Ready for a fun challenge?

By Beth Sullivan

It is really only the middle portion of summer if you go by the calendar, which has Sept 20^th more or less as the first day of Autumn.  But if you go by the meteorological calendar, with June, July and August considered summer, or if you are a child or parent, thinking about school, the summer is definitely winding down. It surely has been an unusual summer for so many reasons, and as the heat and drought continue, it doesn’t feel like we are ready to change gears. While many of us need to think about a school plan, which is causing understandable angst, there is still plenty of time to get out, to relax a bit, and explore the outdoors. Maybe we will need it now even more.  Hopefully it will cool down just enough to do some quality hiking.   This is where we come in. 

You never know where a trail will take you, until you travel it

 

A New Preserve

While everyone has been out looking for new places to hike, Avalonia has added several new preserves, and stewards have been busy caring for existing trails and creating others on the new properties.  The one that has caused so much excitement is the TriTown Forest Preserve. It has been open to the public for a while now, and many people have hiked it and reported back that it is AMAZING. Check the Preserve page on the website to see some of the photos for yourself.  Better yet, go for a visit. There are many loops, varied habitats, lots of wildlife, and some challenges for those who look for that kind of hiking. 

 In 2018, the TriTown Forest Preserve, which is a gorgeous 527 acre property in North Stonington, Griswold, and Preston, was acquired by the Avalonia Land Conservancy through a generous loan of $877,000 from the Conservation Fund.  The TriTown Forest Preserve was our largest acquisition ever and is considered a regional treasure.  We currently owe approximately $100,000 on the Conservation Fund Loan, which is due on March 20, 2021. Raising big amounts of money has always been a challenge. Our business is nature. Most of us hate fundraising.  But we now have a wonderful resource in Terri Eickel, who is our Director of Development and Programs, and she knows how to put the FUN in fund raising. 

 

On several preserves, you may discover some interesting history

At the TriTown Preserve, you get more of a vertical challenge. Photograph by Carl Tjerandsen.

At the Preston Nature Preserve you can stop and meditate.

Great Avalonia Trail Trek

 Join us for the Great Avalonia Trail Trek, a week-long fundraiser to support Avalonia's efforts to conserve land, protect watersheds, and address the climate crisis. From Saturday, October 17 to Sunday, October 25, 2020, you will have the opportunity to hike or run all of Avalonia's trails, or bike to your favorite Avalonia preserve, all to benefit the Avalonia Land Conservancy and the TriTown Forest Preserve. To participate, just visit the Great Avalonia Trail Trek and register for the activity that you would like to do. You can form a team, join a team, or go solo.  Registration is $30 for adults and $10 for kids – registration fees are tax-deductible and support Avalonia.  Once you are registered, you will automatically receive a personal fundraising page that you can personalize and e-mail to friends and family members so that they can support you with tax-deductible donations. 

More info can be found on our TriTown fundraising website or by e-mailing Terri Eickel at terri@avalonialc.org. 

While the proceeds of this event will go first to pay off the mortgage on this beautiful property,  the ultimate goal of this soon-to-be-annual event will be to support future acquisitions and stewardship. Because we cannot have large, in-person events, the usual fund raising plans need to be re-imagined. But how hard is it to imagine being able to hike your favorite places. Or find some new ones. Or run, or bike, or possibly paddle as many as you would like, and still be raising money for a great mission. All on your own time frame.

So summer may technically be coming to an end, but there are still so many summer  things to see and do. We will all still need the respite we can find outdoors. As the days shorten and temperatures  begin to cool, plan to get out and get into shape, so you can rise to the Avalonia Trail Trek challenge this fall and help us burn the mortgage papers for the beautiful TriTown Preserve.  

 

Sometimes you can get a glimpse of wildlife from a trail.

 

Sometimes you just have to make a decision.

There are hidden places to be found at Hoffman, TriTown, Teffweald, and others.

 

 

There may be distractions along the easy walk at Dodge Paddock.

Photographs by Beth Sullivan unless otherwise indicated.