CapeCodToday Blog Chowder

John Hay: The Prophet of Dry Hill

An excerpt from my biography of John Hay

Conrad and Mary Aiken with John and Kristi Hay in the 1950s on Cape Cod.

By David Gessner

John Hay during World War II

If you were to suggest to the fishermen and carpenters who had lived down the street from John Hay that he was one of the great artists and original thinkers of the latter part of the 20th century you could forgive them if they rolled their eyes. The old guy in the baseball cap, baggy khakis, and flannel shirt who grumbled about traffic and tourists didn't exactly look the part of environmental prophet. Just another salty Cape Cod crank.

On the other hand, while he lived on Dry Hill more than a few neighbors penetrated his disguise. I once had a conversation with his gardener, Jess, who off-handedly mentioned John's work.

"I didn't know he was a writer at first, and I'm glad," Jess said. "If I knew how brilliant he was I wouldn't have been able to talk to him."

Jess's opinion is more or less in line with that of environmental critics. The editors of The Norton Book of Nature Writing call John Hay "one of the most innovative and daring of contemporary writers in the genre." James Dickey, the poet and author of Deliverance, went a little further: "If all of humanity were to read Mr. Hay's work, it is not unlikely that Darwin and St. Francis of Assisi would come back and join hands."

No matter that the octogenarians who frequent the East Dennis post office, where John used to mail his packages, might frown at the sight of those two dead men holding hands, and no matter that not quite all of humanity has read John Hay's work. The point is that the old man who lived up on Dry Hill had, unbeknownst to most of his neighbors, played a significant role in the development of American environmental thought and literature.

Another thing the neighbors didn't know was that John Hay was born a child of privilege in 1915, and grew up roaming the wilds of Manhattan. The names of his predecessors were sprinkled, not just through the society pages, but through the history books. For instance, his grandfather, with whom he shared his name, was an elegant diplomat, and popular poet, who served as Lincoln's personal secretary during the civil war and, forty years later, as Secretary of State under Teddy Roosevelt. A refined, charming and dapper little man--he stood 5'2"--John Milton Hay had been equally at ease while negotiating for the Panama Canal as when composing a sonnet. Near the end of his life, Hay's wit and elegance served as subtle counterpoints to Roosevelt's brash boisterousness.

The diplomat's son, Clarence Hay, worked as a curator of archaeology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Throughout John's childhood Clarence was often heading down for archaeological expeditions to the Yucatan, and John grew up fascinated by the Mayan artifacts his father brought home, and by the paintings of birds and the stuffed snowy owl in the hallways of the Hays' summer home in Lake Sunapee. The Sunapee land had been purchased by his famous grandfather, and it was in the woods around that New Hampshire lake that John first experienced the mystery of nature. He would later write that those days were his earliest glimpse behind the veil at another type of life, a wild life different from the proper one he'd learned in the city. In Sunapee he piloted the lake in the houseboat he made, with his pet goat and airedale as first mates, and he camped along the shore and stared up at the stars, and listened to Indian stories. At night he read J. Fenimore Cooper and heard rumors of wolves, and in this time before television, his love of books grew, rivalling his love of the woods. "We didn't have radio for a long time and obviously we didn't have television," he said once. "So I read a great deal. It was books, books, books." John was shipped off to prep school as a young man, and later to Harvard. His love of books deepened, especially of poetry, while he almost failed math. He was a dreamy adolescent, nicknamed "Foggy Hay" at school. It would come as a surprise to everyone in the Hay family when John eventually ended up writing about science.

John would write in the environmental tradition of Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau, of course, was the fountainhead of this tradition, and it would be hyperbolic to suggest that John was as original and germinative as his great predecessor. But John both preserved and expanded Thoreauvian thought. He was both a radical and a traditionalist, going back to old ways, grounded ways, but simultaneously, using empathy to throw himself into new worlds beyond the human world.

And just as important, to me at least, was that John lived a life that kept time with a different type of clock. A life in tune with more elemental movements and ritual, a life of ceremony. I now live a thousand miles away from Cape Cod, on the edge of a city full of strip malls and Southern accents. But I also still live on the edge of the ocean, a place that, if not my home beach, is a beach nonetheless. It is in the ocean that I see possibilities and can begin to imagine making a life here. Every day I try to get out to the edge of the sea, confident that this will change my life in ways I can't quite put into words. In spring and fall I watch the migrations, hoping these movements will become part of me, part of my blood. I hope to follow the year's journey, absorbing its rhythms. I dream of living an elemental life.

Most often I fail.

But I try. And while the concept of learning from elders is hopelessly outdated, I am happy to have had a predecessor, an exemplar, someone who walked out ahead to show me it can be done. Not a perfect character--hardly. But someone who had made a journey out of his time on earth. Someone who had, in his own words, tried to "go farther afield, from one man's center."

