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2009 Wildflower Pilgrimage
             Schedule

Please read Overview Before Registering 
Remember, register separately for meals & evening programs

 

Pilgrimage Information Center: Thursday evening 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm; all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday form 8:00 to 5:00.
If you need help prior to the event, call 937-365-0101. If you need help anytime during the event you can come to our information center during the above listed times. The information center is located at  Cave Canyon and the Appalachian Forest Museum at the Highlands Nature Sanctuary -headquarters of the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System. Someone will be at hand to answer your questions regarding the weekend's schedule and help you with directions to any field trip location.

Carry this Phone Number with you all weekend.  
If you have questions on or after April 16, call our information line at 937-365-1935 during daylight hours.

April 16, 2009 Thursday Evening

8:00 pm Evening Program. No charge.
EVENING PROGRAM: A Voice for the Forest -- The Story of the Arc
by Nancy Stranahan, Co-Director and co-founder of the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System
Accompanied by breathtaking photography, tells the story of how a small grass-roots effort went from trying to save 7 Caves to become a large-scale preservation effort in Ohio and a voice for the Eastern Forest. Here is a tale that will leave you with a sense of hope for the future, and one that will take you on a visual tour of the Arc of Appalachia's collection of botanically significant preserves. Presented by Nancy Stranahan, one of the two non-profit organization's founders. Held at Cave Canyon & the Appalachian Forest Museum

April 17, 2008 Friday

7:45 - 8:45 am Optional Breakfast, register separately, warm breakfast off the griddle at the Cave Canyon, Appalachian Forest Museum headquarters. See overview for menu.

Friday All-Day Field Trips. Beginning and ending times vary with trip chosen.  Optional Packed lunch by pre-order. See overview for menu.

6:30 pm Dinner & Program at Paint Valley High School  Please pre-register.
Menu:  Meat or Vegetarian "Highlands" Lasagna layered with herbed tomatoes, a wonderful spinach-tofu filling that tastes even better than ricotta cheese without the calories, sauteed mushrooms, and parmesan-mozzarella cheeses, (vegan version available); Italian salad with leafy greens, nuts, croutons, feta cheese & olives; warm green beans with sesame and garlic, and a memorable dessert the identity of which is still being dreamily contemplated!

EVENING PROGRAM: One Forest - Seeing the Appalachian Forest through the trees
by Nancy Stranahan, Co-Director and co-founder of the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System
When a ecosystem is as large as America's Eastern temperate forest - once having covered over a third of our continent - it is easy to assume that when you know the forest in your backyard, you know the forest. But to really KNOW something, one has to ken the whole of it, not the fragment. The immense temperate forest biome of which our Eastern hardwood forest is a part, can be found in remarkably similar assemblages in Eastern Asia (including China, Japan and Korea) and Europe. Thinking of this forest as ONE fragmented trans-continental forest brings a holistic awareness to the forests' common past, what makes it ecologically significant in the world, why it is the most imperiled biome of the world's fourteen terrestrial biomes, and the nature of its future and current challenges. During this program we will witness the sweeping natural spectacles that make the forest so unique among the biomes - the spring ephemeral wildflowers being among the most stunning. Lastly, we will learn what makes the North American forest the most important global opportunity left for saving a working representative of the biome.

April 18, 2008 Saturday

7:45 - 8:45 am Optional Breakfast, register separately, warm breakfast off the griddle at the Cave Canyon, Appalachian Forest Museum. See overview for menu. headquarters.

Saturday All-Day Field Trip. Beginning and ending times vary with trip chosen.  Optional Packed lunch by pre-order. See overview for menu.

6:30 pm Dinner & Program at Paint Valley High School. Please pre-register. Click here for directions.
Menu: A savory parmesan herbed cream sauce with chicken, broccoli, mushrooms, sherry, a touch of sour cream and lemon juice over wild & basmati rice. The vegetarian version has the addition of  artichoke hearts without the chicken. Side of fresh asparagus spears. Side salad of fresh greens. Dessert our annual Pilgrimage Special: fresh strawberries over homemade biscuits

2009 Pilgrim Award goes to Rebecca Richman. This inspiring watercolor artist has devoted her life to using her creative paintings toteach people about the sacred inter-species partnerships found in all intact ecosystems, and the beauty of these relationships that can be seen even better with the heart than the eye. Early in her career, Rebecca made an incredibly generous commitment to the Arc of Appalachia Preserve System: to paint in water color four limited edition prints - to paint four original watercolor images and then create limited edition prints - one for each season. Four years and hundreds of hours later, her commitment was fulfilled. Tonight we honor her work and art; and bequeath her with this year's Pilgrim in Preservation award. For more information on Rebecca's portfolio,  see www.studiodune.com and Volunteer Magic. Rebecca's wildflower photo is to right.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Thomas Barnes, outstanding Kentucky Botanist, award-winning photographer and distinguished international author presents:

Rare Wildflowers of Kentucky
Ohio shares much in common with our sister state to the south, Kentucky--both in the realms of cultural history and natural history. Because land preservation knows no political boundaries, when the idea of the Arc was first conceived,  it was deliberately drawn  to cross the Ohio River into Kentucky - into an area rich in rare plants, karst  topography, densely canopied forests, glades and prairies. If you visit hike to the top ridge of three of the Arc's preserves:  Ohio River Bluffs, Boone or Rock Run , you will see the hills of Kentucky so very close.... right across the Ohio River! Although our organization has not yet landed in Kentucky, it is our dream to someday do so. Keep this vision in mind as you attend this evening program. (Tom Barnes photos to left)

Tom Barnes' program will take you on a highly aesthetic tour of Kentucky's diverse natural regions -- from the cypress swamps on the Mississippi to the prairie glades in the bluegrass to the Cumberland Mountains -- featuring the rare wildflowers that he loves to track down and help to enduringly preserve, while while motivating others to do the same by so ably capturing the grace and beauty of untamed nature. Tom has a brilliant reputation as both author and professional photographer. His published books have done perhaps more than any other person to raise awareness in the common Eastern citizens as to the importance of Kentucky's fragile ecosystems and our collective responsibility to save them. He is the author of Kentucky's Last Great Places, Wildflowers and Ferns of Kentucky, and the  just-released Rare Wildflowers of Kentucky.  This most recent book is a must-have for all Eastern naturalists and is gorgeously illustrated with a profusion of Tom's photos. All of Tom's books will be for sale in the Appalachian Forest Museum and available during his evening program, and he is happy to sign copies of any books that you bring to his attention that evening. Earlier in the day, photographers may opt to join Tom on a photography field trip at the Sanctuary--see field trip web page for details. For a more complete biography see: www.ca.uky.edu/forestryextension/ThomasBarnes.php To preview his beautiful photography, see www.uky.edu/Ag/Forestry/TBarnes/
 

April 19, 2008 Sunday

8:00 - 9:00 am Optional Breakfast, register separately,warm breakfast off the griddleat the Cave Canyon, Appalachian Forest Museum headquarters. See overview for menu.

Sunday Half-Day Field Trip. Beginning and ending times vary with trip chosen.  Optional Packed lunch by pre-order. See overview for menu.