Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War

Mayflower : A Story of Courage, Community, and War
I thought I knew about the voyage of the Mayflower, But when I started to explore what happened when an old leaky ship arrived off the coast of New England in the fall of 1620, I soon realized that I, along with most Americans, knew nothing at all about the real people with whom the story of our country begins.

The oft-told tale of how the Pilgrims and the Indians celebrated the First Thanksgiving does not do justice to the history of the Plymouth Colony. Instead of an inspiring tableau of tranquil cooperation, the Pilgrims’ first half-century in America was more of a passion play in which vibrant, tragic, self-serving and heroic figures struggled to preserve a precarious peace -- until that peace erupted into one of the deadliest wars ever fought on American soil. The English fatalities were catastrophic, but the rebelling Indians were virtually obliterated as a people. The promise of the First Thanksgiving had given way to the horror of total war.

A hundred years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this culminating event – King Philip’s War – brought into disturbing focus the issues of race, violence, religious identity, and economic opportunity that came to define America’s inexorable push west. But as the Pilgrims came to understand, war was not inevitable. It would be left to their children and grandchildren to discover the terrifying enormity of what is lost when two peoples give up on the difficult work of living together.

More than 375 years later, in a world that is growing more complicated and dangerous by the day, the story of the Mayflower still has much to teach us

Cornucopia Beverages acquires Moxie Brand

Cornucopia Beverages acquires Moxie Brand, March 21, 2007

Cornucopia Beverages, a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England Inc., has acquired the rights to the Moxie brand from the Monarch Beverage Company for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes all brands, including Moxie Energy Drink, Diet Moxie and the Moxie flagship.

Moxie is one of the oldest continually produced soft drinks in the United States, developed in 1884. In 2005, Moxie became the Official State Soft Drink of Maine. Moxie has entered the American vernacular, coming to mean ÔøΩskillful and spirited.ÔøΩ

While Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Northern New England currently sells approximately seventy-five percent of the worldÔøΩs Moxie, Cornucopia is excited about the opportunity to grow and expand with an established brand.

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Moxie, same taste, new owner
By DENIS PAISTE
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff April 6, 2007

Cornucopia Beverages, a unit of Bedford-based Coca-Cola Co. of Northern New England Inc., has acquired the Moxie brand from Atlanta-based Monarch Beverage Co. Terms were undisclosed.
Cornucopia previously bottled Moxie under license from Monarch.

"There's really nothing to compare it to. It's not a cola, and it's not a root beer; it's its own little niche," Moxie brand manager Justin Conroy said in a telephone interview.

Conroy said no immediate changes are planned as a result of the brand purchase.

Last year, the Moxie brand sold about 450,000 192-ounce cases, equivalent to 7.2 million 12-ounce cans.

The drink is bottled in Londonderry, N.H., Worcester, Mass., and Catawissa, Pa. Conroy said 75 percent of production ships from Londonderry.

Tracing its roots to Maine-born Dr. Augustin Thompson, Moxie was first marketed as a carbonated soft drink in 1884. Today, the soft drink is available in regular, diet and energy drink versions. It is Maine's office state soft drink. The Moxie page on the Monarch Beverage Co. Web site states that Moxie was first marketed in 1876 as a medicine.

The word moxie has come to mean energy, or pep, in common usage.

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Northern New England Inc. is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd. The firm bottles Coca-Cola brands under authority of the Coca-Cola company and also has license rights for Cadbury Schweppes brands, Dr. Pepper, Sunkist and Canada Dry.

New England's largest indoor botanical center opens in Providence

New England's largest indoor botanical center opens in Providence

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island -- New England's largest indoor public display garden has opened here in a historic park, and officials expect it to become a regional center for learning about plants as well as a top attraction for visitors.
The glass-walled Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, which opened March 2, offers a tropical garden, an orchid garden, and a Mediterranean room with a collection of citrus trees. Fountains and ponds dot the landscape.
But its real draw on a day when cold rain was flooding the streets of Providence was the lush green and warm interior, filled with fragrant and unusual plants.
"It's plush. It's beautiful," said Susan Ainsworth, a retired school teacher. "It's lovely to be in here on this otherwise dreary day."
Her friend, Karen Asher, the president of the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society, described herself as "plant-obsessed."

"It's fun to see all these tropical plants," Asher said. "It's like this little fantasy land in here. You could pretend you're in Hawaii."
The center has 12,000 square feet (1,115 square meters) of space and rotating horticultural displays. The plants are in two glass structures connected by an enclosed hallway. The collection includes 40-year-old cacti, a fragrant jasmine plant and a bog that contains carnivorous plants, such as pitcher plants, some with 6-inch long "pitchers" to trap prey.
"There is one so big that it can trap and consume a rat," said Jo-Ann Bouley, educational program manager at the center.