* * *

"People connect to the land as their imaginations allow," writes William Least Heat Moon. John's imagination allowed for no less than a lifelong, passionate love affair with the world. When I think of John now, with some distance, I no longer shy away from calling him a "prophet." Granted prophecy is a big word, a grand archaic word that understandably scares people off. But it is also, I've come to believe, the right word. Here is a man who had his vision and then spent his life trying to articulate that vision. Part of that articulation was attempting to convince people that the things they valued were not the things of greatest value, that there was a whole secret life available to them if they only re-ordered their priorities. In this sense John fit all three major definitions of a prophet: he had had his divine vision, he was a leader of a movement, and he presented a vision of the future.

That vision--of cancerous development and growth, of the disregard for and uprooting of local people, animals, and places--was, like most prophetic visions, somewhat apocalyptic. This is nothing new. Apocalyptic language has always been a tool of the prophets: descriptions of the apocalypse were made in hopes of preventing it. "We create images of doom to avert doom," wrote Lawrence Buell, "that is the strategy of the jeremiad." Or, as E.B. White put it: "A seer a day keeps Armageddon away." Of course foresight-- that is vision--is the prophet's first tool and John began issuing warnings about the world before anyone knew what the hell "ecology" was. This half-blind old man saw clearly both where we had come from and where we were going, and he didn't like it one bit.

Like the biblical prophets, John Hay went to his hill to find his vision, and, sure enough, certain universal truths were revealed to him on his mountaintop. And like the prophets he tried to deliver this unwavering vision to an often unbelieving and uninterested public. "In wildness is the preservation of the world," said Thoreau. John believed that the best human lives are those connected to wildness on an intimate and daily basis, and that this basis affects human lives in ways they can't understand or explain. Was it any surprise that wild animals had larger brains--and more creative responses to the world--than their domestic cousins?

John had spent a lifetime fighting to both live inside and preserve that wildness, and it was often a depressing fight. He watched the things he loved about Cape Cod be defiled, and watched the rest of the country head in the same direction. Though people paid lip service to loving nature, they just didn't seem to take its destruction personally enough. Worse John had been consistently ignored and misunderstood, labelled impractical and airy and snobbish. This hurt, but it didn't stop him. He had, in fact, become more and more passionate in his belief in the wild.

Jeremiah, for one, knew the impossibility of trying to deliver a message of cataclysm in an affluent time and, like John, was often greeted with some variant of the question "What's the fuss?" Trying to describe just what the fuss was was central to John's life work. Jeremiah himself had been labeled a traitor, and there was no doubt there were some people these days who would label John as un-American for his consistent belief that less was better than more. But even those not inclined to thinking in terms of the apocalypse couldn't help but see that something close to cataclysmic seemed to be coming: world-wide extinctions, global warming, rampant habitat loss. To change any of that John believed we had to first enact the most rigorous transformation of all: changing our own minds.

The studio on Dry Hill in Brewster where John Hay wrote many of his books.

***

Insistence on looking outward John Hay ran entirely against the prevailing culture. He didn't believe that salvation of the self was to be found within the self. In fact he saw this proposition, one of our culture's central tenets, as essentially neurotic and crippling. "The answers to life can't be found by trying to solve things in our brains," he said, "But by stepping out of our brains entirely." We can expand ourselves only by looking outward toward the source, toward the mystery, and by joining the ritual of the natural year we can join that mystery. The good news is that the reflections we see of ourselves in our beloved places will be cleaner ones than the ones we see in a mirror. By focusing inward without reference to the world we make islands of ourselves, but by looking outward we re-invent and expand ourselves. I had come to John Hay to write a book about him, not to seek "lessons." But if there is one thing I took with me from his home on Dry Hill it is this: inwardness only means so much. What we need to learn is to get out of our own way. Yes, inward tunnelling counts for something and something important, but there is so much more outside. If we look for it we will find that there is a whole world waiting for us. And it is in that world that we, not seeking it, will find a sort of salvation.

See the book here.

A Few Questions For Sheriff Cummings -And His Shamus Schlabach

                A Few Questions For Sheriff Cummings -And His Shamus Schlabach

                                                        I can't get no satisfaction.

                                                        I can't get no satisfaction.

                                                        'Cause I try and I try and I try and I try,

                                                        I can't get no, I can't get no. . . .

                                                                     -Mick Jagger

       Barnstable Sheriff James Cummings told the press last month, after announcing the patronage appointment of Jeffrey Perry as Special Sheriff, that he had commissioned an "investigation" by North Attleboro private dick Robert Schlabach concerning Perry's service as a Wareham police sergeant, and Schlabach's report "satisfied" him that Perry had done nothing wrong in his involvement with patrolman Scott Flanagan's sexual molestation of two teenage girls.

      Cummings, of course, can't release Schlabach's report as requested by the Cape Cod Times because of his concern for the very public Jeffrey Perry's "privacy." He also told reporter George Brennan of the Times that to release the report would, somehow, interfere with the Sheriff's ability to conduct investigations.  What a load of twaddle!  The Sheriff is paid to conduct criminal investigations, which are necessarily done out of the public eye, so does Cummings think anyone might actually believe he'd been thinking of bringing criminal charges against Perry for his involvement with Flanagan?  Maybe he needs to be told that the statute of limitations on that elapsed a long time ago.

