Thanks to all who attended and participated in the 40+ events in 2016! Remember, these events are always free and open to the public, and are possible thanks to the generous support of our members.
If you appreciated the healthy and educational opportunities we provided to the Blue Hill Peninsula community this year, and want to become part of the growing network of supporters, click here to see your membership options!
For more information or to register for an event, please contact our office unless stated otherwise. (207)374-5118 info@bluehillheritagetrust.org
For reminders of our events please sign up for our e-news letter ——————>
November
December
12/1 Thursday 4-7PM – Annual Blue Hill Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony! We are co-hosting the Blue Hill Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Christmas Tree Lighting event at the Town Hall. Activities will include the classic Christmas festivities such as a fun run, cookie decorating, wreath making, shopping, and Christmas ornament making! Santa will top off the evening, arriving by sled dog!
PAST 2016 EVENTS
February
2/4 Thursday 10AM- Winter Hike Thursdays! Hundred Acre Woods, Brooklin. Join BHHT Volunteers Barbara Kourajian and Merrie Eley for Winter Hike Thursdays during February and March. Bring your snowshoes, ice walkers, and/or poles to be prepared for trail conditions. Delightful refreshments provided!
2/11 Thursday 10AM- Winter Hike Thursdays! Kingdom Woods, Blue Hill (Mines Road Entrance). Join BHHT Volunteers Barbara Kourajian and Merrie Eley for Winter Hike Thursdays during February and March. Bring your snowshoes, ice walkers, and/or poles to be prepared for trail conditions. Delightful refreshments provided! **PARK at the 40/15 Tennis Center off the Mines Rd.- Directions Here**
2/12 Friday 6:30PM-Constellations on the Mountain! Blue Hill Mountain, Blue Hill (Morse Farm/Hayes Trail Field). Join Blue Hill Heritage Trust, and Maine Maritime Academy Academy Professor Dan Parrott, for a night of star gazing at the base of Blue Hill Mountain. We will have star charts on hand and Dan will be discussing and pointing out constellations and navigational stars. We will also have a fire for roasting marshmallows! Hope you can join us for this fun outdoors event! Parking will be across the street from the Morse Farm/Hayes Trail Field.
2/15 Monday 6:30PM-Who Goes There? Deciphering Animal Tracks in the Snow. Blue Hill Public Library (Howard Room). Join Blue Hill Heritage Trust and Instructor Lynn Havasll for this fun and interactive talk! Animals write diaries in the snow with every step they take! Learn to read their stories in the snow by discovering tricks to identifying local wildlife tracks. Bring a notebook to make your own track field guide by stamping life-size rubber feet.
2/23 Tuesday 3PM-Slide Show Presentation. Wilson Museum, Castine. Blue Hill Heritage Trust will give a slide show presentation of its 30 year history, the merger with The Conservation Trust of Brooksville, Castine, and Penobscot, and what’s in-store for the future of conservation on the peninsula. The talk will be held at the Wilson Museum and is open to the public. For more information please contact The Wilson Museum at (207)326-9247.
March
3/3 Thursday 10AM- Winter Hike Thursdays! Snow’s Cove, Sedgwick. Winter Hike Thursdays! Join BHHT Volunteers Barbara Kourajian and Merrie Eley for Winter Hike Thursdays during February and March. Bring your snowshoes, ice walkers, and/or poles to be prepared for trail conditions. Delightful refreshments provided!
3/5 Saturday 1-2:30- Tree Tapping for Beginners! Blue Hill Heritage Trust Office, Blue Hill. Tap into local syrup enthusiast Tim Laflam, as he leads a workshop on tapping maple trees and shares his expertise on syrup making! We will begin at the Blue Hill Heritage Trust Office for a quick talk on tapping trees, and then head out into the woods for some hands on practice! No equipment needed, dress warmly! Registration required.