Roger Williams Park, named for the city's 17th-century founder, also has a zoo and a carousel on its 430 acres (174 hectares). The landscaped Victorian-era park already attracts more than 2 million visitors a year, and Providence Mayor David Cicilline said in a statement that he expects the new botanical center will become a destination on its own and "attract visitors to Providence from throughout the Northeast."
The botanical center also has two classrooms and will offer gardening and composting classes provided by the University of Rhode Island.

The project cost $7.7 million to build, and was funded by state, federal and city government, as well as a $1 million grant from the Champlin Foundations. Keith Lang, executive director of the independent foundation, said it adds to the green space at the park and bolsters its educational offerings.
"I think the thing that really attracted us was the educational component," he said. "This was an aesthetically pleasant place to be. But at the same time, it was going to involve a lot of people in getting to know the environment."
Allison Barrett, a science teacher in Providence, came with her 5-year-old grandson Wilson Jensen. "I was thinking next fall, I'd bring my students," she said.
An educator and artist, Raffini (who goes by just one name), said she also planned to bring her students here as they learn about plants and launch a project to plant a garden they can use to grow their own food. But she said she also wants to come on her own.
"I'm loving it. I'm loving all the tropical plants," she said. "We can come here and chill out." (AP)
March 29, 2007

Roger Williams Park Botanical Center

‘North By Northeast’ Exhibit Delivers 500 Years Of New England Maps

Deerfield, Mass.:Historic Deerfield will kick off its 55th season with its first exhibition to focus on maps, titled "North by Northeast: Five Centuries of New England Maps," opening Saturday, March 31. Visitors will gain access to a world-class collection of antique maps and mapmaking equipment spanning the period 1540 to 1918, including 19 important maps on loan from the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. The show will be on view in the Flynt Center of Early New England Life to August 12.

"Every map tells a story," said David Bosse, Historic Deerfield's librarian and guest curator of the exhibition. "A goal of the exhibition is to provide greater awareness of the biases and perspectives found in most maps, since they are always a product of their time — embodying the political, cultural and economic views of their makers."

The name "New England" was first applied to the region by Captain John Smith in his cornerstone map originally published in A Description of New England (London, 1616). While Smith's may be the most significant map in the exhibition, other cartographic highlights include the so-called "beaver map" by Herman Moll (London, 1735), a rare American map of the seat of war near Boston published during the American Revolution and a unique proof copy of Edward Hitchcock's 1834 geological map of Massachusetts — the first published for any American state.
In addition to approximately 50 printed and manuscript maps, "North by Northeast" will also offer portraits, surveyors' compasses, globes, reverse paintings on glass, powder horns, landscape views, printed diagrams and an orrery — a mechanical device used to illustrate the orbit of the earth and the moon.

"The exhibition is organized around eight themes, including mapmaking and map production," said Bosse. "This allows us to include some very interesting objects in addition to the maps themselves. The other themes include defining New England; geographical literacy and learning; the politics of cartography; thematic and special purpose maps; the manmade landscape; cartography and conflict; and the elements of style: design and iconography."
"The exhibition provides the opportunity to focus programs on maps and mapmaking," said Amanda Rivera Lopez, director of museum education at Historic Deerfield. "On weekends in April and during school vacation week, families will discover hands-on activities related to the use and creation of maps."

"North by Northeast" draws on the cartographic collections of several institutions. These include the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Amherst College Archives & Special Collections, Connecticut Historical Society Library, Harvard Map Collection of Harvard University, Mount Holyoke College Archives & Special Collections, the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at Boston Public Library, the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library, Mortimer Rare Book Room at Smith College, the Hatfield Historical Society, private collections and Historic Deerfield.
For information, 413-775-7214 or http://www.historic-deerfield.org/ .

RHODE ISLAND’S QUONSET POINT/DAVISVILLE FACILITY BEING EVALUATED AS HOMEPORT FOR FIRST OCEAN EXPLORATION SHIP

RHODE ISLAND’S QUONSET POINT/DAVISVILLE FACILITY BEING EVALUATED AS HOMEPORT FOR FIRST OCEAN EXPLORATION SHIP

Jan. 19, 2007 — NOAA is evaluating Quonset Point/Davisville, R.I., as the future homeport of the Okeanos Explorer—the nation’s first federal ship dedicated solely to ocean exploration—as part of an environmental assessment to be completed this spring.

