Egan Maritime Opening Its Doors To The Community This Winter

The Egan Maritime Institute is opening the doors to its Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum this winter to the Nantucket community. This will allow island residents of all ages to learn more about Nantucket’s seafaring history through exploring the museum and partaking in a series of programs designed to celebrate and promote that history.

“The Museum is typically closed to the public in winter but this year we've designed a lineup of community programs for all ages,” said Carlisle Jensen, the executive director of Egan Maritime. “We are collaborating with a variety of community organizations to ensure our programs are accessible to all. Plus, our team has been busy planning a few signature events.”

Community members across the island will be able to experience activities such as free movie nights, "Saturdays at the Museum," and an evening of Shipwreck Stories and Songs from the Sea.

In an effort to entice younger visitors to the museum, Egan has partnered with the Nantucket Boys & Girls Club and Nantucket Community School to provide free educational programs. These activities are inspired by Egan Maritime’s Sea of Opportunities curriculum, which is various education and outreach programs available to Nantucket students at different points throughout their island education. Egan will provide hands-on learning to anyone who visits the museum.

“We hope to inspire children to dive in and learn more about maritime culture.” Director of Education Evan Schwanfelder said.

Egan Maritime will also be partnering with the Nantucket Center for Elder Affairs and the Saltmarsh Center to offer programs designed explicitly for adults and Nantucket's lifelong learners.

Where It Happened: Nantucket's Hidden Historic Places is a new series which includes visits to key island locations that are related to the long and gallant history of rescues from the stormy and treacherous seas surrounding the island.

Another new program is the Museum's Ports of Call program at the Saltmarsh Center, which directly engages the Shipwreck Museum crew with seniors where they live, meet, and play. Programs will include workshops such as caring for family heirlooms and discussions on the mysteries surrounding recently uncovered old shipwrecks.

Interested participants will be able to sign up for all of these programs in February.

“We purposely collaborated with key community organizations so that we were able to truly meet the needs of our year-round community,” Jensen said.

Egan will also be bringing back a few island favorites with a few tweaks. They will host two special events at the museum including their night of Shipwreck Stories and Songs from the Sea along with the first annual Salty Dog Showcase modeled after NPR's quiz show. The Salty Dog Showcase will test people’s knowledge against some of Nantucket's best and brightest while figuring out what's real news and what's made up.

For more information on Egan’s programs you can call 508-228-2505 or visit their website here.