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To preserve and protect our natural and historic heritage
 
Heritage Happenings  
March 2015
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Why do you support 
Heritage Conservancy?
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"I volunteer for Heritage Conservancy mostly because I love their mission of agricultural and open space land preservation. As a Landscape Architect, I realize and understand the importance of land preservation to our sustainable ecosystem. I want to ensure the planet will still be here to support the human, animal and plant life of generations to come, and that's why I'm a member too, because I believe so strongly
in this mission."

~Kevin Kester, ASLA, LLA, RLA; Van Cleef Engineering Associates
 

Thank you, Kevin, for helping us to make a difference for our community!

 

Tell us why you choose to support
Heritage Conservancy. C
ontact Alex at [email protected].

Don't be a stranger--keep in touch on social media!

Members Photo Contest

Hit us with your best shot!

Now through April 15th
 
We're doing it again! Our Members Photo Contest 2014 was a great success, and our three winners are featured in our 2015 calendar. This year, we're asking for your best shots that celebrate our natural and historic heritage in Bucks and Montgomery Counties in any season. Up to twelve winners may be chosen to have their photo included in our 2016 Heritage Conservancy calendar and will be honored at our Members Matter Party
in June 2015.
 
Contact Tammy at 215-345-7020 ext. 107 if you have any questions, or click HERE 
for more information.
Going Native!

Saturday, March 28th
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Aldie Mansion
85 Old Dublin Pike
Doylestown, PA 18901
 
Love the birds and the bees and the butterflies? Join us to learn from the experts about what native plants you should add to your landscape to create a habitat for them! Diane Allison, a local bird expert, and Karen Rogers, a plant expert from Shady Brook Farms, will share the best plants to encourage birds and pollinators to come to your backyard, all while helping the environment by using native plants.
 
Free for Heritage Conservancy members and children under 12; $15 for non-members. Please register with Tammy at 215-345-7020 ext. 107
or click HERE for more information.
Birding in the Cooks Creek Watershed

Saturday, April 11th
7:00 AM to 9:00 AM
Fuller Preserve
Springfield Township, PA
(Call for directions)
 
Come birding at the Fuller Preserve! Join expert birder Diane Allison as we hike the 1.6-mile trail and learn about our feathered friends.

Free for Heritage Conservancy members and children under 12; $10 for non-members. Please register with Tammy at 215-345-7020 ext. 107 or click HERE for more information.
Mulch Madness

Monday, April 13th
(Rain date April 14th)
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and/or
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Aldie Mansion
85 Old Dublin Pike
Doylestown, PA 18901

Help us prepare and beautify Aldie Mansion for the spring! Last year, volunteers helped us to spread about 50 yards of mulch around the gardens, and we need your help to do it again.

Please contact Shannon at 215-345-7020 ext. 104 to register or click HERE for
more information.
Meat the Ole-Fashioned Way

Saturday, April 25th
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
Preserved Property in Lansdale, PA
(Call for directions)

Come see our 18th century smokehouse! Learn how meat was smoked, dried and cured in the late 1700s. Master smokers from My Place Smoked Meats of New Hope, PA, will have samples of smoked meats and cheeses while we learn about the need for smokehouses in the 18th and early 19th centuries, before the age of refrigeration.

Free for Heritage Conservancy members and children under 12; $15 for nonmembers. Please contact Tammy at 215-345-7020 ext. 107 to register or click HERE for more information.
Concerts in the Garden

Wednesday, May 20th
6:30 to 8:30 PM
Aldie Mansion
85 Old Dublin Pike
Doylestown, PA 18901

Just as William and Martha Mercer, the original owners of Aldie Mansion, held outdoor recitals on the lawn over 85 years ago, Heritage Conservancy is keeping the tradition alive by hosting Concerts in the Garden. While the heritage of the mansion serves as a backdrop, musical performances showcase the local talent that we have right here in our community.

Free to the public. Feel free to bring a blanket or lawn chair and a bite to eat! If you have any questions, please contact Tammy at 215-345-7020 ext. 107.
History at the Haines Estate

June 27, 2015
Beginning at 5:00 PM
3327 Geryville Pike
Pennsburg, PA 18073

Join us for a signature fundraising event!

Experience the opportunity to tour and dine at the historic estate of
John and Linda Haines with an exclusive look at their collection of antique vehicles and equipment!

