The Case of the Missing Glove: A reflection on an MMA Winter Afterschool Adventure

Camden Palm • Mar 30, 2023

By: Camden Palm, MMA Director of Education

 

“Grab your coats, it’s time for an outdoor adventure!” I hollered to students in the newly expanded MMA afterschool program, generously funded by the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnerships. Students scurried to their cubbies, and loaded up on layers- hats, gloves shoved in their pockets, jackets pulled over their sweatshirts. We embarked outside into a calm winter day. To Dead Horse Valley we go! We wandered down New Dollar Lane in our safety sandwich- a formation with one MMA staff member leading the front, one MMA staff member managing the back, and kids filling the middle. We passed Ham Pony Lot, and waved to the workers who were building an entry way wall on the way. We crossed Prospect Street and arrived at the freshly mended Dead Horse Valley hill. At least 3 students sped down with all their might. 


Today we embarked on a nature hike, the goal? Investigating signs of spring. . . We found snowdrops, and buds on shrubs, we discovered daffodil buds, and moss soft as a carpet. Each student had a magnifying glass in hand, and we wandered for a long while. Oh, what a day. Then, all of a sudden, a camper proclaimed “OH NO! I lost my glove!!” It was the epitome of a winter adventure and the case of the missing glove. Next thing we know we were testing our orienteering skills to retrace our steps. We passed the moss soft as a carpet, turned at the fork where the daffodil buds sprouted, waved to the patch of snowdrops, with no luck on the glove hunt. . . Each member of our team was fully invested. The last place to look was the bottom of Dead Horse Valley’s hill. Searching high, low, and in between, a student yelled, “I see something blue!,” and running commenced. Could it be the glove. . . Why YES, YES IT WAS!! Glove in hand our mission felt like an utter success, and just like that our after-school adventure had to wind to an end. 


After that day, more and more signs of spring came to the spotlight, and even a week or two later, some students wore only a sweatshirt while gloves and coats stayed in their backpacks. As we enter into April, I see more moments of light jackets and the glimmer of summer shorts. This winter has been full of programming including Afterschool Series, Winter Break programs, and another exciting Nantucket Science Festival. It has also been full of planning for our April programs and Summer Discovery Camps. The seasons change and more engagement is ahead. The best part is the unknown of what adventures will come, and what we will find or lose while we explore Nantucket. 

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I have written of my love for sea glass and pottery shards in the past and the recent replacement of the sewer and water lines on Vestal Street created a small shard collection over the last month. Since the work required the asphalt to be completely removed (all twelve inches of it!) and the road to be dug up multiple times as they worked to remove pipe, relay new pipe, hook up the water meters, and install drainage and manhole covers, this resulted in the earth in the street being tossed about quite a bit. And, with that, came the shards! Some of these likely came from the sewer line (yes, yuck) but others came from being simply in the dirt of the road – which was not paved until 1946/1948. Pieces were likely tossed out at times, made to act as filler in holes, or simply tossed. So I found all sorts of pieces I will keep here at the Mitchell House. They included: a lovely piece with a red floral, many pieces of plates, glass, the top of a late nineteenth or early twentieth century (medicine) bottle, glass shards, a flattened spoon, a brass knob (found by a neighbor) some nails, a spike, pieces of a larger container or two based on the size and curve and coloring of the shards, and possibly a Wampanoag stone tool. One person’s trash is another one’s treasures! JNLF

Is That A Wrap?

22 Apr, 2024
Yes. Well, almost. After about a month of working – and some living (staff and or neighbors) – on Vestal Street with all the sewer and water replacement work, the paving happened today (April 17, 2024). This is the first “layer” – a three-inch binder coat. In the fall, once time has passed, they will return for the final one inch of the finish layer. Some of the other things along Vestal Street will also be repaired and updated between now and the final coat – and a bit after that. But we are very happy, after all these years to have a modern system of piping – and all new drainage we never had before! While the curator in me loved the old clay pipes, they were riddled with roots from the trees, holes, and in some places, collapsed, and the twelve inches of asphalt had to go. Vestal Street was only paved in about 1946/1948 – and has not been paved in maybe twenty years so that is a lot of asphalt in about fifty years! And with climate change and the increase in how much rain we get in these heavy rain events, all that water rushed down Vestal Street with nowhere to go – except our cellars. I am sure the neighbors are happy too! A thank you to the Town of Nantucket’s Sewer Department, especially David Gray (who may regret giving me his cellphone number forever), N&M Excavating and Utilities (Dean, we appreciate you being so nice when we had too many questions), Victor-Brandon Corp for paving, and numerous others. We are looking forward to great flushing, powerful hose lines, and rainwater being whisked away via the new, never-before-had storm drains! JNLF And to all the N&M workers who wondered why I was constantly looking down as I walked along Vestal Street, you should see the trove of porcelain shards, glass, old nails, a bottle neck, 19 th century spoon, and even possibly a Wampanoag stone tool I found!
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