Gary Poe, Founder and Executive Director, Windows-On-Our-Waters, points to Cheeze Wiz that contains “more anchovies than cheese” in the Windows-On-Our-Waters trailer. All of the products displayed contain ocean plants or animals as an ingredient.

story & photos
by Jerry Sinnamon

The greatest source of water pollution comes from litter, trash, and chemicals laying about cities, towns, and highways, according to Gary Poe, Founder and Executive Director,  Windows-On-Our-Waters Environmental Education Program (WOOWEE).

“The trash that people throw into the streets gets carried by storm water into the storm drains to be deposited, untreated, into the receiving waters of our coast,” Gary says. “Cigarette butts and their long-lived filters, candy bar wrappers, weed killers, motor oil, pet waste, and other contaminants can travel hundreds of miles on their journey to foul the sea.”  And, once in the water, these pollutants take a long time to breakdown and dissipate.

Gary’s nonprofit educational program employs a 16 foot trailer with four learning exhibits, that allows students to track storm run-off pollution. They are able to see it from a “worms eye view,” below street level, to tide pools along the waterways, to a wide range of foods, which, usually unknown to the consumer, contain ingredients from the sea. 

The WOOWEE is targeted primarily to grades three to five. “These students get excited during the program discovering the possibility they and their families can really help to control pollution of our waters. They have the patience to stay attentive throughout the program, and still believe their individual efforts can have an impact,” Gary said.

The WOOWEE program re-located to Mystic from California in May, 2009.  Gary, who grew up in Eastern Connecticut, said the chronic educational budget crises in California and the state’s brutal traffic conditions helped to convince him it was time to bring his program and trailer back to Connecticut.  

Since his return to Connecticut, Gary has invited the public to visit the Windows-On-Our-Waters trailer at the Mystic Seaport’s 4th of July Celebration, River Glow, Pawcatuck, Fish Tales, Tugs, and Sail Festival, New London, and the Norwich Public Utilities Waste Water Department Open House. 

In addition, more than 1,500 school children have attended the program from S. B. Butler Elementary School, Mystic, and nine elementary schools in Norwich.  Gary says he begins providing programs to Waterford elementary schools during October.  The content of the WOOWEE program correlates with the Connecticut Core Science Curriculum.

In describing the importance of the Windows-On-Our-Waters program, Gary said there is a big discrepancy between the harm done by random littering by the average individual versus the public’s perception that leaking oil tankers or polluting refineries or power stations require the most scrutiny to control pollution.

(l-r) Second-graders Christopher McLuster and Rolan McCall examine “Dead Man’s Fingers” (seaweed) at tide pool station of the Windows-On-Our-Waters trailer when it visited the Uncas Elementary School, Norwich, in September.

“When comparing the harm done by the public versus those big single-source polluters, it is always easier to resolve the issue caused by the single-source polluter,” says Gary.  “It is easy to find out where the pollution is coming from and to put the right program in place to end or reduce that pollution.  It is a lot harder when the polluter is you or me just going about our lives with all our neighbors pretty much thinking it’s the oil companies we should be worried about.”

“The story really comes home to students when they get to the General Store of the Sea, where products with ingredients derived ocean plants and animals are displayed,” Gary said, noting that chocolate milk contains carrageenan, a compound made from a seaweed named Irish Moss.  “When kids find out about the carrageenan, they either claim they will never drink chocolate milk again, because of all the pollution the seaweed encounters, or they will become environmental stewards to encourage their friends and family to stop polluting.”

Seaweed is an ingredient in many products, according to the Windows-On-Our-Waters website, including cat food, dog food, bread, beer, pasta, canned meat, peanut butter, pancake syrup, toothpaste, ice cream, and lipstick.  In addition, Gary says, “Cheese Wiz has more anchovies in it than cheese.”

While Windows-On-Our-Waters is located at 58 High Meadow Lane, Mystic, the trailer is parked and supplied with electricity by Seaport Marina, Mystic.  “This is the kind of contribution from the community we are very grateful for, but which happens more and more as the story about how we individually pollute our waters becomes better known and many children and their families decide what they can do to help in ending this pollution.”

For more information visit www.windowsonourwaters.org, or call Gary at 860.415.4655.

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by Amy Pjura
photo by Alexis Ann

(l-r) Frank McLaughlin, House Committee Chairman, Thames Club, Michael Satti, President, Thames Club, Barun Basu, Barun Basu Associates, Penny Parsekian, CEO, New London Main Street, Mark Stapleton, Stapleton Steel, Inc, Ted Mish, T.M. Builders LLC, Ned Hammond, New London Council and Tony Sheriden, president, Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut, cut the ribbon at the new façade of the Thames Club.

On Monday, October 5th, The Thames Club, New London, showed off its new gateway and restored façade entrances to the Club during a ribbon cutting ceremony. The steel arch was designed by Barun Basu, Barun Basu Associates, and fabricated by Stapleton Steel, Inc. The project was funded by The Thames Club Foundation and the City of New London, as part of the city’s façade grant program.

Members of the Club, city officials, and members of the community all agreed that the gateway is a wonderful improvement of the Club and the City. The steel gateway does not take away from the historical structures around it, but adds a modern flair that is inviting. Frank McLaughlin, House Committee Chairman, Thames Club, says, “This archway is the perfect fit for this area between the two historical buildings.”

The Thames Club was established in 1869, and in 1888 Thames Club made its permanent home on 290 State Street, New London. The building was destroyed by a fire in 1904, and the present building was built on the site.

Once you walk into the Thames Club, you notice the rich colors and details in the woodwork around doorways. It is a very welcoming feeling and you can sense the pride that each member has for the club. Jerry Olsen, member, and co-owner, Olde Mistick Village, says that the Club “is the oldest club in Connecticut, going back over 100 years. It’s not commercial.” He also said that if you are a member of the Thames Club, you are welcomed into other club across the US.

On a tour around the Club, Lorraine Allen, 2006-2007 President, I was lead to the antique pin bowling lanes and Silhouette Room.  The Thames Club has many activities, including bowling leagues, dinners, wine tastings, and children’s events. Lorraine said that not only is the Club a great way to network, but also to meet new friends, and get out of the everyday routine. She dubbed the club as an “oasis of civilization.”

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