Please contact Katie at 215-345-7020 ext. 108 or click HERE for more information and to purchase tickets.
We're looking for a few 
good volunteers!
We're in need of volunteer receptionists for our front desk. Serve as a friendly ambassador by greeting guests and answering phones at the beautiful Aldie Mansion in Doylestown, PA. 
We are looking for volunteers for Mondays and Fridays, shifts 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM and/or 1:00 to 5:00 PM. Schedule is flexible. Additional projects assigned if requested. If interested, please send a resume and/or a brief description of employment history 
and skills to 
Any time of year is perfect for a wedding at historic  
Aldie Mansion!



Visit our
for details.
Heritage Happenings
Volume 1, Issue 5

Our Returning Feathered Friends 


A male yellow warbler, a neotropical migrant species that will soon be returning to our area. Photo taken in Bucks County and courtesy of Diane Allison.

 

As we begin to thaw out after a rough winter, many of the birds that leave us for the winter are getting ready to return from their "vacation" in the tropics. These long distance travelers are known as neotropical migrants, and their journeys consist of thousands and thousands of miles. These species include some of our most beloved and colorful birds such as orioles, hummingbirds, thrushes, tanagers and warblers.

 

Our early migrants include killdeer, American woodcock and eastern phoebe, which begin showing up in March. Tree swallows begin returning as early as mid-March as they slowly make their way north following the new supply of insects. With the continued low temperatures we've been having, they may be a little late this year!

 

The ruby-throated hummingbirds can begin moving through our area as early as mid-April. You may want to mark your calendar to put your feeders up so you are ready. The first arrivals are usually males and they may only be using your feeder as a pit stop as they move northward, but soon after, your resident breeders will begin to use your feeders as well. Many of our hawks stay for the winter, but the broad-winged hawk makes a journey to the Brazilian Amazon region for the winter months and will be returning to nesting sites in our area in mid-April. Their one-way trip may be in excess of 5000 miles--amazing! Wood thrushes will again grace our woodlands with their beautiful flute-like songs when they return from Central America in late April and early May. This is a trip of over 2000 miles and includes a non-stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico, a grueling over-water flight carried out by many of our neotropical migrants.


A male scarlet tanager. Photo taken in Bucks County and courtesy of Diane Allison.

 

By the first week in May, the masses of migrants are arriving. Many will be returning to their breeding territories in our region and others will just be passing through on their way to breeding grounds farther north in New England and Canada. Some of our summer breeders do not go as far in winter, moving only into the southern part of the United States. Baltimore orioles and scarlet tanagers will be here by the first week in May, and their amazing colors are a welcome sight in spring. Keep an eye out for a parade of neotropical migrants, including the eastern kingbirds and bobolinks, returning in early May from wintering grounds as far away as Argentina.

 

Many times, we call these birds "our" birds, but the current theory is that the neotropical migrants are actually tropical birds that discovered that migrating north to capitalize on the insect bounty of our summers made sense for nesting. Many of them actually spend more of the year in the tropics than they do in our area. There is still a tremendous amount to learn about migration. If you want to read more, pick up a copy of Living on the Wind by Scott Weidensaul, a fascinating read about the migratory adaptations of our feathered friends. Happy spring and happy birding!

Concerts in the Garden is back! 


 
Lisabeth Weber and John Beacher perform at Concerts in the Garden in June 2014


With the return of spring and warmer weather comes the return of our wildly popular "Concerts in the Garden" outdoor summer concert series at historic Aldie Mansion! For those who thought that three concerts weren't enough last year, you will be excited to hear that we have extended the series to cover five concerts over the course of the summer. That is five evenings of enjoying local music in the backyard garden of Aldie Mansion under a summer sky!

 

Just as William and Martha Mercer, the original owners of Aldie Mansion, held outdoor recitals on the lawn over 85 years ago, Heritage Conservancy is keeping that tradition alive by hosting Concerts in the Garden. While the heritage of the mansion serves as a backdrop, musical performances showcase the local talent that we have right here in our community.

 

From May through September, Concerts in the Garden will be held in the evening on the third Wednesday of every month. The dates are as follows: May 20th, June 17th, July 15th, August 19th, and September 16th.

 

And get ready, because we have the musical acts for Concerts in the Garden all lined up! This year's Concerts in the Garden will feature: 


May 20

June 17th

July 15th 

August 19th

September 16th 

Guests enjoying their time at last year's Concerts in the Garden

 

Thanks to donor support, we are able to offer this event free to the public. We hope that you'll join us on Aldie Mansion's rolling lawns to enjoy this local talent while soaking up the history of the mansion. For more information about this summer's concerts, contact Tammy at 215-345-7020 ext. 107.

Many Faces, One Voice:

Heritage Conservancy's new Chairman of the Board,
Christopher B. Chandor, Esq. 


