Dear Friends and Acton Conservation Trust Members:
The following news and events may be of interest:
Now – September 5
New Exhibit: Alive with Birds: William Brewster in Concord
Thursday to Sunday, 10 am to 4 PM, Walk ins welcome!
Concord Museum, 53 Cambridge Turnpike, Concord, MA
Visit this special exhibition to discover the beauty of birds. William Brewster (1851-1919) was Mass Audubon’s first President He dedicated over thirty years of his life to the study of birds in Concord at his property, which he called October Farm. Drawn to Concord for its natural beauty and abundant bird life, Brewster made October Farm his experimental field laboratory and documented its wildlife for scientific study and public enlightenment. In 2019, Mass Audubon received a 143 acre parcel of land which was once part of October Farm, which has been renamed Brewster’s Woods Wildlife Sanctuary. For more information visit their website.
Members free; Adults $15, Seniors $12, Children (6 to 17) $8
Saturday, April 9
Patriots Day Event: Annual Meriam’s Corner Exercises, on Lexington Rd., Concord
1 PM
The Meriam House on the corner of Lexington and Old Bedford Roads in Concord. This commemoration marks the assembly and actions of militia and Minuteman units that arrived at Meriam’s Corner during the British retreat from Concord, April 19, 1775. Local dignitaries, scouts and musical groups will join several minuteman companies and the Concord Independent battery. Members of the Meriam family will also participate in the commemoration of these important dates.
Saturday, April 9
Paul Revere Capture Ceremony
3 PM
Paul Revere Capture Site on Rt 2A, Minute Man National Historical Park (MMNHP), Lincoln
The Lincoln Minute Men will march down Battle Road and do a dramatic reading of Longfellow’s poem to recount the events of the night of April 19, 1775, when British troops captured Paul Revere in Lincoln after his midnight ride from Boston. Look for reenactors portraying Revere, Samuel Prescott, William Dawes, Mary Hartwell, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. You’ll also hear fife and drum music, and a musket fire salute.
Monday, April 11 & April 12 & 4/14
Rock picking at Boston Area Gleaner’s Stonefield Farm
9-12
Acton, MA
Join us next week for the first field activities of the season! We will be clearing rocks from the field in preparation for spring planting. ‘Harvesting’ rocks is an annual tradition at the farm (there’s a reason it’s called Stonefield Farm)—and it is a key step in getting the fields ready for our tractors and the first crops of the season. Many hands make light work! Sign up to volunteer here.
Monday, April 11
From Land Acknowledgement to Partnership, The Making of ”Pakachoag: Where the River Bends”
1:30-3 PM via Zoom
“Pakachoag: Where the River Bends” is a documentary produced by faculty, staff, and students at the College of Holy Cross about the transformation of land over the last 400 years, focusing on historical and present-day sites of indigenous community in the area of the Holy Cross campus in Worcester, Massachusetts. Watch the documentary. Q&A will follow the presentation. This event is free. For more information please register by April 10. You will receive the Zoom link when you register. Register here.
Tuesday, April 12
7:00pm-8:15pm
A Virtual Electric Vehicles SHOWCASE – with EnergizeActon.org and Energize Wayland
It is a new day for electric cars! Many new vehicles with extended range are coming onto the market. Are you curious about the options? Come and explore the 2022-2023 models with the Drive Green Team of the Green Energy Consumers Alliance. There will be lots of time for questions and answers!
This is a virtual event. Please register HERE or go to EnergizeActon.org and click on the Events tab. This event is a collaboration between EnergizeActon.org and Energize Wayland, along with other communities on the Mass Energize platform.
Thursday, April 14
How Health of an Ecosystem Can Be Learned Based on the Birds Inhabiting it
7-8 pm
Online for Adults
$15 members
At Mass Audubon, we monitor bird populations throughout the state and are seeing the affects habitat and biodiversity loss, and climate change, have on our local species. However, we’re also seeing the positive effects our teams of scientists, volunteers, and policy makers have when we work together to take collective action. Learn about some conservation projects currently taking place, and how you can get involved in ways both large and small to support birds locally and globally. Register here.
Thursday, April 14
Plan for your Land: “What are the financial benefits of land conservation?”
6:30-8:30 PM
This webinar is presented by by Mark Robinson, Executive Director of The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts. Main sponsor is MassWoods at UMass Amherst, Co-sponsored by MLTC. Learn more and register.
Saturday, April 16
A Parlor Concert at the Faulkner Homestead sponsored by Iron Work Farm in Acton
6:30 PM
Faulkner Homestead, 5 High Street, Acton
Iron Work Farm is pleased to present Soprano Gretchen Harbourt in a program of music of the 18th century.
