2024 Life Logs, Day 171: Encore Installation Luncheon on Juneteenth
Date: Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Weather: Gorgeous Day; Temp 74, Low 66 degrees F
Location: At Home on Lakeview Avenue, Falmouth, MA
On the third Wednesday of June each year, Encore has its Installation Luncheon where the board members for the coming year are sworn in.
That happened today at what is known as the Poppy Tent, a summer ‘tent’ beachfront venue attached to the Popponesset Inn in New Seabury. On a gorgeous day like today, if you have to spend time inside, I can’t think of a more beautiful place to spend a couple of hours. The luncheon was lovely. It marks the end of the Encore 2023-2024 year and the beginning of the next year. As co-presidents, Christina Brodie and I spent the hour prior to the luncheon and the three hours afterwards in meetings with members of the 2024-2025 board. We have a full day of meetings tomorrow and then the bulk of the meetings will be completed. We can then relax into summer feeling prepared for the next year.
I was in charge of the meeting today and wanted to honor Juneteenth in some way. So, I used Ollie’s Juneteenth poster quote from Coretta Scott King in my opening remarks. I included it in last Saturday’s log, but I am going to repeat it here. Every time I read it, I realize how true it is. “Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” It is the responsibility of each of us to do what we can to continue the struggle for freedom for all people on this earth.
When I got home in the late afternoon, I got a chance to read my emails from today. There was a message from Woodwell Climate Research Center announcing the passing yesterday of 95-year-old Dr. George M. Woodwell. for whom the center is named. Heather came to Woodwell four years ago to help lead the name change from Woods Hole Climate Research Center to honor the founder. I never met George Woodwell, but he is a Woods Hole legend and beloved in the climate change world. “George’s scientific inquiries hit on the biggest environmental issues of the late twentieth century, including DDT, nuclear radiation, and finally, what was, at the time, known as “the carbon dioxide problem.” His testimony at the first Congressional hearing on climate change in 1986 was prescient, and remarkable for the issues he brought forth there—the threat of permafrost thaw, the importance of forests—that have been enduring pillars of climate science, including our work at Woodwell Climate Research Center.” Heather heads up communications for Woodwell, so her day was spent focused on George Woodwell.
