| Community Projects |
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Free Health Care Free and affordable health care in collaboration with Trailside Health. Free Medical Software Free open source medical record software to provide more affordable care more efficiently to more people in need. Project Blanket Volunteers have worked hard to knit lap blankets which our elders and homebound patients have enjoyed receiving over a cup of hot tea during the cold winter months here in New England. The surprise of unexpected gifts and warm hugs help our most vulnerable neighbors feel a part of our community in their advancing years. At times they are able to knit a gift to donate in turn, and the circle grows around. Pied Piper Our musically inspired members have taken to walking randomly around hospital, town, and homes with a patient's donated concertina to brighten smiles and lift spirits. All are encouraged to enjoy the unexpected and make music together. We have shared community with patients with mental ills, our elders in nursing homes, unsuspecting neighbors on street corners and young children with autism too. Water Wisdom “Why, my young friend, it’s the only thing! Why, there’s nothing…simply nothing, quite so much worth doing, as messing about in boats. Simply messing…about in boats.” Water is fascinating. It is essential to physical life. We are drawn to the water: soothing hypnotic and magical water, a music in its own right. Playing in water with boats has proven ideal to counsel young people about so many things - nature, history, art, science, craftsmanship, teamwork and responsibility... with a healthy dash of romance and adventure thrown in. We are in the tenth year of emulating Pete Seeger's Clearwater sloop vision on a much smaller scale of a butterfly's wing. We currently share sailing and seamanship experiences with young people of all ages on boats of all sizes. We also offer informal training in all aspects of boat building, maintenance and repair. This project began in 1998 when the nonprofit John Gardner School of Boatbuilding in Annapolis helped us find a large classic sailing yawl designed by the renowned design firm of Sparkman & Stephens. She's the sister ship of the famous Loki skippered by Gifford Pinchot, and both boats have won their share of big races. These were the only two original Lokis built by working men's hands in our country. Albert Lemos and a vibrant Portuguese community from the Azores built her in Riverside, R.I. in 1948. She is 38'4" long and draws almost 6 feet displacing about 16,000 pounds. She is chock full of beautiful heavy custom bronze fittings and strappings not seen on other boats of her period. She amazes surveyors and yard managers who see her construction. She is truly one of a kind. Her mahogany and oak woodwork is in beautiful shape, built rugged enough to cross an ocean and yet she slips through the water like a dream. The restoration of this beautiful antique yacht fittingly named Chance took an unexpectedly long 10 years, however. We have now decided to take the 'chance' to sell this classic Loki yawl to further support our current sailing programs on smaller boats. This is the third wooden boat rebuild among our members. In the 1980's a beautifully traditional Nova Scotian-designed wooden lobster boat was restored for family cruising using the Vaitses method. In the 1990's a second sleek Alden Barnacle class sloop became a common sight on Chesapeake Bay. This Loki yawl, though, is the pièce de résistance - the most beautiful and romantic of all three - but she also has proven to be too large to effectively teach sailing to our youngest sailors and of too much museum quality historic value to be modified as we need. We had offered her as a donation to a number of organizations near her birthplace for the children of the men who built her, but sadly they have not shown much interest in their heritage. As such she is now available to the best home of an individual qualified to care for her well.
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