Coalition Readies Celebrate Our Waters Events

ORLEANS – The Orleans Pond Coalition is in its 14th year hosting Celebrate Our Waters in September. This year, the annual event promoting the town’s waterways and environment marks the tail end of a prolonged educational campaign by the nonprofit group.

The coalition this year expanded Celebrate Our Waters over three phases. The first, in April, involved an Earth Day cleanup and information about how homeowners can best manage their property to protect local waters. In June, the coalition provided tours of the town’s wastewater treatment facility on Overland Way. 

Wrapping up a busy year for the coalition, the slate of events scheduled for Sept. 13 and 14 are about “getting out and enjoying the environment,” said the coalition’s president, Eric Spengler. 

“We’ve scaled down the number of activities, but we’ve still got well over a dozen through the weekend,” he said.

Among the events being hosted next weekend are a Saturday night bonfire and concert on Nauset Beach, a talk on an ongoing eelgrass study taking place on Sipson Island and a kayak tour out to the island, sailing in Pleasant Bay, and a tour of work that’s been done at Putnam Farm. A full schedule of events and activities can be found at the coalition’s website, orleanspondcoalition.org. 

New among this year’s offerings is a kayak and hiking tour of Namequoit Wood, which was purchased for preservation by the Orleans Conservation Trust this past year.

“One of the stipulations in the purchase was a limited number of visits to the property,” Spengler said. “So we’re pretty honored that we have the opportunity to partner with the conservation trust and include that as one of our events. That’s a pretty unique property, and that’s one that’s gotten a lot of interest and excitement.” Registration is required for the Namequoit Wood tour, Spengler said.

The effort to expand Celebrate Our Waters across the spring and summer comes as the coalition has begun to shift its focus from “research and advocacy” more into the realm of public education, Spengler said. He said that for the coalition, “education is where the greatest opportunity lies” to convert visitors and people new to Orleans into what he called “strong environmental stewards.”

“If you think about the stages of awareness, the first is ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.’ So when people are coming to a new environment, they’re bringing a lot of their baggage with them, and some of that isn’t conducive to what’s right around here,” he said. “And a large portion of them are coming here because they care.”

A beach cleanup will precede the Saturday concert from Grammy Award-winner David Block’s Biriba Union Band. The concert, which is being sponsored by the nonprofit Beyond the Bounds, will begin at 6:30  p.m. and will be followed by the Paul Fulcher Memorial Bonfire. The concert has attracted more than a thousand attendees in recent years, according to Spengler.

“We’re doing a concert on the beach,” he said. “Not in the parking lot in the little gazebo, we’ll be on the beach down by where the bonfire is going to take place.”

After next weekend’s festivities, planning for next year’s Celebrate Our Waters will begin “immediately,” Spengler said. The coalition’s annual meeting is Oct. 15 at 4 p.m. at the Orleans Yacht Club, and after that the group will “set our objectives for the coming year,” he said.

As for whether the coalition will bring back this year’s phased approach in 2026, Spengler said yes, assuming it’s the most effective way of getting the nonprofit’s message out to the community.

“I think the measure is are we tipping the needle? Is this the event that helps get people to rethink about being better stewards? Are we getting more interest in protecting our waters? If this is moving that needle, we will continue to double down and do more.”