They come to play at the Esplanade and, with the Charles River at their backs, these men and women do consider their hobby to be a playful enterprise. But do not be fooled; There is method to their whimsy.

Boston Model Sailing Club is a program of The Esplanade Association, which owns many of the boats its members use. However, the program is not just about reliving one’s youth. Rather, the model sailing that goes on at the Storrow Lagoon on an almost weekly basis during the summer is about connecting people to the Esplanade with more than concerts and jogging. It is about using and preserving the Storrow Lagoon for their its intended purpose – model boating.

“This lagoon was expressly built for pond yachting, which was a big pastime around the turn of the century,” explained BMSC volunteer coordinator Erik Bullerjahn. “This group was established in 2002 by The Esplanade Association as a way to reconnect that pastime of sailing small boats on the lagoon with the people who use the parks now.”

Bullerjahn, who has been a model sailboating volunteer for the past three years, grew up sailing, but took to model sailing as another way to enjoy his favorite sport.

“This club sails about five different classes of model sail boats, but there are twenty classes of model sailboats recognized by the American Model Yachting Association,” said Bullerjahn. “Most of the boats down here are owned by The Esplanade Association and the volunteers are in charge of maintaining and securing the boats for the association.”

The Boston Model Sailing Club has an email list of about 120 people who drop in or out of the sailing events as they wish to, but Bullerjahn said there is a hard core group of about six or seven model sailboat enthusiasts who come down just about every week.

“Typically, we spend a lot of time talking to other people who wander up to watch us sail the boats and we usually try to run a couple of races,” said Bullerjahn, who estimates that on a busy weeknight or Sunday afternoon he will personally talk to as many as 50 people who drop in to see what is going on.

“We especially have fun getting the kids involved,” said Bullerjahn. “It’s like bringing a video game to life – in fact the skills it takes to run the remote controls are very much like those used to run a computer game set.”

Anyone interested in joining the Boston Model Sailing Club or just stopping by to watch can find out about scheduled sailing days on the club’s web site: www.BostonModelSailing.com

Tracy Anderson, a newer member of the club, said she came down as a way of meeting people and has been coming back ever since,

“I’m a volunteer with Boston Cares and I heard about the club through them, so I came down one day to watch and play and I fell in love with it,” said Anderson, who moved to Boston from Michigan two years ago.

“I’m always seeing these boats down here, but I didn’t know what it was or that it was open to the public,” said Emily Chang, a first time model boater. “It was fun. I’ll definitely come back and try it again.”

Unlike model sailing in New York City’s Central Park, the BMSC is free of charge and open to the public, with all activities supported by The Esplanade Association and in cooperation with the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

Updating a story the Back Bay Sun reported more than a month ago, Boston Police are still looking for a suspect or suspects in a string of armed robberies of Boston businesses, which began back on April 17.

According to the latest report from the Boston Police Department, the robberies, which at first included eight incidents between April 17 and May 17, now stands at 16, with the latest incident taking place on June 26 at the Copley Flair Gift Shop at 176 Federal Street. All but one of the robberies has taken place in either the Back Bay,/South End neighborhoods of Precinct D-4 or in the neighborhoods comprising downtown Boston (Precinct A-1).

The lone exception was a May 29 robbery at the Patriot News store at 350 Longwood Avenue, in Precinct B-2.

In all the robberies, the suspects hit the stores between the hours of 2:30 a.m. and 7:10 p.m., when employees were present with access to cash.

The perpetrators have been described as black males, ranging in age from 30 to 40 years old, and in height from 5-feet 5-inches to six feet tall.

Other similarities include: made the clerk get down on the floor; robbed at knifepoint, wore baseball cap (two incidents); stole money from the registers; displayed a firearm (four incidents); and displayed a shotgun (four incidents).

According to Boston Police, area detectives are actively investigating all 16 of these incidents and districts will increase patrols in an effort to thwart more attacks and apprehend the suspect/s.

Community members are urged to contact 911 to report any suspicious activity they see.

The following is a chronological list of the attacks and where they occurred.
4/17/07 – 7:10 p.m. – District D-4, Lindt Chocolate Shop at 704 Boylston Street
4/24/07 – 6:30 p.m. – District A-1, Ben & Jerry’s at 20 Park Plaza
4/29/07 – 2:15 p.m. – District D-4, Emack and Bolio’s at 201 Brookline Avenue
5/4/07 – 1:25 p.m. – District D-4, Bon Bon at 197 Massachusetts Avenue
5/6/07 – 5:45 p.m. – District A-1, gift shop at New England Medical Center
5/9/07 – 1:14 p.m. – District D-4, Truly Jorg’s, 514 Commonwealth Avenue
5/12/07 – 11:38 a.m. – District A-1, Papyrus at 28 Tremont Street
5/17/07 – 10:25 a.m. – District A-1, Vitamin Shoppe at 268 Washington Street
5/29/07 – 6:07 p.m. – District B-2, Patriot News at 350 Longwood Avenue
6/6/07 – 4:55 p.m. – District D-4, All Tings Chocolate at 31 St. James Avenue
6/16/07 – 2:30 a.m. – District D-4, Midtown Hotel at 220 Huntington Avenue
6/20/06 – 6:45 p.m. – District A-1, Sarni’s Cleaners at 175 Cambridge Street
6/21/07 – 6:13 p.m. – District A-1, Papyrus at 107 Summer Street
6/24/07 – 12:50 p.m. – District A-1, Yankee Candle at Faneuil Hall
6/24/07 – 4:15 p.m. – District D-4, The Tall Girl at 211 Berkeley Street
6/26/07 – 6:00 p.m. – District A-1, Copley Flair Gift Shop at 176 Federal Street

