Welcome Note

By Rob Terry, Executive Director

The waning days of summer are upon us. As crisp fall days draw near, there are many things to look forward to at Merck Forest, the most obvious being the coming onslaught of color. It won’t be long until the landscape is soaked in a vibrant mixture of red, yellow, and orange. In the meantime, our education team, fresh off a brief post-summer camp respite, is already busy hosting school groups from around the region. Volunteer groups from nearby high schools and colleges are helping us load wood sheds in preparation for wood burning season. On the farm, the last of the season’s hay will soon be in the Harwood Barn while the Small Animal Barn is getting buttoned up in preparation for the long, cold winter to come. Small scale, sustainable winter timber harvests are being prepped, and our fleet and facilities crew is racing to put the finishing touches on the final projects of the building season. In the Visitor Center, our Advancement Office is ramping up for Annual Fund campaign season, the yearly fundraising effort that makes everything that we do here at Merck Forest & Farmland Center possible. Read on to learn more about all the great work that the Annual Fund supports, and hopefully be inspired to plan a visit during what might just be the most special time of year up on the hill.