A musical morning with Cumberland – the acoustic duo of Jim Rohrer and Lynda Shuster

Cumberland performs the traditional songs and tunes of Southern Appalachians accompanied by guitar, banjo, tenor banjo and mandolin. Jim and Lynda draw heavily on the repertoire of the Carter Family and early bluegrass and string band music, and weave these influences into contemporary songs as well.

Jim Rohrer has toured and recorded with Southern Rail. His is currently host of WOMR’s Bradford Street Bluegrass. Lynda Shuster is also a member of Bourbon Street.

“Minding and Mending our Brain: Memory Matters,” a talk by Jaya Karlson

We can influence the function of our brain in very positive ways. Current neuroscience research into the brain has given us a much more complete portrait of brain functioning than has ever before been possible.  In this program we”ll focus on where memory is stored in the brain and how we can nurture and build this area through movement and the foods we eat. With a little knowledge and effort, our brain and our memory can be well cared for! 

Jaya Karlson, of Wellfleet, has been a natural therapeutics and somatic specialist for 3 decades. She teaches qigong, meditation, and yoga and has deep interest in the ways of mind/body connection.

“Living with my Wild Neighbors”, a talk by Stephanie Ellis with Nickerson

Help! A bird struck my window…,” or
“There’s a baby squirrel at my doorstep…” 

Sometimes our feathered and furry neighbors need a healing hand from Wild Care, a nonprofit wildlife hospital located in Eastham dedicated to the rescue and release of injured and orphaned wildlife on Cape Cod.  Wild Care rehabilitates over 1,700 animals per year–everything from Bald Eagles to White-Footed mice. Wild Care Executive Director Stephanie Ellis will discuss “what to do” when you find animals in distress and will provide tips on living with our wild neighbors. She will also bring special guests, “Nickerson,” an educational Eastern Screech Owl, and “turtle #45,” Wild Care’s beloved educational Eastern Box Turtle. 

Stephanie Ellis has been working with wildlife for nearly a decade on both coasts, and holds a special affinity for birds. She was the Animal Care Coordinator of the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley and served as Executive Director of the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society in California, and as the Interim Executive Director of the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory. She has been at the helm of Wild Care’s wildlife rehabilitation work since 2016. 

“Unitarian Principles in Executing Millennium Stone Statues”

How might the principles of Unitarianism inflect artistic choices and practice? Environmental scientist and artist John Brault will talk us through the process of envisioning, sourcing and sculpting his recently finished life-sized statue of the “Green Mountain Boy.”

This stone statue is made of a stone quarried in the Green Mountain National Forest called Verde Antique. It is known as the world’s premier luxury stone, often found in antique Boston furniture. The Verde Antique stone is also known as the world’ hardest and oldest stone, and therefore before the “Green Mountain Boy,” deemed impractical for stone art. 

John Brault has a degree in environmental science, but has spent the past twenty years as a full-time professional artist, carving and painting wildlife. John spent a lot of time as a little boy roaming on Cape Cod beaches in the late 1960’s, and has returned here the last two winters to volunteer for the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance’s Team Mola. He is currently preparing for his next life-sized statue of a “Fisherwomen,” to be done Lake Champlain Black Marble.