Sunny Skies Greet 394 Swimmers at Provincetown Swim for Life

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Under sunny skies and warm, choppy water last Saturday, 394 swimmers crossed the 1.4 mile Provincetown Harbor at the 26th annual Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla. With about 100 kayaks and safety boats out in the water, all swimmers made it safely to the Boatslip beach where the Swim medical team, Provincetown Rescue Squad and hundreds of cheering people greeted them.SwimLifeguards2013Organizer Jay Critchley of the Provincetown Community Compact estimates 0,000 was raised for AIDS, women's health and the community. Team McNulty, with Shawn and Nicole McNulty and others, raised over ,000 in pledges for their tenth swim. They were inducted into the Circle of Honor with other swimmers who have swum ten times or raised ,000.  Other top fundraisers include: Jim Youngerman, Lenox MA, ,260; Joel Stahl, Larkspur, CA, ,300; Ed Moore, Boston, MA, ,755; Gene Elizabeth Landis, Amesbury, MA, ,620; Paul Mast, Waldwick, NJ, ,615; Mark Bastian, Boston, ,000; and Jane Barber, Breckenridge, CO, ,500.Swimmers hailed from across the country as well as from Spain and UK. Town Manager Sharon Lynn and Board of Selectmen Chair Austin Knight presided over the awards ceremony.The Mermaid Brunch, catered by Far Land Provisions, followed the Swim,with entertainment by Zoe Lewis. Susan Roderick of Truro was awarded the David Asher Volunteer Award for her decades of service to the community. The oldest swimmers were: Arthur Figur, 82, NY and Elizabeth Minifie, 71, Newport, RI. Youngest swimmers were: Gabriella Martinez, 11, Belchertown, MA and Kyle Martin, 12, Dedham, MA.Other teams that swam included: Team Adrian's, Yoga East/Provincetown Aqua Sports, Team Flipper, Moving Violations Motorcycle Club/Native Cape Cod Seafood, Wellesley High School swim team and Team Provincetown IB School.  Katie McCully, who organized Team Fitzy's Mermaids, was top female finisher at 33:20. Top male finisher was Craig Milan of Miami and Truro at 31:20.Additional Circle of Honor inductees, who were awarded a handcrafted glass medallion from Taqwa Glassworks, include: Caitlyn Dionne, Provincetown; Max Richter, San Diego and Arthur Richter, Barrington, RI and Provincetown; Larry K. Smith, W. New York, NJ; Henry Faaland, Hull, MA; Helen Ederer, Vero Beach, CA; Jim Youngerman, Lenox, MA; Katie McCully, Eastham, MA; Jack Miller, Kingston, MA; Carla Kaplan, Wellfleet, MA; Rebecca Wagner and Olga Bravo, Pawtucket, RI; Peter Betit, Boston; Richard Friedman, NYC; Jim Christioni, Needham, MA; Joel Stahl, Larkspur, CA; Kenny Golding, Brooklyn, NY; Herve Hamon, Norwalk, CT; Mark Yates, Somerville, MA; Ro Pannessi, Watertown, MA; Martin Rook, NYC; Bill Klessens, Salem, MA; Tim Halke, S. Portland, ME; and Sherry Jefferson, Washington, PA.John Thomas, who produced a rousing 20th Celebration of Life Concert the night before, became an honorary member of the Circle of Honor.Swim beneficiaries include: AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Helping Our Women, Outer Cape Health Services, Provincetown Rescue Squad, Lower Cape Ambulance, Soup Kitchen in Provincetown, the Academy at Provincetown School and The Compact Community Fund.Business sponsors include: Seamen’s Bank, Lead Sponsor; Provincetown Banner, Media Sponsor; Far Land Provisions; Boatslip Resort; Fanizzi’s Restaurant; Lobster Pot Restaurant; Crown & Anchor; Mussel Beach Health Club; Harbor Hotel and Marc Jacobs. The Swim is also funded in part by the Provincetown Tourism Fund. Prizes for top fundraisers topped $10,000 in value from local businesses.The organizers wish to thank the large contingent of volunteers and the US Coast Guard, Cape Cod National Seashore, Wendelin Glatzel for his compelling design, Provincetown Harbormaster, Ptown Trolley, Cee Jay, Funk Bus, Flyer’s Boat Rentals, Arthur Richter, Jan Kelly, Mike Pelletier, Brandon Cyzoski, Leo Rose, Ian Miller, Jon Salvador and Russ Zawaduk.The 27th event will be held September 6, 2014. www.swim4life.org

