Field Notes
by Peter B Brace

ONLOCATION The Nantucket Dreamland Foundation is removing several structural elements on the east end of its theater building to prepare for the possible showing of movies in its back parking lot

At the April 22 Historic District Commission meeting, the Dreamland Foundation secured unanimous approval to remove a shed roof bump-out, concrete shed, louvered over-shed and a wooden shed from the back of the Dreamland Theater building. With these unused portions of the buildings removed, Dreamland Foundation will, per order of the HDC, tar paper and re-shingle the newly exposed portions of the building.

With a newly created flat wall in place, the Dreamland Foundation hopes to install a retractable canvas sheet that it can roll down to show outdoor movies during the summer as part of its Back Lot events series. This series may include movies and other events, to be determined later sponsored by island nonprofit groups including the Artists Association of Nantucket, the Theatre Workshop, Sustainable Nantucket, the Comedy Festival and the Nantucket Film Festival.

THECLEANTEAMISBACK Back by popular demand for a chart-topping sixth season, Polpis Association President Bill Connell's Clean Team is gearing up for seven Saturdays of picking up trash.

Bill Connell

Formed by Connell, a seasonal resident who feels that it is his duty to keep the island clean for others to enjoy, the Clean Team spends one hour on selected Saturdays cleaning a certain part of the island with as many as 20 volunteers. Although the first seven weeks are already planned,

Nantucketers can request Connell and his trash pickers to come to their neighborhood to help them eradicate litter and debris.

They start at 8 a.m. sharp and end at 9 a.m., rallying at a chosen starting point where Nantucket's Department of Public Works meets them to pick up all the trash. Cleanup dates are as follows:

• May 3 - Surfside Beach, meeting in the parking lot,

• May 10 - Old South Road bike path, meet at the Rotary,

• May 17 - Cisco area, meet at the ocean end of Hummock Pond Road,

• May 24 - Madaket Road and bike path, meet at Sanford Farm parking lot,

• May 31 - Jetties Beach area, meet at Jetties Beach parking lot,

• June 7 - Cliff Road and its bike path, meet at Tupancy Links parking lot.

Email Connell and his team at wconnell@connellwiener. com to have them clean your area or to volunteer. MUSEUMSCHEDULED TOOPENJULY1 The addition to and renovation of the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum is proceeding on target. The new museum will reopen July 1 following a $3 million expansion and renovation project. It will feature new exhibits and family-friendly programs appealing to all ages.

To date, $2.25 million has been raised, with fundraising continuing to finance the final stages of the project.

"The building was designed to showcase the many stories relating to this important aspect of island life," said Eric Holch, chair of the building committee. "Neil Parent of D. Neil Parent Associates, the building's designer/architect, was inspired by architectural features from the original replica of the Surfside Life- Saving Station which was built 40 years ago. All in all, we are very pleased with how the project is proceeding and look forward to reinstalling artifacts and mounting new exhibits." The Board of Trustees for the Egan Maritime Foundation has reached out to the more than 175 generous donors who have contributed to the capital campaign.

The building committee has worked since the end of August when the construction contract was awarded to Kent J. Murphy, Inc. Michael J. Forth has served as project manager. In addition to the construction work, the project's price tag includes the much needed conservation and preservation of several groups of artifacts, handled by experts off island. These artifacts will be returning to the museum in May along with the new exhibitions.

"Members will enjoy becoming reacquainted with old friends and find a number of surprises that enhance the appreciation of the countless island heroes who risked their lives 'so that others might live,'" said Jean Grimmer, executive director for Egan Maritime. Egan Maritime and its affiliates - the Nantucket Shipwreck & Lifesaving Museum and Mill Hill Press, publisher of distinctive Nantucket books - celebrate the maritime heritage of Nantucket. New logos and Web sites, linking each entity to the other, will be unveiled prior to the museum's reopening. For more information or to contribute, contact Jean Grimmer, executive director of Egan Maritime, at 228-2505.

BIRDINGFORDOLLARS So that the Maria Mitchell Association may continue to care for the Edith F. Andrews Ornithological Collection in its Natural Science Museum and support all of its programs, Maria Mitchell's bird counting team, the Road Runners, will compete against other island bird watcher groups in the 7th Annual Maria Mitchell Association Birdathon.

Birding teams will fan out all over Nantucket, competing to identify the highest amount of bird species in a 24-hour period in Nantucket County extending 10 miles off shore. Teams collect pledges on a per-species basis from 25¢ to whatever people want to dive. The Birdathon is on May 17 and registration for teams is May 1. Go to http://www.mmo.org/ for information on participating or

sponsoring a team. I