     So Cummings is "satisfied," but the rest of us, like Mick Jagger, just "can't get no satisfaction."  That's fine with Cummings, too, because, obviously, Shamus Schlabach's report was commissioned to be just a whitewash for Perry's appointment.  It's obvious, isn't it, where Cummings had already made up his mind to appoint Perry two years earlier, as he has publicly acknowledged, and even held this oh-so "important" position open  over two years as a fall-back while Perry ran for Congress. 

      After last fall's Congressional campaign, however, when Perry's sordid history of covering up for Flanagan's sex crimes became widely reported, Cummings really needed a whitewash, a piece of paper he could hold up and wave around to say Perry has been "cleared" of any wrongdoing as a Wareham cop. He  can't let anyone else  actually read it of course, because it's a "confidential" public record, so you'll just have to trust him. Sure.

       It's pretty obvious that Cummings simply hired Schlabach to review the records and then  write up a whitewash about Perry in  the guise of an "investigation."  This is not a knock on old Shamus Schlabach, by the way, where he just did what gumshoes are hired to do -get the goods on someone sometimes or, as in this case, try to clear someone from serious charges of misconduct. 

     People knock us trial lawyers for doing the very same thing, so I'm not really knocking Schlabach for just doing his job -not at all because the amoral and arrogant contempt for the public's intelligence belongs entirely to Cummings for hiring Schlabach to do such a whitewash on Perry.  Schlabach's problem, however, is that by taking the assignment and giving Cummings what he says "satisfies" him about Perry, he's raised more questions than he's answered. 

     Let's start with Schlabach's December 13, 2010, letter to Cummings where he sets out the financial terms and the scope of his "investigation."  He says he will charge $125 per hour plus any extraordinary expenses, to be cleared in advance with Cummings.  I requested, by the way, copies of all Schlabach's bills and any vouchers prepared by Cummings for payment, and the response indicated that there were none. 

      This circumstance supports the claim that Cumming's paid Schlabach out of his own pocket, as opposed to using public funds.  But, if so, how can his report be considered a public record just because, presumably, Cummings has placed it in Perry's personnel file?  On the possibility that private investigations are a routine part of the Sheriff's hiring protocol, I've asked for copies of  private investigator reports for other Sheriff's Office employees and it does not appear there are any. 

        If  Schlabach's report to Cummings is therefore a one-of and not part of the normal personnel protocol, and if it was paid for with private funds, how can it be considered a "public record?"  As a privately commissioned report, it would be exempt from disclosure under the Public Records Act, but it would then not be protected by the "privacy" and "investigatory" exemptions that Cummings has raised under that statute to deny the requests filed by the Cape Cod Times and myself. 

       In that event, with Schlabach's whitewash being  a privately commissioned report and not a public record, Cummings would be at liberty to release it to the press -if he wanted to do so.  That is a very big "if," but  if the report actually contained any real, factual information that somehow "cleared" Perry of any wrongdoing as a Wareham cop, why would Cummings not want to release it ?  Why wouldn't he want it to be published on the front page of the Cape Cod Times and the Boston Globe as well? 

      Reading Schlabach's engagement letter  to Cummings, "Re. Jeffrey Davis Perry," raises even more questions, where it never states exactly what Schlabach is supposed to be looking for in his "investigation." Schlabach begins:

Pursuant to your recent request, this correspondence will serve as an engagement   proposal for investigative services to be rendered in connection with the above-referenced  matter. . . .

It is not clear from this letter whether Cummings' "recent request" was in writing or oral.  I did, however, specifically request that Cummings provide me with all correspondence  between his office and Mr. Schlabach, which would include any written specifications from Cummings, but Mr. Schlabach's engagement letter is the only correspondence produced in response to my request.  Why? 

        Did Cummings only communicate orally with Schlabach and not in writing about this highly unusual investigation purportedly to vet someone for such an important position as Special Sheriff?  If so, why weren't any documents produced in response to my request for "Any and all telephone logs maintained by the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office . . . regarding the position of Special Sheriff. . . ?"  That request referred specifically to calls made to any person or persons, "to include without limitation any private investigator."  I also requested copies of e-mails between Cummings and any private investigator regarding Perry's appointment as Special Sheriff and, again, none were produced.  The claim of confidentiality for the report itself is dubious enough, but certainly Cumming's written or oral communications with Schlabach commissioning the report are not protected by any privilege.   It sure looks like Cummings was being extra careful here not to create a paper trail.

       So, just what did Cummings say to Mr. Schlabach in that "recent request" for investigatory services?  Specifically, what did Cummings tell Schlabach he wanted to be "investigated?"  Mr. Schlabach's engagement letter never really gets down to anything specific on that question, and says only:

It is understood our services have been requested in connection with a pre-employment review process undertaken by your agency concerning Mr. Perry.   

