Dear Friends & Neighbors, Summer
at the park is a busy season! With weekly youth groups, record visitor
numbers, and additional maintenance needs, it's important to find time
to reflect and plan ahead. This
edition of the newsletter will highlight the great volunteer and staff
work that made School Days happen, take a moment to appreciate some
summer blooms from the museum garden, and outline plans for our fall and
winter events. Read on for photos, updates, event info, and a link to our newly designed website! Wishing you a pleasant Summer, Ellery Thomas Leary | Park Historian/FANS President |
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School Days were a total blast! Thanks to a big community effort, we
were able to reach 1,294 students over 7 days in May, raising thousands
of dollars for Putnam Memorial State Park. Major thanks are due
to: - Event Director Barbara Wyton for
organizing the many moving parts of this event, including contacting
and scheduling all of the schools, reenactors, and volunteers involved.
It's a tremendous effort, and we're extremely grateful.
- Park
Supervisor Nathan Hale and Environmental Protection Maintainer Tyler
Harding, along with maintainers Daniel, Vince, & Al, who did the
legwork, jumped in to help, ironed out logistical issues, and made the
park look absolutely incredible.
- Our awesome reenactors, many of
whom came in on short notice to fill in for those absent due to illness
and scheduling conflicts. In alphabetical order, some rounds of
applause for Dave Broadhurst, Carl Dal Bon, Bill Duncan, Joshua Dummitt,
Geoff Kaufman, Chelsey Knyff, Angus MacDonald, Larry Maxwell, Billy
Michaels, Erich, Janice, & Paul Steinhagen, and Donna Wedge!
- Our
dedicated volunteers! In alphabetical order, a hearty "huzzah" for Jim
Beschle, Roger Connor, Rob Doscher, Julie Gallagher, Evelyn Kubik, Dave
& Pat Perkins, David Solek, and Ronnie Tella.
- Former Treasurer T. G. Henderson, who handled the school store and managed the financials for the event.
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| | | Photo collage: School Days 2023. Photos courtesy Barbara Wyton and Jacob Epstein. |
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Colette Griffin organized our annual appearance at Georgetown Days in
June. Thank you, Colette! This event is a great way to connect with the
local community and invite more visitors to enjoy the Park. Thanks are
also due to the Redding Historical Society for being excellent
table-mates, Mike Printz for all the heavy lifting, and Jim Beschle
& Ronnie Tella for their help spelling Colette and Mike at the
table. |
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Harvested flax plants (Linum usitatissimum) |
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| 🌱The
eighteenth-century colonist's style garden is doing well this year,
with flax flowers and vegetable blossoms appearing over the last month.
We began harvesting the flax at the end of August; next, it will be
dried and prepared for processing into linen fiber. The Three Sisters
(corn, beans, and squash) garden isn't faring as well, and will need
relocation to a spot with more sun. In planning that garden, we were
fortunate to consult the expertise of Clan Mother Shoran Waupatukuay
Piper, the Paugussett tribal head leader. Several books (including Changes In The Land by William Cronon and American Gardens in the Eighteenth Century by Ann Leighton) and web resources (especially NEUHSA.org) were also very helpful. |
| Clockwise
from top left: Provider Bush green beans (Phaseolus vulgaris); flax
flower; borage blossom (Borago officinalis); cucumber blossom (Cucumis
sativus) |
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🌳 Have you ever wanted to work at Putnam Park? DEEP is still hiring - apply today to be an Interpretive Guide or Seasonal Maintainer! | | |
| 💻 If you haven't checked our website recently, now is a perfect time to see the redesign. | | |
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| | New
shirts were a major seller at School Days, and we've already sold out
of some adult sizes! After ordering more shirts, we'll be putting in an
order for hooded sweatshirts. You can pre-order those here to make sure we'll have your size. |
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| | Upcoming EventsWant to volunteer at one of these events? Join us! We meet in the Visitor's Center at 7 PM on the first Monday of each month (second Mondays when there's a holiday). |
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| | Thank you for reading our newsletter! If you have any comments or suggestions for the next issue, feel free to write back. |
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Friends & Neighbors of Putnam Memorial State Park |
| P.O. Box 352, Redding Ridge, CT, 06876 |
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