Births per 1,000 residents in 2010

By Matt Carroll, Boston Globe | May 2, 2013

Click here to see a larger, interactive version of this chart.
Additional town-by-town snapshots.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

A $350,000 project to put lights on athletic fields at Scituate High School is being delayed as town officials wait to figure out the direction for a new middle school.

According to Superintendent John McCarthy, plans were underway to begin a large-scale project that would eventually bring lights to the junior varsity baseball field, the JV football field, the back soccer/lacrosse field, and the skate park.

Though the money, entirely paid for by Community Preservation Committee funding, was approved at Scituate Town Meeting in April, officials have decided to hold off, mainly because the plans could complicate the evolving middle school project.

“The only concern that I have with that is what if the recommendation is to build a new school back there [where we would be installing the lights]. Then all of that has to be moved,” McCarthy said. “And you won’t get reimbursement for that, you end up wasting all that money. The prudent thing would be to wait until we know exactly what’s going to happen with [the existing middle school], what the plan is. Once that is set, we can move forward with the lights.”

Town officials have been discussing what to do with the crumbling and aging Gates Middle School for years, and have hopes to rebuild a new school at the site of the existing Town Hall.

The switch is part of the master plan, developed by selectmen, which would also see the current Middle School renovated into a new Town Hall. The Police Station, situated on land shared by the current Town Hall, will be moved to a new location along with the Fire Department.

The first step in all of that will start with the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The town is hoping to partner with the state entity to help pay for a new school, and is waiting to be invited in to the program.

That invitation will hopefully come in June, McCarthy said. After that, the town can begin a feasibility study, already funded through a Special Town Meeting, that will look at the existing Middle School’s problems and parce out viable solutions.

Because one of those options might be the field construction space, McCarthy has suggested the town wait on the project. Most likely, the town will have a concrete direction within the year.

“It will delay it a little bit, but not a lot, and it makes a lot of sense to do these things in the right order,” McCarthy said.

The project is the second part of a process begun by the Reidy Foundation and Scituate Little League, who fundraised upwards of $200,000 to bring lights to the High School Varsity baseball field.

The Varsity field plans, underway since December, will continue, as those fields are not where a new middle school might possibly be built.

“That’s adjacent to the football field, which is already a turf field with lights,” McCarthy said. “The baseball field is right next to that. That again, chances are it won’t be interfered with in any kind of building project.”

If some of the fields were to be taken away to build a new school, McCarthy said the town would re-build those fields on another piece of that land.

“The question is, is that a spot the school would need to be located? That would take playing fields away, and you’d have to build them in another location … that wouldn’t be a problem. But until we know the plan on where the school would go, it’s better that we wait. If we have lights there, it’s only going to complicate things. It eliminates a place you could possibly put a school,” McCarthy said.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Approximately 30 percent of Scituate’s 13,000 voters came out to cast a ballot in Tuesday’s Town Election and State Primary, with Martin O’Toole walking away with a win for the empty selectman seat.

O’Toole won the three-way contested race with 1,515 votes, beating out candidates James Gilmore (1,392 votes) and Ann Burbine (1,003 votes) for the selectman seat.

O’Toole will take over for Selectman Joseph Norton, who vacated the seat after 30 years of being a selectman in the town.

Though not available for comment after the win, during the election, O’Toole said his main hope was to represent the town fairly.

“We have a lot of issues, and none should be minimized, bur our schools, infrastructure, education, and public safety are my top issues,” he said. “…We need to balance the needs for everybody. There isn’t one person that’s more important.”

The highly contested race varied starkly from every other race on the ballot, which saw only one name apiece running for town spots.

The only other contested race residents could make an impact on was that of the U.S. Senate seat.

In a move that contrasted with that of the entire state, Scituate residents voted to support Stephen Lynch over Edward Markey.

The town has a history with Lynch, who started representing Scituate after recent redistricting.

Early Tuesday morning, several residents said they supported Lynch in the seat.

“I think he’s going to fight harder,” said Mark Radding, 59, who identified himself as a democrat. “He’s a bit more level headed about economic considerations and challenges.”

Regardless of Scituate’s desires, Markey walked away with the primary win state wide.

Republican residents' votes coincided more with the state. With 897 votes, Gabriel Gomez was put forward for the Republican ballot, beating out Michael Sullivan (609 votes) and Daniel Winslow (83 votes) by a long shot.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

The Scituate Garden Show has been five years in the making, but for Garden Club member Faith Bowker-Maloney, it has been well worth the wait.

