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere at this latitude, this is the day with the shortest period of daylight (nine hours and five minutes) and the longest night of the year (14 hours and 55 minutes). This year, that day is December 21, 2024, beginning at 4:21 a.m. EST. That is when the Sun appears at the most southerly part of the ecliptic (the path of the Sun as seen from Earth).
Astronomical facts I didn’t know until I started studying Astronomy:
The earliest sunsets at our latitude (42.5*) occur at 4:11 a.m. EST on December 7, 8, and 9. Because more people see sunsets than sunrises, subconsciously, we think the days are getting longer.
Because of the difference in sunrise and sunset times, why do we say December 21 is the shortest day of the year? Actually, the shortest days of the year (nine hours and five minutes) are Dec. 17-25, after which the days start getting longer.
Now you have more knowledge than our Neolithic brothers and sisters had, or do you? From the study of archeoastronomy (the study of the astronomy of ancient cultures), we now know that our ancestors watched the sky for their survival. Archeoastronomers have found and are still finding sites that were dedicated to the times of solstices and equinoxes. They had to know when to plant and harvest and when to store food. These ancient traditions led us to the customs we celebrate today. So, whatever your tradition is, have a “Happy Holiday.”
Please join us for the Winter Solstice ceremony on Saturday, December 21, at sunrise, which is at 7:10 a.m. The location is Beach Bluff Park at the Sun Circle, and the leaders of this ceremony are Lisa Kawski and Kampa Vashi Deva.
SIGHTINGS
Sharks... Oh, Buoy!Juilanna Thibodeaux
As part of our ongoing efforts to promote awareness of the local ecosystems and vibrant flora and fauna that grace our coastline and offshore waters, every now and then we like to offer a “deep dive” into a particular topic of interest—whether an unusually unruly storm or a rarely sighted sea creature. Last spring, as many know, we confronted the reality of the many dangers faced by whales with the passing of the humpback whale Espresso. (See previous issue of CIA Brief.)
If you follow local news, you’ve also likely heard about the various shark sightings off our shores, particularly at the Cape; these sightings are increasing right here on the North Shore. Perhaps you knew about this because you attended the event we co-hosted last fall with the Swampscott Conservancy and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn. Such programs and collaborations are an important part of our mission at the CIA, which goes beyond providing open access to the beach to also include advocacy on behalf of the coastal environment.
Great white sharks, like whales, continue to be in danger, in no small part because they are greatly misunderstood. For those who enjoy recreational activities in the ocean, from swimming to paddleboarding to boating, we are often made to believe sharks are a threat. The movie Jaws notwithstanding, as with all wildlife, keeping a respectful distance is key, for their safety as much as ours: in short, always follow safe swimming practices as posted at your local beaches and access resources to educate yourself.
You can learn more about our local sharks and the truths (and myths) surrounding them through initiatives such as the Marblehead Shark Club. Through a grant from the Friends of Marblehead Public Schools (not affiliated with the Town of Marblehead or Marblehead Public Schools), a group of students at Marblehead Community Charter School formed this club to learn about and track the movement of sharks in our local waters. The students are learning about “shark biology, research technology systems, data analytics, navigation and mapping, as well as the study of the potential impacts the presence of an apex predator brings to local environment,” according to the club’s website. To this end, an electronic shark buoy was installed by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy and Jordan Marine to track the movement of tagged great white sharks.
The buoy, located to the south of Children’s Island, sends signals of these sharks’ whereabouts to the Sharktivity app and the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker. (You, too, can become a Citizen Scientist and track these sharks by downloading the app through your preferred app store.) The Marblehead shark buoy is part of a network of buoys, all of which can be tracked through these apps. Be sure to share your findings—and your own sightings—on our Facebook page (link at the end of newsletter)!
Photo: Map courtesy of savetheglover.org
Editor’s Note: The article below is reprinted in its entirely with permission from the author. It originally appeared in Swampscott Neighbors magazine in September 2024, and therefore refers to events that have already passed—the orange Harvest Moon and Fall Equinox. We hope you will find the historical context as interesting as we do!
This Month in Swampscott History
Nancy Lusignan Schultz, Ph.D.
The Harvest Moon, the Fall Equinox, and the Salem Finger
On September 17, 2024, the orange Harvest Moon will rise over Swampscott as the full moon emerging closest to the Fall Equinox. This is one of two moments in the year when the Sun is exactly above the equator, and day and night are of equal length. During September, the Sun will cross the equator from north to south. This year’s autumn equinox will be on September 22, marking the start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. In Swampscott, there is no better location to observe this astronomical event than at Preston Beach’s Sun Circle, a basalt sculpture created by architect and sculptor Bruce Greenwald, with ten pillars designed to mark the rising and setting sun on the horizon. Beach Bluff Park at Preston Beach, where the Sun Circle is located, was created through the advocacy of the non-profit Clifton Improvement Association (CIA) and the generosity of the Blodgett Family, who donated the land. In 2007, a storm damaged the park, and benefactors Alexander and Nora Falk helped the CIA create a new seawall, which was completed in 2009.
Today, Beach Bluff Park sits on the border of Marblehead and Swampscott, but over a century and a half ago, it was in Salem. In 1867, a strip of land known as the Salem “Finger” or “Gore” was legislatively deeded to Swampscott, which had separated from Lynn in 1852. The area where the Salem finger originated was 299 Salem Street, today the site of the General Glover farmhouse. In front of Glover’s home is the boundary marker where Salem, Marblehead, and Swampscott meet. The origin of the Salem finger, its metacarpophalangeal joint, so to speak, sat directly under the farmhouse. In February 1781, General John Glover purchased the house, confiscated from a banished Loyalist by the Massachusetts state government. Glover used to joke that he wasn’t quite sure which town he lived in, as the boundaries at the time weren’t well established, and one could literally step out his front door into another town. Glover moved into the farmhouse in 1782 after retiring from the army and lived there until his death in 1797. Salem diarist Reverend William Bentleywrote about visiting Glover's farmhouse, noting the General "lives upon the Salem Gore." As we prepare for the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, in 2026, it is notable that the astrological Sun Circle at Preston Beach also has important links to our colonial past and the founding of our town.