Dear Friends and Acton Conservation Trust Members,
Bring your kids/grandkids – they also have a corn maze!!! He’s a masterpiece, and here he is in all his glory – created by our own ACT VP, Joe Cooney!
“Actonius” supports MENTAL HEALTH/NAMI and CUCURBIT FARM!!!
Co-sponsored by ACT, EnergizeActon, and Acton Garden Club!!!
VOLUNTEERING
BOSTON AREA GLEANERS (Sign up to volunteer at https://www.bagetc.org/gleanlist.php)
Thursday, October 6
Windrow and Harvest Butternut Squash
9:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Acton, MA
Apple Harvest
9:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Groton, MA
Windrow and Harvest Butternut Squash
1:00pm – 4:00pm:
Location: Acton, MA
Apple Harvest
1:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: Groton, MA
Friday, October 7th
Apple Harvest
9:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Groton, MA
Apple Harvest
10:00am – 12:30pm
Location: Harvard, MA
Apple Harvest
1:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: Groton, MA
Apple Harvest
1:30pm – 4:30pm
Location: Harvard, MA
Saturday, October 8th
Apple Harvest
9:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Groton, MA
Apple Harvest
9:00am – 12:00pm
Location: Harvard, MA
Apple Harvest
1:00pm – 3:30pm
Location: Groton, MA
Apple Harvest
1:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: Harvard, MA
Now – October 31
Scarecrow Contest – “Stand Up to Stigma”
Cucurbit Farm, 32 Parker St
Calling all entries to Cucurbit! Enter the “Stand Up to Stigma” Scarecrow Contest to benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Central Middlesex. Bring your $25 donation to Cucurbit Farm and pick up your scarecrow starter frame. Individuals, organizations, and businesses are invited to participate. The scarecrows will be on display for the month of October. Additional info at namicentralmiddlesex.org and cucubitfarm.com.
Be sure to visit Actonius, the Acton Conservation Trust Scarecrow!
Friday October 7
Nashobah Praying Indians: A Living People, A Living Landscape
7 PM
Reuben Hoar Library in Littleton, MA
Meet Strong Bear Medicine of the Nashobah Praying Indians and local historian Daniel V. Boudillon as they discuss the 1654 Nashobah Praying Indian Village. Topics include the Nashobah People – a vibrant, living community – as well as the living landscape Native ceremonial structures, in Littleton, Acton, and neighboring towns. Co-sponsored with Littleton Historical Society and Littleton’s Reuben Hoar Library, In-Person only. The Friends Pine Hawk 2022 Fall Program is presented with support from the Acton Memorial Library, the Sargent Memorial Library, and Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area. All programs are free but require registration air https://tinyurl.com/pinehawk-2022 Questions? email friends of pinehawk@gmail.com.
Saturday, October 8
Honey Bee Education Days at State Apiaries – In person
Amherst and Danvers – Topic: Winter Management. Details here.
Saturday, October 8
Indigenous People’s Day Celebration
12 noon – 1pm
wWith Massachusetts (Nashobah Band) Tribal Leaders Strong Bear Medicine and Quiet Storm, with sermon on indigenous matters and performance of native music, at the Acton Memorial Library.
Sunday, October 9
The Hunter’s Moon will reach peak illumination at 4:54 PM
Why is it called the Hunter’s Moon? It is believed that this full Moon came to be called the full Hunter’s Moon because it signaled the time to go hunting in preparation for the cold winter ahead. Animals are beginning to fatten up ahead of winter, and since the farmers had recently cleaned out their fields under the Harvest Moon, hunters could easily see the deer and other animals that had come out to root through the remaining scraps (as well as the foxes and wolves that had come out to prey on them).
The earliest use of the term “Hunter’s Moon,” cited in the Oxford English Dictionary, is from 1710. Some sources suggest that other names for the Hunter’s Moon are the Sanguine or Blood Moon, either associated with the blood from hunting or the color of the changing autumn leaves.
Sunday, October 9
Fall Foliage Paddle on the Concord River
Start: 8:30 am End: 12:00 pm
Lowell Road Boat Launch (google directions) We will put-in and takeout at this location.
