Dear Friends and Acton Conservation Trust Members,
The following 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.
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
Monday, January 1, 2024
First Day Hike
Walden Pond State Reservation
12 p.m.
915 Walden Street, Concord
Meet at the Thoreau House Replica
1 mile hike
Hot chocolate will be served in the Thoreau House Replica after the hike. Sponsored by DCR.
No pets are allowed at Walden Pond State Reservation. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
For more information call (978) 369-3254
Sunday, January 1, 2024
First Day Hike
11:00 AM
Groton Conservation Fitch-Woods Hike with Susan Hughes and Chuck Vander Linden
Join trustees Susan Hughes and Chuck Vander Linden in another GCT tradition, hiking on the first day of the year. We will begin and end at Williams Barn and explore Fitch-Woods in a 4 mile hike. Start your year off right! This all ages event is free*. All are welcome!
Please register so we know to expect you.
Sunday, January 7
Winter Sow: Bumblebee Project
2:00 – 3:30 PM
FRS Unitarian Church, 27 School Street, Carlisle MA
Help preserve biodiversity and add beauty to your yard by participating in our winter seed sowing workshop! This program supports native pollination systems by providing specific plant habitat for the most at-risk pollinators. These seeds have coevolved under New England weather conditions with most requiring a period of repeated freezing and thawing to unlock their germination capacity. We’ll be making planters out of gallon jugs to be placed outdoors over winter and transplanted as seedlings in the Spring. The jug method ensures ideal conditions for seedlings to plant this Spring and Summer; no gardening experience needed.
More info about the event and the Bumblebee Project can be found here.
Wednesday, January 17
Winter Sow Workshop
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Wayland Town Hall, Wayland
Get a head start on next summer’s native perennial garden in this hands-on workshop.
Local Native Plant gardeners Shelley Trucksis and Jean Milburn will explain a winter sow technique for growing native flowering perennials from seed. Winter sowing is an economical way to add native plants to your yard and support pollinators in synergy with surrounding properties.
Fee: $10 to cover materials (soil and five packets of seeds). Participants should also bring five one-gallon translucent milk jugs and a box to carry filled jugs home. For more information click here.
Email Shelley to register!
******************
Announcements:
From Executive Director, Usha Thakur of Boston Area Gleaners, a big thank you to the work of friends and volunteers who played a role in BAG’s distributing over 4.5 million pounds of food to their communities. Source: email from BAG
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”. Click here to see the ACT Brochure for an overview of ACT.
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
************************
Best wishes for the New Year!!!
Susan Mitchell-Hardt
President, Acton Conservation Trust
www.ActonConservationTrust.org
P.S. Hope to see you on the trails!