Author: jbwoodchuck

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Wild Saturdays: Face-to-Face with Raptors

The next and final Wild Saturday of the year at Woodchuck Lodge, on October 6th at 1pm, is entitled Face-to-Face with Raptors. Annie Mardiney, federally licensed wildlife “rehabilitator”, shares her deep passion by bringing hawks, owls, and falcons to Woodchuck Lodge. Come meet them face to face! Last year, we received almost 60 visitors for this talk by Annie, one of the most popular talks we’ve hosted.

Free, guided tours of Woodchuck Lodge are offered throughout the summer on the first weekend of the month on Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 3pm, between May and October, so if you can’t make our Wild Saturday, you still have the rest of the weekend to take a tour with one of our docents on October 6th and 7th which will be the last chance to visit Woodchuck Lodge before it closes for the summer.

Visitors can also now take advantage of our new trail. Woodchuck Lodge received a grant to develop the trail around the Woodchuck Lodge grounds and our Trustee Patti Rudge has been overseeing its construction. The trail provides a unique view of the property, snaking up and behind the Lodge and through a forest and out into our meadow that has stunning views.

Wild Saturday events take place at 1pm at 1633 Burroughs Memorial Road, Roxbury, NY 12474. Children are welcome.

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Wild Saturdays: Wildlife Near Home

On Saturday September 1st, 2018 at 1pm, Mairead Mulhern gave a fascinating talk on Wildlife Near Home at Woodchuck Lodge. Mairead, an Environmental Educator discussed local wildlife found in Upstate New York. Who knew that porcupines swim – or rather bob along — when they really need to get away, with thousands of air-filled quills keeping them afloat?

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Wild Saturdays: August 4th, 2018 at 1pm Learn about Fungi

© J.N. Urbanski Usage prohibited without consent

John Michelotti, owner of Catskill Fungi and President of the Mid-Hudson Mycological Association, discusses the ecological functions of fungi, common edibles and medicinal mushrooms in the Catskills, as well as historic uses of fungi and present day research and innovations. Find out more at CatskillFungi.com.

This event takes place at Woodchuck Lodge, 1633 Burroughs Memorial Road, Roxbury, NY 12474 at 1pm on August 4th, 2018. All are welcome.

Free, guided tours of Woodchuck Lodge are offered the first weekend of the month, May to October, Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 3pm.

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News from the Lodge

The Annual Meeting of the Board of Trustees: July 15th, 2018

© J.N. Urbanski

Trustees of the board of John Burroughs Woodchuck Lodge conducted their annual meeting on July 15th, 2018. All were welcome and we had an audience of members, after which we took a hike up to the new Summer House via The Trout Lily Trail. It was a beautiful day.

© J.N. Urbanski

A Visit from Germantown NY Artist Collective

© A. Curlew

Five participants from the Germantown NY Artist Collective,InStar Lodge, visited John Burroughs Woodchuck Lodge, Sunday, as part of their Community Conversations initiative. Focused on the importance of “place”, two groups of participants walked and talked together about “wonderment”, our human reaction to the variety of nature when we attend carefully to the natural world around us.

 

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Leather-Stalking Tales with Dr. Bill Birns

What’s so exciting about Life After Tanning?

After the 19th century loads of tanned hides left the docks in Catskill heading down the Hudson River to “The Swamp” in New York City, they took on a whole new life of their own.

Yes, there was life after tanning. Come find out about it from the dynamic and exciting speaker BILL BIRNS, who will be sharing his family’s historically riveting experiences in THE SWAMP of Manhattan.

This free event has been made possible in part through the generosity of The A. Lindsay & Olive B. O’Connor Foundation, The Greene County Council on the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts, and The Zadock Pratt Museum.

Bill’s talk is entitled “LOUIS BIRNS & SONS IN THE SWAMP”

WHEN: Thursday August 2, 2018 – 7 to 8 pm

WHERE: Zadock Pratt Museum, 14540 Main St/Rte 23
Prattsville NY 12468.

Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/ZadockPrattMuseum/

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John Burroughs Woodchuck Lodge Annual Meeting

© J.N. Urbanski

The John Burroughs Woodchuck Lodge Annual Meeting will take place on Sunday July 15th, 2018 at 1pm.

The meeting will be open to the public and, after agenda items are discussed and trustees are voted in for another term, there will be a hike to the new summer house, free gifts for attending (book, refrigerator magnet or CD) and light refreshments.

