Local Farms – Local Food partners with Frontier to screen the photography of Roger Richmond

Tuesday, June 5th, 7 to 8 pm

Delicate drops of dew on blades of grass, the seemingly monstrous eyes of a spider peeping out from a burrow, and the intricate network of veins in a decaying leaf all star in Roger Richmond’s three dimensional photography. This unique screening of macro stereo imagery, complete with 3-D glasses, is sponsored by Local Farms – Local Food at Frontier in Brunswick.

These minute natural places give a new meaning to ‘local’ and a new way to connect to the surrounding environment in which one lives, works, plays, and eats. Audience members will gain insight into the beauty and intricacies of growing processes that occur throughout the seasons in habitats right under their noses.

The evening also marks a ‘Midweek Community Night’ and Local Farms – Local Food will receive a portion of proceeds from all sales at Frontier. Come early for a meal and drink with friends and stay for the show!

Mr. Richmond has been a 3-D photographer for over 25 years, and has given hundreds of  presentations to schools and organizations on art, architecture and nature. He is a registered architect, and holds a Master of Arts in Architecture Degree from the University of Florida and is a professor of Architecture in the program he created at the University of Maine at Augusta. Mr. Richmond lives in South Freeport, Maine with his wife Beverly.

The event costs $5 for members of the Kennebec Estuary and Brunswick Topsham Land Trusts and $10 for nonmembers.

Tickets can be purchased online www.explorefrontier.com or at Frontier (207-725-5222, 14 Maine Street, Mill 3 Fort Andross in Brunswick).

Local Farms – Local Food is a collaboration between the Brunswick Topsham Land Trust and the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust to conserve farmland and promote local food. Local Farms – Local Food is generously supported by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation.

Half Day Trips:

July 14 8am-12pm Butler Cove

July 28 2-6pm Bowdoinham to the Bay

Boat rentals available and offered in conjunction with the Maine Maritime Museum. Special Pricing for KELT members.

Weekend-Long Trip August 3-5

Join the Appalachian Mountain Club and KELT for a weekend on the water. Paddle the Back River and the intricate eddies of the Sasanoa. Camping accommodations on AMC’s Beal Island. Shared potluck meals and an optional island lobster bake. A wonderful chance to explore the extraordinary wildlife and waters of the Kennebec Estuary. Only $50 pp (KELT members $35)! Boat rentals are available.

Contact AMC Trip Leader Michelle Moody meamc@micstan.us for details and sign up.

The first public reception will be held from 6:30-8:00pm on May 10, highlighting the watercolors of Bath resident, Peter Alexander.

Peter is known locally as both a musician and environmental advocate.  He is president of the Maine Songwriters Association and Director of the Northeast Great Waters Coalition, an ambitious alliance committed to educating legislators and their constituents about the economic and environmental benefits of restoring the coastal waters, bays, rivers, and watersheds of the Gulf of Maine. In his spare time he pursues watercolor painting, trying to capture and translate the beauty of the natural world.

The KELT exhibition represents a wide range of locations and time frames, with images from Maine to New Zealand done since his teenage years.

“My passion for the coast of Maine – and in particular the New Meadows and Casco Bay – deeply influences almost every aspect of my life,” says Peter, “From my paintings, to my music, and my work with the Coalition to increase federal investment to restore coastal water quality and habitat for fish and wildlife.”

Peter and his wife, Johannah, live in Bath and spend a great deal of time at his grandfather’s log cabin on the shore of the New Meadows, and at his family’s cottage on Sheep Island, off Cundy’s Harbor

The gallery is located at 92 Front Street, second floor suite #23. The works will be on display through May 25, please contact KELT at 442-8400 or email aheyburn@kennebecestuary.org to schedule a viewing.

The next KELT ART exhibition will be photographic encaustics by Jane Page-Conway of Bowdoinham from June 8-July 24.

The Kennebec Estuary Land Trust is a membership supported organization dedicated to protecting the land, water and wildlife of the Kennebec Estuary.  It holds easements on 1,087 acres of private land and maintains eight preserves for public enjoyment. FMI contact www.kennebecestuary.org or call (207) 442-8400

The winning photographs will be used in a 2013 calendar and in KELT outreach materials. Please have photographs be representative of the month or season.