The letter continues to say that Mr. Schlabach will examine public records pertaining to criminal and civil court proceedings, will review employment documentation provided by Perry, and will interview unnamed individuals "possessing information relevant to this process," and that's it.  There is no specific focus or objective stated for this purported "investigation."

       While it is true that Mr. Schlabach does not say that he has specifically been retained to "clear " Perry of any wrongdoing, it is equally true that he does not say  he was retained to conduct an unbiased, objective review into the documented record of Jeffrey Perry's sordid conduct as a Wareham police sergeant in connection with Scott Flanagan's sexual molestation of two teenage girls.  As I said earlier, a private investigator works for a client and will look into whatever the client asks for, whether the client puts it in writing or not, but we cannot tell from this engagement letter whether Cummings paid Schlabach $3,800 for an objective evaluation of  Perry's background or for a whitewash. 

       What has been fully documented from the public record on this site as well as in the local press, however,  in combination with the circumstances, strongly indicates that is the latter -a whitewashing to do Tom Sawyer proud.  The difference is that Tom snookered his pals into whitewashing a wooden fence, while Cummings is stonewalling about the whitewash he paid Schlabach for -trying to snooker the public.

      Without a copy of the report, or at least Cummings' "recent request" referred to by Schlabach, there is nothing to support Cummings' claim that the report somehow "satisfied" him that Perry had done nothing wrong.  Like Mick Jagger, we surely can't get no satisfaction simply from Cummings' claim that the report somehow clears Perry of any wrongdoing.

      Without a copy of the report, we can't tell how deeply Mr. Schlabach looked into the court records, or how intelligently, and we can't evaluate whatever information he may have gotten, if any, from interviewing persons "possessing information relevant to this process."  Indeed, without knowing what Cummings requested, we can't even tell what Schlabach considered to be "relevant," can we?

       Mr. Schlabach himself has appropriately declined to speak to the press about his findings, where his engagement letter states that "information developed through the course of this engagement will be regarded as confidential."  Despite that reticence, however, Mr. Schlabach has quite tellingly told George Brennan of the Cape Cod Times that "Mr. Perry's biggest failing was too deep a faith in Scott Flanagan," while saying his investigation showed that some of the press accounts about Perry were inaccurate.

        So where do you think Shamus Schlabach got that line about Perry having too much faith in Flanagan?  It has a familiar ring to it -but where have we heard it before?  Oh, right -that's what  Perry himself has said to cover his own undeniable actions in lying for Flanagan twice, remember? 

       So it's apparent that Perry is one of the individuals possessing relevant information referred to in Mr. Schlabach's engagement letter to Cummings.  But who else did Schlabach interview to support the claim that Perry's only failing was that he believed Flanagan?  Flanagan himself, maybe -you think?   Did he speak with Captain Paul Cardalino, maybe, and get something different from Cardalino's deposition testimony that Perry filed a written report on New Years Day 1994 that "corroborated" Flanagan's lie that the Adams girl voluntarily stripped for him?

        One huge question that will remain unanswered until Cummings releases Schlabach's report is how Schlabach can exonerate Perry for the failed cover up of the Adams incident, where Perry admits he went with Flanagan to see the parents and told them Flanagan's story because, as he said to George Brennan, he had no reason not to believe Flanagan.  Did Mr. Schlabach review the court records that document how Perry at least heard about the Allen girl's complaint a year earlier, even if he didn't see or hear anything when he was the officer in charge of the scene back then as he now claims?  Did Mr. Schlabach review the court records describing the incident where Flanagan pat frisked a female motorist and was reported by a fellow officer just a few months before he molested the Adams girl?

       Perry was certainly at least aware of those two prior incidents before he covered up for Flanagan on New Years Eve 1993, so how can Shamus Schlabach buy into Perry's claim that he had no reason to disbelieve Flanagan about a third incident of sexual impropriety with a young woman within an 18 month period?  The only answer to that question is that Schlabach's assignment from Cummings was limited to marshalling the facts to show Perry in the best possible light, as opposed to conducting an objective investigation, which is to say -a whitewash. 

        Even then, however, if Perry had been honest in the claim that he trusted Flanagan and had no reason not to believe him about the New Years Eve incident, the best that can be said about his purportedly valuable "experience" in law enforcement is he was a lousy cop.  Cummings can't have it both ways here, where Perry was either a corrupt cop who covered up for Flanagan's sex crimes or he was both an inept investigator and an  ineffective supervisor.  So did Mr. Schlabach the former FBI agent put that in his "confidential" report to Cummings?  Did he duely note that although he believes Perry was innocent of any deliberate wrongdoing he was so clueless and incompetent as a cop and a supervisor that he let Flanagan commit several sex-crimes on his watch?   

      The Allen girl was molested by Flanagan while Perry was in charge of the scene in a remote cranberry bog just a few yards away, but he didn't hear or see anything.  When the girl tried to report the incident afterward, Perry said he saw and heard everything at the scene and "nothing happened," then changed that story later to say he just couldn't hear or see anything that happened.  Those facts are fully documented on the court records.  Then, when Flanagan got Perry to cover up for another indecent assault, he says he believed Flanagan without even a shred of doubt. Those are the facts on which ex-FBI agent turned PI Robert Schlabach concludes that Perry's worst failing was trusting Flanagan.