“Everyone is starting to think spring, new beginnings, and getting ideas for their garden and what they might want to plant,” Bowker-Maloney said of the event. “It’s educational, fun to do, and Scituate harbor is a great place to do a exhibit like this.”

Excitement is high as Club members host the two-day event on the evening of April 26 and morning of April 27, with dozens of entries from the small and large on display.

Though the show typically occurs every three or four years, and has been ongoing since 1927, but the past few years have been difficult to try to pull everything together.

“It’s a lot of work involved in it, setting the classes and staging and all,” Bowker-Maloney said. “There are other things the club have been tending to, a wildflower garden…it just took a little while to get this all organized, get a theme and getting the whole presentation of it.”

Yet after months of planning and over 60 volunteers, the stage is set to bring in locals to view the designs, which are organized by group and given titles that cleverly hint to the design.

Per the “Fragrance of Flowers” theme of the show, the divisions have been given perfume titles. White Shoulders will feature traditional designs with fresh plant materials, presented on a green pedastle, while Shalimar will have an Asian influence.

Other themes include Evening in Paris, Miss Dior for smaller designs, and Chanel #5 to be displayed on vanity tables. Each category comes complete with dimension requirements and planting specifications.

The event will also feature dozens of horticultural entries, from tulips and houseplants to branches and bulbs.

“I think people enjoy seeing things presented by the Garden Club. The Fragrance of Flowers will be the place to be this weekend,” Bowker-Maloney said.

Fourth and fifth graders also participate, with a Junior Gardeners category as well.

Judges had already gone through the entries by Friday morning, and the doors were open to the public in the afternoon for a first look of the event.

Club members will gather at 7 p.m. to highlight the achievements.

The public will be invited back into the venue on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“This weekend, we have Scituate Ship Shape ship Day so there will be a lot of people out and about and maybe dropping in,” Bowker-Maloney said.

Especially after a trying winter and a tragic beginning to spring, Bowker-Maloney hoped that people may be able to come by, if only for a few minutes, and stop and smell the roses.

The event will take place at the St. Mary of the Nativity Parish Center on 2 Edward Foster Road. The event is free of charge.

For more information, click here.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Scituate school officials have decided to redistrict a small portion of full-day kindergarten students and reconfigure their half-day kindergarten program in an effort to reduce the size of classes in kindergarten through third grade.

“Basically, the Jenkins district is becoming a little smaller, and Wompatuck and Cushing are increasing a little,” said Superintendent John McCarthy said.

The number of students affected will range from about seven in the coming school year to about 100 over several years, he said.

Administrators have been working for months to try to sort out how to bring class sizes to 20 students or fewer in younger grade levels, where studies have shown small class sizes are most beneficial.

“It was a long process, but it was worth it,” said McCarthy. “And we had a lot of meetings with parents. We went out three times to talk to patents and explain our plan.”

The problem was mainly at Jenkins Elementary School. Not only were there too many students, but there wasn’t enough space to bring in additional teachers to shrink the size of some of the classes.

With the budget already approved to bring more teachers on board, administrators eventually decided on a series of moves to free up space, sending all half-day kindergarten students to Wompatuck Elementary School, which had the space to accommodate them.

Additionally, Scituate will slowly start to redistrict a small number of students planning to attend full day-kindergarten classes at Jenkins, having them start and continue their elementary careers at either Cushing Elementary School or Wompatuck Elementary.

The only students who will change schools – seven in total for this year - will be those who don’t have older siblings already at Jenkins.

“What we’re doing in the process of redistricting, is if you’re in one of the neighborhoods that is being redistricted and you already have a child at Jenkins, you can keep both of your children at Jenkins - you don’t have to send one child to one school and another to another,” McCarthy said. “The number [of redistricted students] is smaller than what it could have been. It could have been more students, but because we’re allowing them to keep students at Jenkins if they have kids there, it takes the number down a little bit.”

Initially, administrators wanted to move the entire kindergarten out of Jenkins Elementary School, which would have freed up space to break up the first through third grade into smaller classes.

Yet parents were concerned that they would then have multiple kids in different school districts, which could become cumbersome.

Though that may be the case for one year for parents that have an older child and one in half-day classes, any permanent moves will ensure that siblings attend the same school.

Over time, entire neighborhoods will be redistricted to schools that can better accommodate the numbers, a shift that will probably bring 100 students out of Jenkins over the next several years and into Cushing and Wompatuck, which have seen student declines.

“This is a good compromise. And in a few years, it won’t be an issue anymore,” McCarthy said.

