Dear Members and Friends,

At our recent Fall Festival, I ran into a new volunteer at Flanders. She was amazed by the day’s bustle of activities. She summarized her first few months of involvement at Flanders by commenting, "Wow, this is a happenin’ place!".

Yes, Flanders is a happenin’ place. We have so many people doing so many amazing things here, they make it all look easy. A long-time friend of Flanders recently remarked at the Four Seasons of Flanders Auction, "Everything looks so smooth and well organized, the auction almost seems to run itself". It’s a credit to the expertise and professionalism of our volunteers that Flanders’ programs might appear to "run themselves". In reality, however, a lot of hard work is done by that cadre of volunteers, who number in the hundreds, and that is what accounts for the continual growth in the depth and breadth of Flanders’ impact on the community.

Success breeds success. When people see what’s going on at Flanders, they want to be a part of it. Countless volunteers have been members of the Flanders family for decades, because we have incorporated their skills and enthusiasm in ways that are fulfilling and personally rewarding for them. Whether as staff or volunteers, what people do here is valued. Every volunteer - from our Board of Directors (which is a working team rather than a titular body), to the folks who monitor our 30+ properties, conserve our archives, lead nature walks, design our publications, teach classes - all have an impact that goes beyond Flanders, because everything we do here brings results to the larger community.

This newsletter highlights a few of our recent activities, along with the volunteers (and staff!) who bring them to you. I am enormously grateful to all who bring such a high level of skills and energy to Flanders. It fills me with pride because together, we are able to offer wonderful services and programs to the community and the region.

Best wishes to our Flanders "family" in this holiday season. May the beauty of nature sustain you and bring you peace.

Sincerely,

Arthur S. Milnor
Executive Director
Flanders Nature Center & Land Trust

"Not to be Served, but to Serve"

Question: Why do dozens of students from Taft School come to Flanders every year to perform desperately needed jobs like trail clearing, wood splitting and barn painting?

Answer: Because Taft’s motto is "Not to be served, but to serve", and those students are participating in Taft’s annual Service Day. With 575 students and 115 faculty, that’s a lot of service!

A Day on the Farm

One hundred kindergartners are about to descend on the North Barn at the Van Vleck Farm Sanctuary. "As the kids step off the school bus, the excitement begins and the noise level goes up!" says Dianne Parmelee, teacher and coordinator of Flanders’ "On the Farm" program.

Dianne and the other staff who will conduct this program (Josh Rapport, Jolynn Rostowsky, Deron Ash) seat the youngsters on hay bales by the North barn. Dianne greets them with a megawatt smile and a bellowing "Good Morning!". Students at the Hopeville Elementary School in Waterbury, many of them have never seen farm animals before. They’re sneaking glances at the nearby cow, while the pig peeks out from behind its fence and the roosters chime in with the children’s gleeful shrieks. Something very special has just begun.

As on many weekdays throughout the fall and spring, these children have come to Flanders to learn more about nature, and the Van Vleck Farm Sanctuary, itself a working farm for hundreds of years, will be their learning laboratory.

The children will partake in activities that have been designed to complement their school curriculum. The first group heads out on an interpretive hayride with Josh Rapport in the old farm wagon, pulled by an antique tractor. To the accompaniment of the old John Deere’s distinctive ‘chug chug chug’, Josh leads the group in a rousing chorus of "Old McDonald Had a Farm" as they head out into the fields.

A second group is playing a game of ‘Hurricane’ where, Dianne says, "They’ll learn that farms are a part of nature, and they’re valuable not only because of what they produce but because of the habitats they create. The weather is your boss on a farm, because it tells you what to do - a farmer’s whole schedule revolves around the weather and the cycles of nature: planting, growing, harvesting. We dress one of the kids as a cow, and talk about mammals, milk production, and dairy products. Then we pick pumpkins and decorate them with wool and feathers, and talk about the fibers produced from animals and plants. All the animals we’re talking about are right here! It’s a very well integrated program."

The last group joins Deron for a scavenger hunt. "We look for treasures in nature, things like fallen leaves and acorns", says Deron. "We walk to the pond and talk about life there. Most of the kids know they’ll see frogs there, and usually someone thinks we’ll see alligators, too! This program gives the kids a sense of the larger web of all life. It shows them about our dependence on nature. On top of all that, they’re having a lot of fun!" After rotating around to each segment of the program, the kids climb back on the bus and head back into the city, but their view of the world has changed. What they’ve learned today will be reinforced when they see the leaves falling off the trees in their yard or a nearby park. Today’s lesson on mammals will flow into mind as they gulp down their next glass of milk. Flanders’ "On the Farm" program will host thousands of young visitors this year, in addition to those who meet a Flanders staff member in their classroom. As Dianne so aptly summarizes, "Nature is a good teacher".