“Okeanos Explorer will break the mold for the way the nation conducts at-sea research in the future. We have better maps of Mars and the far side of the moon than of the deep and remote regions of Earth,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “Senator Reed and Governor Carcieri have been outspoken champions of the oceans. Their support combined with the wealth of academic and oceanographic institutions in New England would lead to many exciting collaborations in ocean exploration.

”The Okeanos Explorer is a former Navy surveillance ship (USS Capable) that was transferred to NOAA in 2004 with the bipartisan support of Congress. The full conversion is expected to be complete in the spring of 2008. The ship will conduct research and discovery expeditions in support of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration. Using sophisticated ocean mapping, deepwater remote-operated vehicles, and real-time data transmission, the ship will unlock clues to the world’s oceans—of which 95 percent remains unexplored.

Quonset Point/Davisville is in close proximity to many labs and universities associated with the ship’s ocean exploration mission. The site was identified as best able to facilitate and enhance critical ocean research partnerships and to spur technological innovation in ocean research. Homeporting Okeanos Explorer at Quonset Point/Davisville also would support NOAA’s efforts to increase regional collaboration, leverage existing resources of NOAA and its partners, and generate an observational capacity greater than the sum of its parts.

Quonset Point/Davisville also is in close proximity to a new telecommunications center to be constructed on the University of Rhode Island’s Narragansett campus. Called the Inner Space Center, it will be the ocean equivalent to NASA’s space command center in Houston, Texas. The Inner Space Center would be able to link to Okeanos Explorer via a high bandwidth satellite system and make it possible for scientists and educators to participate in ocean exploration cruises real-time without ever stepping foot on the ship.

“I am pleased NOAA has identified Quonset Point/Davisville as an ideal place to homeport Okeanos Explorer. This is an exciting announcement for Rhode Island and the field of ocean exploration,” said Senator Jack Reed. “Rhode Islanders value the ocean. It shapes our culture, economy and the health of our planet. URI and other local institutions are at the forefront of studying and exploring our oceans. Their unique academic and communications resources will significantly enhance the value of Okeanos.”

"I'm very pleased that NOAA has agreed to seriously consider basing the Okeanos Explorer in the Ocean State," Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri said. "I have long argued that Rhode Island can and should be one of America's leading centers of oceanic research. To further that goal, I worked with Senator Reed and Admiral Lautenbacher to bring the Okeanos Explorer to Rhode Island. Doing so will enable our state to build on the research capacity we've already developed at URI, while also exploiting the potential of Quonset Point/Davisville as a launching point for exploring the ocean's untapped and largely unknown resources. I especially want to thank NOAA and Admiral Lautenbacher for recognizing Rhode Island's potential."

“It would be very fitting for the Ocean State to serve as the homeport for the first NOAA ship focused exclusively on ocean exploration,” said Rear Admiral Samuel P. De Bow Jr., director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps and the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, which manages the NOAA fleet.

A team of oceanographers from across the country are already helping to plan the ship’s first voyage of exploration that will be launched from Hawaii in 2008 to explore the Pacific Ocean, the world’s largest and least explored ocean.

As part of the NOAA fleet, Okeanos Explorer will be operated, managed and maintained by the NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations. Its crew will consist of technical specialists, wage mariners, scientists, and commissioned officers of the NOAA Corps—the nation’s seventh uniformed service. The Corps is composed of scientists and engineers who provide NOAA with an important blend of operational, management and technical skills that support the agency’s environmental programs at sea, in the air and ashore. A NOAA Corps officer will command Okeanos Explorer.

NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

Relevant Web SitesOkeanos Explorer Conversion

NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations

NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps

Media Contact:Jeanne Kouhestani, NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, (301) 713-7693

Source: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2779.htm

Mass Moments

Mass Moments is a project of the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, whose mission is to use history, literature, philosophy, and the other humanities disciplines to enhance and improve civic life throughout the Commonwealth. The Foundation receives support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as private sources. This project is funded in part by a grant from the "We the People" Initiative at NEH.

The Boston Historical Society and Museum

The Boston Historical Society and Museum

Founded in 1881 to save the Old State House from being moved to Chicago, The Bostonian Society is the historical society for the city of Boston. Through library and museum collections which date from the 1630s to the 21st century, through exhibitions on the American Revolution and Boston's neighborhoods, and through programs for adults and children, the Society brings Boston history to life.

The Bostonian Society is the first stop for anyone interested in the city's history. With a museum within the 1713 Old State House, a research library and programs and events for all ages, the Society provides a comprehensive historical and educational resource.