In the meantime, the moves have allowed administrators to keep all classes in K-3 at or below 20 students.

Neighborhoods that will see the change this year will be the Sand Hills area of Scituate, as well as a neighborhood close to Greenbush.

“It will take a period of time, we will shift the whole neighborhood, but it will take a few years,” McCarthy said.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Come September, South Shore stores may carry a new brand of alcohol on their shelves, produced a short drive away in Hingham.

The Bradford Distillery, proposed for Hingham’s South Shore Industrial Park off Route 3, will launch its round of local approvals next month, and owners hope to see the manufacturing up and running by the fall, producing everything from vodka to gin to fruit brandy.

“It’s been a long time in the making,” said Robert Rohla, from Hull, who will own the business along with aunt and uncle Patricia and Bradford Seeland, from Scituate.

For Rohla, the interest in brewing started when he was finishing up his degree from Northeastern University in 2005. Yet the passion would go on the back burner as he began law school.

He eventually moved to Kentucky to work in a law firm, and began getting involved in the legal side of the distillery process.

“In 2009/2010, we started coming across people that wanted to get into smaller distilleries … you saw a lot of older distillers who retired who were missing the game,” Rohla said.

As his interest blossomed with how to start up a small distillery business, Rohla’s uncle, Bradford, became more interested in the scientific side of the industry.

“Since 2007, his interest has coalesced with mind and we’ve been on the same page since then,” Rohla said. “He wanted to be involved in this…it’s a good working relationship.“

Rohla said the group hopes to use local fruits to make some of the alcohol. The fruit-alcohol business, mainly done with brandy, is still a small segment of the market, Rohla said, but is growing.

The current plans call for distilling the liquor at the facility, then selling it to retail establishments. But he said, “We could expand to restaurants and bars if they like what we’re making.”

Rohla explained that the distillery will not need an alcohol license, because it won't sell alcohol on site, but will go through a three-step approval process.

Locally, the shop will need a site plan review and parking plan review from the Planning Board. The distillery would then apply for building permits.

Finally, the business will have to procure state and production licensing.

According to Mary Savage Dunham, director of community planning for Hingham, the Planning Board review of the 5,000-square-foot space will begin May 6.

Because the distillery isn’t looking to sell the alcohol on-site, the approval process should not be overly complicated.

“It’s going in an industrial area, it’s all interior. The site is already built and it’s a distillery, it's manufacturing really,” she said. “There shouldn’t be a big level of concern … If in the future they expand or put in a retail component, there would probably be more scrutiny. But no pubic will go there [now], just the workers.”

Scituate residents will come out to vote on April 30 for one of three candidates for an open selectman seat, vying for the position long-term official Joseph Norton will leave absent after 30 years.

While it will be difficult to fill those shoes, Ann Burbine, James Gilmore, and Martin O’Toole want to give it a shot.

Each talked to The Boston Globe about their views. Whom do you plan to vote for?

All other races are unopposed. To view a sample ballot, click here.

PUT POLL HERE

Ann Burbine
10 PennyCress Road
Previous Experience: Advisory board, Planning Board, Chairman of the South Shore Coalition
Previous races: Waged an unsuccessful bid for selectman in 2010

Boston Globe: What makes you the most qualified applicant for selectman?

Ann Burbine: Because I’ve paid attention for all these years. I’ve been on different town committees, I’ve worked really hard. I was president of the seniors association - we ended up giving them two vans.

I’ve worked really hard for the town of Scituate. It’s where I live, my children grew up here, my grandchildren are going to school here. I love the town, and as terms of qualifications, I have the most, and I pay attention and I do understand what’s going on.

There is so much going on and the bottom line is communication. We have to talk to one another. We can’t assume things will get better.

BG: What one issue in particular are you passionate about?

AB: There are so so many issues. We’ve got sea walls, the wind turbine, the grand plan, economic development. We have all of these different things that are important to different segments of the population.

But my passion is good government. Once we make a decision, it has to be an informed one. My passion is government, good government, and the involvement [of] as many people as possible in the decision-making, knowing we don’t have to all agree, but we can at least find common ground.

BG: Where do you hope to make the biggest difference? Or what is something you hope to change as soon as you get into office?

AB: I think because of my knowledge and having paid attention, I can hit the ground running. We have different departments, somewhat fractured. We have to talk to town hall, police, fire to come up with a way to go forward to treat people with respect.