3/19 Saturday 8:15AM & 10AM- HOP! Egg Hunt and Trail Run. Town Park, Blue Hill. Join the Blue Hill Heritage Trust and YMCA for a morning of family fun at the Blue Hill Town Park! The day starts with a 3K road race/trail run starting at the park, going up the BHHT Parker Point to South Street trail, and back down Tenney Hill. Fabulous and fun prizes await the runners as well as a huge community Egg Hunt! The race starts at 9AM, registration on site beginning at 8:15AM, and the Egg Hunt will begin at 10AM. All are welcome- Hope you’ll join us! HOP! Race Route 2016
April
4/19 Tuesday 7PM- Geology of MDI. Join the Blue Hill Heritage Trust & Downeast Audubon for a talk on the geology of MDI, by geologists Ruth and Duane Braum, as a part of the Acadia Centennial. The talk will be at the Blue Hill Library, Howard Room.
4/21 Thursday 7PM- History of Acadia. Join the Blue Hill Heritage Trust & Downeast Audubon for a talk on the history of Acadia National Park, by historian Jack Russel, as a part of the Acadia Centennial. The talk will be at the Blue Hill Library, Howard Room.
4/26 Tuesday 7PM- Birds in Acadia. Join the Blue Hill Heritage Trust & Downeast Audubon for a talk on the birds in Acadia National Park, by the Schoodic Institute’s Bird Ecology Program Director Seth Benz, as a part of the Acadia Centennial. The talk will be at the Blue Hill Library, Howard Room.
May
Acadia Hikes! The Blue Hill Heritage Trust is excited to lead three hikes in Acadia National Park to celebrate the centennial year of the park. Each hike will make a loop and follow several trails. This is a wonderful opportunity to discover new trails. Trip leaders: Mary Barnes, Merrie Eley and Anne Piazza.
5/9 Monday 8:30AM- Acadia Hike, Beech Mountain. Hike 1:Easy to moderate: Monday, May 9 Beech Mountain 2.3 miles Rain date: May 10 All trips will depart from the Trust office promptly at 830am and return by 230pm. Hikers need to wear sturdy shoes, bring a lunch, water, hat and daypack. Space is limited. Call or email our office to reserve.
5/19 Thursday 8:30AM- Acadia Hike, 3 Peaks – Gilmore, Parkman and Bald. Hike 2: Intermediate: Thursday, May 19 3 Peaks – Gilmore, Parkman & Bald 3.3 miles Rain date: May 20. All trips will depart from the Trust office promptly at 830am and return by 230pm. Hikers need to wear sturdy shoes, bring a lunch, water, hat and daypack. Space is limited. Call or email our office to reserve.
5/21 Saturday 11:30AM- Surry Town Landing. Join us and our friends in Surry in celebrating the new fish passage way that allows the Alewives to run to their spawning grounds in Patten Pond. Specialists will be on hand to answer all of your fish related questions!
5/23 Monday 8:30AM- Acadia Hike, Dorr Mountain.Hike 3: Advanced: Monday, May 23 Dorr Mountain 3.8 miles Rain date: May 24. All trips will depart from the Trust office promptly at 830am and return by 230pm. Hikers need to wear sturdy shoes, bring a lunch, water, hat and daypack. Space is limited. Call or email our office to reserve.
5/30 Monday 7:30PM- FLASH! In the Pans Street Dance. Come dance the night away at Flash! in the Pans’ 1st street dance of the season, Memorial Day, at the Blue Hill Town Park (rain venue, Blue Hill Consolidated School) to benefit BHHT’s Outreach Programming! Donations accepted at the gate, we appreciate their support and hope you can come out and join us!
June
6/4 Saturday 8AM-2PM- Family Field Day at Patten Stream Preserve. Join Downeast Audubon on our Patten Stream Trail for a fun filled day of family activities ranging from birding, to tree identification, to just enjoying a great hike on this beautiful preserve! For more information please contact Downeast Audubon.