The New England Higher Education Recruitment Consortium

The New England Higher Education Recruitment Consortium's site is a free web-based job search resource, which includes thirty-six New England universities and colleges, with more than 3,000 job openings for faculty, administrators, and hospital personnel. Job seekers are not restricted to people who work in academia. Jobs range from positions for professors and lecturers to openings for physicians, scientists, laboratory technicians, researchers, and medical and support staff.


Members of the consortium include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Boston College, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Brown University, Dartmouth University , Worcester State College, University of Vermont, Bentley College, Berkeley College of Music, Emerson College, Northeastern University, Babson College, Simmons College, Emmanuel College, and Wheelock College. Hospitals in the consortium include Massachusetts General Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Brigham & Women's Hospital.

New England Towns

I guess the best way to explain this site is thus: This is a travel guide that your ancestors could have used almost two hundred years ago. I spent a lot of time reading through this site last night. It contains a large number of historic descriptions covering New England, from the states down to individual locations (springs, rivers, etc.).

NewEnglandTowns.org -
NewEnglandTowns.org brings together historic accounts of New England places that not only tell us about times gone by, but also offer hints and revelations for the modern visitor. Searching for a scenic getaway? Want to visit ancestral towns and villages in search of genealogy and family history.

Here’s an entry for the Massachusetts portion of the site
A trigonometrical and astronomical survey of the state, by order of the general court, for the purpose of a new map, was commenced in 1830, and will soon be completed. Surveys of the mineralogy, botany, zoology, and agriculture of the state have been commenced; some favorable reports have been made, and the researches of scientific men are continued, and promise great public usefulness.

It’s a great site to poke around, and the creators have done a good job of pulling all of this information together.

EarthWatch

EarthWatch Institute

Earthwatch Institute is an international non-profit organization, based in Maynard, Massachusetts, that brings science to life for people concerned about the Earth's future. Founded in 1971, Earthwatch supports scientific field research by offering volunteers the opportunity to join research teams around the world. This unique model is creating a systematic change in how the public views science and its role in environmental sustainability.

New England Weather Spotters

New England Weather Spotters

Since New England experiences harsh winters, several regional television stations use weather spotters for up-to-date snowfall amounts and reports. WHDH-TV's network, launched by former meteorologist Todd Gross, is the largest in New England with close to 300 spotters.





Todd Gross.com
From the Berkshires to Boston, weather forecasts and educational evaluation of the weather for Southern New England keep you up to the minute with what you need to know and why our New England weather is what it is.

The Encyclopedia of New England

The Encyclopedia of New England
Edited by Burt Feintuch and David H. Watters; Foreword by Donald Hall

REVIEWS
CONTENTS
EXCERPTS

Named one of the best reference books of 2005 by Library Journal
Often defined by the familiar images of taciturn Yankees, town meetings, maple syrup, and rocky seacoasts, New England is both a distinctively American place and a distinctive place within America. Yet these images present only one aspect of the richly varied region that is New England in the twenty-first century. Today traditional scenes of white-clapboard buildings surrounding an idyllic village green, hillside farms, and red-brick mills rub shoulders with advanced research centers, nuclear power plants, and urban neighborhoods of immigrants from around the globe.

In entries written by leading authorities in the field, The Encyclopedia of New England presents a comprehensive view of this important region, past and present. Both authoritative and entertaining, this single-volume reference will be an invaluable resource for the scholar and an irresistible pageturner for the browser.

The Encyclopedia contains
• 1,300 alphabetically arranged entries examining significant people, places, events, ideas,and artifacts• Fascinating and little-known facts that rarely appear in history books
• More than 500 illustrations and maps
• Contributions from nearly 1,000 distinguished scholars and writers, including journalists, academics, and specialists from museums, industries, and historical societies
• 1.5 million words in 22 thematic sections, ranging from agriculture to tourism, each with an introduction by a leading specialist in the field
• Extensive cross-references and a full index
BURT FEINTUCH is professor of Folklore and English and director of the Center for the Humanities at the University of New Hampshire. DAVID H. WATTERS is professor of English and director of the Center for New England Culture at the University of New Hampshire.

Did You Know . . .
• The Vermont legislature declared war on Nazi Germany in 1941, before Pearl Harbor.
• When Massachusetts schoolchildren petitioned the legislature to make the chocolate chip cookie the state cookie, it set off a firestorm because many people (including the governor) preferred Fig Newtons. Finally, in 1997 (Mass. Bill S-1716), the chocolate chip cookie became the official state cookie; the Fig Newton was unofficially declared the state “fruit cookie.”
• Basketball, candlepin bowling, lacrosse, racquetball, volleyball, and wiffle ball were all invented in New England.

From Yale University Press

Can be purchased at Amazon.com

New England Weather

Today's forecast calls for...


