John Basile presents an Illustrated History of Jazz on Cape Cod

The first notes of jazz hit Cape Cod in the very early days of the genre. Bournehurst-on-the-Canal hosted top bands, and emerging swing era dancers packed the hall. Cape Cod’s “First Lady of Jazz,” Marie Marcus, was a child prodigy in Boston and studied stride piano with Fats Waller in New York. At the very tip of the Cape, the Atlantic House in Provincetown showcased performances from some of the biggest names like Gerry Mulligan, Billie Holiday and Stan Getz. John Basile detailed the fascinating history and amazing musicians that made Cape Cod a music destination in his 2017 book Cape Cod Jazz: from Colombo to The Columns. John will share some of the best stories from his research, brought to life with photos and recordings.

John Basile is known on Cape Cod as the longtime editor of the Register newspaper. Before turning to the newspaper field, he was—for more than a decade—a radio newscaster, first on WOCB and later on WQRC on Cape Cod, where he worked alongside Dick Golden, host of the popular Nightlights program. First as a member of the Cape Cod Jazz Society and later as its president (succeeding the legendary Marie Marcus), John helped to present many jazz parties and concerts. More recently, as a member of the board of directors of the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, he helped to organize jazz-related events including concerts and art exhibitions.

Bob Prescott: “Looking Back, Looking Forward . . . 50 Years of Nature Observation”

This September, Bob Prescott will retire as Director of Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary after nearly 40 years of service. What is he reflecting on as he prepares to step back from his leadership role? What is he anticipating as he looks forward to the next chapter in his life? Join us for what is sure to be a fascinating hour with one of the most beloved naturalists on Cape Cod.

In addition to his other leadership roles with the Sanctuary, Bob is the Massachusetts Coordinator for the Northeast Sea Turtle Stranding Network. He has a degree in wildlife biology from the University of Massachusetts and has studied such diverse topics as whale strandings, harbor seal distribution around Cape Cod, and, most recently, the home ranges of box turtles. His particular interests include seabirds and coastal ecosystems. Bob has led tours throughout the world, including Baja, Costa Rica, the Galápagos Islands, Churchill, Antarctica, Belize, and Big Bend, Texas.

“A Virtual Trip to Antarctica” with Elizabeth Bradfield

Elizabeth Bradfield is the author of four books, most recently Toward Antarctica. Her work has been published in The New Yorker, Kenyon Review, Poetry, The Atlantic Monthly, and elsewhere. She works as a naturalist/guide locally as well as on expedition ships and teaches creative writing at Brandeis University.

Toward Antarctica documents and queries Elizabeth’s work as a guide on ships in Antarctica, offering an incisive insider’s vision that challenges traditional tropes of The Last Continent. She uses photographs, compressed prose, and short poems to examine our relationship to remoteness, discovery, expertise, awe, labor, temporary societies, “pure” landscapes, and tourism’s service economy. A complicated love letter, Toward Antarctica offers a unique view of one of the world’s most iconic wild places.

“Swirling Currents: Controversy, Compromise and Dynamic Coastal Change,”   a book talk with Sandy MacFarlane, retired Town of Orleans Shellfish Officer.

“Made in Heaven,” a staged reading of Candace Perry’s play performed by the author and Laura Cappello (well known for playing Patsy Cline). Talk back with Ms. Perry to follow the performance.

What is “Made in Heaven” about? In Heaven, each person is matched for all time to their one true love. Only problem is, some folks don’t much like the match, like Faye (Mrs. Eugene) McBride of Montgomery, Alabama. A traditional, white woman, she discovers that God matched her to Henry, her gardener of many years. Her black gardener. It’s up to God’s “assistant,” Marie Louise Benson to prove to Faye that God’s matches are never mistaken.

About the playwright: Candace Perry began her playwriting career in 1989 when the Provincetown Theatre Company produced her one act, Keepers.  Family and other career demands led her to write short stories for the next ten years, but in 1999 she returned to the Provincetown Theater’s Playwrights’ Lab, and her ten minute play, Meryl Streep, Meryl Streep,was produced featuring the legendary Julie Harris.  Since then, Perry has had more than thirty short plays produced in Provincetown and elsewhere, has written four full length plays, and won some awards.  She teaches a class in Writing the Short Play, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Provincetown Playwrights’ Lab.

“Our Monarch Butterflies” with Bill Allan

Ecologist Bill Allan initiated a conservation project in 2002 to recover the population of the threatened diamondback terrapin in Eastham’s bay marshes. For the past 17 years, he has spent every day during nesting/hatching season finding & protecting terrapin nests, then releasing the hatchlings. The number of nests has quadrupled to 245  in 2018 and, correspondingly, the number of hatchlings released has increased from about 400 to 2000. Although still classified as threatened, the population of terrapins is much healthier today. Recently, he & his wife Annie observed monarch butterfly caterpillars on some milkweed plants in their backyard which, through their involvement with the Eastham Conservation Foundation, got them interested in helping recover the population of monarch butterflies.

Travel to Myanmar with Marilyn Cook

Each year, Marilyn travels to Asia to explore a new culture.  Last year she flew into Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) and spent two weeks exploring the country by bus, marveling at the hundreds of old temples thousands of years old, some of gold leaf, one of gold.  She took a hot air baloon over the temples of Bagan as the sun was rising.  This Sunday, Marily will share her impressions of this very old culture and tales of her adventures while traveling there.

Marilyn’s passion for Asia began in the early 2000’s. She and her husband became ‘Global Volunteers’ and went to China every year to teach Conversational English to Chinese English teachers.  We got to know many Chinese and went to State dinners as well as dinners in our student’s parent’s homes in small villages and Mountain areas. After her husband passed, she traveled throughout Cambodia & Thailand with her son. Since then, she been traveling by herself to the Philippines, Vietnam, Burma and Bali, Indonesia.