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| Save the Date
August 1: Wol's Nest Reunion and Anniversary |
Announcements, announcements!
Calling all past campers, counselors, parents, grandparents and others associated with the Harris Center's Wol's Nest summer program: Save August 1, 2010, in your calendar.
To honor the 35th anniversary of Wol's Nest, the Harris Center is organizing a reunion. This will be a great way to return to the old stomping grounds of Wol's Nest, including the boulders, the trails, and the hiding places! We'll have activities for young and old, many in the grand tradition of Wol's Nest ... there might even be a dinosaur egg to find! We'll have some reminiscences and take a look at this fun summer program, from its early days as a program of Antioch University New England to its current times in the early 21st century. Some great traditions never change!
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| The Nature of December |
One of the best things about December is that you remember how much fun it is to walk on water!
Underneath that water, turtles, frogs and other creatures are in a state of suspended animation, waiting out the winter and counting the days until spring. | |
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Coming on Thursdays New Offerings this Winter from Environmental Studies Institute |
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The Harris Center's Environmental Studies Institute mini-courses provide an opportunity for adults to explore the Monadnock Region's human and natural history and engage in meaningful discussions about our environment. Take a class ... and bring a friend!
A Field Study of Winter
February 4, 11, 18, 25, March 1, 8
1 p.m. at the Harris Center and in the field
Cost: $35 members/$45 non-members
Leaders, Meade Cadot, Rick Van de Poll, Francie von Mertens,
Come discover the natural history of winter in this overview of life in the cold. Using the Stokes Guide to Winter as a guide, come learn with natural history experts Meade Cadot, Francie von Mertens, and Rick Van de Poll, how mammals, plants and birds survive the icy grip of winter. Discover the many different strategies of survival. This course will have ample field time. Snowshoes maybe necessary for field work. Let us know if you would like to borrow a Harris Center pair.
Pilgrim at Tinker's Creek
Feb 4, 11, 18, 25
10-11:30 a.m. at the Hancock Town Library
Cost: $25 members/ $35 non-members
Leaders: Mary DesRosiers and Susie Spikol
Join us for three mornings discussing the pivotal work of Annie Dillard's Pulitzer Prize winning book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek as well as other selected readings. We will take a slow read of Pilgrim while looking at Dillard's writing style, overarching themes, as well as time to explore Dillard's own biography and the historical context of her work. Revisit this book and discover its impact on your everyday thinking. Register by Jan. 25.
To sign up for either session, please contact Sara LeFebvre at the Harris Center, 603-525-3394. |
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Kate Hubbard, a 6th-grader from Keene Middle School, sent in a nice card after her class's hike up Mount Skatutakee with the Harris Center. Leading the trip to see raptors were Outreach Education Coordinator Susie Spikol and intern Lauren Bentsen. |
Feb. 22, 23, 24 & 25 Winter Wol's Nest Coming for February Vacation |
 Looking for a way to keep your kids active during February break? This winter, the Harris Center will conduct another session of Winter Wol's Nest!
Children from 5 through 12 years of age are invited to come to the Harris Center and have fun during the best part of winter. We'll go snowshoeing, build snow forts, make crafts, play games, sing songs, and much more! We'd love to see your kids at hte Harris Center in the deepest part of winter. Don't forget your mittens!
- Feb. 22, 23, 24 & 25
- 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Cost: $35 per day for members / $45 per day for nonmembers. $120 for all four days for members / $130 for nonmembers.
To register, contact Sara Lefebvre at the Harris Center, 603-525-3394. |
| Blast from the Past |
Hard to believe it was only a year ago when the world was encased in ice.
During the 11 days that the Harris Center was without power after the December 2008 ice storm, many people helped keep the building's vital functions alive. Trustee Hunt Dowse showed up with a generator, wich helped heat the building and more.
 Our friends at the Monadnock Conservancy in Keene generously gave us some office space. And over the course of the following weeks and months, many volunteers helped clean up the grounds and trails around the Harris Center.
Many thanks to all who helped! |
| Keene on the Outdoors
Fuller School Studies Mammals |
 This otter was among the many fine observation sketches prepared by third graders at Keene's Fuller School.
AJ, a student in Mr. Sullivan's class, knows that river otters eat fish and live in and near the region's wetlands and water.
Harris Center teacher / naturalist Polly Pattison recently is leading classes at Fuller School on a unit in which children explored the "Mammals in Our Neighborhood." |
| Out and About with the Harris Center |
The Harris Center is pleased to collaborate with the Monadnock Conservancy and the UNH Cooperative Extension Service for a series of public programs over the coming months. Events in the Monadnock Winter Conservation Series are noted below. Come along and bring a friend!
January 23 - Sat. - Saunter off with the Sweets to Special Sullivan Spots. Venerable leaders Roger and Ann Sweet will lead this moderately strenuous outing in search of tracks and other sign in diverse, hilly terrain. This is a snowshoe hike to the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests' Olson Family Forest and Allison Nims Piper Memorial Forest in Sullivan. Meet the Sweets at 9 a.m. at the Allison Nims Piper Forest gate on Gilsum Road in Sullivan. Back around 1 p.m.
