Come join the fun and help keep our ponds clean, beautify and healthy! Beautify Brewster is back this year! Our large group of BPC volunteers along with other town groups will pick up nip bottles, cigarette butts, cups, cans, etc. along Brewster roads thereby ensuring this trash will never reach our ponds. Ryan Burch and Chris Miller from the Brewster DNR will oversee this fun event.

10AM Saturday, April 17
​Rain Date Sunday same time

Contact Nancy Ortiz to volunteer at nancy.ortiz@brewsterponds.org
Further details and information regarding time, meeting place, equipment, how to dress, etc., will be provided in a timely manner to all those who sign up. A safety orientation will be provided at the event.

​The Brewster Ponds Coalition presents the 2021 Ponds Summit on Saturday, April 10 at 9AM via Zoom. This year’s topics include ongoing cyanobacteria research in Brewster, MA, stopping erosion at Lower Mill Pond, and the announcement of an exciting new matching grant program!

Standby reservation only now.  Call 508-205-9087.  THANK YOU!!!

​Join us on a two-and-a-half-hour guided journey through Upper and Lower Mill Ponds to the spawning grounds of the alewife and blueback herring as we retrace the steps of John Hay, noted naturalist and author of The Run. Learn about the primordial, annual return of the alewife/herring to their original breeding grounds, the history of the Punkhorn and kettle ponds, and the health of the Mill Ponds, and discover the life that exists in this amazing ecosystem.

YOUR GUIDES

​Peter Trull is a wildlife specialist, author and photographer. He is also the author of eight books on Cape Cod Natural History. Peter and John Hay were friends and shared many Tern watching expeditions. His upcoming (ninth) book, Cape Cod – Once Around the Sun, is a tribute to John Hay and his 1961 classic: Nature’s Year.
Ryan Burch is a lifelong nature and water steward. He is co-owner of SUPfari Adventures Cape Cod with his wife, Juliette, and is the Senior Shellfish & Natural Resource Officer for the town of Brewster.
Luke Foley is an outdoor guide and adventure photographer with over 25 years of professional outdoor guiding and instruction. Luke has a wide range of experience including 28 years with Eastern Mountain Sports.

Two guided paddle events will take place on Saturday, April 24th. (Rain Date Saturday, May 1.) Twelve (12) people max will participate in each group. Contribution $75 each. Kayaks will be provided. Some double-seat kayaks are available. Paddlers may elect to bring their own kayak, however the contribution remains the same. Meetup instructions will be provided prior to the event.
$75 pre-registration and pre-payment required.
This is a no-refund, no-cancellation event since reservations are extremely limited. Participants should reserve quickly since this event will sell out rapidly.

​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MARCH 24,2021
CONTACT: Marcia Kielb, Board Member, Education Committee Chairperson
Scholarship Committee
marcia.kielb@brewsterponds.org   (413)210-7789

 BREWSTER PONDS COALITION ANNOUNCES TWO NEW SCHOLARSHIPS

The Brewster Ponds Coalition is happy to announce that they will award two $1,000.00 scholarships this year, 2021, for one Nauset Regional High School senior and one Cape Cod Regional Technical High School senior.  Applications with requirements are available at both guidance departments now or by emailing marcia.kielb@brewsterponds.org.

To be eligible, the applicant must be a Brewster resident, a high school senior planning to continue their studies in Chemistry, Biology, Conservation, Sustainability Studies, Environmental Studies/Engineering, Marine Science, Fisheries and/or Wildlife Management, Renewable Power or similar fields of study, and will attend a 2 year or 4 year college.

Application should be made by completing the Scholarship Form and sending it to the scholarship 
chairperson by April 10, 2021. A minimum of one reference and a transcript of student’s secondary school record must accompany the application.  

For further information contact Marcia Kielb, Brewster Ponds Coalition Scholarship Committee, P.O. Box 459, Brewster, MA 02631. marcia.kielb@brewsterponds.org.

The Brewster Ponds Coalition mission is “protecting the health, beauty and enjoyment of the 83 Brewster ponds. It is a 501(C) 3 charitable nonprofit organization.  

​Please join us on Saturday morning, April 10th, from 9:00 to 10:00 AM, for Brewster Pond Coalition’s 2021 Pond Summit. This year’s topics include cyanobacteria, stopping erosion at Lower Mill Pond, and the announcement of an exciting new grant program!

The Science: 
We welcome Nancy Leland, an affiliate faculty member at the Center for Freshwater Biology and Ecotoxicology at the University of New Hampshire. Nancy will tell us about the Lower Mill Pond food web study that began in 2019. This study, conducted by BPC volunteer citizen scientists, is part of our overall research to understand cyanobacteria in our ponds. In addition, lead citizen scientist Marty Burke will describe what our volunteers are doing to identify cyanobacteria in local ponds and the aerosolized toxins that they generate in the air around them.  

The Volunteers: BPC Board members Nancy Ortiz and Rob Condon will join Bruce Swiren for a chat about their successful stormwater retention project at Lower Mill Pond.  

The Grant Program: BPC is pleased to announce the creation of a new grant program designed to support and incentivize community efforts to improve our ponds.  Find out if your pond is eligible for funding to improve your pond’s water quality. 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW! SPACE IS LIMITED.

​BPC is updating its Brewster Ponds Guide for distribution this spring and we need YOUR PHOTOS showing people enjoying the public ponds: swimming, kayaking, sailing, fishing — just to name a few. We will feature one picture for each pond with credit to the photographer.

New five minute video produced by Noah Johnson of Lower Cape Television reveals study results of airborne toxins detected in two Brewster ponds.

Your $500 donation goes towards the cost of cyanoscope, fluorometer, and anatoxin kit purchases. (Shown here.) ​

Thanks to our supporters' generosity, the 2021 appeal has raised $22,000 to date to support Citizen Science and other BPC programs.

Please renew your membership. It's easy--just press the button below or visit: brewsterponds.org
Donate Now

Thank you! Your support makes a difference for Brewster’s Ponds! ​