Something for everyone at the annual Open House! At 1 p.m., Eric Hammerling, executive director of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, will give a presentation about his work as chair of the state task force created to study the power outages that occured subsequent to Tropical Storm Irene and the October 2011 snowstorm. Come and learn what the task force recommended regarding roadside tree management.
Grand Opening: Be among the first to hike our new 10 station self-guided trail.
Observe native birds with expert bird guides at Aton Forest's Beaver Pond.
See our large Norfolk moth specimen collection and plant herbarium, and experiment with microscopes in our new laboratory classroom.
Browse and buy original paintings by naturalist Roland Clement.
Free and open to the public. Refreshments served. For directions, click on contact Aton Forest on the homepage.
"Mushroom Foray and Feast" on Saturday, September 8 from 2 to 5 p.m.
A Mushroom Foray and Feast will be led by mycologist Andrew Janjigian on the grounds of Aton Forest. This class will include classroom instruction, field work, and a wild mushroom tasting feast at the Aton Forest headquarters. If weather conditions continue normally and are not too dry, we are likely to see numerous species that appear in early autumn. The goal of this class is to identify safe and unsafe mushrooms, and to differentiate between them. In the event that there aren't many edible wild mushrooms to harvest that day, we will feast on pre-prepared (and possibly cultivated) wild mushrooms.
Instructor: Andrew Janjigian is a food writer for Cook's Illustrated magazine, and an author, chemist, and mycologist.
Date: Saturday, September 8 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Aton Forest Headquarters, 270 North Colebrook Road, Norfolk, CT. For more information, call (860) 542-5125 or email contact@atonforest.org.
Instructor: Andrew Janjigian is a food writer for Cook's Illustrated magazine, and an author, chemist, and mycologist.
Date: Saturday, September 8 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Aton Forest Headquarters, 270 North Colebrook Road, Norfolk, CT. For more information, call (860) 542-5125 or email contact@atonforest.org.
Saturday, July 28 at 4pm, Teaching and Illustrating the New England Flora with Elizabeth Farnsworth
On Saturday, July 28 at 4:00 p.m., botanical illustrator Elizabeth Farnsworth presents Teaching and Illustrating the New England Flora: New Tools for Plant Enthusiasts. This talk is for artists and non-artists, is free and open to the public. Refreshments served.
The talk is held in the Battell Recital Hall at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. Co-sponsored by Aton Forest and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.
Sandy Brook Conservation Corridor: What Can Doolittle Do? June 16, 4pm at the Doolittle Clubhouse
On Saturday, June 16 at 4pm, Executive Director John Anderson will give a Sandy Brook Conservation Corridor Project presentation,
Protecting water quality and wildlife through forest and wetland conservation: What Can Doolittle Do? Doolittle Woods, which lies within the boundaries of the Sandy Brook watershed, is a forested area with lakes and wetlands that was created in 1929 as a place for residents within the woods to hunt and fish. While it remains largely forested, there have been recent concerns about declining water quality, invasive fish species which may be responsible for the decline of native trout, and the advance of non-native, invasive plants. Aton Forest will lead a conversation about what Doolittle residents can do within the context of ensuring the future health of the Sandy Brook watershed.
Location: The Doolittle Clubhouse, 528 Doolittle Drive, Norfolk CT 06058. Refreshments will be served. This talk is free and open to the public. For more information, call (860) 542-5125 or email contact@atonforest.org.
Sandy Brook Conservation Corridor Presentation on May 19 in Colebrook
On Saturday, May 19 from 3 to 5pm, John Anderson will give a talk and power-point presentation on the recently launched Sandy Brook Conservation Corridor Project, at the Colebrook Senior/Community Center in Colebrook Center. This conservation project seeks to protect land within the Sandy Brook watershed in the Connecticut towns of Colebrook, Norfolk, Hartland, Barkhamsted and Winchester, and Sandisfield and New Marlborough, Massachusetts. This pristine watershed has little land placed under protection, and landowners who aren't eager to have the watershed developed may want to learn about their options to preserve the wilderness for hunting, fishing, logging and healthy natural resources.
This talk is free and open to the public. Location: Colebrook Senior/Community Center, 2 School House Road, Colebrook.
On Sunday, May 20 from 10am to 2pm, John Anderson will follow up this talk with a botanizing field trip in Algonquin State Forest and the Sandy Brook Natural Area Preserve. Location: intersection of Sandy Brook Road and Colebrook River Road (Route 8) in Colebrook.
For more information, call (860) 542-5125 or email contact@atonforest.org.