For more than a quarter of a century, Heritage Conservancy has been fortunate to call Chris Chandor a member of its Board of Directors. Until recently, he sat as the Conservancy's Vice Chairman of the Board, but in January of this year, he began serving our organization in an even greater capacity as our new Chairman.

 

Chris first joined the Board when William Hart Rufe III, Heritage Conservancy's first Chairman, encouraged him to become involved. After vacationing with his family in Nantucket, where over one-third of the island was preserved, Chris was motivated to apply this type of foresight to Bucks County and accepted the offer. Since joining our Board, Chris has concentrated his interests and efforts in the areas of open space preservation and sustainable agriculture. As Chairman, Chris aims to increase awareness of Heritage Conservancy and its importance within our overall community while increasing the financial stability of our organization as a whole.

 

Chris and his wife, Whitney, have resided on their Upper Makefield Township farm for 25 years. As a demonstration of their commitment to land preservation some number of years ago, they placed a conservation easement upon the vast majority of the property. "We love open space and never wanted to see the farm built upon," says Chris. The preservation of their property adds to a contiguous stretch of protected land, preserving virtually the entire stream valley of Pidcock Creek that flows between Ridge Road and Windy Bush Road.

 

Chris and Whitney lease their farmland out to a neighbor, and Chris enjoys helping out and working around the farm when he can. When asked what else he likes to do in his spare time, Chris responds, "As much as I can! I don't like to let grass grow under my feet." That is a perfect idiom because there is an underlying theme to his favorite activities--they all involve being outdoors.

 

Chris has a great respect for the environment and feels that it's especially crucial to connect kids with nature early on. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, the national bestselling book by Richard Louv, left a lasting impression on him. "Its message is impactful. If we don't get kids outdoors to learn about nature and to love what's outside, who is going to take care of our parks and open spaces in the future?" ruminates Chris. "We need to make that connection at a young age so there will be environmental advocates who want to protect the resources that we still have."

 

Along with his dedication to Heritage Conservancy's mission, Chris is doing his part on a personal level to ensure that our natural and historic heritage has a future. He has four grandsons between the ages of 10 and 13, and every summer, he takes them all on a fishing trip to Maine where they stay in a cabin in the great outdoors. Chris's appreciation of nature stems from his childhood in northern New Jersey and Lumberville here in Bucks County where he grew up hunting and fishing, and he wants his grandsons to have the same enjoyable experiences that he had.

As with anyone who enjoys being outdoors, it is even more enjoyable with a trusty companion by your side. Chris's Brittany, Chester, goes with him everywhere. In fact, we always know when Chris is in our office because Chester leads through the halls and greets everyone with Chris not far behind.

 

In his professional career, Chris is the Chief Executive Officer of Penn's Grant Corporation, a well-established  commercial real estate investment firm.  An undergraduate of Washington and Lee University with his J.D. degree from Villanova Law School, Chris is also a practicing real estate attorney. Additionally, as a licensed real estate broker, Chris is the President of Doylestown Real Estate, Inc., with offices in Doylestown, PA.

 

Chris is passionate about the natural and historic heritage that he respects so much and that we are all fortunate to benefit from in this area.  "Bucks County is one of the most recognizable counties by name in the country, and for good reason. I love it here," says Chris.

 

With Chris Chandor as Chairman of our Board, the organization looks forward to continuing future successes in enhancing and preserving the quality of life in our community for generations to come.  Welcome aboard, Chris!

Now accepting submissions for the
2015 Heritage Partnership Awards Program

 L to R: Jacob Danko, Tammy Schane, Callie Danko. Jacob and Callie were the recipients of the 2014 Heritage Partnership Youth Award

   

We are reaching out to our friends, members, supporters and volunteers to help find deserving recipients for our 2015 Heritage Partnership Awards!

 

Our Heritage Partnership Awards Program honors and recognizes individuals, organizations, government agencies, community groups and leaders who have made significant contributions in the areas of land conservation, historic preservation, watershed protection, sustainable agriculture, livable communities and the environment at large. The awards commemorate a lasting legacy to those who have excelled in the preservation of our natural and historic heritage. 

 

Award Categories:   

  • Land Conservation
  • Historic Preservation
  • Youth Award
  • Community Leadership/Grassroots Partnership
  • Lifetime Achievement

All nomination forms must be received by Heritage Conservancy by either email, mail, or fax no later than May 13, 2015. View the award descriptions here.

 

The awards will be presented at our Members Matter Party on June 10, 2015.