6/4 Saturday 10AM- Young Artists Workshop. A Part of The Open-Air Arts Initiative! Join Cynthia Winings and friends from the Blue Hill Art Community for a Young Artists Workshop on Blue Hill Mountain. Bring the art supplies of your choice and get ready to be inspired! Please bring a snack and water bottle. We will meet at the big parking lot at the base of the Hayes Trail off the Mountain Road. Kids under 12 should be accompanied by an adult or older sibling. Please preregister with BHHT by Friday, May 27th.
6/4 Saturday 2:30PM- (Member’s Only Event) Spring Shrub & Tree Identification with Val Libby! Sharpen your pencils and grab a notebook for a walk & talk with landscape historian and naturalist Val Libby at Hundred Acre Wood in Brooklin. Join Val as she teaches tricks to identifying woody plants in the forest. This is a member’s only event. If you would like to become a member you may do so by clicking here! Reservations for this event are limited, please reserve your spot by contacting our office.
6/11 Saturday 1PM- Geology Walk & Talk at Snow’s Cove. Snow’s Cove has a wonderful wooded trail leading down to the Bagaduce, and it is also a great place for a geology lesson by our Associate Director and resident Rock Enthusiast, George Fields! Come join George for a walking tour of the geologic features on this preserve in Sedgwick. To preregister for this event please contact our office.
6/20 Monday 7AM- Rise & Shine Solstice Hike up Blue Hill Mountain. Start your day with us, for a hike up Blue Hill Mountain, and welcome the Solstice alongside friends and neighbors. We’ll begin our hike in the Morse Family Farm Field, go up the Hayes Trail, and wind our way back down the Osgood and South Face Trails. Delightful refreshments provided! To preregister for this hike please contact our office.
6/20 Monday 10:30 AM- Horseshoe Crab Walk & Talk. Horseshoe crabs are one of the wonderful oddities we have here in Maine and on June 20th they will be spawning along the Bagaduce River. BHHT board member and local naturalist Sarah O’Malley will be leading a walk and discussion on these pre-historic creatures on our Snow Natural Area trail in Brooksville. Please join us! If you would like to preregister for this event, please contact our office.
6/23 Thursday 1PM- Learning to Use Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide at Hatch Cove. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide is said to be ” an ingenious new key system for quick, positive field identification of wildflowers, flowering shrubs and vines”. Sarah O’Malley, BHHT board member and naturalist, will lead a walk through Hatch Cove in Castine while teaching participants how to use this excellent field guide. Please preregister by contacting our office.
6/25 Saturday 1PM- Quills End Farm Tour. In collaboration with the Blue Hill Co-op, we are pleased to present the first farm tour of the season at Quill’s End Farm in Penobscot. Join the Retburg family for a tour of their wonderful farm. Blue Hill Heritage Trust holds agricultural easements on Quill’s End Farm, protecting the land forever. The farm tour is free, family-friendly, and open to the public. Sponsored by Blue Hill Heritage Trust and the Blue Hill Co-op. For more info, directions, or to register for the event please contact the BHHT office.
6/30 Thursday 7PM- Doug Tallamy in Blue Hill! In collaboration, Blue Hill Heritage Trust, Downeast Audubon, Great Pond Mountain Conservation Trust, Island Heritage Trust, and Wild Seed Project are excited to bring Doug Tallamy to Blue Hill Maine. Doug Tallamy, Professor & Chair of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, is the author of Bringing Nature Home, and an expert on the role of native plants in our ecosystems. Doug’s talk will be held at Emlen Hall at the Bay School, followed by a book signing. Donations will be accepted at the door.
July
7/2 Saturday 7AM- (Member’s Only Event) Birding for Beginners with Leslie Clapp, President of Downeast Audubon! Grab your binoculars & favorite bird book and join Blue Hill Heritage Trust and Leslie Clapp of DE Audubon as she leads a walk and demonstration on birding at Carter Nature Preserve in Surry. CNP has a variety of landscapes and we will be walking on terrains such as fields, rocky shore line, and woods paths. DE Audubon will provide spare binoculars. This is a member’s only event. If you would like to become a member you may do so by clicking here! Reservations for this event are limited, please reserve your spot by contacting our office.