     So where's Porfiry Petrovich when we really need him? Certainly not in the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office, where the County's  top law enforcement officer is so easily "satisfied" about his pal Jeffrey Perry's role as the enabler of Scott Flanagan's repeated sexual molestation of young girls and women. 

Naturalist, author, conservationist John Hay, dies at 95

 Cape Cod's greatest nature writer, grandson of Lincoln's secretary

John Hay in 1954, dismantling the tent that had served as the first Cape Cod Museum of Natural History which he founded and headed for 25 years. Photo: Grace McCandless.

John Hay founded Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, wrote over a dozen books

John Hay died Saturday, February 26, at his home on the shore of Muscongus Bay in Bremen in mid-coast Maine, a tiny town much like his nature Brewster was a century ago.

In all, John Hay wrote 18 books. His first, The Run, was published in 1959 and his last, Mind the gap , in 2004.

In addition to being a writer and naturalist, John Hay, 1915-2011, was an early and significant conservationist both here and in Maine where he spent each summer. He was the key founder of the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History in 1954 and its president for 25 years.

Later, as one of the early presidents of the Brewster Conservation Committee, he was largely responsible for convincing the town to set aside vast stretches of salt marsh off Cape Cod Bay as conservation land along Route 6A.

He once said that in the summer, when the population of Brewster swells creating what he has called "a kind of crowded loneliness," John and his wife Kristi, who died in 2007, leave for their home in Maine. There most days he writes in the old barn, but leaves a window open for the swallows while he writes in an old horse stall.

John was born in Ipswich MA in 1915 and raised in New York City where his father, Clarence Hay, was an archeologist at the American Museum of Natural History, Hay spent his summers on his grandfather's farm along Lake Sunapee in New Hampshire.

His many honors

His many honors include selection as Phi Beta Kappa poet at Harvard in 1963, and the John Burroughs Medal in 1964, garnered for his book The Great Beach.

In 1970 he was named conservationist of the year by the Massachusetts Wildlife Federation, and in 1991, the Orion Society established the John Hay Award, given annually to an author who excels in addressing the relationship between man and nature, environmental education and conservation, in his honor.

The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests named him Conservationist of the Year for the second time in 1993.

His grandfather, John Milton Hay, was Abraham Lincoln's private secretary and later Secretary of State under both Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.

John Hay was also a teacher at Dartmouth College, and among his books were The Run about the alewives and the herring run near his home in Brewster,  Nature's Year: The Seasons of Cape Cod, In Defense of Nature, The Great Beach and A Sense of Nature.

In his first book The Run, 1959, John Hay wrote:

 John Hay a few years ago in Bremen ME.

Knowledge is the motion by which the human animal may come closest to another in the family of living things...
   When the sea pushed inland and the alewives moved ahead or returned, I began to see an infinite route, of surpassing, complex elaboration; and in their pulse and tempo I felt something that gave me present assurance and a touch of joy...
   I have idly wondered whether a single fish, isolated from its brethren, might not suffer some kind of unknown hell of estrangement. I have seen one swimming wildly down a narrow ditch off a tidal inlet as if it knew the crowd had left it behind, and was frantic to get back. Ibid.
   There was an imperative rhythm in their spawning act, with grace in its preparation and power in its fulfillment.  Humanity calls it love...
   What further connections are there , say, between the sun and sight, between our tactile senses and the medium of earth and air in which we are born, between the moon and the tides and the rhythms of water and of blood?
   Who knows more about the universe-I with my conscious measurements, my personal faltering, or the poor fish with its unthinking precision through the various unknown?...
No matter how many times I try to describe the alewife by the uses of human speech, or classify its habits, its intrinsic perfection resists me. It is something else. It goes on defying my own inquiring sense of mystery.

In all, John Hay wrote 18 books. His first, The Run, was published in 1959 and his last, Mind the gap: the education of a nature writer, in 2004, a writing span of almost half a century.

The early days on Cape Cod

Hay attended Harvard, and on graduation worked as Washington correspondent for The Charleston News and Courier. Just before going into the army during World War II, Hay apprenticed himself to Conrad Aiken, the poet, who was living in Brewster at the time.

Hay divided his time in Brewster between clearing land and writing poetry. Before leaving for the service, Hay bought what he thought was 10 acres of land on the top of a nearly treeless hill, close to Aiken's home called "41 Doors" in Brewster near the Stony Brook herring run.

He spent some of his tour of duty in the Army as an associate editor of Yank, the army newspaper.

After his discharge, he and his new wife, Kristi Aresvik Putnam, settled on what turned out to be Hay's 18 acre lot to raise their family, which eventually numbered four, which he called "Dry Hill".