James Gilmore
735 First Parish Road
Previous experience:Capital Planning Advisory Committee member the past four years, chairman for two of those years.
Previous races: Unsuccessful bid for state representative against Jim Cantwell in 2008.

Boston Globe: What makes you the most qualified applicant for selectman?

JG: I think because of two things really. The knowledge I have of the financial, capital situation in the town. I know the budgets very well, I know the kind of request, the internal workings of the department, so I feel comfortable about that, in terms of being involved in the management side of it…

Secondly, my business experience. I run a large, multimillion floor covering company…I understand the working and needs of employees and how to provide good service. And it’s not very different from running a business and running the town. They are similar. You need to have compassion, need to be practical, and understand the concept of long-term planning, and sound fiscal footing, and that’s what you do in business.

BG: What one issue in particular are you passionate about?

JG: There are three. The one that’s come to a point, we’ve had about 50 years of benign neglect in our facilities in town. There are 52 buildings that range from being 100 years to 29 years old, and in … some circumstances there has been nothing done with these buildings, and that has allowed us to have a need for a master plan…

I think everybody, because there’s still not enough info out there about what is it or what will it look like, people are concerned about how it will be paid for. And everyone jumps to it will be paid for by a tax increase.

If we’re all wiling to listen and review and talk, put a specific ad hoc committee on that to study the methods of revenue distribution, that it could be an obtainable program. But people are jumping to the end right now, and that’s not always good in these circumstances. The master plan, something needs to happen…

The other two is the sea wall, foreshore protection. Are we funding that properly? Are we thinking of the short-term, taking care of things to protect the town and are we also thinking outside the box…what are we talking about going forward? What is science telling us? Even if the walls are in full repair, they may not be able to hold back these storms looming in the future…

I think as a selectmen you don’t need all the immediate answers, but you need to bring together experts and committees and built consensus so you can get results.

Those two are pretty much what everyone is concerned about. The wind turbine is something you’ve heard enough about, but once we get the information and get people together, there are some short-term and long-term things that could mitigate that quickly and restore health to neighbors and not cause the town to be in default with their contract.

BG: Where do you hope to make the biggest difference? Or what is something you hope to change as soon as you get into office?

JG: I think the master plan will take its course, and that is going to take some consensus building. Foreshore protection, there are remedies out there for that....

I would think the master plan - some people are throwing numbers around that average taxes may go up $1500 a year, if we don’t find revenues from other sources…that’s enough to make people very concerned. Do we need leadership there? Absolutely. It’s looming because of these time frames with state funds and the true need to get some of these buildings in order…

Martin O’Toole
15 Maple Ave.
Previous experience: Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, treasurer for the Chamber of Commerce.
Previous races: Unsuccessful write-in campaign against Selectman Richard Murray in 2012

Boston Globe: What makes you the most qualified applicant for selectman?

Martin O’Toole: I’ve never been a politician; I’m just a guy seeking to change things. I don’t want to be influenced by capital planning, zoning – I’m trying to bring refreshing ideas in…

I’m a business owner…and sometimes you have to make tough decisions. I like the idea of creative planning, but not jack someone’s taxes up the next year. If we do phases of these ideas, I think it’s beneficial to everybody…

My belief is if we look at the town as a business, and we can sit there and run it more like a business. … I believe that there are a lot of things we’re spending money on … we need to look at what are the real things we need to fix and how are we going to start doing those…

For a lot of years, we haven’t done a lot to stay up on these things. We need to start taking care of these things. Our buildings are in tough shape, our sea walls are falling apart.

I don’t want to eliminate [the Community Preservation Committee], but I think we need to take CPC and reduce it slightly, take [the surcharge taken in property taxes for the act] to 1 percent and take the other 2 percent and do things in the town. Just for a while…

[In business, if] I’m running a big job, I say here’s what we need to get [things done]…we don’t blow our budget out. We get it done and everyone is happy. Unfortunately there are [sacrifices] you have to make, laying off a person or someone taking a reduction in pay. The hard decisions have to be made to get it done. You may have to sacrifice a bit on this side to make it happen on this side…

We need to stand ready to fix those [the sea walls] … Front Street, we have beautiful community of condos and shops and restaurants, and it’s hard to find that in any other towns around here. In this area we’re unique…

The other thing is Scituate has made a lot of strides [in education]… [Test score rankings] says something about how the teachers are working in Scituate, and I believe education is going in the right direction.

The other thing we did is at Town Meeting they passed the meals tax … that money [should partly go] to economic development. A good portion needs to be earmarked for a period of time for these [other] problems we have.