January 24 - Sun. - Winter Tree ID. Is this red maple, swamp maple, or soft maple? What! those are all the same species! Tree and shrub identification in New England can be hard enough, throw in winter and it can be down right impossible. Join UNH Cooperative Extension Forester Steve Roberge for a morning of winter tree and shrub identification basics where Steve Roberge, Extension Forester in Cheshire County, will present the identifying characteristics or our local flora in winter and how to distinguish between species while wearing mittens. Be prepared to journey outside. We will travel outside the classroom to demonstrate what we've learned inside and identify samples in the forest. Register by calling (603) 352-4550. Starts at 1 p.m. at the Harris Center. Part of the Monadnock Winter Conservation Series.
January 31 - Sun. - Burn off the Ham in Ashburnham. Join Ollie Mutch and Jan Miller for a 2- to 3-mile snowshoe hike in a Massachusetts wildlife management area with great views of Mount Watatic and possible good wildlife tracking. Join Ollie and Jan for desert and beverages after the hike. Meet at 10 a.m. at the intersection of Route 101 and Route 119 in Ashburnham, Mass., at the country store. Back around 3 p.m.
January 30 - Sat. - Head for the Headwaters of the Contoocook and the newly protected Mansfield Meadow in New Ipswich. Once an important source of hay, but with beavers back, it's now a part of the big Tophet Swamp, and prime habitat for otters, mink, moose and more. For this moderately easy 3-mile, 3-hour snowshoe and search for sign, meet leaders Bob Boynton and Roberta Flashman at 9 a.m. at the Sharon Arts Center on Route. 123 in Sharon. Back about 1 p.m.
February 2 - Tues. - Backyard Maple Sugaring: How to Make Your Own Maple Syrup. The sap will be running soon! Have you thought about making your own maple syrup? Do you want to know what's needed? Attend this workshop to learn the steps, from the tree to the table plus the equipment needed. This special workshop is geared to first-timers and beginner maplers with less than 75 taps. All aspects of maple sugaring will be covered, including tree identification and tapping, collecting and boiling sap, finishing, filtering and packing syrup. Equipment and supplies needed, especially sizing and operating small evaporators, homemade and commercial, will also be discussed. The workshop is FREE, but registration is required. Please call Cheshire County Cooperative Extension office before January 29th at (603) 352-4550 to register and be guaranteed a seat. 6 to 8 p.m., Keene Public Library. Part of the Monadnock Winter Conservation Series.
February 6 - Sat. - Snowshoe into Kensan-Devan Sanctuary at Meeting House Pond in Marlborough. Join skilled naturalist and Audubon Sanctuaries Manager Phil Brown for a moderately easy ~ 3-mile winter nature excursion through some of Marlborough's most significant conservation land. Come learn about the ecology and settlement of this historic site; see how it is being managed now and search for mammal sign around the pond and in the deep woods on the flanks of Monadnock. Meet Phil at 9 a.m. at the junction of Route 124 and Underwood Road in Marlborough. Don't forget to bring snowshoes and water; binoculars are a good idea, too. Back about 1 p.m. Co-sponsored by NH Audubon, and Phil asks that you pre- register pbrown@NHaudubon.org, 224-9909 ext. 334.
February 7 - Sun. - Discover the Town of Francestown's Success at Dinsmoor Brook Conservation Area. This is a 3- to 4-mile moderate cross-country ski trip with less than 100-feet elevation change. Meet Ben and Robin Haubrich at 1 p.m. at the Francestown town sheds at the intersection of Routes 136 and 47. For up-to-date information on equipment and outing, please contact Ben, 547-2075 or bph03043@netzero.com.
February 7 - Sun. - Family Hike to Juggernaut Pond. Follow an old road to the Hancock reservoir, discover a porcupine village, and look for mink and otter slides on the edge of the ice. A gentle uphill walk on a wide trail with a short meander through the woods to Thacher Rock! Meet Susie Spikol at the Harris Center at 2 p.m. Back by 4 p.m.
February 13 - Sat. - Snowshoe Hills Where Shagbark Hickory Thrives: in western Westmoreland with views of Vermont's Green Mountains and more. For this moderately strenuous outing meet our leader and consulting forester Swift Corwin at 10 a.m. at the northbound rest area on Route 12 in Walpole. Back about 2 p.m.
February 14 - Sun. - Ski Over a Favorite Swimmin' Hole: Willard Pond, with Sanctuary stewards Andrew Alling and Rachael Johnson. This easy 1½-mile circumnavigation of a pristine 100-acre lake will skirt newly protected and newly acquired shore land. Skiing starts at 10 a.m. Co-sponsored by N H Audubon, which asks that participants pre-register asrachael@yahoo.com 525-4096, and be sure to bring water and a snack/lunch.
February 18 - Thurs. - Conservation Easements: What Owners of Conservation Lands Should Know. For more than 30 years, conservation easements have worked as a critical tool for protecting lands, keeping those lands in private ownership while safeguarding a myriad of public benefits. With an ever-growing number of easement-protected lands moving from the original grantor's hands to the next generation of owners (or out of the family), questions arise about those easements. What does an easement mean for landowners? How might an easement affect an owner's plans? What are the responsibilities of a land trust that holds the easement? Come hear from representatives of the Monadnock Conservancy, Harris Center and other organizations and share your own perspective and questions. 6:30 p.m. at the Harris Center; refreshments provided. Part of the Monadnock Winter Conservation Series. | |
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