Scott Jackson-Ricketts 10/24/13 Scott Jackson-Ricketts 10/24/13

Listening and Stories: Sharing our World

A Day at the Farm: Stories On Saturday, October 19th, folks gathered at the Matthews Living Historic Farm Museum for its annual Apple Harvest Day. Though slightly on the chilly side, with a bit of sprinkles thrown in, we hosted a steady stream of people of all ages from infants to geezers coming and going throughout the day. Musicians positioned themselves on the porch of the log cabin, and played traditional mountain tunes while people visited and caught up on neighborly news and gossip.

Among the attractions, stirring the apple butter kettle and cranking the cider press was an all-day affair, with people taking turns at each station. Several tents were set up, representing fiber art, folk painting, cheese-making demonstrations, Independence Farmers Market, and Blue Ridge Discovery Center.

The Farm Museum’s tent offered some home-made chili and sweets along with shirts and caps for sale.

For me (as one of the founders of BRDC and a huge fan of the Matthews State Forest and its cousin, the Farm Museum) I relish the opportunity to share in community events, making connections, joining in the fun, and meeting new people.

BRDC's displays always include critters and/or critter parts, found objects such as nests, bones, feathers, Native American artifacts, interesting rocks; and a plethora of field guides for the inquisitive.

We attempt to answer questions, but of equal value, we enjoy the stories people bring with them.

On Saturday I listened to one tale about coyotes’ behavioral attitudes toward the domestic dog...and the other way around…and the resultant, and not always pleasant conflicts.

A young man stopped by to talk about his hunting issues with chattering squirrels alerting the entire forest of his coordinates.

I responded by telling him about my recent studies of the skill of becoming familiar with or faithful to a place in the woods, (such as a hunter would in his blind or tree stand), to the degree that the squirrels and birds would also become familiar with the hunter.

Patience of this order produces results for both the hunter and the nature observer.

Most importantly, we all have stories.

Through membership within the community, be it our church, school, benevolence club, the local grange, hunting club, farmers market; as well as these great seasonal events such as this harvest day, we have multiple opportunities to get together, share our time, resources and stories.

We find common ground, create and extend our neighborhood, become closer and more familiar…familiar in the sense of belonging to one another in lasting, significant ways.

Listening to one another is the key to nurturing our bit of heaven here in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Scott Jackson-Ricketts

President, BRDC

BRDC, Admin 9/9/11 BRDC, Admin 9/9/11

Second Annual Matthews Living Historic Farm Museum Event

Above are a few pictures from the museum event. Guides included Zach Olinger from the Matthews State Forest, Bob Perkins, Eric Harrold, Terry Gleason, Susan Gleason, Claire Gleason and Scott Jackson-Ricketts from BRDC, and Kelly Servick from Grayson Highlands State Park. Thanks to the museum staff and Chestnut Creek School of the Arts for collaborating, to Mica Paluzzi for watching the concessions table, and to our illustrious musicians.

Devin Floyd 8/1/11 Devin Floyd 8/1/11

August 20 Event Announcement

Blue Ridge Discovery Center presents:

A day at the Matthews Farm Museum,

August 20th from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM.

Activities include:

An expanded orienteering activity led by the Museum staff (outdoor scavenger hunt with prizes)
American chestnut tree workshop with Zach Olinger from the Virginia Department of Forestry (morning)
Guided tree identification walk with Zach Olinger (afternoon)
Sketching in the outdoors in collaboration with Chestnut Creek School of the Arts (using found objects as subjects, such as leaves, crickets, butterflies, etc.)
Field explorations with Dr. Robert Perkins (BRDC’s director of a biological survey on the Farm’s property)
BRDC’s Fish Bugs program review with living critters (an ongoing project designed to learn about aquatic invertebrates)
Hold a live corn snake. Reptile talk by Claire Gleason

We will also have live music from Mike Floyd and Larry Paluzzi, playing their own

compositions.

Drinks and snacks will be for sale on site.

This event is free and open to the public, but any contributions will be most welcomed.

All ages encouraged to come and join in the fun!

For further information contact

Scott Jackson-Ricketts at 276.773.2039 or scottjr@ls.net.

Visit Blue Ridge Discovery Center's website:

www.blueridgediscoverycenter.org

Bob Perkins 5/26/11 Bob Perkins 5/26/11

May 26 visit to Matthews Farm

Cecelia Mathis and

I had a good time at the farm today. We started at 8:30 a.m. and completed our survey by 11:30 a.m. Highlights: 14 species of butterflies, a Baetidae sp mayfly (think tiny), a fishfly of the Negronia genus, and lots of blooms. Our next survey visit will be mid-June.

Bob Perkins

Woodlawn, Virginia

Historian and General Outdoorsman

Devin Floyd 8/31/10 Devin Floyd 8/31/10