White Memorial Foundation, located off Rte. 202 in Litchfield Connecticut has several arts and crafts programs that will intrigue and educate young and old alike. On April 5 for examples, there is a llama walk with Deb Elias from Country Quilt Llama Farms. This is your chance to walk a llama and find out how easy it is. Along the walk you will also learn all kinds of llama information. This is appropriate for children and adults. Sign-ups are necessary with a limit of 10 people per walk. 1:00 P.M., Meet in the Museum parking lot. $15.00 per person. Register directly through Deb by calling 860-672-2753 or emailing cqlf6@hotmail.com. A portion of the fee will be donated to White Memorial.
April 12 begins with a bird language club event with Andy Dobos and Deneen Berier that will help participants identify bird songs and their meanings. Bird language is the study of the songs, calls and body language of birds and other animals giving their running commentary of the world around them. Among other things, they announce the presence of predators and threats. Birders, hunters, photographers and outdoors people can use this understanding to move through the landscape without disturbing the wildlife they came to see as well as predicting the arrival of other animals.
While the club may spend some time observing birds to identify their species, it is not the focus of the club. The goal is to recognize the baseline of a specific area and what any change may indicate. The benefit of returning to the same location allows them to observe the impact of the progressing season. They invite participants in the club to share their knowledge so that all grow in this new and exciting understanding of how we relate to our environment.
The club’s event will take place outside sitting very still so bring an outdoor chair and warm clothes along with a notebook and binoculars. Meet in front of the A.B. Ceder Room, 7:00 A.M. — 10:00 A.M., Members: $15.00 Non-members: $20.00, Pre-registration and pre-payment are required.
Also on April 12, White Memorial is offering a road trip to the Studio of Wood Turner Bodger Richard Heys. Participants will admire the stunning work of Mr. Heys that includes decorative and utilitarian wooden bowls, vases, lidded vessels and sculptural objects made on the lathe and/or by carving. Evolving from a hobby in the early 1990s to a serious pursuit since he retired from a career in chemistry research in 2005, his work aims to reflect both the skills of the craft and an aesthetic response to the character of the wood. Heys obtains most of his wood locally from stormfelled or otherwise unwanted trees. Meet in front of the A.B. Ceder Room at 9:45 A.M. and join the carpool that sets off at 10:00 A.M. — 12:00 P.M. This event is limited to 10 people. Pre-registration is required. FREE…Donations will be accepted to help defray the Conservation Center’s programming expenses.
From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on April 12, Reggie Delarm, a Connecticut native, and potter for over 40 years comes to demonstrate her skills White Memorial Foundation. The incomparable Reggie Delarm will be demonstrating wheel thrown bird houses on her 1800s wooden treadle wheel. Her wooden treadle wheel is a replica wheel of local potter Hervey Brooks from Goshen CT. Foot-powered, hand-made wooden wheels were used throughout New England even after the invention of electricity! Reggie will make a variety of birdhouses on her wheel. Round houses, face houses, and carrot houses are her specialty.
After the demonstration, you will learn to make little hand-made fairy garden pinch houses. These cute little clay houses will look great in a terrarium, garden, or around your yard. Clay houses must be fired. Reggie will fire your little pinch house at her studio. You can return to White Memorial to pick them up one week later.
This event will be held in the . B. Ceder Room, and is $30.00 per person which includes all materials and firing. Limited to 10 participants ages 8 and up. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required.
To finish off April 12, there will be an evening with photographer and musician Gary Melnysyn, a Conservation Center favorite that has been delivering delicious photography programs and workshops to us for several years. Tonight he will share with you some of his favorite wildlife photographs BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE…he will also break out the guitar and sing for you! This man has many hidden talents! Come out for a tasty potluck supper and an evening of music and nature unlike any other! BYOB and a pot luck dish plus your own place setting! 6:00 P.M., A.B. Ceder Room. Members: $20.00 Non-members: $25.00 Pre-registration and pre-payment are required.
For information on Litchfield Hills www.litchfieldhills.com and for information on White Memorial Foundation www.whitememorialcc.org.
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