Beach events receive monetary boost

LYNN – Save the Harbor/Save the Bay has made summer a bit financially sweeter for two friends groups, which are each planning free waterfront events for residents.The Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach has received $2,500 for its Summer Concert Series and Friends of Heritage Park received $1,000 in support of its World Folk Festival.”This is very good for us,” said Robert Tucker, president of Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach. “This is the 19th year for the concert series.”Tucker said the grant will be used to fund the concert series as well as the annual kids concert and event, which this year will be held July 26 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Red Rock Park. To check out the entire Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach concert series, go to http://www.lynn-nahantbeach.org and click on concerts.SHSB awarded $31,500 in Better Beaches grants to 18 groups, which equals dozens of free public events in nine beachfront communities. Tucker said the money comes from fundraising events such as the Cupid Splash, where volunteers, like him, plunged into the ocean in March.”They then distribute the money to friends groups at DCR (Department of Conservation and Recreation) beaches, and our concerts series is one of the most successful programs,” he said. “So we’re very grateful.”Other grants include $4,500 for the Revere Beach Partnership National Sand Sculpting Festival, $1,000 for Family Activities on the Beach in Winthrop, $1,000 for the Friends of Belle Isle Marsh’s Educational Activities on the Beach in East Boston and $1,000 for Dorchester’s Healthy Boston Coalition Yoga on the Beach, among others.Mary Ellen Palermo from Friends of Heritage Park said the World Folk Festival is the only beach festival that reaches out to the diverse cultural population that makes up the city and parts of the North Shore. The goal of the event is simple, to share a free day of entertainment and food that celebrates that diversity, Palermo explained.Planned for Sept. 13, Women of the World will once again be the main attraction in terms of performers, but Palermo said the full lineup is still a work in progress. She said she expects there will be local entertainment as in the past. Local restaurants will also be on hand to sell food.”We want to provide high-quality music, and without the grant, it would be difficult to have the variety and diversity of performers that has become the focus of the event,” she added. “Bruce Berman (of SHSB) is a wonderful supporter of the beaches and the event.”DCR Commissioner Jack Murray said, “Save the Harbor’s Better Beaches Program leverages the energy and enthusiasm of local volunteer organizations that are so important to the success of the Boston Harbor region’s metropolitan beaches.”By the end of this season, Save the Harbor’s Better Beaches Program community partners from Nahant to Nantasket will have leveraged $214,000 in small grants from Save the Harbor with $816,000 in cash and in-kind donations from local government and small businesses for a total investment of more than $1 million to support more than 200 free beach events and programs in Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, South Boston, Dorchester, Quincy and Hull.”The Boston Harbor region’s public beaches are important assets to the region’s residents and visitors alike,” said Patricia A. Foley, president of Save the Harbor/Save the Bay. “We are proud to support our partners in the city’s waterfront neighborhoods and beachfront communities as they work to share their beaches and the harbor with the region’s kids and families.”For more information about Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, visit its website at www.savetheharbor.org or follow savetheharbor on Facebook and Twitter.For information on upcoming Better Beaches Program events, join the Boston Harbor Facebook page at www.facebook.com/bostonharbor.