The submission rules:

1. Photographic entries should be submitted to Becky Kolak at bkolak@kennebecestuary.org with the subject line “KELT Monthly Photo Contest” by the 5 pm on the 25th of the month. Late entries will not be accepted.

2. Please include the photographer’s name and contact information as well as the location of the picture in the entry email.

3. Submitted photos should be at least 900×720 pixels (0.6 MP) resolution, JPEG file format, and have the permission from the photographer to be submitted in the contest.

4. All entries will be displayed on KELT’s Facebook page and website.

5. The winner of the monthly contest will be contacted on the first of the subsequent month (i.e. for the March contest, entries are due on March 25th and the winning March photo will be announced on April 1st).

6. By entering images into the contest, you agree to give permission to the staff at the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust to use the submitted images for promotional materials including the 2013 KELT calendar.

 Starting 5/10 we will be taking one afternoon water sample to support USM/Bates College researchers. Instructions: Water sampling instruction.

Please don’t block the gate when you are parking for your count. Best options are along the side of the road or in the lot below the Town Office.

NO FISHING! The area immediately above and below the dam is posted “no fishing” by the state and the alewife fishing rights are awarded to the town and subsequently to a harvester. Please respect this law.

Alewives are anadromous fish that spend the majority of their life at sea but return to freshwater to spawn.

Alewives have been an important cultural and economic component of Woolwich Maine for centuries. In 1788 legislation was passed requiring fish passage over Nequasset Dam from May to September. Because of continued careful stewardship, Nequasset is now considered one of the top 5 alewife runs in the State by the Department of Marine Resources. The fish ladder is in disrepair and KELT is assisting the Town of Woolwich and the Bath Water District so it can be restored in the summer of 2013 to ensure continued access to important spawning habitat in Nequasset Lake.

Alewives are Important!

• They are food for striped bass, bluefish, tuna, cod, haddock, halibut, American eel, trout, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, pickerel, pike, white and yellow perch, seabirds, bald eagle, osprey, great blue heron, gulls, terns, cormorants, seals, whales, otter, mink, fox, raccoon, skunk, weasel, fisher, and turtles. Wow!
• Alewives tie our ocean, rivers and lakes together, providing vital nutrients and forage needed to make healthy watersheds.
• Alewives provide cover for migrating adult and juvenile Atlantic salmon.
• Adult alewives are preferred bait for the spring lobster fishery.

 Alewives are in Trouble – Alewives were recently listed as a “species of concern.” In 2009, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission passed an act to close alewife fisheries if a state cannot create a sustainable management plan. There are now fewer than 20 Maine municipalities that commercially harvest alewives, Woolwich is one of them!

Why count? To properly manage the important alewife run for long term sustainability, data is needed on how many fish attempt to access the spawning grounds of Nequasset Lake.

Join The Count!

• From late April – early June volunteers will select a two hour period and count for TWO 10- minute blocks of time, of their choice, within the period.
• Sign up for counting HERE (links to a GoogleDoc) or visit our FaceBook page, Nequasset Fish Ladder Restoration Project
• Equipment is provided to record count, time, tide and temperature.­­
• The job is easy and rewarding and connects you to one of the world’s great migrations.
• The site is easy to access in Woolwich, Maine. Get directions HERE.
• Specific counting procedures are available HERE.
• Volunteers from the community, schools, fishing clubs, Scouts, hiking groups, garden clubs, churches, retirement communities… are all encouraged to help!

Times Record article by Beth Brogan, 4.20.12

Bangor Daily News and VIDEO 5.13.12

Palm Warbler by B. Marvil

Join Merrymeeting Audubon and the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust  for an annual favorite event with birding enthusiasts and KELT members Ted Allen and Sue McLeod.

Explore Thorne Head Preserve for waterfowl, raptors, and songbirds.

No registration is necessary but if you would like more information contact Ted Allen at 729-8661.

Free and open to the public.

Meet at the CVS in Bath at 7:15 am or at Thorne Head Preserve at 7:30 am.  A light rain will not stop this event!

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Saturday, June 23

Work Day, Hamilton Sanctuary

We’ll cut back vegetation along the trails and help maintain native habitat by removing non-native bittersweet. We will also continue improving the new trails. Plan to stay from 9:00 am – noon. For more information call Glenn Evans at 443-9652.