Broadcast participation limited to 100
Live tickets by reservation only, live audience limited to 16. Libations and hors d’oeuvres are included
For more information and reservations go to www.ironworkfarm.org. Donations gratefully accepted.
Sunday, April 17
Robbins Ride with the Acton Minutemen
5:30 PM
For more information and reservations go to www.ironworkfarm.org.
Sunday, April 17
The Famous Robbins Ride
5:00 PM
108 Concord Road
For more information and reservations go to https://actonminutemen.org/robbins-ride/
These are the scheduled stops the rider makes:
- 5pm at the Robbins’ Homesite – soccer fields at bottom of Concord Rd.
- 5:20 at the Isaac Davis Homestead – 39 Hayward Road
- 5:40 at the Faulkner Homestead – 5 High St. in So. Acton (corner of Rte. 27)
- 5:55 at the Liberty Tree Farm – 24 Liberty St., also in So. Acton
Monday, April 18
Patriots Day Spirit celebration
1-4 PM
Faulkner Homestead, High St. Acton
Come travel back in time with us to learn why we celebrate Patriots Day in Acton as the start of both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. What better place to do it than at the Faulkner Homestead, the home of Col. Francis Faulkner in 1775, and Col. Winthrop E. Faulkner in 1861!
Monday, April 18
Isaac Davis Trail March
5:30 AM – Start at Isaac Davis Homestead, 39 Hayward Rd.
6:20 AM in Acton Center
The trail march will begin at the Isaac Davis homestead, 39 Hayward Rd. From there the march will head to Acton Center, arriving at the monument where Isaac Davis, Abner Hosmer, and James Hayward are buried. From there the march continues to Concord over the original route (as closely as possible), arriving at the Old North Bridge about 9 AM. Visit Actonminutemen.org. One of the most scenic parts of the route is down Strawberry Hill Road in Acton before crossing into Concord. The public is encouraged to join the minutemen on the Isaac Davis Trail March from Acton to Concord. It is an experience that you and your family will never forget.
Wednesday, April 20
Jumping Worms in Field and Forest
7-8:15 PM
Sponsored by Newton Conservators – https://newtonconservators.org/events/jumping-worms-in-field-and-forest/
Register here.
Friday, April 22
Earth Day Walk at Pratt’s Brook
10-11:30 AM
Join Acton Conservation Trust as we explore the Pratt’s Brook trails and look for signs of spring. This family friendly walk is about a mile and a half, and has several beautiful stream crossings. Your friendly, well-behaved dogs are welcome to attend as well! Stay for snacks in the park after our walk. Please RSVP by registering here. You will receive an emailed copy for your records and location information prior to the event. For more information or questions, please contact Jody Harris at jharris.actonconservationtrust@gmail.com
Tuesday, April 26
Wild Animals We Thought We Knew
5:30 – 7 PM
Online.
Naturalist and professional tracker Susan Morse has traveled North America photographing and studying some of our most iconic creatures, including cougars, bears, caribou, wolverines, and Canada lynx. Her studies of scent-marking and “babysitter trees” have contributed to the new body of research that shows how little we have understood these animals, potentially resulting in management assumptions and practices that are inappropriate. Sue argues that it’s time to approach conservation and management with humility. With global warming and habitat fragmentation already impacting the lives and populations of many species, there is no time to lose. This presentation will offer a fresh synthesis of new discoveries. Sue’s breathtaking wildlife photos will illustrate the talk.This event is co-hosted with Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center.This event is free and made possible by NEWT’s wonderful community of supporters. Please consider a $5-10 donation to support Northeast Wilderness Trust’s work to save wild places. Click here to make a gift…thank you!
Sunday, May 1
ACT Spring Service Day 2022
1-3 PM
Adjacent to 18 Wright Terrace. At the end of Wright Terrace, park off the road on the east side, facing the garden.
Join ACT members and friends as we work to remove bittersweet and other invasive plants from our beautiful Wright Hill property. The work will include a combination of pulling, digging, cutting and stacking removed invasive brush in compost piles.
FAMILY GROUPS ARE WELCOME! Following a brief orientation of what bittersweet looks like and how best to remove it, volunteers will be shown to a work area. If Scout groups would like to stay longer, please let us know!
Come dressed in boots or sturdy shoes with long sleeves and pants, sprayed for ticks and mosquitos. Expect weedy, rocky and uneven terrain, with poison ivy growing on some stone walls. Please bring leather work gloves (best for thorns) and clippers, bypass pruners and loppers if you have them. Weed wrenches are ALWAYS welcome! We will have extra tools and some loaner gloves available. We’ll also have water and refreshments.
