[Bristol-Birds] Nature Schedule Cranberry Festival (Sat.)
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 11:25:56 -0400
Shady Valley Cranberry Festival 2003
Bog Tours and Field Trips
Bog Watch with the Bristol Bird Club
Quarry Bog Preserve
(Left off Hwy 133 approx. 1 mile from crossroads)
8:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Spotting scopes will be set up.
Join local birding enthusiasts for a close look at resident and migrant bird
species.
Self-guiding Cranberry Bog Tour
12 Noon - 3:00 PM
Drive yourself and set your own pace.
This 3-stop tour will take you to the Jesse Jenkins Cranberry Bog, Orchard Bog
Preserve wetlands restoration, and the Shady Valley Ruritan Club Cranberry
Nursery. Well-informed staff will provide interpretation at each location.
(Round Trip: approx. 5 miles)
Pick up detailed instructions at the Information Tent on Saturday.
Natural History and Scenic Bicycle Tour
(You must bring your own bike)
1:30 PM
This free tour begins at 1:30 PM behind the Ruritan picnic shelter. It is
located at the far end of the school grounds past the pavilion. Allow at least
2 hours.
This tour will include a stop at School Yard Springs, a peddle through old
growth forest, and visits to the Ruritan Club cranberry nursery, Jesse Jenkins
Cranberry Bog, and Orchard Bog Wetlands Restoration.
The tour will be led by local naturalist Jamey Donaldson
School Yard Springs Nature Walk
2:00 PM
Walk with Chris O'Bryan, a Shady Valley resident and outstanding teenage
naturalist,
as he leads a nature walk into The Nature Conservancy's Schoolyard Spring
Preserve,
located behind the school and festival grounds. This walk of less than an hour
and 100 yards will include a look at unusual plant and tree life, the artesian
springs, and a wonderful up-close interpretation as you walk over a new, sturdy
boardwalk and along a great wetlands.
This event is sponsored by: Bristol Bird Club and Shady Valley Ruritan Club.
Driving Tour to John R. Dickey Birch Branch Sanctuary
The John R. Dickey Birch Branch Sanctuary (known locally as White Oak Flats)
will be open for touring by car and on foot. Ask for directions from Nature
Conservancy staff serving in the Bog Room of the Shady Valley Elementary School
.
Cranberry Bog Tour
Shady Valley Cranberry Festival
October 11, 2003
From 12 Noon-3:00 PM beginning at the
Orchard Bog Preserve
You will need to drive yourself
Welcome to Shady Valley, Home of the Cranberry Festival. If you are visiting
Shady for the first time, you may have expected to see cranberries floating by
the roadsides in flooded bogs like you would in Massachusetts or Wisconsin. We
don't want to disappoint you, but cranberries are not cultivated as a crop in
the valley. Their presence here is more subtle and has continued for thousands
of years. So, we want to share with you the story of cranberries in the
Southern Appalachians, how they got here, why they are still here, and what is
being done to perpetuate them.
The answers to these questions can be found by visiting several sites in the
valley where we have stationed natural history interpreters. They will share
information with you about cranberries and other unusual plants, wetland
ecology, and on-going efforts in local conservation.
Directions
The route is marked with cranberry signs with arrows to assist you. Beginning
at the "crossroads" go north on US 421 toward Bristol and turn left at the
first arrow onto Orchard Road. Continue for a couple of miles until you see a
sign pointing you left into a graveled parking area with a little rock
building. Park here. Staff of The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee, will share
with you some of the story of bog and wetlands restoration at the Conservancy's
65 acre Orchard Bog Preserve. They will also direct you to the Jenkins Bog.
Here ecologist Rick Foster will explain the significance of this tiny but
intact native cranberry bog.
When leaving Orchard Bog turn left onto Orchard Road once again. Continue about
1 mile until you see another left turn arrow. Follow this graveled road until
you see a small parking sign. You will park on the right and continue on foot
straight through the gate of the yard. Watch your step as the ground is uneven
on the way to the Shady Valley Ruritan Club's cranberry nursery. Todd Eastin of
the Ruritan Club will greet you and explain how these nursery beds with
fruiting cranberries play a role in the valley's cranberry bog restoration.
To return to the School from the cranberry nursery, turn left at Orchard Road
(paved) and left again at the "T" at Hwy 91. Continue to the crossroads and
back to the school and parking.
We hope you have found this interpretive tour informative and invite you to
return in the future for updates on wetlands restoration in Shady Valley. For
more information on the work of The Nature Conservancy visit the exhibit room
in the Shady Valley School.
Let's go birding....
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
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