What’s Happening up on the Mountain

Compiled by Liz Ruffa, Advancement Director

Stephanie Breed and Marybeth Leu, Visitor Center & Systems Manager

Exciting news! Marybeth and I have been diligent in our quest to streamline various software systems. We are proud to announce that MFFC is striving to go paperless whenever possible. One big change is our credit card processor. We now offer touchless and receipt-less transactions. Another fun change - our reservation system is now integrated into our website. These changes may not seem that exciting to you, but they are significantly important to us. Going paperless and saving trees is always exciting!

Spring here (and maybe everywhere) always seems like more of a transition than a definitive season, this inbetween hard-to-quantify space where energy stores are being pushed into new growth and activity, where planning becomes action. Merck Forest is an active place no matter the season but we are definitely moving into the busier field season in our programs and event calendar. While sugaringfocused field trips and programs are beginning to taper off, I’m looking forward to plenty of other farm and forest programs. Camp registration is currently in open enrollment, the farm is brimming with new life, and the woods are full of buds. I’m especially excited for our upcoming Spring Break Camp, and to engage with students and teachers who participate in our spring 6th grade field trip series.

Logging classes will be here before we know it, as will the SOLO Wilderness First Aid course. I’ve been doing some partner work, and, in collaboration with Southern Vermont Art Center, we now have a series of photography classes lined up, starting in May. I’ve also been digging into and learning about wetlands as I begin work on projects involving our Mettawee Community School - adjacent campus in Pawlet.

In other news, some may notice that Ellie the Cat is partially shaved on both sides. She is a Maine Coon and needs constant brushing to prevent her fur from matting. When her mats became quite severe this winter, current advisor, former trustee and longtime friend Dr. Jean Cegloski (a retired veterinarian in Rupert) offered to help. Ellie was quite stoic, for a bit. We will continue to remove the mats and hope to make her feel more comfortable.

Come visit - Merck Forest is beautiful this time of year.

I am finishing up the timber shop. What is left to be done on the buildingsiding, window installation, overhead doors, electrical, heat and installing a metal roof. So, there’s plenty to do and great weather coming up to do it in. I am also milling wood for upcoming projects here at Merck Forest.

While there is still some snow on the ground, spring is definitely in the airdaffodil buds are swelling and crocus leaves are emerging from the ground. With Maple Open House behind us and our maple sugaring programs subsiding, focus now turns to spring programming. Spring and summer camps are filling up. The Game of

As winter unravels and spring begins to sing on the mountain, I am increasingly grateful that Merck Forest and Farmland Center is my work destination 4 days a week. I share my time between the Advancement Office and the Visitor Center, managing membership and annual fund programs, assisting with institutional promotion and outreach and building partnerships with local businesses. Connecting with individuals and families while at the Visitor Center front desk is gratifying and helpful to my Advancement work. I have enjoyed assisting with educational programs this winter and look forward once again to being a 2023 Summer Camp field educator.

2023 has gotten off to a great start in the Advancement Office. After closing a very successful 2022 Annual Fund, Advancement is now diversifying MFFC’s membership program through two categories set to launch this spring and summer - corporate memberships and junior memberships. Stay tuned! Advancement is also conducting an operational assessment and business study of the Northshire Grown: Direct CSA model that MFFC spearheaded during Covid. In June, MFFC will host a networking event at the Sap House for members of the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce.

garden plan for the growing season in the Children’s Garden, grow seedlings and eat garden fresh veggies, build raised beds and cold frames, play games and conduct experiments, and maintain the perennial flower beds around the Visitor Center. Four Winds with Mettawee Community School classes have been a blast this year - I have run lessons on owls, defenses, predators and prey, and skulls with the Kindergarteners, fourth and fifth graders. Lessons will continue through the end of the school year.

excitement with them. We just wrapped up our first Maple Ambassadors group with LTS. It’s such a fulfilling opportunity to work with these wonderful students who show up excited to learn and lend a hand. Spring is both an exhausting and thrilling time of year for me. There is so much new life popping up all around, I’m excited to share it with all of our visitors.

The end of January marked my first year working at Merck Forest. The Kits and Cubs program is growing, running twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10-11:30am. A small number of families have become weekly regulars and we are always meeting and welcoming new families. As the weather warms up we look forward to time spent in the Children’s Garden, around Page Pond and meeting the baby animals that will soon be born! Kits and Cubs will transition to summer hours beginning July 10 and run from 1:30–3pm. I’m excited to be working with Long Trail School students who have signed up for a Garden Club E-Class this spring. The students and I will work together to make a

Spring is a busy time of year on the farm. If I’m not in the sugar house with Mike making maple syrup, I’m probably in the barn checking the ewes for signs of lambing. When ewe checks are done, I can be found pruning the blueberries or apple trees or checking for leaks in the sugarbush. Then there are the horses who love rolling in the grass and mud this time of year and need to be brushed. I’m planning for the grazing season, figuring out who will go where, when and for how long. I am preparing for new chicks, both hatching in our incubator and arriving by mail. You may find me checking on our sow Potato for signs that farrowing will be happening soon. I have a new group of LTS students starting and a new round of Animal Ambassadors and I’m so happy to share all of this

I’ve been focusing on sugaring, cabin checking and farm chores. To ensure camper safety, I make sure that the cabin wood piles are both accessible and dry (lots of drifts this winter!) Bennington County Forester Corey Creagan and I recently marked a five acre parcel near the Burke Trail for the upcoming Game of Logging trainings in May. We organized a “shelter wood release”, where large oaks, maples and two cherries will be left to seed and start the newest generation. What’s next? Tap pulling and sugaring clean up and then the next big move to new firewood for 2024. I plan to put breathable slab sides on all wood sheds, thereby creating a dry side and a drying side. Three walls allow for stacking which maximizes space and allow for less snow drifting. I am also helping to harvest trees for the next barn project and keeping the trail system open and flowing.

Rob Terry, Executive Director

I have been staying busy recruiting and interviewing for summer field positions and new department hires, preparing to pull together the final draft of our Master Plan, and collaborating with staff around the organization to ensure that everyone has what they need to be successful for the upcoming field season. In recent weeks, I’ve also had the opportunity to get out into the world to share our world with a number of groups including the New Hampshire Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma

(a professional society for women educators), a group of upperclassmen at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and the UVM Forestry Club. I have also been working with a group of UVM students who are auditing our sugaring operation and working with researchers at the Proctor Maple Research Center to identify ways we can make the sap to syrup process more ecologically and economically sound.

Executive Director a 2023

Community Partners of Service Learning courses or undergraduate Community-Based Research projects are considered for this award by nomination and are based on:

• The community partner’s active and effective collaboration in the development, design, implementation and/or evaluation of the service-learning project(s) or activities.

• The opportunity for learning provided by the community partner to UVM students and faculty.

• The community partner’s commitment to service-learning pedagogy.

Congratulations Rob!