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V/HEN lifILL the Marine Resources Center open officially? No one is quite
sure, but the people working there to get it all together are optimistic
about the good things it will have to offer the area and are already in-*
viting some scattered groups of students in for short talks and small tours.
Says Ned Smith, Director, the center is a focal point of interest about
coastal and marine resources that will help people use these resources wise
ly. He speaks glowingly of our '’magnificent coast” and hopefully about the
varied functions the completed center will serve* First, there will be
school groups of a3.1 ages coming through; then, two teaching labs will soon
be equipped to handle fairly large classes; meeting rooms will be made
available for both research and local or civic groups; a library will be
fully stocked with appropriate materials, l6 aquarium tanks will be seething
with marine life typical of our very own coastal waters; research labs will
be used by people whose particular projects can be done only here; the cen
ter will operate a Marine Advisory Service which will help people who earn
their livings here to do it better.
We*ve chatted about the center before, surely, but our enthusiasm is nudged
each time we wander into the place, and we are eager to keep it on your
minds so that when its various delays in opening are finally over, we'll all
be ready to support it all we can,
CHAHL.::S JOHNSON is the Aquarium Specialist at the center. Ve asked him
about his possible need for volunteer help when things get buzzing over there
{or swimming, as the case may be). He says the setting up of the tanks
will be a big job and they will v/elcorue help in the washing of the gravel,
etc., as well as in putting up some of the displays. Then, after that, the
big thing will be keeping the tanks going,- cleaned and replenished. Even-
guides will probably be trainee., under Ned Sndth, and, already,
our S Garden Club is at work on a booklet that ivill answer some questions
about the center and be available to the public.
It»s really going to be neat over there! Ned Smith had a group of kids in
the auditorium recently, showing them slides of the area, telling them a
bit of island history and pointing out the maritime forest beyond where
trails will be marked and hikers will be able to walk close to the salt marsh
and, if they*re paying attention^ see many forms of the busy life in the
woods; frogs, turtles, dragonflies, ribbon snakes —
And the best part of all is it's right in our very own townI
Y(OU SAY YOU CAN'T MKii IT UP TO MuI'iTICii.LLO THIS BI-CENx’-^^^ilillAL YEAR? Don't
despair! James A. Bear, Jr., the Resident Director and Curator of Monti-
cello, the home of Thomas Jefiersou, near Charlottesville, Virginia, is
coming here! Yup, he will be talking at the Duke Marine Lab Auditorium at
0:15 p,m. on Friday, May 21st; his lecture is called; ”1776; Thomas Jeffer
son on the Threshold of the Arts; a Historian's View." Sponsored by our
friends in the Beaufort Historical Association, this really exciting evening
IS open to all of us for $2,00 apiece, including a reception afterwards at
he Josiah Bell House, where advance tickets are being sold now. Louise
Baker, PKS, also has tickets: 726-8238.
James Bear is a native Virginian v/ith a BA and MA from the University of
Virginia who, since he was named curator at Honticollo in 1955, has done
extensive rssearc.. and v/riting about Thomas Jefferson, including three books:
Letters of Thomas Jefferson, Private Life of Thomas Jefferson, and
uefferson at Monticello.
ANOTHER PROGRAM you will want to know about — on May 20 at 7:00 p.m. in St,
Paul's Parish House in Beaufort, Maxine and Benjamin Swalin will present
Painted Music, a correlation of art and music. Dr. Swalin before his re
tirement was conductor of the North Carolina Symphony, and Maxine Swalin is
a talented musician in her o\m. right,
GARDUI CLUB OFFICjKS for the coming year are Janet Robbins, President; Marj
Johnson, Vice-President; Elizabeth Ames, Secretary; Kay Jo^son, Treasurer;
Audrey Hoffmeyer and Irma Brossman, Project Co-Chairmen. The May meeting,
the annual luncheon, will be held May I7 at the John Yancey Motel, And, our
own Vivian MacDonald presented a program, "Bouquets of '76" at the 51st annual
meeting of the Garden Club of North Carolina at the Hilton Inn in Raleigh on
April 28,