"I'm not square dancing anymore!" Susan Roderick receives 2013 Volunteer Award

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“I’m not square dancing anymore,” she told her parents. “It’s too square.” So began 16-year-old Susan Roderick’s life journey – an independent woman on a mission. Although she rode horses and enjoyed the now seemingly other-worldly family jaunts to square dancing weekends around New England with her dance-teaching mother, also an artist, and her step father, the jeweler, it was time for the break. Being raised on the water in Tiverton, Rhode Island, she took to the sea with her own sailboat, hand firm on the tiller.SusanRoderickHer calling was community-based care giving, first as a University of Rhode Island nursing graduate and then breezing through two nurse practicioner degrees at Northeastern University in Boston. Under Dr. Frank Zampiello’s preceptorship she received her pediatric and family nurse practioner degrees by 1980 and began working at Outer Cape Health Services in 1979 — formerly known as Health Associates of Provincetown (HAPI). Previously she had workd at AIM in Wellfleet from 1972 to 1977. For 34 years she has been with the newly-expanded community health center, at first focusing on children and women, but now providing primary care services for patients across the spectrum.A typical day for Susan begins with a four-mile power walk to Long Nook Beach from her Truro home, then to the Proincetown clinic where she emphsizes preventive health care and self management for her patients, with issues ranging from smoking to diabetis, obeisity to depression. After an intense day at the clinic she might head to a Zomba class, a Truro bicycle committee meeting or a meeting at Helping Our Women, where she has been president of the board since 2001. On weekends she kayaks and enjoys her childhood love of sailing.Susan is being honored at the Swim for Life this Saturday with the David Asher Volunteer Award. Her accomplishments are lengendary. She sat on the Truro and Provincetown/truro School Committees for thirteen year, many as chair, and was selected Massachusetts Employee of the Year by the Community Health Centers. She joined HOW because she noticed how helpful it was for her clinic patients, so she then created a vision for this vital organization: bring this grass-roots entity into the 21st Century without loosing its hands-on connection to the community. Under her leadership HOW established an endowment to sustain its services into the future and recently purchased spanking new offices at 34 Conwell Street. With longtime HOW Director Irene Rabinowitz retiring, the board is searching to fill the position.The 26th annual Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla will be held on Saturday, September 7 at the Boatslip Resort. Kayak registration begins at 8:30am, swimmer registration is from 9:00-10:00am. The Mermaid Brunch is open to the public and begins at noon, with entertainment with Zoe Lewis. An awards ceremony follows.On Friday, the day before, there are orientations, one at 1:00pm for swimmers and the other for kayakers at 2:00pm at the Boatslip beach — both are optional, mostly for new participants. The Celebration of Life Concert will take place at the UU Meeting House at 8:00pm, organized by John Thomas.  Swim beneficiaries include: AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Helping Our Women, Outer Cape Health Services, Provincetown Rescue Squad, Lower Cape Ambulance, Soup Kitchen in Provincetown, the Academy at Provincetown School and The Compact Community Fund.Business sponsors include: Seamen’s Bank, Lead Sponsor; Provincetown Banner, Media Sponsor; Far Land Provisions; Boatslip Resort; Fanizzi’s Restaurant; Lobster Pot Restaurant; Crown & Anchor; Mussel Beach Health Club; Harbor Hotel and Marc Jacobs. The Swim is also funded in part by the Provincetown Tourism Fund.For swimmer, kayaker and volunteer information contact thecompact@comcast.net or visit www.swim4life.org. Take the Plunge!

20th Celebration of Life Concert @ 26th Swim for Life

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On every Friday after Labor Day since 1994, the historic and elegant sanctuary of Provincetown’s Unitarian Universalist Meeting House in the center of town (236 Commercial Street) has been the home of an event filled with music, celebration, life, memory, and joy. It is the annual CELEBRATION OF LIFE concert, free in every aspect of the word: free admission, free performances, free space, time and labor. It is Provincetown’s longest running free music festival. This year’s twentieth annual event begins on Friday, September 6 at 8pm.

