Bidding has begun and concludes on April 30, on the fourth annual fundraising auction to benefit Woodchuck Lodge. More than 30 items, from railbike trips to private lessons and historical tours, and gift certificates for dining can be yours. Also, collectibles, home decor items, the most exquisite hand-knit shawl are to be had. You will find books, puzzles, and outdoor fun. Need some landscaping ideas or a pollinator garden? How about authentic wooden LL Bean® snowshoes for great decor or use? Look no farther. Handcrafted furnishings, wearable art, antique jewelry, and other useful items are lined up for your review at JBWoodchuckLodge.org As the auction concludes monthly Wild Saturday’ presentations begin May 4 through Oct. 12. These free presentations, except May 4, take place at Woodchuck Lodge, 1633 Burroughs Memorial Road, Roxbury. All programs begin at 1 p.m.
Saturday, May 4
John Burroughs Biographer Ed Renehan: at Catskill Watershed Corporation, 669 County Highway 38, Arkville. “John Burroughs’s Roxbury of Youth and Old Age: A Homesickness that Home Cannot Cure.” Renehan is a writer, editorial/publishing consultant and the author of John Burroughs: An American Naturalist (Black Dome Press, 1998) as well as Walt Whitman and John Burroughs, Literary Comrades, published by the Vassar College Library in 2008. He most recently wrote the introduction for the SUNY Press reprint of John Burroughs’s In The Catskills & My Boyhood. Renehan will be talking about the Roxbury of Burroughs’s youth and old age – the place where in his last decade he nostalgically dealt with what he called “a homesickness that home cannot cure.”
June 1
John Michelotti: Fungi Walk & Talk
Gather at the front porch of Woodchuck Lodge to join John Michelotti, founder of Catskill Fungi, for a mushroom walk. John has a passion to empower you with fungi through outdoor educational classes, cultivation courses, mushroom art, and mushroom health extractions. He was chosen by the Catskill Center as “A Steward of the Catskills.” He teaches at the New York Botanical Gardens, and is president of the Mid-Hudson Mycological Association. Woodchuck Lodge at 1 p.m.
July 6
Leslie Sharpe: Animal Adaptations. Catskill wildlife – butterflies and lightning bugs, bluebirds and bats, and black bears. Sharpe discusses the extraordinary adaptations these critters have developed to survive. Bring your critter stories to share. Leslie is a naturalist and author of The Quarry Fox and Other Critters of the Wild Catskills. This title won an Independent Book Publishers award for excellence. She has taught at Columbia, NYU, and City College. She also was chosen as a “Steward of the Catskills.” Woodchuck Lodge at 1 p.m.
August 3
Ron Knapp: Trekking Through the Rugged Catskills in the Late 18th Century. Join Knapp for an illustrated talk about New Englanders who trekked through the Catskills to central New York’s “wilderness.” Knapp is the co-author of Theodore Burr and the Bridging of Early America in which the Catskills are featured. He is a noted expert in covered bridges. Woodchuck Lodge at 1 p.m.
September 7
Annie Mardiney: Catskill Raptors. The wildly popular Mardiney from Wild Mountain Birds in Ulster County shows and discusses her raptors. Join us and learn about these beautiful creatures - see them up close and personal. Learn how saving wildlife is a collaborative effort. Mardiney is a professionally licensed and insured wildlife rehabilitator. She is also licensed to use wild birds for education. One of our most popular nature presenters, not to be missed by anyone with a keen interest in hawks and falcons. Woodchuck Lodge 1 p.m.
October 12
Dr. Michael Kudish: History in Bogs. Kudish is a well-known speaker in and around the Catskills and New York state. He is a professor emeritus from the Division of Forestry at Paul Smith’s College. He obtained his PhD from SUNY of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse. His presentation, “What can the bogs teach us about history?” highlights his research on the numerous bogs in the Catskills. Join us and learn the wonder of bogs. It just might “boggle” your mind when it comes to this unusual subject. At Woodchuck Lodge, 1 p.m.
Wild Saturday programs are underwritten by the Catskill Watershed Association, Arkville.
