Coming Events:

Native Plants and Habitats of Southern CT with Jim Natale

New Date:

Sunday, April 12, 4:00 — 6:00 pm

The Lyme Pollinator Pathway invites you to join Jim Natale, native plant landscape expert, at the Lyme Public Hall for a presentation on what we can do to preserve our natural heritage. As he takes us on an exploration of our natural open space areas, he will discuss the threat of invasive plants and the rarely seen native plants that are at risk of local extinction. Jim will also talk about what homeowners can do on their own landscapes to help.

Jim Natale is owner of Wilder Gardens, LLC, whose mission is to establish a regional native plant garden community, exposing the people to the beauty of our natural world and promoting the stewardship of our natural areas for the benefit of wildlife and mankind. Jim is an expert native plant identifier, having submitted over 50,000 observations to the iNaturalist app in the last six years. (Photo of Showy Orchids by Jim Natale)

Please register: openspace@townlyme.org

Hands-Only CPR Class with Lyme Ambulance Association

Saturday, May 2, 10:00am (Date Change)

Back by popular demand, Lyme Ambulance Association is offering their FREE Hands-Only CPR class to help you respond with confidence in the event of a cardiac emergency.

Whether you’re a beginner or need a refresher, this class is for everyone! Bring a friend, spread the word, and help make our community safer – one heartbeat at a time.

You will learn how to:

• Respond quickly

• Act confidently

• Save lives

Register at lymeambulance.org

Space is limited – Please register in advance

Canoeing Local Waters and Other Adventures with Alex and Jerelyn Wilson

Wednesday May 13

7:00 pm

Vermont author, Alex Wilson, has co-authored four books for the Appalachian Mountain Club on “quiet water” canoeing and kayaking, including a guide to Southern New England (covering Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island), which recently came out in a 4th edition. The other books in this series cover New Hampshire-Vermont, Maine, and New York. In researching these books, starting around 1990, he has paddled many hundreds of lakes, ponds, estuaries, and quiet sections of rivers throughout the Northeast.

Unlike river guides, which by necessity focus on portages, white water safety, and routes with drop-off and put-in locations, these quiet-water guides focus on what paddlers will see on each body of water. Alex and his coauthor John Hayes are naturalists, and they focus on fauna, flora, and natural history of these places. Some entries also address historical events that occurred there, such as the King Phillips War in Rhode Island, and Thoreau’s explorations of the Concord River in Massachusetts and the Penobscot River in Maine. In selecting places to include in these guides, Alex and John sought less developed bodies of water, restrictions on motorized boating, and varied shorelines to explore—but they also tried to include locations close to major population centers, some of which are more developed.

Alex and Jerelyn will describe a few local paddling spots, including Whalebone Creek and Selden Neck, and also describe a few adventures they had in writing and updating these guides over more than three decades. Bring your questions!