Paddle the Concord River from the Old Calf Pasture downstream through Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge to Ball’s Hill and back (~6 miles roundtrip).
Bring: canoe or kayak, PFD/life jacket (required), and water
Leader: Roger Beatty, a member of OARS Board Register here.
Saturday, October 8 and Sunday, October 9 – now through October
Thoreau Farm is Open for Tours!
11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM
Thoreau Farm, 341 Virginia Road, Concord, MA
Take an inside look at the restored 1730s house listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Wheeler-Minot Farmhouse/Henry David Thoreau Birth House. Locally, it is also known as “Thoreau Farm.” Tour includes the lovingly restored second-floor room where Henry David Thoreau was born in 1817. Visits are by guided tour only. Admission is free. Suggested Donation $5/person.
Sunday, October 9
Acton-Boxborough Farmer’s Market
Elm Street Playground, West Acton
10 AM – 1 PM
Join us for our 13th season of promoting good food and supporting sustainable agriculture.
Come visit the Acton Garden Club Table, and find out what’s new!!
Visit http://www.abfarmersmarket.org for more information.
Tuesday, October 11
Nature Walk
10:00 am
Discovery Museum, 177 Main St., Acton
Take a guided nature walk on Bessie’s trail, a 0.4 mile loop on conservation land next the Museum. Identify trees, bugs, birds, and other wildlife and explore how you can find nature in your own backyard. This walk will be approximately 1 hour and we will move over uneven terrain on conservation land trails. For more information, visit www.discoveryacton.org
Thursday, October 13
Garden as if the earth matters: Planting for Biodiversity and Climate Resilience
7 PM
Acton Town Hall, Room 204 and Virtual
Join Anna Fialkoff, from the Wild Seed Project in North Yarmouth, Maine, as she explores how gardening with native plants helps foster biodiversity and creates more resilient landscapes. Formerly of the Native Plant Trust in Framingham, MA, Anna highlights the wonderful ecological connections that happen in our own backyards and public spaces when we focus on native plants. Without sacrificing beauty, we can create extraordinary, vibrant habitats for the insects and birds who are essential to a healthy ecosystem. Anna shares many concrete suggestions for planting and for landscape care, all designed to enrich our soils and to help mitigate the stresses of climate change. Instead of taming nature, find ways to cooperate with nature and create a beautiful community in your yard.
Please register at EnergizeActon.org or use the QR code on the poster on their website.
This event is co-sponsored by EnergizeActon.org, the Acton Garden Club, and the Acton Conservation Trust. Many thanks to the Acton Garden Club for co-hosting this event as part of their special Shirley Towle Lecture Series.
Thursday, October 13
Pine Hawk: Magunkaquog Praying Town
7-8:45 PM
Acton Memorial Library
Archaeologist Holly Herbster discusses her research on one of seven original “praying Towns”established in 1669 by missionary John Eliot. Colonial records tie specific Native people to the archaeological remains of the original meeting house and the importance of this place within Nipmuc lands. Ongoing collaborative research with Nipmuc descendants is carrying this story forward. Acton Memorial Library in person and streamed. All programs are free but require registration.
https://tinyurl.com/pinehawk-2022
Questions? email friends of pinehawk@gmail.com.
Saturday, October 15
Fall Mushroom Forage with Boston Mycological Club – sponsored by Acton Conservation Trust
10:30 AM-12:30 PM
WAITLIST AVAILABLE
The Boston Mycological Club is the oldest amateur mycology club in the USA, founded in 1895. Our walk will will take us through one of Acton’s conservation areas with BMC’s Jonathan Kranz to help ID our finds.
All ages are welcome. No pets, please! Refreshments will be provided after our walk.
Parking information and meeting location will be sent a few days before the event. This event will be held rain or shine as rain is great for mushrooms! Lightning will cancel the walk.
Register here. If you have questions, please contact Jody Harris at jharris.actonconservationtrust@gmail.com
Saturday, October 15, November 19
Polysterene Collection Day
10 AM-1 PM
Acton Transfer Station and Recycling Center
Bring your clean polystyrene; We can’t accept polystyrene food containers.Questions? Contact the Sustainability Director at abecerra@actonma.gov. Transfer Station sticker required for access.