....I’d like to get a part time grant writer in town, to keep their eye on things. I’m trying to do it as a citizen now. Things to make sure were not missing out on any of that money. It’s getting tighter, but we don’t want to miss out on anything coming our way.

I’ve been a successful business owner, legally in business since the early '80s, and I’m still in business ... in tough economies, you make tough choices, and we need to do things in the town…

BG: You’ve mentioned several issues – grants, seawalls, and building problems. What one issue in particular are you passionate about?

MO: My biggest thing is balance … [such as fire department staffing], we need to figure out a way to have staffing for public safety and that’s a key concern.

I believe education is going in the right direction and our buildings are in tough shape. Our infrastructure is lacking, and when I say infrastructure, I’d mention our buildings as well. That would be a top priority right now.

There are some things we need to work on and work on gradually, but some things can’t wait. Our seawalls and buildings are in tough shape, and we have to do something right away.

We have a lot of issues, and none should be minimized, bur our schools, infrastructure, education, and public safety are my top issues …

BG: Where do you hope to make the biggest difference? Or what is something you hope to change as soon as you get into office?

MO: As far as trying to realign [town] money, [we need to] do something with CPC money and do something to meals tax money so it goes towards our major problems - either the master plan or infrastructure needs. Those are the things that affect everyone. They affect seniors, property values. That would be my number one thing.

Our seniors don’t have a great place to go to and we have an empty Pier 44 building that’s difficult to get in to…that needs to change...

Our sewer systems, our water supply, people’s homes by the water or adjacent, it’s a dangerous situation for hurricanes and other storms…

[It’s] buildings, infrastructure – roads and sea walls – are big things, with public safety and education very close behind...

We need to balance the needs for everybody. There isn’t one person that’s more important…I want the seniors to be comfortable and the children to have a great education.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

Scituate’s shores, parks, fields, and streets are about to be crowded with public spirited citizens once again, as organizers prepare for Ship Shape Day.

An on-and-off annual tradition since the '80s, the day is a townwide beautification effort, conducted by hordes of volunteers who go forth with town-funded and color-coded trash bags to remove litter from public spaces.

“People from all over town come out. Every neighborhood comes out. Individuals and groups, it’s a wide participation that is very widespread,” said Donna Bangert, chair of the Beautification Commission, which hosts the event.

The two-day event wil start on Saturday, April 27, at Scituate Town Hall. From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., volunteers wait at the building to hand out bags and disposable gloves. Safety vests and grabbing devices are also available for a deposit, which is refunded when the items are returned.

Volunteers picking up supplies are then asked to chose a place to clean, based on a map of locations picked by the Commission.

“There are definitely some areas that are little pockets where people feel no compunction about throwing away anything,” Bangert said. “They go there to get rid of stuff they don’t know how to get rid of.”

Fences at baseball fields and wooded areas without houses are typically on the list, as are local playgrounds, parks, and beaches.

Typically beach associations come by to help with their beach areas, and Boy Scouts volunteer on occasion, too.

Though some may say picking up other people’s trash just encourages them to litter in the future, Bangert said there is evidence to the contrary.

“Research has been done by organizations like Keep America Beautiful. And they have shown where trash is present, people are more likely to litter,” Bangert said, “… 85 percent of the decision to throw out trash is based on whether you’ve learned that littering is wrong. You’re less likely to do it. Education is a huge part when someone litters. But seeing trash present is the next biggest impact.”

Bangert said she doesn’t think Scituate has any more trash than any other community, but that Ship Shape day has had an impact in reducing trash overall.

“We have to keep at it. If we want to change people’s behavior, we have to do this first. Pick up the trash, because not doing so encourages more littering,” she said.

In addition to the help from local volunteers and families, Scituate Police also assist in slowing down traffic for areas along busy roads where volunteers pick up trash.

“Scituate Police are wonderful about working with us,” Bangert said. “Anyone who wants to do a roadside that’s maybe a bit more dangerous, they are willing to go and check on groups. We’re grateful for them for that assistance.”

Once trash is collected, town employees go out throughout town to pick up the specially colored bags, left on the sides of streets.

The event is one of two happening on the South Shore in the next few weeks.

On May 4 in Cohasset, Hingham, and Hull, volunteers are encouraged to come to the Weir River Estuary to help pick up litter.

The event starts at 10 a.m. with a check-in at Rocky Beach in Cohasset, at 151 Atlantic Avenue in Hull, on Rockland Street/Kilby Street in Hingham, or at the Estuary Center on George Washington Boulevard at the Hingham-Hull town line.

