What Sippican Lands Trust cannot do this year the traditional way, the organization will just do with safe separation physically and with online programs. Spring Fest is still on for Saturday, May 9, only the virtual way.
“Kristen Saint Don-Campbell with the Boy Scouts of Marion and (Sippican Lands Trust) board president Alan Harris have been instrumental. We’re excited to have a whole bunch of presenters,” said Sippican Lands Trust Executive Director Jim Bride, alluding to a variety of programs involving the discovery of mushrooms and the creation of one’s own nature journal. “Let’s see what’s in your own backyard” and “adapt to what we can do and getting people engaged to their back yard and the outdoors.”
Spring Fest, originally intended for Washburn Park in Marion, will instead be held in a variety of places and spaces.
Marion’s Boys Scouts and Cub Scouts Troop 32 will once again participate, and it’s hoped that students from the Sippican School Band who performed last year will be able to participate in an alternate format. The Toe Jam Puppet Band performed last year, and this year Mr. Vinny has taken his performances online. He will join Virtual Spring Fest with an online performance at 12:30 pm.
A do-it-yourself trash pick-up will happen from 8:00 am to 11:00 am around town, and it will feature a Picker-Upper Design Contest, as participants work on innovative designs in a race to become the planet’s next “best gizmo” to pick up trash.
Safety is stressed (i.e. masks and gloves), and participants with or without an invention are urged to walk the streets against the grain of vehicular traffic or on an open trail. They can drop off the trash that they collect in their own bags at the Island Wharf parking area, sign up for details on DPW pick-up or dispose of it themselves.
At 11:00 am, there will be a Backyard Nature Notes Craft (i.e. nature journal program) with hints from Jessica Harris.
“The other thing we’re doing is having an ‘iNaturalist’ program to identify plants and animals in their backyard… (and to) assess the biodiversity. We will put the information into a bigger table of information as to what’s out there for plants and animals,” said Bride. “We’re trying to be nimble, develop our programming and it’s flexible.”
And it’s free. All programs are open and accessible. “The Marion Cultural Council gave us a wonderful grant to support this program. We’re grateful for their support,” said Bride.
The so-called Backyard Bio Blitz functions as Marion’s spring citizen science biodiversity survey. Sign up before Saturday, May 9, and register for a free account on iNaturalist.com. Those who do can add animals, plants, and mushrooms that they find and try to identify in Marion. Good photos are a big help in this regard. There will be online banter with naturalists and experts for advice on how to find and identify animals, insects, plants, and fungi.
Virtual Spring Fest has published the following tentative schedule.
9:00 am: Bird Brains check-in on Zoom.
10:00 am: Meet some new buds and plants with Diane Cook and Susannah Davis.
2:00 pm: Fantastic Fungi with Debbie Ewing and friends from Champlain Valley Mushrooms and others.
3:00 pm: Salty critters around Marion with Krill Carson and Dani Marston from NECWA, who will discuss among other critters of the estuary the Diamondback Terrapins. Fish tales are welcome.
4:00 pm: Amazing arthropods (i.e. insects, spiders, and ticks) with Blake Dinius of the Plymouth County Extension Service.
9:00 pm: Magnificent Moths with Mark Mello of the Lloyd Center for Environmental Science.
All of the listed programs can be accessed for free by registering for each program at sippicanlandstrust.org/events.
By Mick Colageo