Sunday, October 16
Birds of Prey with Tom Ricardi
1-3 PM
Walden Pond State Reservation, beyond the Walden Pond Visitor Center.
Tom Ricardi of Mass Birds of Prey Rehabilitation Facility in Conway, Massachusetts, gives an interactive presentation featuring live birds of prey. Among the raptors featured may be eagles, falcons, hawks, and owls. All children must be accompanied by a supervising adult. Please bring your own lawn chair or blanket. WPSR Parking fees: $8 MA resident; $30 non-MA resident. This event is sponsored by the Friends of Walden Pond.
Sunday, October 16
Nature Mandalas
Drop-in 10:00am – 12:00pm
Discovery Museum, 177 Main St., Acton
Play and design with the fun fall colors in Discovery Woods! We’ll gather leaves, stones, sticks and more and design patterns both big and small. For more information visit www.discoveryacton.org
Tuesday, October 18
Cutting Edge Digital Technologies Documentation
7:00 pm
Zoom only
Thomas Elmore, of the GeoNAV Group, and Eva Gibavic, of Ceremonial Landscapes Research, share their experience using 3D LiDAR scanning, photogrammetry, and mapping utilizing ArcGIS’s capabilities to bring extremely accurate digital documentation to research of archaeological and ceremonial sites. All programs are free but require registration https://tinyurl.com/pinehawk-2022
Questions? Email friends of pinehawk@gmail.com.
Saturday, October 22
Adult Archaeology Walk
10 am–Noon
Bettina Abe of Acton’s Natural Resources Division will lead a brisk hike along the Nashoba Brook trail, with stops at the stone chamber and Native American ceremonial sites. Trail conditions can be rocky, uneven, and often wet, and thus participation is limited. Registrants will receive a detailed email several days before the walk.
Limited to 20, ages 17 and up. All programs are free but require registration
https://tinyurl.com/pinehawk-2022Questions? Email friends of pinehawk@gmail.com.
Sunday, October 23; Rain Date, Sunday, October 30
Acton Conservation Trust Fall Community Service Day
1-3 PM
Spring Hill Conservation Land, Spring Hill Road, Acton
This fall we will be working at Spring Hill Conservation Area, removing invasive plant growth and widening the blue trail. In addition, there is a need to walk the entire loop system at Spring Hill, cutting back overgrowth to make the trails the proper width. You should plan to wear long sleeves and long pants. Please bring leather work gloves, clippers, bypass pruners and loppers and weed wrenches if you have them. You might need sunscreen and insect repellent as well.
Please register here.
There are also release forms for adults, as well as those 18 years old and under. We will need a signed release form for each participant, so please print the form, fill it out, then bring it with you to the event! If you’re 18 years old and under, please have a parent or guardian sign the form as well.
Thank you for forwarding this email to any and all interested parties. Everyone is welcome to join us, including families, students and scouts.
For more information or questions, please contact Jody Harris at jharris.actonconservationtrust@gmail.com and/or visit ActonConservationTrust.org.
Tuesday, October 25
Household Hazardous Waste Day
4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Location: DPW Garage at 14 Forest Road
The Town of Acton holds a Hazardous Waste Day twice a year and offers residents a safe and legal way of disposing of hazardous materials. For more information on hazardous waste disposal or Hazardous Waste Day, please contact the Health Department at 978-929-6632.
Note: These collection services are for Acton residents only and proof of residency will be required.
This year there will be extra precautions in place due to COVID-19:
• All residents must stay in their vehicles at all times. Clean Harbors has a policy that anyone who attempts to exit their vehicle will be asked to leave.
• Waste accepted from truck bed, trunk of car, or back hatch of SUV. Materials will not be accepted from seats or when handed from residents.
• Clean Harbors will not be returning any containers (gas containers, storage totes, etc.). Please plan accordingly.
• If possible, make one trip to Household Hazardous Waste Day.
See our Household Hazardous Waste Day Flyer for more information.