For the second time, the Charles River Swimming Club is sponsoring the first-ever Charles River One-Mile Swim, and so far 100 swimmers have signed up for the sold-out open water event, undaunted by the fear of blossoming blue-green algae that forced the cancellation of last year’s swim.

This time the club — founded by a small group of Charles River enthusiasts in 2005 to organize competitive swimming events and facilitate the return of public river swimming — thinks it has found a way to defeat the dreaded blooms. Members moved the date of the swim from September to July 21.

Department of Conservation and Recreation press secretary Wendy Fox agreed that a July date is a better bet. “Algae is less likely to occur in July because it thrives better in warmer and less flowing waters,” she said. “Algae is an autumnal event.” It often occurs after an excess of nutrients and pollutants run into the water followin a storm.

Last year the DCR was forced to cancel the event the day prior to the race due to the unusually intensive toxic algal bloom, which rendered the Charles potentially unsafe for swimming for several weeks on the basis of results of testing by the EPA and the Department of Public Health. The algae is thought to cause eye, ear and skin irritation. Liver damage, muscle cramps and twitching can also occur.

“We are working on a new set of protocols to deal with the algae and advisory signs to notify river users when it occurs,” said Fox. Last week the DCR, with the Charles River Watershed Association, the Department of Public Health and the Department of Environmental Protection, launched a monitoring program to watch for signs of algae. Every other week, samples will be taken from the water and tested. “So far, so good,” said Fox.

Again this year, the DCR will collect water samples for an analysis of its bacterial count by the Department of Public Health on Wednesday and Thursday prior to the event. On Friday, they’ll give the final word on whether the water is safe for swimming.

So, barring a new display of blooming algae or heavy rainfall before the day of the race, 100 experienced athletes will meet at 8 a.m. on the new River Dock near the Arthur Fiedler statute, don their fluorescent swim caps, dive into the 72 degree water and, accompanied by kayakers, swim a one-mile loop course between the Harvard and Longfellow bridges.

The July 4th performance of the Boston Pops will not be the only time a full orchestra takes the stage at the Esplanade this summer.

The Boston Landmarks Orchestra will kick-off a nine concert festival at the Hatch Shell beginning Wednesday, July 11, at 7 p.m.

“The history and the setting of the Hatch Shell make it a unique outdoor venue for classical music,” said Landmarks Conductor and Artistic Director Charles Ansbacher, who founded Boston Landmarks Orchestra in 2001 to perform free concerts celebrating historical, geographical and architectural settings in Boston. “With the Charles River on one side and the panorama of the city skyline on the other, it is the perfect spot for evening concerts in the summer. We are extremely excited about undertaking what we hope will become a new summertime tradition for the residents of Boston.”

The Esplanade Association Executive Director Patrice Todisco said of the Landmarks’ concerts, “We did support these concerts coming to the Hatch Shell because we think their mission of bringing classical music to people throughout the city in important historical and geographical locations fits very much with the mission of the Esplanade and the Hatch Shell.”

“We’re very pleased to bring their repertoire to the Esplanade and we hope that this season will be very productive for everyone,” added Todisco.

In several of the concerts the Boston Landmarks Orchestra will perform in collaboration with the Boston Lyric Opera, the Boston Community Choir and the New World Chorale. Additionally, the Longwood Symphony Orchestra and the Greenwood Music Camp Orchestra, with soloists from NPR’s From The Top, will also perform concerts in the series.

SIDEBAR:
Concert dates and performers
July 11 – with the New World Chorale
July 18 – with guest soloist, cellist Matt Haimovitz
July 25 – with the Greenwood Music Camp Orchestra and guest soloists Emily Smith (violin) and Oliver Hagen (clarinet)
August 1 – featuring a new classical composition “David and Old Ironsides”
August 8 – featuring “Salute the Red Sox”
August 15 – with the Boston Lyric Opera
August 22 – with Longwood Symphony Orchestra
August 29 – with Boston Community Choir
September 5 – featuring music inspired by nature and landscapes