Register here. For more information or questions, please contact Jody Harris at jharris.actonconservationtrust@gmail.com
Friday, May 6
Behind the Scenes Tour at Stonefield Farm
9-10 AM
Stonefield Farm, Acton
Join Usha Thakrar, Executive Director of the Boston Area Gleaners and Christa Collins, SVT Director of Land Protection to learn about how Acton’s Stonefield Farm was protected and what its future holds. The farm serves as BAG’s hub for storing and packing crops for hunger relief, and Usha will describe how this non-profit addresses food insecurity, on-farm food waste, and local farm sustainability through a variety of programs. Co-sponsored by the Boston Area Gleaners. Register at https://www.svtweb.org/node/10740/register
VOLUNTEER!
Boston Area Gleaners (BAG) is back to grocery box packing! Join them in their greenhouse on Wednesday, 4/13 to pack more ‘Just Eats’ grocery boxes for local pantries and low-income housing facilities. Sign up to volunteer at https://www.bagetc.org/gleanlist.php
Wednesday, 4/13
9-12 PM Pack grocery boxes OR 1-4 PM Pack grocery boxes
Stonefield Farm, Martin Street, Acton, MA
Thursday, 4/14
Rock Picking
9 am to noon
Sign up to volunteer here.
Goat Hikes – Good Pickin’ Farm
5 Gould Road, Westford
Goat Hikes. $65/group up to 8 people. Informative nature hike led by an ecologist, focusing on different flora or fauna of the area that is seasonal. Have fun while the goats walk and run along with you and enjoy their silly antics! For more information call 425-306-7203 or email hello@goodpicikinfarm.com
March Through May
Join Central Mass. Goat Rental for a Walk with Goats
48 West Acres Drive, Lunenberg
Take to the trails with friendly farm animals at your side. Anywhere from 6 to 16 goats will go on the hikes. Goats have a natural instinct to follow the leader, which makes them perfect hiking companions. The hike is relatively easy, lasting about an hour. Masks and social distance are required and group size is limited due to Covid-19. Each hike costs $35 per adult, $10 per child (under the age of 15 years old), and children ages 5 years and under are free. To book a hike, visit www.centralmagoatrental.com and choose the date of your hike.
Hiking with Dogs – The Trustees Did you and your family get a pandemic puppy? Are you and your older dog a little tired of the same old walking routes? Let our dog-friendly properties give you a burst of inspiration to get some fresh air for you and your four-footed companion. These 7 places might be just the thing this spring.
Spring Ahead of Jumping Worms –Jumping worms (aka snake worms, crazy worms) are widespread and spreading aggressively throughout the Northeast. These invasive earthworms are noticeably larger than the established earthworms and thrash violently when disturbed. Damage caused by jumping worms includes devouring leaf litter that regenerates soil and over-aerating the soil, causing nutrients to each out, roots to loosen, and soil to erode. Read what Native Plant Trust is doing and a what you can do to stop their spread. What Native Plant Trust is doing to prevent the spread of jumping worms: All wood chips and compost used at Garden in the Woods are produced on site. We use new plastic pots for most of the plants we sell. We clean and sanitize any reused pots. Native Plant Trust, nativeplantrust.org for more information.
Garlic Mustard Season: Need some exercise this weekend? It’s the start of garlic mustard season! Plants are up and easy to spot right now. Pull the plant up by the root. Tear it apart and shake soil out of the roots. It’s early enough in the season that you can leave the plant on site, preferably on a rock where the plant cannot root. Pull in your yard, nearby roadside, or along a trail! Thank you!
Support Acton Conservation Trust while you make purchases on AmazonSmile! ACT will receive a small payment, and these add up! From your desktop or laptop computer, AmazonSmile is available at at smile.amazon.com on your Web browser. Bookmark it for easy use! AmazonSmile is available from your mobile phone as well. To activate AmazonSmile in the Amazon Shopping app, simply tap on “AmazonSmile” within the Programs & Features menu or Settings and follow the on-screen instructions.
Sincerely,
Susan Mitchell-Hardt
President, Acton Conservation Trust
www.ActonConservationTrust.org
P.S. Welcome to new “Events of Interest” subscribers! As a nonprofit organization, we rely upon the support of our members. Visit our ACT website, and click on “Join Us”!
Be sure to tell your friends that “Events of Interest” is also available on our new ACT website www.actonconservationtrust.org