An evening with Cukie Macomber at the Westport Public Library
The Westport Historical Society presents an evening of tales and recollections as recounted and recalled by Cukie Macomber. A lifelong reseident of Westport, Cukie is best described as a "living and talking encycloedia' of local history, a storyteller and author. Come on by July 15th at 7PM in the Manton Community Room of the Westport Public Library located at 408 Old County Road.
The program is free and open to all, refreshments will be served. For more information contact the Westport Historical Society 508-636-6011.
Continuing Education Scholarship Applications are due by July 31, 2010
Please remember to mail your submissions to Westport Fishermen's Association PO Box 83 Westport Point MA 02791
Antique Fishing Equipment Summer Exhibit at the Horseneck Point Life Saving Station
The exhibit is free and
open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 12-4 from July
3rd-September 5th 2010 at the historic and newly restored Life Saving Station located at 139 East Beach Road Westport MA 02791.
The WFA has put together a wonderful antique fishing equipment exhibit in the visitors center of the HPLSS. We hope you will make time this summer to visit us and see what our local community friends and members have donated from their collections. The exhibit is complete with old bamboo rods and reels, an assortment of old lures, clamming and quohaging tools as well as a harpoon and complete set up commonly used for swordfishing along with a couple of old swords. We are also pleased to mention that we have on display a wonderful collection of old photos ranging from the turn of the century to the 1950's that beautifully capture the fishing culture of our local community.
Save the date!
27th Annual WFA Clambake and Boat Raffle
The date has been set for Sunday September 26th, 2010. We hope you will save the date and join us for this time honored tradition. It is a great time to catch up with fellow members, community friends and sponsors.
This year's wooden boat raffle's grand prize is "The Voyager"
This year's boat raffle prize is a 15' strip plank canoe. Above Board members hold up this year's hand crafted beauty in front of the Horseneck Point Life Saving Station and Visitor Center. Raffle tickets are available for purchase they will be $10 a chance or 3 for $25. If you don't have a chance to run into us around town this summer please feel free to inquire about purchasing tickets by email just select email us at the bottom of the page or by mail...simply send your check and ticket order to the WFA PO Box 83 Westport Point, MA 02791, we will mail back your stubs to you as a proof of purchase. The winner will be announced at our annual Clambake on Sunday September 26th, 2010. Ticket holders do not need to be present to win, though we would love to have you join us for this time honored event .
The Westport Fishermen's Association is pleased to announce the recipients of the "Merit scholarship for 2010.
Rachel Brown and Cameron Burke have each been awarded a $650.00 scholarship based on their academic and civil excellence.
Rachel Brown is a Bishop Stang High School senior, daughter of Susan and Douglas Brown of Westport Ma. She and her family share a strong commitment and community involvement in the protection of the marine environment in which they live. Her Uncle Michael Kitchen is the captain and owner of a local fishing vessel that has been fishing out of Westport for the past 30 years.
Rachel is an honor roll student and member of the National Honor Society. She has been accepted to and will attend Wheaton College in the fall. She is planning to work towards a PHD in either Neuroscience or Physiology In addition to excelling academically while at Bishop Stang she has been a talented and competitive member of their varsity swim team. Rachel also worked hard to make time for her local community. She donated her time and talent volunteering as a coach and tutor preparing students for the Northeast Regional Academic Bowl for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. She is also planning to participate in the Save the Bay Swim in an effort to raise money for a very worthy cause. She will be employed this summer as a lifeguard at Horseneck Beach for the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
Cameron Burke is also a Bishop Stang Graduate and resident of Westport. The Son of Susan and Paul Burke, Cameron has also been raised with a love and respect for our Westport River and all that inhabit the local landscape of our community. Cameron was an honors student, an active leader in student government, as well as an athlete. His leadership skills and assertiveness were recognized and sited in his recommendation letters from his teachers and community friends. Cameron has been accepted and will be attending Fairfield University in the fall, where he will major in biology in an effort to continue onto medical school. In addition to his academics and sports he found time to give back to his community by being a youth leader and volunteer for his church and local environmental agencies. He and a group of students really enjoyed being able to work on conservation projects here in Westport in an effort to protect the local wildlife and vital resources of our coastal landscape as a part of their community service responsibilities.
The WFA would like to extend their congratulations to these 2 deserving graduating High School Seniors and wish them much success in their futures.
The Directors and Officers of the WFA would also like to recognize and thank all of our generous members, sponsors and community friends who contribute to our scholarship fund throughout the year .Your donations make possible our efforts to offer scholarships for higher education.
Fisheries Enhancement Possibilities
The Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries has prohibited the taking and possession of alewives and blueback herring for the last few years because of the diminished stocks of these fish. There are many possible causes of this situation and it most probably is a combination of several of them. There are many traditional "herring runs" in Westport.
Some of the more notable are the herring ditch that empties into the harbor from Cockeast pond, Kirby brook, and the main portion of the Westport River that empties out of Forge Pond at Forge Rd. I had one of the last haul seine permits in Westport. We used to set a 450' seine from a rowing skiff off of a sheet of plywood in a horse shoe shaped pattern from shore out and then back to shore which we proceeded to haul in slow and gradually come together as the "bunt" got closer to shore. We used to do this at various predetermined traditional points we called "seine sets" mostly to the north of Hix Bridge. We did this to catch White perch and herring (alewives) mostly. We also caught a few American Shad, occasional striped bass, very rare sea-run trout and even muskrats and snapping turtles. The white perch we caught if big enough were sold and the herring we sold to be used for lobster bait or penned up for bass bait. There was a lot of herring around then. Sometimes we caught enough in one set to fill both the seine skiff and the one we towed it with.