Wednesday, October 26
Walden Woods Project – Silent Spring Revolution: A Conversation with Douglas Brinkley
7pm – 8 PM
Virtual
http://www.walden.org/events/silent-spring-revolution-a-conversation-with-douglas-brinkley/
Sunday, October 30
Rich and Healthy: No-till for Successful Farms
10 AM-5 PM
Orange, MA
Are you a farmer or market gardener seeking to start or transition to no-till methods that use simple tools, build healthy soil, reduce labor and cost inputs, promote climate resilience and increase your connection to the land? You’ll learn several no-till, climate resilience techniques in this experiential, day-long workshop with seasoned farmer Ricky Baruc and no-till soil science researchers. Guest soil science researchers will share their knowledge too!– Caro Roszell from American Farmland Trust and PhD candidate Alexa Smychkovich. Details here.
Wildlife of Acton, MA YouTube Playlist
Visit https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaLTsF_59WP0dAL19gvrjjkyxiXvY596u by Rebecca Harvey
Coyote, fisher, raccoons, porcupine, fox, weasels, deer, otter, and many more
NEWS – from Land Trust Alliance, Summer Issue
Maine Farmland Trust Urges Action on PFAS
Maine farmers are facing devastating consequences from the decades-long practice of spreading municipal sludge on farmland. Wastewater sludge was once promoted as a safe and economical fertilizer, but Maine communities recently became aware that insidious “forever” chemicals, or PFAS, seeped from sludge into soil and groundwater, contaminating wells, farmland and crops. Learn more at https://www.mainefarmlandtrust.org/farm-network/pfas-in-maine-agriculture/
Boston Area Gleaner (BAG) INFORMATION
Don’t forget: The most up-to-date trip information is always on the website. We may post trips after the weekly email goes out. To stay in the loop about last-minute calls for volunteers, you can join our volunteer emergency text list!
Got Banana Boxes?
We’re looking for banana boxes to pack and transport our gleaned produce! Banana boxes can be collected from grocery stores, corner stores, pantries, or anywhere that sells bananas.
We’ll keep a running total of the boxes you’ve dropped off at Stonefield Farm and we’ll be in touch to give you merch in recognition of your efforts! For more detailed information and instructions, click here.
Help for Volunteers who commute to BAG’s Stonefield Farm, 91 Martin St., from South Acton Station
As a reminder, if you are planning to take the MBTA to volunteer at Stonefield Farm in Acton, feel free to use one of the three BAG bikes (covered in BAG stickers) now parked at South Acton station for the short commute to the farm! Please reach out to outreach@bostonareagleaners.org prior to your volunteer trip to coordinate.
Walden Pond in Concord
7 am-7:30 pm
915 Walden St., Concord, MA
walden.pond@state.ma.us 978-369-3254, bridal paths, and farm roads
One-way trail loop system to promote social distancing; Boat ramp Sunday – Saturday: 5 AM – 7 PM.
Parking: MA resident $8; Non-MA resident: $30 Annual and senior passes NOT sold in park
Use this link to purchase a pass: https://www.mass.gov/how-to/purchase-an-annual-parking-pass-for-massachusetts-state-parks
https://www.mass.gov/how-to/get-a-senior-parking-pass
HIT THE WATER – PICK YOUR PADDLES
The South Bridge Boathouse
Canoe and Kayak Rental service in Concord
496 Main St., Concord, MA
Monday-Friday: 10 AM to one hour before dusk; Weekends and Holidays: 9 AM to one hour before dusk.
Rent a canoe or kayak and explore miles of peaceful waterways on the Assabet, Sudbury and Concord Rivers. A leisurely 1.5 mile paddle to the
Old North Bridge is a favorite.
For more information contact 978-369-9438 or visit https://www.southbridgeboathouse.com/
Camp Acton is Open
Pope Road, Acton
Fee is $25 per site reserved through the Recreation Department.
Limited to 10 people per site. Visit http://trails.actonma.gov/ to learn more about Camp Acton.
Please complete the registration form 48 business hours prior to desired reservation date.
Payments are due upon reservation confirmation
Portable toilet on site.
All users must follow social distancing, regulations and posted guidelines.
Please complete and send camp Acton Permit application via email to recreation@actonma.gov or fax to 978-929-6333
Please allow up to two business days to process.
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 new “Events of Interest” subscribers! As a nonprofit organization focused on conserving land in Acton, we rely upon the support of our members. Visit our ACT website, and click on “Join Us”!