Save the Date! Woods, Water & Wildlife Festival on August 10
Thanks to David O'Connor for photos of our 2018 WWW Festival.
MooseMountains Regional Greenways (MMRG) and Branch Hill Farm will present the 17thannual Woods, Water & Wildlife Festival on Saturday, August 10 from 10 amto 3 pm at Branch Hill Farm, 307 Applebee Road, Milton Mills, NH. This popularcelebration of New Hampshire’s natural world and rural life is an opportunity forfamilies to get outside and have fun together.
Thefestival name, Woods, Water & Wildlife, sums up the themes of many of the interactiveevents on offer. Volunteer instructors from NH Fish & Game provide polesand bait to kids for Let’s Go Fishing inthe Branch Hill Farm Pond! Natureexperts display and teach about rescued wild animals at Squam Lakes Wildlife Workshop. Junior Ecologist Hayrides stop at the scenic Salmon FallsRiver for a lesson about the importance of keeping our stream water clean forpeople and for animals. Nature’sPlayground is a green gym for kids set among the ferns and tall trees. The Mountain Man’s Mansion has a stack offur pelts to identify and feel. A MOOSE-iesfor Families: Orienteering Walk provides a fun learning adventure in thewoods of Branch Hill Farm. The Low ImpactHorse Logging demonstration teaches about forestry principles and isfascinating to watch.
Agriculture,crafts and rural life in New Hampshire are additional themes. Sheehan Gardens’ Permaculture Garden grows numerousheirloom vegetables and herbs and shows how to do backyard composting. 4H Comes to the Festival! bringseducational and motivational activities such as animal husbandry and leadershipprograms for kids ages 5 to 18. FunnyFarm rescued animals are fun to pet and feed. Jared Kane of Jug HillOrchards discusses grafting and cider-making in All About Apples! Kids get creative in the Tree Cookie Craft Corner orcantry building their own bee houseof natural materials. Many more favoriteevents will be back this year and new ones are being planned.
Homemadesalads, hot grilled food, ice cream, and blueberry smoothies will be on salealong with T-shirts and raffle baskets of local fresh produce and other items.The festival takes place rain or shine. No pets please. Rest rooms and mostevents are wheelchair accessible. The cost is $5/person or $10/family; free forages 12 and under and MMRG members; all events are included in the admissionprice. Proceeds and business sponsorships support MMRG’s land conservation andeducational outreach mission.
MMRG is grateful to its festival underwriters, the Siemon Company, Branch Hill Farm/Carl Siemon Family Charitable Trust, and D. F. Richard Energy and to its early major sponsors, Norman Vetter Inc. Poured Foundations, Carl and Beth Ann Siemon, the Wyatt Family, and Philip Zaeder and Sylvia Thayer. Thanks are due to many more business, organizational, and individual sponsors, co-sponsors and supporters and to the dedicated volunteers who have already signed up to help out. More volunteers as well as business sponsors are needed! For more information, call Education Coordinator Kari Lygren at 603-978-7125, email info@mmrgnh.org or visit www.mmrgnh.org/festival.