Weather Websites:
New England Weather
Plymouth State Weather
Unisys
Skeetobite Weather
New England Weather Associates
Weather Talk Radio
iCyclone
nowCOAST

Battle of Bunker Hill

To mark the 225th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Massachusetts Historical Society presents its first "web exhibition" -- personal accounts and eyewitness descriptions of the battle, along with contemporary maps, drawings, engravings, broadsides, and artifacts, either preserved by the participants or found on the battlefield.
The exhibition is divided into seven sections:

An essay by Bernard Bailyn giving an overview account of the battle

A timeline of events and documents described in the exhibition

Ten contemporary manuscript and printed accounts of the battle with transcriptions of the texts

Brief biographical sketches of the authors and recipients of documents in the exhibition

Contemporary maps and views of Boston in 1775 and battle plans

A bibliography of sources on the Battle of Bunker Hill
While the exhibit includes well-known documents such as Abigail Adams's letter to her husband John, quoted above, there also are letters and journals of American and British soldiers, including ordinary soldiers in the ranks, as well as civilian observers who lived in the Boston area.
The purpose of the web exhibition is to make available documents from the Massachusetts Historical Society's collections to a wider audience. The events of June 17, 1775 are told here through the words of those who were present.


The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill byJohn Trumbull.


Battle of Bunker Hill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MOXIE!

Moxie, a carbonated beverage, is considered to be the nation's first mass produced soft drink.

The word "Moxie" means courage, guts, self-sufficiency, chutzpah, confidence, fighting spirit, and nerve -- it also took a lot of moxie to swallow more than a mouthful of the stuff. At best, the flavor has been described as unforgettable. Early advertising campaigns informed potential patrons that they would have to "Learn to Drink Moxie." The thought of people drinking this stuff out of pleasure is incomprehensible, yet Moxie has a strong following who will drink no other soda. In fact, as late as the 1920s Moxie was our nations most popular national brand.

Moxie is found throughout New England.

Maine holds a Moxie Festival every year in July.




Links:
Moxie World
Monarch Beverage Company brands
Moxie Festival
Moxie Facts
Wikipedia


UPDATED: August 26, 2008
Cornucopia Beverages has acquired the Trademark and rights of the Moxie brand and all associated beverages from the Monarch Beverages Company of Atlanta, Georgia.
http://www.moxie.info/cornucopia.htm

Their new can/bottle reflect this change (finally!)

New England’s Guide to New England

NEgetaway.com
New England’s Guide to New England

Featuring regional "Getaway Guides" to each region & state in New England. Complete guide to lodging, attractions, and more. Advertisers can choose from a number of listing opportunities.


GONEGo
New England Magazine

FREE monthly newsletter delivered to the inbox's of interested travelers. GONE includes local articles, reviews, promotions, and a special coupon section.

New England Explorer

At New England Explorer it is their goal to create a website that will truly be "Your Gateway To New England " ™ including travel information for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

New England Meeting Sites.com

New England Meeting Sites.com

The Official Web Site of theNew England Society of Convention and Visitors BureausDiscover New England and the diversity the region has tooffer. Our historic cities, pristine coastline and charmingcountry settings offer a multitude of meeting options.

The New England Society of Convention and VisitorsBureaus is a cooperative organization of over 20 CVBsdedicated to promoting New England as a premieredestination for meetings and conventions.

Maple Syrup in New England

Going for a drive this morning was rewarded with the smells of “sugaring” in the air. To learn about the history and making of maple syrup (and where to get a taste!) I found the following resources:

The New England Maple Museum is conveniently located in the heart of Maple Country, nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains in Rutland, Vermont where Vermont’s finest maple syrup is made.

Massachusetts Maple Producers Association are a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of maple sugaring in Massachusetts.

Nature of New England

Nature of New England
Photos and information about birds, butterflies, mammals, & wildflowers

New England Wildlife Center is a native wildlife preservation and educational nonprofit organization teaching hospital, education, advocacy and public health and habitat intervention.

Heritage Programs
Heritage programs are small government programs that work to preserve their states' native biological diversity through inventory, research, environmental review, habitat protection, and data management. Heritage programs maintain rare species lists, natural community information, rare plant fact sheets, and various other reference materials.
ME: Maine Natural Areas Program
MA: Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program
CT: Natural Diversity Data Base
NH: New Hampshire Natural Heritage Inventory
VT: Vermont Nongame & Natural Heritage Program
RI: Rhode Island Natural History Survey

New England Discovery
The goal at New England Discovery is to increase awareness and appreciation of wildlife and the natural world by helping people become more familiar with the wild animals that live around us, and how these animals interact with and depend on their environment.