The herring that go up the main river to the foot of the dam at Forge pond cannot go any further and must spawn between the tidal water down near the Head of Westport and the dam which is not very far upstream. Before the dam was built in the 1800's the fish could get up to "Westport Factory" dam and before that dam was built they could go many miles further up to Flag Swamp.
The WFA with the help of Dept. of Ecological Restoration, which is a section of the Dept.of Fish and Game, are exploring the possiblity of restoring these fish runs. This could involve the elimination of the Forge Pond Dam and construction of a state of the art fish way at Lake Noquochoke at Rt.6. The Forge Rd. dam, because of the relative position of Forge road and it's height has been deemed unsuitable for a fish ladder. This project potentially would give these fish Lake Noquochoke and many miles of river to the north additional spawning habitat. We are in the very initial stages of exploring this project and nothing has been decided but we feel it would be great to bring this fishery back to the way it used to be.
Please visit the following link to learn more about river restoration and fish enhancement.
The Horseneck Point Life Saving Station and Visitor Center will be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from June through September.
We do hope you will plan to come by and see this Historic Maritime treasure and Visitor Center. We are located at 139 East Beach Road Westport Ma overlooking East Beach and Gooseberry Island.
Doors will be open Saturdays and Sundays from 12-4pm.
photo by Chip Gillespie
The Horseneck Point Life Saving Station Grand Opening and Recognition Ceremony
The WFA would like to thank all who came out to support and witness the raising of the flag and recognition ceremony of the Horseneck Point Life Saving Station on December 12th 2009. Despite the cold winter temperature there was a full house at the station to recognize all who had been so influential in the success of this 3 year restoration project.
It was a great day all in attendance complimented the WFA board of directors on their job well done. All of our generous sponsors from our own association members and friends to the Westport Community Preservation Committee and the State Department of Conservation and Recreation were pleased to see the results thier contributions brought about and preserved in order to share the maritime history of Westport with our local community and visitors to come in the years ahead.
State Representative Michael Rodrigues was one of the guest speakers who shared with all who were present his support of the project and influence in assuring the passing of a bill through legislation that enables the WFA to engage in a 25 year lease with The Mass state Department of Conservation and Recreation to continue to preserve and manage the historic Life Saving Staiton and the newly renovated visitor's center. He even brought along and presented to WFA president Jack Reynolds a framed copy of the bill to have to display in the visitor's center. The WFA is truly grateful to Representative Rodrigues and Senator Joan Menard for all of their help getting the legislation passed and approved by the DCR.
Renee Dufour the Southeastern District Manager for the Department of Conservation and Recreation another guest speaker that afternoon shared her experience with working with the WFA to see this project to fruition. Renee was our local contact person and wonderful to work with. She shared with the audience the latest developement in the project which is to enter the HPLSS into the Historic Curatorship Program ensuring benfits of collaborating with the DCRin order to run programs and help to support and offset marketing costs and future usage of the Visitor Center and maritime museum.
Warren Messier Chairman for the CPC also spoke on behalf of the project, their involvment and continuous support in securing funds through their generous grants that enabled us to pursue matching DCR grants with the State assuring us the funds necessary to execute a restoration and renovation project of this magnitude. The WFA truly appreciates the continued support of the CPC and recognizes its importance to the preservation of buildings like the historic Station #69 that link us to the history of Westports Past.
Below is a photo of John Galluzo, the Executive Director United States Life Saving Service Heritage Association was also in attendance for our grand opening and came to also be one of our guest speakers. He was pleased to be able to come and speak about the Life Saving Service Heritage Association and the importance of the restoration project. By his side is WFA President Jack Reynolds. The WFA was pleased to have him come back to speak at the dedication ceremony since he was an intrical part of the introduction of this restoration project from the onset at our annual meeting a couple of years back when we first introduced the project idea to our association members. His knowledge of the history of the Life Saving Service was instrumental in communicating to our donators and sponsors the importance of preserving this historic peice of Westport's past.
Below is a photo of some of the guests helping to install the historic surf boat into its new residence for at least the next 25 years. It was a great finale to a wonderful afternoon.
We are also grateful to WFA friend and member Betty Slade who was kind enough to donate her time and talent to video tape the event. The video can be seen on the local access channel. The WFA also owns the video of the event. Copies will be available to the public soon for a modest price. If interested in obtaining a copy please contact us via the email link on the website or via our PO Box 83 Westport Point MA 02791 .
The WFA is sponsoring the Quahog Propogation Program at Durfee High School again for the 2009-2010 academic year
The WFA donated quahog seed and food as well as the necessary chemicals to maintain the water quality necessary to help the fragile seeds to thrive.
Durfee students will get to experience the delicate process of quahog propogation, while cleaning , and monitoring the seedlings growth under the supervision of Marine Science instructors Bob Fitton and Matt Tweedy.
For more information on Durfee and their Traveling Sea Lab projects check out http://travelingsealab.learnerblogs.org/