John Hay is recognized by many as a preeminent force and voice in nature writing and regional nonfiction of the twentieth century. He is identified with Cape Cod, where he lives and has written and where he has remained active in environmental politics.

For many, he was the voice of nature and environmental conscience in the Atlantic Northeast during the last half of the twentieth century, communicating in his work his deeply personal experience of the land and sea while enacting that experience in a career of public service and philanthropy that reinforces the environmental ethics and practice found in his writing.

Hay and the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History

On February 20, 1954, Kathryn Berrien, Ruth Francis Clark along with Admont Clark, Ann Thatcher, Harry Holl, John Hay and Scott Corbett met around a table and after a long brainstorming session came up with the name - Cape Cod Junior Museum and they adopted this statement of purpose: "to encourage and enable the children of Cape Cod, and also their parents and teachers, to study the plant, animal, and marine life which abounds so profusely in this region...opening the eyes of children to their relationship with the natural world around them."

The start of the museum was the development of a series of portable exhibit cases of local fauna which were made available to the local schools. This was the beginning of what was to become a major part of the museum's work, the Environmental Education Program in the Cape's schools.

1955 was the beginning of twenty-five years of John Hay's leadership and in 1956 the museum realized its first home, the second floor of the Brewster Town Hall. In 1958 the museum began its first building fund drive and in that same year purchased its first land - 37 acres of Stony Brook valley. In 1959 the membership ratified a change in name to Cape Cod Junior Museum of Natural History and plans were made in January 1960 to establish a trailside museum for the summer with a large tent, located on the current site of the Summer Pavilion.

In 1962 the name was changed to Cape Cod Museum of Natural History to reflect a name to represent all age groups. In 1960 the construction of the museum's first permanent building was completed and is still in use as the Summer Pavilion.

See the books by John Hay here.
Read an excerpt from David Gessner's biography, The Profit of Dry Hill, here.

On August 29, 1968 the museum dedicated a new building which included office and exhibit areas. The Clarence Hay Library was completed and dedicated on April 6, 1975 and in 1980 John Hay stepped down as president after 25 years with this thought "It's time for a change..."

John Hay leaves behind a treasure trove of words and vision for all nature loves on Cape Cod and around the world. - WB

HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEK AT THE HYCC!

CAPE COD CUBS 2010 IJHL CHAMPS PLAY OFF GAMES SCHEDULED AT THE HYANNIS YOUTH & COMMUNITY CENTER

HYANNIS, MA -- The Cape Cod Cubs have finished their second season with a strong record (34-6-4) going into the semi-final best of three play-off series against the NH Kodiaks (19-24-1) with Games 1 & 2 scheduled for Wednesday, March 2 at 7pm and Saturday, March 5 at 9pm at the Hyannis Youth & Community Center on 141 Bassett Lane in Hyannis. All tickets are $5 for general admission seating. Come and route for the 2010 IJHL Champs as the Cape Cod Cubs take to the ice! Game 3 (if necessary) has not yet been scheduled, but IJHL 2011 Championship Games have been penciled into the Hyannis Youth & Community Center's schedule for next week on Wednesday, March 9 and Friday, March 11. Both games will be at 7pm and all tickets will be $5 each for general admission seating.

Cyclist injured after collision with truck in Truro Monday; Guns, drug charges top Truro arrests; Truro vehicle stop, search lead to gun charges Saturday

Gun, drug charges top Truro arrests for the week

TRURO - The Truro Police Department responded to over 65 calls during the period of Monday, February 21 through Sunday, February 27 including reports of  a suspicious vehicle and suspicious activity, as well as offering mutual aid to other police and municipal departments.  Four arrests were made during this period.

Information and booking photo courtesy of the Truro Police Department.

Cyclist injured after collision with truck in Truro Monday

TRURO -  A woman was taken to Cape Cod Hospital Monday morning, February 28, 2011, after being struck by an 18-wheeler while riding her bicycle on Route 6.  The woman may have been trying to avoid a puddle  near the Highland Road overpass when she was struck by the truck according to police.

Bad weather prevented a MedFlight helicopter from responding so the victim was transported to the hospital in Hyannis by ambulance.  Her injuries are not considered to be life-threatening, according to police.

Truro Police have yet to release either the woman's name, or the name of the driver of the truck involved in the collision.

The Truro Police are investigating the incident, but do not expect to file charges at this time.

Source: Truro Police Department.

Truro vehicle stop, search lead to gun charges Saturday

TRURO - On Saturday, February 26, 2011, around 12 p.m., the Truro Police Department received information that Gil R. Potts, of Washington Street in Provincetown, was in possession of a loaded handgun. A traffic stop was conducted based on this information and Potts was found to be carrying a loaded, unsecured .357 magnum revolver. Potts is not licensed to carry firearms of any kind, according to Truro Police.

While living on Lambrou Lane in Truro, Potts had been the subject of a search warrant execution which resulted in the recovery of six shotguns, one rifle, one unsecured handgun and ammunition.