7/6 Wednesday 7PM- History of Long Island. In celebration of the Blue Hill Historical Society’s exhibit on Long Island in Blue Hill Bay, please join us for a talk by local expert , and Fire Chief, Denny Robertson. Denny will give a slide show presentation of the history the early settlement of the island in the 1700’s, to the migration off the island in the late 1940’s. The talk will be at the Bagaduce Music Lending Library’s Performance Hall off South Street in Blue Hill.
7/8 Friday 10AM- Secrets & Surprises of the Forest at Kingdom Woods. Make discoveries in nature with Merrie Eley! **Children must be accompanied by an adult, please bring water, snack, hat, bug stuff and sunscreen. Space is limited, please contact the BHHT office to register.
7/9 Saturday 7AM- Rise & Shine Hike up John B. Mountain. Start your day with us, for a hike up John B. Mountain in Brooksville. We’ll begin our hike at the Breezemere Rd parking area and head up the trail passing the cemetery and wind back down the mountain finishing on the Old School House Road (old woods road) and back to the parking area. Delightful refreshments provided! To preregister for this hike please contact our office.
7/9 Saturday 8AM- Birds of Blue Hill Mountain. Join BHHT friend Arn Krugman for a walk and talk on the birds who call Blue Hill Mountain home. We will meet at the big field at the base of the Hayes Trail at 8AM. Bring your Binoculars and bird books! Space is limited- to pre-register please contact our office.
7/11 Monday 2PM- Horsepower Farm Tour. In collaboration with the Blue Hill Co-op, we are pleased to present the second farm tour of the season at Horsepower Farm in Penobscot. Join the Birdsall family for a tour of their wonderful farm. Blue Hill Heritage Trust holds agricultural easements on Horsepower Farm, protecting the land forever. The farm tour is free, family-friendly, and open to the public. Sponsored by Blue Hill Heritage Trust and the Blue Hill Co-op. For more info, directions, or to register for the event please contact the BHHT office.
7/14 Thursday (Bastille Day!) 11AM- Lectures on the French History in Castine. As a part of the large Bastille Day Celebration in Castine, Blue Hill Heritage Trust, in conjunction with the Wilson Museum is pleased to be a part of a line up of speakers on the French history in Castine. Speakers will include author Bill Haviland and Archaeologist Gretchen Faulkner on the Baron de Castin and his property which is under conservation easement with Blue Hill Heritage Trust. BHHT will be discussing the importance of conserving these historic places. For more information about this lecture, or the Bastille Day Events, please visit http://www.visitcastine.com/.
7/21 Thursday 10AM- Hiking with All 5 Senses for Kids! Join us at Patten Stream Preserve and discover the joys of touch, taste, sight, hearing and smell in nature with Merrie Eley! **Children must be accompanied by an adult, please bring a water, snack, hat, bug stuff and sunscreen. Space limited, please contact the BHHT office to register.
August
8/3 Wednesday 9:30AM- (Member’s Only Event) Native Plant Walk with Heather McCargo! Join Heather McCargo of Wild Seed Project for an I.D. walk and discussion of native plant species on BHHT’s Patten Stream Trail in Surry. This is a member’s only event. If you would like to become a member you may do so by clicking here! Reservations for this event are limited, please reserve your spot by contacting our office.
8/4 Thursday 3PM- Ribbon Cutting on the new Carter Nature Preserve connection trail! Join Blue Hill Heritage Trust and friends in Surry as we celebrate the official opening of the new trail at Carter Nature Preserve connecting the preserve to the new parking area on the Cross Road. We’ll meet at the parking area on the Cross Road, cut the ribbon and hike the new trail with the team who helped build it!
8/7 Sunday 10AM- Old Ackley Farm Tour. In collaboration with the Blue Hill Co-op, we are pleased to present the third farm tour of the season at Old Ackley Farm in Blue Hill. Join the Sullivan/Prentiss family for a tour of their wonderful farm. Blue Hill Heritage Trust holds agricultural easements on Old Ackley Farm, protecting the land forever. The farm tour is free, family-friendly, and open to the public. Sponsored by Blue Hill Heritage Trust and the Blue Hill Co-op. For more info, directions, or to register for the event please contact the BHHT office.
