by Philip Petronis, Board President
Our annual meeting was held Saturday, December 11. In attendance, in addition to our Board and our Trailside Museum curator, Mindy Swope Quintero, were Jeff Main, the Supervisor of Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, and Taro Ietaka, the Supervisor of our county curators, and Dan Aitchison, the Senior Curator of Wildlife for the County.
Mindy reported that there was a busy Fall schedule with school groups and over 50 classes. Her attention is now turning towards new exhibits, sugaring season and winter public programming. She currently has enough staff to be open seven days/week. We are hoping for warm days and cold nights to promote sap flows and looking forward to our maple sugaring party on March 12th to which you are all invited.
Taro reported on a project he is leading on the Luquer-Marble native flower garden located behind the Trailside Museum and is in need of attention. He is working with the Bedford Garden Club on redesign and repairs, including the replacement of the current chain link fence with something more attractive. He will be working with the Parks Foundation to organize volunteers to help with invasive plant removal and any Friends members interested in helping this spring please let Mindy or Taro know. The Friends of Trailside will also be helping by financing the removal of dying and dead ash trees.
Although Dan’s duties, including deer control, are county-wide, since both his home and office are at the Reservation we are fortunate to have him take a special interest in WPR. As an example of this, Dan reported on the results of a study at the Res recently completed by his staff on the native Eastern Cottontail population for which the Friends provided the necessary equipment.
Jeff Main reported on the recent extensive work done at the Res and future plans. One upcoming project includes repairing several dams, including the dam along Michigan Road that creates a pond that was used by the CCC back in the 1930’s to run a saw mill. The dam will be restored and the area cleared of invasive species so it will be easily visible from the road. We are looking forward to this and many other improvements to our Res.
The Friends of Trailside are pleased to be able to advocate for and financially support many of these improvements which are made possible by your membership. Thank you for being members and supporting the mission of the Friends of the Trailside Museum and Ward Pound Ridge Reservation.
Happy Trails