Celebration of Life 2013Hundreds of local and visiting performers have shared their talents throughout the years. The Celebration of Life’s spirit is another expression of the legendary caregiving capacity that Provincetown’s people continue to express in their daily lives.This year’s performers include Jon Arterton, Peter Donnelly, Will Harrington, Billy Hough, Halcyone Hurst, Roxanne Layton, Zoë Lewis, Ken Lonergan, James Mack, Phoebe Otis, Elena Mancheva, Miss Richfield 1981, Sylvie Richard, Scarbie, John Thomas, Nedko Zdravkov Valchev, Janet Villas, West End Wendy Wendell and other surprises.The Celebration of Life concert is not a fund-raiser: it’s a FUN-raiser. Luminarias set along the path to the front door guide hundreds of Provincetown’s extended community into the sanctuary where aromas and music fill the space. At precisely 8 pm, hundreds of colorful prayer ribbons rise up until they arch from the top of the trompe l’oeil ceiling to begin another Celebration of Life.The Celebration of Life is presented in association with the annual Provincetown Swim for Life and Paddler Flotilla, which launches the next morning. The Celebration of Life is produced and hosted by John Thomas and co-sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House of Provincetown and Great Music on Sundays @5.

Swim Teams Unite for 26th Event

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Swimi4Life2011Longpoint-MikeSyers-LowerResSwimmers come in all shapes, sizes and ages and so do swim teams. The Swim for Life, set for Saturday, September 7, has always welcomed and encouraged impromptu groups and established teams to participate — they bring a united enthusiasm to the event. But swimming itself is often a loner sport — moving through the water relying on one’s inner strength and physical stamina to make it from Long Point to the Boatslip Resort beach. Of course there are friendly kayakers along the way to give direction, support and maybe a respite, but swimming is basically a singular activity unless you’re with a team, or with a friend.Swim:DogThe spirit of community at this event fosters team spirit and attracts established teams like the Wellesley High School swim team — their much anticipated call and response cheers, as well as LANES from Boston — marshalling over two dozen strapping swimmers. Often large gay contingents such as Chicago Smelts and The Fin’s Aquatics Club of Philadelphia participate in this weekend event.Often a group will quietly swim for a lost friend or someone very sick. Groups were recently formed for Jacqui Mac and Walter Greely, bringing together friends and family members, some swimming and others kayaking and cheerleading. Team McNulty, spearheaded by Shawn McNulty with his daughter, Nicole, is completing its tenth swim before taking a break from his legendary fundraising — collecting pledges from close to 200 individuals, often earning the team the top fundraising spot, last year at $18000. Although Adrian’s Restaurant has closed, Team Adrian’s will continue it tradition with over a half dozen swimmers and kayakers participating. Team Martinez from Belchertown, MA includes Eileen Martinez for her 18th event, along with her twelve-year-old daughter, Gabriela, for her fourth. And putting aside their motorcycles for the water, the Moving Violations Motorcycle Club will collaborate with Native Cape Cod Seafood — organized by Boe Morgan and Andrew Morgan — collecting pledges and offering a special carbo load meal on Friday night at their restaurant’s Aquarium Mall location in Provincetown.Not to be outdone, Nauset High School swim coach Katie McCully, the fastest female swimmer many times over at the Swim, formed Fitzy’s Mermaids. She will be swimming with her sisters, Mary and Maura Sutherland and friend Cathy McDonough. Her father, Kevin “Mr. Swimming” Fitzgerald from Northampton, MA is being honored. Team IB Provincetown School, organized by Superintendent Beth Singer, celebrates their accreditation as the first school on Cape Cod bestowed with International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme certification. And exciting news for swimmers out on the water, Team Yoga East, organized by Jerry Anathan, with Bill Bond of  Provincetown Aqua Sports, will provide both stand-up paddleboard and kayak support. They are open to new members.The 26th annual Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla will be held on Saturday, September 7 at the Boatslip Resort. Kayak registration begins at 8:30am, swimmer registration is from 9:00-10:00am. The Mermaid Brunch is open to the public and begins at noon, with entertainment with Zoe Lewis. An awards ceremony follows.On Friday, the day before, there is a swimmer orientation at 1:00pm and a kayaker orientation at 2:00pm at the Boatslip beach — both are optional. The Celebration of Life Concert will take place at the UU Meeting House at 8:00pm, organized by John Thomas.  Swim beneficiaries include: AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Helping Our Women, Outer Cape Health Services, Provincetown Rescue Squad, Lower Cape Ambulance, Soup Kitchen in Provincetown, the Academy at Provincetown School and The Compact Community Fund.Business sponsors include: Seamen’s Bank, Lead Sponsor; Provincetown Banner, Media Sponsor; Far Land Provisions; Boatslip Resort; Fanizzi’s Restaurant; Lobster Pot Restaurant; Crown & Anchor; Mussel Beach Health Club; Harbor Hotel and Marc Jacobs. The Swim is also funded in part by the Provincetown Tourism Fund. 

