Spring Outdoors on Guided Adventures: Trails, Pups, Fairies, Festivals and More!

Your choices for May 13 – May 19, 2017

Spring Outdoors in The Last Green Valley with free guided adventures all over the National Heritage Corridor during the upcoming week!

Get outside with “Tackle the Trail for Beginners” on Saturday, May 13^th in Pomfret starting at 8 am. Truly a beginner’s event focusing on the benefits of hitting the trail, all are welcome. Beginning is the best way to start anything! Pre-register and questions to marcy@tlgv.org.

The Last Green Valley’s (TLGV) Rangers “Buffumville South Trail Loop” calls you to Charlton on Saturday, May 13^th at 10 am. Stay at this location for an “Invasive Species Workshop-GET THEE GONE” at 1 pm to learn about common invasive species and management tactics.

Three bird walks focus on what you can see and hear during this time of migration. The Connecticut Audubon Society Center at Pomfret offers both the “Long Pond Bird Walk” on Saturday, May 13^th and “Bull Hill Bird Walk” on Thursday, May 18^th. Both CAS walks are in Thompson and start at 8 am. These properties are newly acquired Wyndham Land Trust preserves; no dogs for these 2 walks, please. “Birding with Mom” steps off on Sunday, May 14^th at 7 am at Schoolhouse Brook Park in Mansfield. Pre-register to kaufmanjs@mansfieldct.org or call 860-429-3015. Bringing your mom is encouraged, but not required. Bring binoculars to all these birding delights.

Take a stroll with mom on the newest section of rail trail in Willimantic at “Mother’s Day at the Railroad Museum” on Sunday, May 14^th at 10 am. Stroll right into the museum and take a tour (entry fees apply).

“Mansfield PUP Crawl” is always a wagging success during Walktober, and now you can stroll with your four-legged friend on Saturday, May 13^th at 9:30 am in Downtown Storrs (free parking in the Storrs Center Parking Garage for the first two hours.) Walkers without dogs are welcome to participate.

Palmer Arboretum is blooming with beauty and “Trees on Woodstock Hill” shows off some special trees and restoration work on Saturday, May 13^th at 10 am.

Fairies are enjoying Spring Outdoors, and you can “Make a Fairy House” on Saturday, May 13^th from 10 am – 3 pm in Joshua’s Trust Bradley-Buchanan Woods, located behind the Mansfield Library. Bring natural materials to make the fairies a comfy home.

Jump in with Paddle Killingly on their “Willimantic River from Mansfield River Park to Eagleville Dam” paddle on Tuesday, May 16^th, pushing off at 5:30 pm. Bring your kayak, PFD (life jacket) and a whistle. Pre-register and details on the www.meet-up.com/PaddleKillingly site.

Everyone loves firefighters, so “Visit the Huguenot Steamer No. 1 Fire Station Museum” on Saturday, May 13^th for a tour to please all ages in North Oxford, MA. While unassuming on the outside, this museum is amazing inside.

Living history is a major theme this week. A “Militia Encampment of the New England Volunteers” at the Ashbel Woodward House in Franklin has action all weekend long, May 13-14^th, focusing on Civil War days.

“Artillery School – Return to the 1700’s” takes aim all weekend at the Huntington Homestead Museum in Scotland, and on Saturday they serve up “Dinner in the Home of the Revolutionary War Activist’s” from 10 am – 3 pm. $6.00 each, $12 per family, $4 students & seniors.

On Saturday, May 13^th at 10:30 am, Norwich Historical Society’s wildly popular “Norwich’s Millionaires’ Triangle travels back to the late 19^th century to “meet” the families who lived in the Broadway and Washington Street mansions. Leffingwell keeps history alive with a special tour “Featuring Colonial Women of Norwich” from 11 am – 4 pm, $5 entry fee.

Willimantic’s “3^rd Thursday Street Fest” hops down Main Street for the first festival of the season on May 18^th from 6 – 9 pm. Tastes, sips, music, entertainment and vendors galore welcome you.

TLGV Rangers Geoff & Kim host “Light Pollution 101” in TLGV’s office in Danielson Friday, May 19^th at 7 pm. This talk is appropriate for ages 5 and up, and great for groups such as scouts. Pre-register to register@mcleanresearch.com.

To get all the Spring Outdoor choices, visit www.thelastgreenvalley.org or TLGV’s Facebook page. New adventures are being added all the time, so be sure to check in often!

The Last Green Valley is a National Heritage Corridor – the last stretch of dark night sky in the coastal sprawl between Boston and Washington, D.C.  The Last Green Valley works for you in the National Heritage Corridor. Together we can care for it, enjoy it and pass it on!