Sites all around the ENHA are preparing to celebrate the holidays. Museums and historic homes are dressing up for parties, galas and fundraisers, while many farms are gearing up for their seasonal business - selling holiday trees. Cut down your own tree at Herrick Farm in Boxford, shop for your tree, ornaments and gifts at Smolak Farms in North Andover... and many more locations throughout the region. A list of Holiday Tree Farms is available on our website.

After extending the application deadline for the successful Heritage Landscape Inventory Essex County Reconnaissance Survey, ENHC accepted an additional four towns, Nahant, Rockport, Rowley and Salisbury into the program, for a total of twenty-four participating communities. Staff from ENHC and the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) will hold public meetings in the communities and do field work to identify each town's special places. A daylong workshop in the spring will present the survey findings and discuss preservation strategies.

Use your Explorers card throughout the fall at Redbrick art center in Beverly to receive a special rate on their classes and workshops. Redbrick offers a variety of children, adult and parent-child classes in watercolor, ceramics, collage and more. All ages and skill levels are welcome at Redbrick. Visit www.redbrickarts.com for details.

Trails & Sails saw record participation this year, with 59 organizations providing 121 events to 3,000 attendees. In addition to the beautiful weather, Trails & Sails benefited from 249 volunteers who contributed 1,161 hours of their time.

ENHC has received very positive feedback from all involved. Participants called the weekend "thoroughly enjoyable" and "well planned." Of those surveyed, 72% were exposed to historic and cultural resources that they were not previously aware of, and 89% said that they would return to those places. We are also pleased to report that 97% of attendees said that they will participate in Trails & Sails again next year.