Directions: Take the New Meadows exit off U.S. Route 1 in West Bath. Turn left onto New Meadows Road and go straight ahead to the stop sign. Here New Meadows Road turns into Foster Point Road. Follow Foster Point Road for three miles to the sanctuary sign and parking area on the right.

CLASS IS FULL – PLEASE EMAIL BECKY (bkolak@kennebecestuary.org) TO BE PUT ON A LIST FOR OUR NEXT CLASS.

Aaron Park, Bath resident, KELT member, local foods advocate as well as the chef/owner of the celebrated Henry & Marty restaurant in Brunswick, will use in-season, local ingredients from Freeport local foods distributor, Farm Fresh Connection, to prepare a meal for participants.

Spring parsnips, kale, mustard greens, potatoes, tomatoes, fresh cheese, and Maine raised chicken or pork are all possible ingredients for this culinary course.

The class will take a realistic view at cooking with local food using what is in season and available to create delicious cuisine. Educating consumers on how and where to get and prepare seasonal local food is a key step to increasing local food consumption.

Sarah Ayres from Farm Fresh Connection and Farmland Protection Specialist, Chris Cabot, will join Chef Park in the kitchen to speak about the sources, benefits, and connections local food has to the community.

The class costs $40 per adult and $70 per couple. Space is limited so sign up TODAY and get a head start on the season of local foods.

To register, please contact Mary Milam at 443-1402 or register online. Now You’re Cooking is located at 49 Front St. in Bath.

Local Farms – Local Food is a collaboration between the Brunswick Topsham Land Trust and the Kennebec Estuary Land Trust to conserve farmland and promote local food. Local Farms – Local Food is generously supported by the Elmina S. Sewall Foundation.

While exploring the fields, greenhouses, and water views of Six Rivers Farm, participants will discover how Local Farms – Local Food is promoting local agriculture in the region and learn about FoodCycle’s mission to create enduring partnerships between small-scale farms and schools.

The event is a kick off ride for the FoodCycle bicyclists who are riding across the country to raise funds to support schools to purchase and serve locally grown food. The use of sustainable food by local institutions, like schools, starts with building partnerships between food growers and institutions as well as conserving farmland- to keep it as farmland. Collaboration and conservation are key elements in Local Farms – Local Food’s and FoodCycle’s missions.

Participants will meet at the Bowdoinham public boat launch parking lot – downhill from the Town Landing Place restaurant – at 9 am and then head out on a 6-mile round trip ride to Six River Farm.

FoodCycle pacesetter, Adam Williams, and Farm Protection Specialist, Chris Cabot, will lead riders to and from the farm along Bowdoinham’s scenic roadways. Farmers Gabrielle Gosselin and Nate Drummond will be on hand to speak about Six River Farm and answer questions from participants.

 To register for the ride, please contact Becky Kolak at bkolak@kennebecestuary.org or 442-8400. In the case of HEAVY rain the event will be cancelled, but like spring peas the riders can handle a light rain! Call 207-400-6681 if you would like to confirm.

Local Farms – Local Food is a joint project between KELT and the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust to protect and promote local agriculture in the Bath Brunswick region, the initiative is generously supported by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation.

The well-attended children’s series “Young Green Thumbs” by Local Farms – Local Food, first held in Bath, will be offered again at the Topsham Public Library. Education Coordinator Becky Kolak on Thursday afternoons in May will lead agricultural themed activities, discussion, and crafts. Children will plant seeds for a summer vegetable garden, discover the wonders of soil science, become chefs of homemade pesto, and learn the amazing story of farm sheep!

By growing, touching, and tasting food while discussing the intricacies of the surrounding food system, children gain a better understanding and appreciation of where food comes from. Making connections between food from the farm to the dinner plate is an important step to healthy eating.

The four part series will be held at the library from 4:00 to 5:00 pm for children 4 years old and up. Parents are welcomed and encouraged to take part in the activities. Please contact Mariah Sewall at mariah@topshamlibrary.org or 725-1727 to register.

May 10                 Start Seeds A’Growin

May 17                 Stupendous Soil Science

May 24                 Presto Pesto!

May 31                 Baaaaah Ram Ewe!

These programs are generously supported by the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation and the Davenport Trust Fund. The Topsham Public Library is located at 25 Foreside Road in Topsham. For more information, please call 442-8400