On Earth Day 2000, art, nature and Nahant got off to a good start in our 21st century.
It was a special day in our one square mile. At East Point, generations — young and old — gathered to celebrate our planet and its protection. Ten years before that day, Nahant’s Town Meeting declared East Point to be a natural resource area, which would be preserved for the enjoyment of generations to come.
Five years later, Calantha Sears, Gene Canty, Rick Kennedy and others transformed what had been a barren Nike base into a beautiful park, surrounded by the blue of the sea on one side and the green habitat of butterflies and birds on the other.
On Earth Day 21 years ago, Principal Tom Lavalley led scores of young people from the Johnson School, plus Boy Scouts and Sea Scouts, teachers and parents, and with the Nahant Police bicycle brigade out front, marched from Town Hall to East Point.
With flags flying in the breeze, sunlight glinting from broad smiles and sparkling eyes, a parade of youth came to hear Calantha Sears speak of her own youth in Nahant, where she was born almost 80 years before. It was a memorable afternoon.
A year and a half later, the United States suffered the unforgettable experience of a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in Manhattan. In the days and weeks that followed, we were in a state of shock.
No one knew if there would be a second or third attack. It was during those weeks of uncertainty that the Nahant Cultural Council (I was chair then, too) decided to have an event at the Nahant Country Club — a club, by the way, so free of standards that even this writer once belonged.
The art show with food and wine was held on November 11, marking Veterans Day, but also marking the first time Nahanters gathered together in public as a community, to offer comfort to one another in the wake of 9/11.
There was gratitude in the air. It was a wonderful excuse to be together as a town, to greet friends and neighbors who share the landscape of Nahant.
In 2021, we find ourselves under attack once more. The enemy is more insidious, less easy to detect, but its actions will impact us for a very long time. I’m writing about this awful pandemic.
On Saturday, May 1, at East Point in Nahant, there will be a celebration called Art Nature Nahant, sponsored by the Nahant Cultural Council. Beginning at 9 a.m. across from Canoe Beach, it will feature an art show by local artists, craftspeople and organizations, celebrating the historic relationship between art, nature and our small, New England town.
At 3 p.m., there will be a Maypole dance by parents and kids, led by Sallee Slagle of Nahant’s 40 Steps Dance, followed by a selection of poetry and other readings, and brought to a musical conclusion by The Merj, Nahant’s own Roze and Jim Malone.
On Saturday we will be gathered not only to enjoy art and nature, we will also be able to enjoy simply being together. Even though we will be masked and keep our distance, we will be seeing and buying art, watching children dance, hearing words and music, all of which will remind us of what we share.
Life “online” can drive us apart. But walking and talking, observing and listening together in Nahant’s freshest air can help salve that cranky sense of alienation that Facebook can sometimes bring.
Finally, although she will not be at East Point in person this time, we will honor and celebrate our dear friend, Calantha Sears.
Twenty-one years ago, as a young woman of 79, she stood there in that sacred place. We were honored by her presence.
Now, as she approaches her 100th birthday this fall, we will honor her by singing to her together from the park she created for our enjoyment.
There are those who make everlasting contributions to their community. Calantha is one of them.
Jim Walsh is chair of the Nahant Cultural Council and a former selectman. He may be reached at [email protected]
