Dear Friends and Acton Conservation Trust Members,
The second horse is a bay grazing at the tree line where he blends in.
If you haven’t visited the ACT Instagram page lately you will want to see the posts. You will find photos of “False Turkey Tails”, “black birch grove leading to bridge over Grassy Pond Brook on the Anderson Conservation Land”; “wolf-fart mushrooms”; “photo of a bobcat taken by a wildlife cam”; “an abandoned quarry site in Spring Hill Conservation Land” and more! To see more photos and captions, visit ACT’s Instagram page.
The following news and events may be of interest:
Daily – December 31
Self-Guided Story Walk® of Walden Pond, “The Shortest Day”
Your schedule
915 Walden St., Concord, MA 01742
The Shortest Day: Celebrating The Winter Solstice By Wendy Pfeffer; Illustrated by Jesse Reisch
Woods Path Trail
Come learn about the Winter Solstice, and how people from around the globe have celebrated the shortest day of the year over the millenia.
Posted on the Accessible Trail to the Thoreau House Site Trail, an easy 1/2 mile, crushed stone surface trail. All ages.
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. StoryWalk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson.
Programs are free and open to the public. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Reasonable accommodations upon request. Email walden.programs@mass.gov or call (978) 405-2082 for more information, No dogs/pets allowed on premises year-round. Park closes when visitor capacity is reached—DCR Closure Alert: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/dcr-park-alerts.
Through December 31, 2023
Sustainability Office – BECOME A VOLUNTEER CLEAN ENERGY COACH
The Town of Acton is seeking volunteers interested in clean energy to join the Clean Energy Coaching Program. Coaches work with the Town and Abode Energy Management to learn the ins and outs of clean energy upgrades and pass along their knowledge to Acton residents and businesses. Apply today to help reach Acton’s climate action goals by leading community progress in decarbonization.
HAVE QUESTIONS? Reach out to the Sustainability Office at sustainability@actonma.gov, or 978-929-6515 for more information.
APPLY NOW! Visit bit.ly/energycoachapplyto apply.
Thursday, December 14
Brews with BCTrust!
7-9pm
Dirigible Brewing Co. 24 Porter Road, Littleton
Join Boxborough Conservation Trust for an informal winter gathering at Dirigible Brewing Co. in Littleton. All are welcome, but please RSVP to bharris@bctrust.org by December 7 so we have an idea of numbers for food.
Sunday, December 17 2023
Winter Solstice with Farrington Nature Linc
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
295 Cambridge Turnpike, Lincoln
Celebrating the Winter Solstice with Crafts and Cocoa. Free with suggested donation $10. Family Friendly!
Join us as we celebrate the Winter Solstice.
The Winter Solstice marks the exact moment when half of Earth is tilted the farthest away from the sun, making it the longest night of the year.
Together we’ll make a bird seed ornament and use recycled materials to create your own paper lantern. We’ll go on a lantern-lit hike and enjoy hot cocoa next to the fire.
Register Here! https://FNLWinterSolstice.eventbrite.com
Tuesday, December 19
Celebrate the Solstice
10:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Greenways Conservation Area, Wayland
Come along with SVT as we celebrate the Winter Solstice two days early. Naturalist Roland “Boot” Boutwell will lead this “Celebrate the Solstice” walk at Greenways in Wayland, where we’ll enjoy the beauty of nature as winter approaches.
Boot will focus on plant ID and natural history, and we’ll also share solstice history, lore, and poetry. What a wonderful way to welcome winter! Register at https://svtprograms.funraise.org/
SVT members: Free
Nonmembers: $10 each
Tuesday, Dec. 26
Full Cold Moon
Clear skies permitting, you’ll see the last full moon of 2023
According to The Old Farmers Almanac, moon names have Native American origins, as Native Americans would use monthly moons to track the seasons.
The December full moon is called the Cold Moon due to cold weather officially moving in around that time of year. It has also been called the Long Night Moon since it occurs near the winter solstice, the longest night of the year.
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Audubon’s 124th Christmas Bird Count – 64th Concord CBC
Midnight to midnight
For more information, visit https://www.audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count
The Christmas Bird Count for Acton, Boxborough, Concord, Littleton, Harvard, Westford will be on December 31, 2023
The longest running Citizen Science survey in the world, Christmas Bird Count provides critical data on population trends. Tens of thousands of participants know that it is also a lot of fun. Data from over 2000 circles are entered after the count and become available to query under the Data and Research link. Find a count near you (Acton, Littleton, Harvard, and Westford) and sign up to participate.
Visit https://concordcbc.org/
Acton, Littleton, Harvard, and Westford: Andrew Magee, (978) 263-0683, andrew839.magee@gmail.com
******************
Announcements:
New Tax Break for Charitable Contributions
(From SVT electronic newsletter, https://www.svtweb.org/news/newsletters)
Getting ready to make your year-end charitable donations? Your generous contributions to SVT play a key role in the conservation of the natural areas that make this region of Massachusetts so special.
And here’s something to keep in mind: For the first time in over two decades, Massachusetts residents can deduct charitable donations from your 2023 state income taxes (even if you don’t itemize your federal taxes).
This means you can deduct the donations you’ve made to SVT and other nonprofits since January 1 of this year. So keep track of those receipts! And thank you for your support.
Please always consult your tax advisor before taking any deductions.
Acton Conservation Trust Membership Season
If you love Acton’s open space and trails, wildlife, scenic vistas, guided walks and virtual/in person lectures, and programs, please consider joining or renewing your ACT membership. Donations to ACT are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable by law. As an additional bonus, ACT offers a free baseball cap with ACT logo. To join or renew, visit ActonConservationTrust.org and a click on “Join/Donate”.
Growing the ACT Board of Trustees
Are you interested in preserving open space in Acton? While Acton has the benefit of many acres of open space, some undeveloped parcels in Acton are not yet protected … Read more: https://actonconservationtrust.org/growing-the-act-board-of-trustees
************************
Sincerely yours,
Susan Mitchell-Hardt
President, Acton Conservation Trust
www.ActonConservationTrust.org