Kindness & Compassion

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This was published in the Provincetown Banner, our Media Sponsor:By Irene Rabinowitz, Helping Our Women As we prepare for the 26th Annual Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla, we look back at the early days of the AIDS epidemic and the Swim for Life’s emotional beginning.  We can all be proud of the Swim’s tradition of caring and remembrance while celebrating the continued belief that our friends and neighbors are important, especially when coping with a serious illness. The Swim’s recent focus is not just HIV/AIDS, but women’s health, disease prevention and early intervention, and other services that make our community safer and healthier.Helping Our Women is celebrating our 20th anniversary. Created as a response to the lack of resources for women living with serious illnesses, HOW has thrived in recent years in part because of the solid relationship with the Provincetown Community Compact (The Compact), sponsor of the event. Not only have we been the recipient of funding since 1996, but we now house the “Provincetown Community Compact Conference Room” in our new office. We move to a new fully accessible office last year that allows us to better serve the community.6292066482_693e37f651The spirit of the Swim is one that has a strong influence on a community-based organization like HOW.  We grew from the grass roots of community activism to an organization serving over 200 people a year, including our core constituency of women living with serious illness as well as men, families…anyone in need of an advocate and access to resources.  Our ability to provide financial assistance, transportation to medical appointments, sponsor support groups and respond quickly to community needs is only possible because of the generosity of so many.The people we serve have been diagnosed with cancer, AIDS/HIV, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, respiratory diseases, mental illness and other conditions that make day-to-day life difficult. Living on the Lower Cape can be difficult if you are living with a serious illness and the funding from the Swim makes it possible for your local organizations to respond and provide assistance that lessens the burden. We see the hard work of those at the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Outer Cape Health Services, Lower Cape Ambulance and the Rescue Squad as our partners in this effort, all funded by The Compact’s annual Swim for Life, which makes it possible for coordinated care.At this year’s Swim, we will see so many of our friends swimming, volunteering, pledging, and cheering. We are thankful for this kindness and compassion that keeps the Swim as a beacon of light for those who are need of the services of all of the beneficiaries.The 26th Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla is set for Saturday, September 7. Sponsors to date include: the Provincetown Banner, Boatslip Resort, Seamen’s Bank, Far Land Provisions, Fanizzi’s Restaurant, Lobster Pot Restaurant, Harbor Hotel, Marc Jacobs, Mussel Beach Health Club and the Crown & Anchor The Swim is also funded in part by the Provincetown Tourism Fund.The organic, 100% cotton 2013 t-shirts by Wendelin Glatzel are on sale at Seamen’s Bank, downtown.For swimmer, kayaker, volunteer and sponsorship information: www.swim4life.org, thecompact@comcast.org. The Provincetown Community Compact sponsors the event, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization founded by Jay Critchley in 1993 to enhance the well being of Provincetown and the Lower Cape.

