After three years of virtual educational programming, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound is hosting its first ACONS LIVE! event on Thursday, Sept 21 , from 1 to 6 p.m. at The Beach Club, 27 Long Beach Road, Centerville.
Sessions will be held throughout the day, with local experts discussing Nantucket Sound’s economic impact on the Cape & Islands, its environmental significance, and historic value. Panel discussions will be followed by a networking and cocktail hour at 5 p.m. The keynote speaker for is former state Sen. Rob O’Leary.
Launched in September 2020, ACONS (A Celebration of Nantucket Sound) is an educational webinar series that celebrates Nantucket Sound’s exceptional environment, rich maritime and tribal history, and economic importance to the Cape and Islands. The webinars have provided free, accessible, and fun learning opportunities for individuals and families through Zoom. Each webinar features a renowned expert discussing one of the Sound’s unique values. To date, this successful series has welcomed over 3,500 registrants through 21 webinars. Past speakers have presented on a wide array of topics, including marine mammals, historic sites, the Blue Economy, history of shipwrecks, The Kennedy family legacy to the Sound, lighthouses, recreational fishing, boatbuilding, and more.
“We are excited to come together with the community and celebrate Nantucket Sound with our first in-person ACONS event,” states Alliance President and CEO Audra Parker. “Nantucket Sound is the heart and soul of the Cape and Islands. Our ACONS educational initiative has been a wonderful way to showcase Nantucket Sound as a national treasure worthy of permanent protection. The Alliance is grateful to our distinguished speakers who will be joining us—and to our event sponsors who have helped to make this event possible.”
Guest speakers participating in this year’s ACONS LIVE! include: Karen Moore Dourdeville (Mass Audubon, Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary’s Sea Turtle Research Coordinator), Seth Engelbourg (Naturalist Educator at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation), Captain Greg Ketchen (Coast Guard Heritage Museum), Zak Mertz (Executive Director, Birdsey Cape Wildlife Center), Wendy Northcross (Executive Director, JFK Hyannis Museum), Bettina Washington (Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, Aquinnah), and Elizabeth York (Executive Director, Cape Cod Maritime Museum). Singer-songwriters Mark Alan Lovewell and Molly Conole will perform live music and sea stories. Photographs taken by photographer Stuart Cooperrider, a juried member of the Cape Card Art Association, will be showcased.
This event is free and open to the public—reservations are required. Registration and event information is available on the Alliance website at www.saveoursound.org/aconslive.
