Bartholomew's Cobble August Events & News
A Property of The Trustees of Reservations, at 105 Weatogue Road, Sheffield, MA413.229.8600 or www.thetrustees.org.
Sundays August 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 8:30-11:30AM
Summer Canoe Trips
Join a Trustees of Reservations naturalist guide for a leisurely paddle along a highly scenic stretch of the Housatonic River, watching for wildlife and bald eagles. All equipment is provided. Members: Adult $24; Child (6-12) $12. Nonmembers: Adult $30; Child (6-12) $15. Please pre-register to 413.229.8600.
Wednesday August 5 7:00 - 9:00PM
Moonlight Canoe Trip
Enjoy a moonlight paddle with a Trustees of Reservations naturalist guide and watch for beaver, bats, and evening wildlife. Fees: Members: Adult $24; Child (10-12) $12. Nonmembers: Adult $30, Child (10-12) $15. Please pre-register to 413.229.8600.
Thursdays through Oct 9AM-12NOON
Eco-Volunteers
Join Trustees of Reservations staff at Bartholomew’s Cobble for hands-on experience identifying and removing unwanted invasive plants. FREE. Call 413-229-8600 for information.
Saturday August 15 10AM-12NOON
Exploring Cobble Ecology
Join Trustees of Reservations Ecologist Julie Richburg in exploring the cobbles, the rocky limestone, and marble knolls whose alkaline soil supports an unusual array of flora. Bring a lunch to enjoy about noon, then check out the views of the Housatonic Valley from Hurlburt’s Hill or stop in the visitor center museum. Members: FREE. Nonmembers $5. Space limited; Please pre-register to 413.229.8600.
Friday, August 21 Ashley House
Mum Bett Day - FREE
12NOON open house; 2:00PM ceremony
Meet at The Ashley House, just across the field from Bartholomew's Cobble for a celebration of the life of Mum Bett, a courageous woman who successfully sued for her freedom on this day in 1781, helping to end slavery in Massachusetts. Visit the home where she worked and made her bid for freedom and afterwards follow the Mum Bett Trail to see where else in Berkshire County she lived and worked - from Sheffield to Stockbridge. FREE. For the schedule of events, check www.thetrustees.org/pages/252_ashley_house.cfm or call 413.298.3239 x3013.
Saturday, August 22 4- 6PM (rain date is Sunday)
Joseph Firecrow in Concert.
Join The Trustees of Reservations at Bartholomew’s Cobble to enjoy wonderful Native American flute music as you savor the view from Hurlburt’s Hill in the evening light (To learn more about his music, visit www.josephfirecrow.com/index.htm). Members: Adult $12; Child: FREE. Nonmembers: Adult $15; Child (6-16) $5. Please pre-register to 413.229.8600.
Combat NDD (Nature Deficit Disorder) with a Special Tour
Summer is the time when the woods at Bartholomew’s Cobble are alive with wildlife, birds, flowers, and creatures of all shapes and sizes. Are you looking for new and exciting week-day activities with and for your kids? How about a week-day visit with your children to reacquaint them with the wonders of nature in this National Natural Landmark site? Should you, your family, or a small group wish to be accompanied by a naturalist guide, please call 413-229-8600 to arrange a Special Tour. It’s a great way to educate yourself and your children about the natural world around us.
Hal Borland’s August in Weatogue Valley
Hal Borland lived just down the road from Bartholomew’s Cobble until 1978. He was a New York Times columnist and a naturalist who wrote beautifully about the landscape surrounding Bartholomew’s Cobble for nearly thirty years. Here, we share excerpts from Hal Borland’s Twelve Moons of The Year, published in 1979.
August 1: Brooks languish in their stony beds. Only the grandfather frogs groan and rumble in the dusk. The whippoorwills are less insistent, and now a barred owl is heard questioning the night. The big, dark moths haunt the flower garden’s deep-throated flowers, gleaning nectar the August –lazy bumblebees overlooked. The night still twinkles with fireflies but the day’s heat lingers and the air has a dusty August scent, the smell of languid summer. And overhead the warm air touches the treetops, rustles the rustling leaves in the broad-topped elms.
August 13: Meteors will be flashing across the sky tonight and for a couple more nights to come, for now is the time of the Perseids. They are the “shooting stars” whose orbit the earth crosses now. Those who watch meteors regularly say close to seventy light-streaking Perseids an hour can be seen. The casual amateur may easily see twenty or twenty-five in an hour of watching. The annual meteor showers are reminders that we are not alone in the universe, that the stars themselves are made of such stone as this earth we live on.
August 26: It always seems to catch us by surprise, that day when we know that summer is not endless, that autumn is just over the hill or up the valley. It follows a night of unexpected coolness, and we hear the katydids scratching in the dark. First katydids and they miss a few notes; but they persist, and the old saying echoes once more in our memory: Six weeks from first katydid to first frost.