Wendelin Glatzel: Taking Flight

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A delicate insect with four translucent wings that hovers and darts in the summer air, and then vanishes. Not a bird, not a plane, but a Dragonfly. This seasonal icon - unlike the dreaded green fly, horse fly or the ubiquitous mosquito (which it feasts on) that imperil our outdoor adventures. - the Dragonfly appears mysteriously, observes its surroundings, flutters its wings like eyelashes and then vanishes.WendelinGlatzelAnd why not celebrate this overlooked, seemingly innocuous insect thought artist Wendelin Glatzel when creating this year’s Swim for Life design - a creature with an unclear mission, unlike the heralded workhorse duties of the endangered honeybee. It reflects Wendelin’s mission to be inclusive.Raised in a strict Catholic family with four brothers and one sister in northern Germany near the Dutch border, Wendelin attended a Catholic monastery school - heavy in Greek and Latin and of course, soccer - before heading off to the art academy in Berlin. This was the early 1970s and post-war Germany was not exempt from the volatile changes going on across the globe, particularly the ant-Viet Nam war movement. Wendelin became a conscientious objector and did his civil service in a psychiatric hospital.A job at the premiere art fair Kassel creating video interviews with leading international artists expanded his understanding of art. With a government-funded grant he moved to the US and became a fellow at MIT’s experimental Center for Advanced Visual Studies under the direction of pioneer Otto Piene.SwimWendelinGlatzelIn Boston Wendelin met his wife, artist and writer Kathe Izzo, with whom he had three daughters. Living in New York City, Wendelin started a construction business that took him around the country building commercial retail stores.His home is a private oasis in North Truro, an expansive wet-Spring-fed green lawn that slopes down from a modest two story house with porches and a deck that welcome you to sit and talk and listen to the birds, the ambling dog and operatic background music.“We are all trying to navigate a life of uncertainties,” the artist states. “They invite us to look at ourselves in new ways. It is a lifelong process.” In a chaotic world, painting is Wendelin’s constant, his guide, one that “follows no orders and trends, but instead, moves the brush to make the invisible world visible.”The 26th annual Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla will be held on Saturday, September 7 at the Boatslip Resort. The Celebration of Life Concert will take place the evening before at the UU Meeting House.  Beneficiaries include: AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Helping Our Women, Outer Cape Health Services, Provincetown Rescue Squad, Lower Cape Ambulance, Soup Kitchen in Provincetown, the Academy at Provincetown School and The Compact Community Fund.Business sponsors include: Seamen’s Bank, Lead Sponsor; Provincetown Banner, Media Sponsor; Far Land Provisions; Boatslip Resort; Fanizzi’s Restaurant; Lobster Pot Restaurant; Crown & Anchor; Mussel Beach Health Club; Harbor Hotel and Marc Jacobs. The Swim is also funded in part by the Provincetown Tourism FundFor swimmer, kayak and volunteer information visit, www.swim4life.org.Take the Plunge!Wenedlin will be showing his paintings at Gallery Ehva on Aug 16-27, opening Aug 16, 6-8pm, 74 Shank Painter Rd, Provincetown

26th Annual Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla Sept 7, 2013

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SwimWendelinGlatzelContact: Jay Critchley,      thecompact@comcast.net

 Provincetown Community Compact

The Provincetown Community Compact presents the

 26th Annual Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla -

          September 7, 2013.

It’s been twenty-six years and $3M raised since the first Provincetown Swim for Life & Paddler Flotilla in 1988. From an intimate gathering of sixteen swimmers who raised $6,000 to last year’s 400 swimmers who raised over $200,000, this post-Labor Day fundraiser has become the quintessential Provincetown tradition. The popular weekend will feature the Swim on Saturday, September 7 at the Boatslip Resort, with the Celebration of Life Convert the night before at the UU Meeting House.

 - To view a short video of the event visit 

- For details, mailing list, updates and donations- Join and “Friend” the Swim on Facebook for updates and news: "Provincetown Harbor Swim for Life + Paddler Flotilla".Funds raised from swimmers across the country and beyond benefit: Helping Our Women, AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Outer Cape Health Services, Provincetown Rescue Squad, Lower Cape Ambulance, Academy at Provincetown Schools, Soup Kitchen of Provincetown and The Compact Community Fund.Business sponsors to date include: Provincetown Banner, Far Land Provisions, Seamen’s Bank, Boatslip Resort, Lobster Pot Restaurant, Fanizzi’s Restaurant, the Crown & Anchor and Mussel Beach Health Club.This year’s t-shirt design is created by Truro artist Wendelin Glatzel.The Provincetown Community Compact, sponsor of the event, was founded in 1993 by Jay Critchley to enhance the arts, environment and culture of the community. It also manages two dune shack residencies in the Cape Cod National Seashore and runs its innovative “Think-ubator” program.