According to Truro Police, another search warrant was executed at a Truro storage facility rented by Potts, which resulted in the recovery of additional ammunition.

Gil R. Potts was charged with the following:

• 6 counts of possession of a firearm without an FID card
• 2 counts of carrying a firearm without a license 
• 2 counts of possession of a firearm without a trigger locking device
• 3 counts of possession of ammunition without an FID card 

The investigation is being led by Detective Sgt. David Perry with the assistance of fellow Truro police officers.

Source: Truro Police Department.

High School Basketball And Hockey Tournaments

Local Teams In State Tournaments

Some love for New Beffuh

NOTES:

- Double-check the times and dates, because we didn't....

- Projected winner in BOLD

- Local top seeds include New Bedford Girls Basketball, Wareham Girls Basketball, Bourne Boys Hockey

.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Division 1 South:

(#3) New Bedford vs (#14) Barnstable, 3/3, 7 PM, at Brockton (NB kicked their best player off the team)

(#15) Taunton vs (#18) Xaverian, 3/1, 7 PM, Taunton

(#6 ) Brook Farm vs (#11) Brockton, 3/3, 7 PM

Division 2 South:

(#4) Duxbury vs (#13) Quincy, 3/1, 7 PM, Duxbury

(#5) Oliver Ames vs (#12) Whitman/Hanson, 3/1, 7 PM, OA

(#2) Wellesley vs (#15) Dennis/Yarmouth, 3/1, 7 PM, Wellesley

(#3) Falmouth vs (#10) Walpole, 3/1, 7 PM, Falmouth 

(#6) Scituate vs #11 Medfield, 3/1, 7 PM, Scituate

Division 3 South:

(#16) Abington vs (#17) Hanover, 2/28, 7 PM, Abington

(#5) Bishop Feehan vs (#12) Fairhaven, 3/2, 7 PM, BF

(#2) Martha's Vineyard vs winner of Archbishop Williams/Norwell, 3/2, 5:15, MV

(#7) Wareham vs (#10) Apponequet, 3/2, 7 PM, Wareham

(#6) Dighton/Rehoboth, vs (#11) Bourne, 3/2, 7 PM, D/R

Division 4 South:

(#16) Carver vs (#17) Millis, 2/28, 7 PM Cahhhhvuh

(#8) Southeastern vs (#9) Upper Cape Tech, 3/2, 7 PM, SE

(#4) Westport vs (#13) Chatham, 3/2, 7 PM, Westport

(#5) Cathedral vs (#12) Bristol-Plymouth, 3/2, 7 PM Cathedral

(#2) Cape Cod Academy vs (#) South Shore Tech, 3/2, 7 PM, CCA

(#3) Cohasset vs (#14) Sturgis, 3/2, 7 PM, Cohasset

(#6) Mashpee vs (#11) West Bridgewater, 3/2, 7 PM, Mashpee

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Division 1 South:

(#1) New Bedford vs <winner of (#16) Plymouth South vs #17 Newton North> 3/4, 7 PM< NB

(#8) Falmouth vs (#9) Marshfield, 3/2, 7 PM Falmouth

(#15) Dartmouth vs (#18) Barnstable, 2/28 7 PM, Dartmouth

(#14) Whitman-Hanson vs (#19) Brockton, 2/28, 7 PM, W/H..winner at Newton South, 3/2

(#6) Quincy vs (#11) Taunton, 3/2, 7 PM, Quincy

Division 2 South:

(#8) Bishop Feehan vs (#9) Duxbury, 2/28, 7 PM, BF

(#5) Silver Lake vs (#12) Foxboro, 3/2, 7 PM, Silver Lake

(#2) Scituate vs (#15) Sandwich, 3/2, 7 PM, Scituate

(#6) Oliver Ames vs (#11) Somerset, 3/2, 7 PM, OA

Division 3 South:

(#1) Wareham vs winner of Hanover/Dedham, 3/3, 7 PM, Wareham

(#4) Fairhaven vs (#13) Ashland, 3/3, 7 PM, Fairhaven

(#5) Cardinal Spellman vs (#12) Old Rochester, 3/3, 7 PM, Spellman

(#2) Norwell vs ( #15) Canton, 3/3, 7 PM, Norwell

(#7) Abington vs (#10) Ursuline,  3/3, 7 PM, Abington

(#3) Coyle-Cassidy vs (#14) Bourne, 3/3, 7 PM, CC

Division 4 South:

(#4) Cohasset vs (#13) Harwich, 3/3, 7 PM, Cohasset

(#15) Mashpee vs (#18) Holbrook, 3/1, 7 PM, Mashpee

(#7) South Shore Christian vs (#10) Cathedral, 3/3, 7 PM, SS Voke

(#3) Bishop Connolly vs winner of (#14 Chatham vs #19 Millis, 3/1, 7 PM Chatham)

(#6) Nantucket vs (#11) Greater New Bedford, 3/3, 5:30 PM, Nantucket

BOYS HOCKEY

Division 1 will be scheduled after 1A play-in tournament

South Division 2:

