KENNEBEC LAND TRUST’S 2011 LYCEUM SERIES:
NEW ENGLAND NATURE WRITERS ON THE LAND
CO-SPONSORED
BY COLBY COLLEGE
The Kennebec Land Trust recently announced its ninth Lyceum series, New England Nature Writers on the Land. In March and April programs, authors Robert Kimber, Jane Brox, and John Elder will celebrate and explore people’s relationships to the natural world and the land. Field programs and hikes on KLT conservation lands in April, May, and September including a workshop for school teachers, will focus on these timely themes.
KLT’s annual spring programs are modeled after the early New England lyceums that began in 1826 in Massachusetts. For many years New England lyceums hosted lectures, debates, and concerts for public audiences. KLT’s Lyceum is supported by Gloria, Lincoln, and Robert Ladd. This year’s series is sponsored by the Departments of Biology and English and the Environmental Studies Program at Colby College. All programs are open to the public; registration is required for the May and September sessions.
WILDERNESS LOST, WILDERNESS REGAINED
Thursday, March 17, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Ladd Recreation Center, Wayne
Robert Kimber, Author of A Canoeist’s Sketchbook; Upcountry; Living Wild and Domestic: The Education of a Hunter-Gardener, will read from his essays on subjects as various as dogs, black flies, brook trout, and wilderness, dwelling not so much on what we have lost in the natural world but on saving, celebrating, and enjoying what we still have.
TECHNOLOGY AND SENSE OF PLACE
Thursday, March 24, 7:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Ladd Recreation Center, Wayne
Jane Brox, Author of Here and Nowhere Else; Clearing Land; Five Thousand Days Like This One; Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light , will read from her most recent work, Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light, and will talk about the way changes in technology change people’s sense of place. She’ll speak specifically about the transformation of the American countryside in the 20th century as rural electrification transformed life on the farm it also transformed the way rural people saw themselves and their place in the world.
A PARTY IN THE WOODS
LOSS AND CELEBRATION UNDER A CHANGING SKY
Monday, April 11, 7:00 p.m.
Olin Center, Colby College, Waterville, Maine
John Elder, Author of Reading the Mountains of Home; The Frog Run, Environmental Activist and Emeritus Professor of English and Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, will focus on sugarmaking as a chance both to register the damage to our woods from climate change and to seek a more community-based and inviting approach to environmental activism. The nineteenth-century Maine painter and abolitionist Eastman Johnson is one historical figure on whom he will focus.
2011 LYCEUM FIELD PROGRAMS
EARTH WEEK: BIRDING, HIKING, AND NATURE WRITING AT GANNETT WOODS & WYMAN FOREST
Saturday, April 23, 8:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Join stewards Jeff Janell and Dave Courtemanch and birder Tom Danielson for a hike that will feature spring birds, pristine Shedd Pond, and the Wyman-Gannett trails. Nathalie Woolworth, KLT Conservation Assistant will lead an optional nature writing activity.
NEW ENGLAND NATURE WRITERS AND VERNAL POOL ECOLOGY FOR TEACHERS
Friday, May 6, 8:30 a.m. – noon
With Theresa Kerchner, KLT executive director; Ron Joseph, wildlife biologist; and Mary Sturtevant, steward. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from Wayne Elementary School teachers as they lead vernal pool discovery activities at KLT’s Besse Historic Conservation Area vernal pool. Meet at Wayne Elementary School; return there for the workshop.
Fee: $5.00. Call KLT at 377-2848 to register.
CREATING THE ALL-SEASON NATURE JOURNAL AT HISTORIC CAMP BEARNSTOW
Saturday, September 17, 9:00 a.m. – noon
Join Linda McKee, English teacher, at historic Camp Bearnstow on Parker Pond in Fayette. Learn a variety of journaling techniques for developing a closer connection with nature and ourselves. Through regular reflections of experiences and observations–writing, sketching, photographing–you will develop a greater appreciation of nature and place, find your own voice, and make time to slow down. Call KLT at 377-2848 to register. Overnight accommodations are available at Camp Bearnstow, contact: reg@bearnstow.org for reservations and details; www.bearnstow.org
PLEASE JOIN US – all Lyceum events are open to the public.
The Kennebec Land Trust is dedicated to protecting the landscape of the Kennebec River and Lakes region. Working with conservation-minded landowners since 1988, the Trust has protected over 3,850 acres of land through donations, purchases, and conservation easements. Most properties are open to the public for walking, hiking, hunting, fishing, and enjoying nature. The Kennebec Land Trust offers a number of programs, workshops, and field trips. Please visit www.tklt.org for information on 2011 program offerings, KLT properties, and directions.
Please visit www.tklt.org for a complete list of 2011 program offerings, KLT properties, and directions.