Trash bags will be provided for those that do not have any. All volunteers are invited to a free cookout at noon in Hull afterwards.

For more information on Clean Up Day, click here.

For more information on Ship Shape Day, click here.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

With 10 years of offering small community grants to organizations throughout the South Shore, the Blue Hills Community Health Alliance will start a new initiative this year, offering up to two larger grants to worthy organizations.

Geared towards groups in Braintree, Quincy, Hingham, Scituate, Canton, Cohasset, Hull, Milton, Norwell, Norwood, Randolph, Sharon, and Weymouth, the goal of the grants is to improve local health.

As has occurred in the past, several grants, typically 10-20, ranging from $500-$3,500 each, will be handed out for smaller initiatives. Yet for the first time this year, one or two “Impact Grants” will be given out ranging from $3,600-$10,000.

“We did fund many wonderful grants last year,” said Stephanie Nitka, Blue Hills Community Health Network Area Coordinator. “It’s exciting to see what each group does with a small amount of money, and it will be exciting to see what happens with these Impact Grants.”

Last year, grants were given to a variety of organizations after an extensive vetting process, with Quincy’s Germantown Neighborhood Center, Point Webster Middle School, Quincy Asian Resources, and Manet Community Health Center all receiving funding.

Over $39,000 in funding was doled out in total to 13 organizations.

This year, along with the opportunity to win larger grants, the organization has also received more money, preparing to hand out $55,000 in funding to a variety of organizations.

According to Nitka, the funding comes from a Determination of Need funding from hospitals – money that is taken from hospital renovations and given to the Department of Public Health to be dolled out to community organizations.

On the Health Alliance website, funders included the South Shore Hospital, Norwood Hospital, Harvard Vanguard, and Weymouth MRI.

With more money this year, the process will be no less intensive. Those looking to apply will have to attend a mandatory information session on either April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. or on April 25 from 5 to 7 p.m.

From there, organizations will fill out an application. Projects must either improve access to care, prevent or manage chronic disease, improve mental health in the community, or address substance abuse.

A judging panel made up of reviewers from the community judge the applications on how they fit the criteria and will decide who receives funding.

According to Nitka, applications are due by May 16 and winners will be announced by June 30. Awarded programs will start July 1.

For more information and to register for an information session, visit here.

Photos courtesy of Russell Clark

Volunteers help install piping plover fences around The Spit to protect the species.

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent

The stakes have been set and the temporary fences put in place, all so the Piping Plover can have another successful mating season on the Spit.

A small stretch of land in Scituate harbor accessible only by boat or a long beach walk, The Spit has been monitored for decades, with environmentalists looking for how to better protect the federally protected small beach birds.

Like many other beaches in the South Shore, environmentalists have taken to putting up makeshift fences to protect the habitat, and steer unknowing beachgoers away from the camouflaged nests.

“[The protections are] something that’s encouraged,” said Sue McCallum, sanctuary director for the Mass Audubon South Shore Sanctuaries. “It’s not mandated at all beaches, but as a responsible town [beach] owner, the town of Scituate hires us to do this.”

Approximately 10 people went out to the Spit for a day in early April, putting stakes in the sand connected by twine to delineate where beachgoers should avoid.

In addition to a biologist from the Mass Audubon, Board of Health member Russell Clark and Harbormaster Mark Patterson helped bring out the supplies on boats. They were met with volunteers from the AmeriCorps foundation.

The goal, MacCallum said, is to share the beach, giving residents and visitors access to a beautiful area, while letting the birds maintain their species.

“The piping plover nests are very cryptic…it’s not a nest like you think,” MacCallum said. “There’s a little depression in the sand and they lay their eggs that looks like pebbles. They are easy to step on.”

In Massachusetts, similar tactics have been working, with plover populations increasing statewide.

On the Spit specifically, the success fluctuates. Two years ago, the birds didn’t accomplish much; however, last year seven birds total were raised and fledged from two separate mating couples.

“The population on third cliff has been stable. It fluctuates a lot from year to year, but overall it’s been stable,” MacCallum said.

Yet without these simple precautions, the success rate would be very low, MacCallum said, and people would most likely be up in the dunes where the birds are nesting.

A small group of people will go back out on April 22 to finish the job. In the meantime, the signs and posts will once again bring an awareness to a species that is doing all they can to survive.

“It’s a unique place, a gorgeous place, but [we need to] raise awareness that the birds are out there too, and need our help,” MacCallum said.