(#8) Coyle-Cassidy vs (#9) Dennis-Yarmouth, 3/2, 5:30 PM, Bourne

(#4) Plymouth North vs (#5) Plymouth South, TBA

South Division 3:

(#1) Bourne vs winner of (#16) Rockland vs (#17) Scituate, 3/1, 5 PM, Rockland

(#9) Middleboro vs (#24) Holliston, 3/1, 7 PM, Bridgewater

(#13) Diman vs (#20) Marian, 2/28, 5:30 PM, Loring

(#5) Cohasset vs (#12) Dartmouth, 3/1, 5:30 PM, Bourne

(#15) Blue Hills Vs (#18) Old Rochester, 3/2, 5 PM, BH...winner gets #2 Abington

(#7) Medway vs (#26) Wareham, 2/28, 7 PM, Raynham

(#10) Medfield vs #23) Silver Lake, at Brockton, 2/28, 8 PM

(#6) Nantucket vs (winner of (#11 Pembroke/#22 Somerset, 3/1, 7:45 PM,  Bourne)

GIRLS HOCKEY

Division1:

#8 Hingham vs #9 Medford, 3/5, TBA

#12 Arlington vs #21 Barnstable, 3/2, 7 PM, Arlington

Division 2:

#8 Deham  vs #9 Sandwich, 3/5, TBA

#4 Fontbonne vs #13 Whitman-Hanson, 3/3, 4 PM, Shea

#2 Duxbury vs winner of Natick/Archies, 3/2, 4:20 PM< The Bog

Flood Threat For Rest Of Monday

Hard-core rain is falling, and has been falling for most of the day.

Subsequently, we're rolling with a Flood Watch and a Wind Advisory.

The flooding is from the rain, and the snowmelt. All that snow we had last winter has to go somewhere, and somewhere is downstream. Areas that got more snow than us will also send their snowmelt down river, although this threat is more off-Cape.

This will be more street/basement flooding than coastal flooding. No threat seems to face the shoreline. However, ferry service to the islands has been shut down today.

The rain should let up tonight at some point. Winds will peak at 25-35 mph, with higher (45-50 mph) gusts.

That's the 1 PM radar from NWS, which- fortunately for me- is public domain. That stormy area over Kentucky should exit the coast south of us, and we may only get clipped by the fringe later tonight. Some thuderstorms are possible.

Note that it is very icy in Northern Massachusetts and New Hamster, so drive cool if you have to break North for some reason.

Strong winds cancel ferry trips Monday

Steamship Authority, Hy-Line announce weather cancellations

Strong winds have cause several ferry trip cancellations between the Cape and Islands on Monday on both Hy-Line and the Steamship Authority.

A wind advisory is in effect until 7 p.m. Monday evening. See weather updates here.

The following Steamship Authority trips have been canceled:

• M/V Sankaty Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven 1:30 p.m.
• M/V Gay Head Nantucket to Hyannis 2:15 p.m. trip

For more information on Nantucket/Hyannis Steamship Authority cancellations, call the Nantucket office at 508-228-0262 or the Hyannis office at 508-771-4000. For more information on Vineyard Steamship Authority cancellations, call the Woods Hole office at 508-548-3788 or the Vineyard office at 508-693-0367.  Information is also available on the Steamship Authority website here.

The following Hy-Line trips have been canceled:

• Grey Lady Hyannis to Nantucket 12 p.m. trip
• Grey Lady Nantucket to Hyannis 1:25 p.m. trip

For more information on Hy-Line cancellations, call the Hyannis office at 508-778-0404 or 800-492-8082 or the Nantucket office at 508-228-3949. Information is also available on the Hy-Line website here.

We will update this post as more information becomes available.

Updated 2/28/11 @ 1:10 p.m.

Cast iron pans

Link: http://greenwithbetsy.info/

Don’t get rid of those cast iron pans you found in the attic!  There are many benefits of cast iron cookware.

Cast iron pans are an ideal heat conductor, cooking evenly and consistently and able to withstand high heat.  They perform better than Teflon, and without the health concerns. The chemical polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), or Teflon, is a likely carcinogen according to the EPA.   when seasoned properly, cast iron pans are as nonstick as other coated pans and requre no extra oil.  They transfer from stove to oven with no problem, need no special utensils, don’t warp and are easy to clean.

Foods cooked in cast iron absorb valuable iron, which the body needs to produce red blood cells.  They can be used for just about any type of cooking.  Cast iron pans are inexpensive and will last several generations.   In fact they get better with age.  

To season your cast iron pan, brush the surface evenly with a vegetable oil; bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour, then let it cool in the oven.  When washing, use only a mild soap, dry thoroughly, drizzle some oil and wipe with a cloth.

You can find cast iron pans at thrift shops, flea markets or yard sales, but if you want new, Lodge Manufacturing is the leading cast iron cookware company.  Often old fashioned is best and cast iron pans are no exception.

Some information compiled from whatscookingamerica.net

For more green tips, visit greenwithbetsy.info.