8/11 Thursday 11AM- Family Scavenger Hunt and Picnic at Greenbie. Join Blue Hill Heritage Trust and Witherle Memorial Library for a scavenger hunt and exploration hike at Greenbie Natural Area in Castine! Witherle Library will be providing picnic lunches for attendees. Spaces are limited, so please contact Jessica Rollerson at 207-326-4375 to reserve a spot.
8/13 Saturday 7AM- Rise & Shine Hike up our new Bluff Head Trail! Start your day with us, for a hike up Bluff Head in Sedgwick. We’ll begin our hike at the Rope Ferry Rd parking area and head up the new trail with scenic views down the Bagaduce River. Delightful refreshments provided! To preregister for this hike please contact our office.
8/18 Thursday 4:30PM- Ribbon Cutting on the new Bluff Head trail! Join Blue Hill Heritage Trust and friends in Sedgwick as we celebrate the official opening of the new trail at Bluff Head on Rope Ferry Road. We’ll meet at the parking area on the Rope Ferry Road, cut the ribbon and hike the new trail with the team who helped build it!
8/23 Tuesday- Annual Meeting & Lobster Bake at David’s Folly Farm in Brooksville! Come raise a glass and celebrate the work of our first Executive Director Jim Dow in his final year at BHHT. The Annual Meeting will begin with light refreshments at 5:30pm, followed by our annual report, and is free and open to the public. Then starting at 7pm will be a Lobster Bake catered by Frank Bianco. Click here for prices and menu.
September
9/7 Wednesday 3:30PM- King Hill Farm Tour. In collaboration with the Blue Hill Co-op, we are pleased to present the final farm tour of the season at King Hill Farm in Penobscot. Join the Provencher/Schultz family for a tour of their wonderful farm. Blue Hill Heritage Trust holds agricultural easements on King Hill Farm, protecting the land forever. The farm tour is free, family-friendly, and open to the public. Sponsored by Blue Hill Heritage Trust and the Blue Hill Co-op. For more info, directions, or to register for the event please contact the BHHT office.
9/10 Saturday 10AM- Beth C Wright Cancer Center Hike at Patten Stream. Join the fun in Surry on September 10th and help support programs and services provided to cancer patients in Washington and Hancock County. For more information please contact the Beth C Wright Cancer Center.
9/10 Saturday 5PM- Climbing One Mountain a Thousand Times. Join our friend Rob McCall for a talk on a place he knows well- Blue Hill Mountain. Blue Hill Public Library’s Howard Room.
9/17 Saturday 6:45Am-11:30am- Beach Cleanup at Carter Nature Preserve. The Marine & Environmental Research Institute and Blue Hill Heritage Trust invite you to join them Saturday, September 17th for a Beach Cleanup Day at Carter Nature Preserve on the Cross Road in Surry. Be a part of the Ocean Conservancy’s Global Trash Free Seas day, and Maine Coastal Cleanup Day, by helping to clean this beautiful property which is under conservation with BHHT. We’ll meet at 6:45 with coffee and goodies on hand and set out in teams to clean this beautiful beach. All data collected will be sent to the Ocean Conservancy to help in their research efforts! For more information about participating, please contact our office.
9/17 Saturday 6:30PM- Moon & Stars Hike up Blue Hill Mountain. Join Blue Hill Heritage Trust for a night time hike up Blue Hill Mountain and watch the Moon-rise over Acadia National Park, who turns 100 this year! Bring your flashlight, headlamps, and sense of adventure for this fun event. Then stay for a night of Star-gazing in the big field. Refreshments and star-charts included!
October
10/4 Tuesday 3:30PM- Mushroom Identification W&T with David Porter! Always a fan favorite, join David Porter on our Weinland Nature Study Area in Penobscot for a fascinating lesson on the vast world of mushrooms. Space is limited, please pre-register by contacting our office.