This event takes place at Woodchuck Lodge, 1633 Burroughs Memorial Road, Roxbury, NY 12474. All are invited.

Free, guided tours of Woodchuck Lodge are offered the first weekend of the month, May to October, Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 3pm.

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The New Summer House at Woodchuck Lodge

A new summerhouse has been built for the top of the meadow at Woodchuck Lodge where visitors and board members go to cherish the stunning view across the Catskill Mountains. Members of the board are also looking for a small, portable library to put inside the summer house.

The idea came to board members as we completed the Trout Lily Trail, to extend the trail to the east into the hog lot. We would then lengthen the trail, transition from forest to meadow at the break in the stone wall and utilize more of the property. Now, while capturing that view, visitors can sit, rest and perhaps even read awhile if we are to get our tiny library.

Steve Walker, of Beaverdam Builders, built the summer house. We provided the rough draft of what a turn of the century ‘summerhouse’ looked like. We chose red cedar for durability, round poles and twig lattice for aesthetics, a rustic bench with a simple shed roof, all to blend with the ambiance of Woodchuck Lodge.  We were seeking a modest structure to match both the man and, certainly, the budget!  “The agreement we struck was if I were to secure the materials, he would build it” says Patti Rudge.

On a tip from RyanTrapani @ Catskill Forest Association, we purchased the cedar from Todd Baldwin in Dutchess County. The hemlock, on the other hand, was harvested locally and milled just down the road in Halcottsville by John Biruk.

With the ground firmed up from spring rains and a high pressure holding, Steve had his crew up in the hog lot in the second week of June and added a bit of magic to Woodchuck Lodge. The summerhouse ‘under the maples’ is waiting to be discovered.

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The Summerhouse Swim by Patti Rudge

With a $3000.00 matching grant under our belt from Delaware County Tourism and Promotion Board and a commitment of $2000.00 from the Woodchuck Lodge budget, the Board is committed to raising the final $1500.00 to fund the summerhouse!

Trustee Patti Rudge  has accepted the challenge to swim across Lake Champlain on August 18 and is seeking sponsors to raise the final monies for John Burroughs summer house. The swim is 3.75 miles from Essex NY to Charlotte Vt., and is billed as an open water competitive swim.  On a northeasterly course, she is quietly hoping for a tail wind. She is well into her training, bobbing in choppy, cold water. It is “another realm of solitude and wildness out our backdoor”.

Can you help Woodchuck Lodge with a donation towards the summerhouse?  If so, please address checks to Woodchuck Lodge with “summer house  swim“ in the memo. Mail checks to JB Woodchuck Lodge, PO Box 492, Roxbury, NY 12474.

Thanks so much and if you are in the Catskills and near open water, take a good look.

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Newly Published Work of Poetry by Anne Richey

Church of the Robin’s Ha-Ha: John Burroughs’ Natural Religion and Other Poems by Anne Richey

Anne Richey, a docent at Woodchuck Lodge and local teacher has published an homage to the works of John Burroughs in the form of an eclectic collection of poetry and prose: an anthology of notes, quotations, prose, excerpts from an ancient diary and “found poetry”.

Chapter 1 begins with a quotation by Thoreau “Talk of Heaven! Ye Disgrace Earth” and starts as it means to go on. “I believe God is nature,” John told a friend. “Every day is a Sabbath to me”. Continue reading “Newly Published Work of Poetry by Anne Richey”

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Wild Saturdays: Observational Hiking with Paul Misko on July 7th

Photo courtesy of Paul Misko

Paul Misko, founder of THE CATSKILL 4000 CLUB presents a multi-media presentation on how hiking in the Catskills has changed over the years. He uses humorous and disturbing anecdotes from John Burroughs’ adventures, and from a few other historic folks, and then will add some of his own experiences. He will touch on the clothes and equipment used, the food eaten, the coming of the marked trails, and what has stayed the same. He will end his talk with a brief segment on how to properly equip a day pack.

This event takes place at Woodchuck Lodge, 1633 Burroughs Memorial Road, Roxbury, NY 12474 at 1pm on July 7th, 2018. All are welcome.

Free, guided tours of Woodchuck Lodge are offered the first weekend of the month, May to October, Saturday and Sunday, 11am to 3pm.

Photo courtesy of Paul Misko
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