November 25, 2024 Dear ::subscriber.first_name::,
This long, long month we’ve been thinking about community: about what can happen when we come together, whatever the season, and gather our light. The days may be short and the nights long, yet there’s plenty happening in Boxerwoodland to stoke the dreams of brighter days. Thank you, as always, for sustaining our earth care work throughout this year. We are making a difference both where we live and beyond – and that's something to celebrate. Yours for a thriving Earth, with gratitude, The Boxerwood Team
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In a new holiday tradition, the City of Lexington in partnership with Boxerwood will be distributing free native trees to City residents on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Richardson Park, 10 am – 2 pm. Facilitated by the Healthy Green Neighborhoods Initiative, the giveaway supports an existing City plan to increase the urban tree canopy. |
Caring & Sharing: Gifts of Nature, Dec. 7 |
‘Tis the season when families gather at Boxerwood to craft a holiday feast for the birds and wildlife that winter in their backyards. Honeysuckle wreaths, dried fruit icicles, cranberry garlands and suet-and-seed cupcakes are among the “tweets” they can make at the Gifts of Nature workshop on Saturday, December 7 from 1 - 5pm. |
Pumpkin Walk 2024: Let it Glow! |
Floating pumpkins, stories in the dark, dancing witches, apple cider, fiddles & banjos: what could be more delightful on a beautiful October night? Thank you to everyone who brought the magic including volunteers of all ages, witches, pumpkin carvers, puppeteers and of course the 777 children (and children at heart) who made our Oct. 25 & 26 program so memorable. A big thank you as well to the Boxerwood team, especially Jess Sullivan and Karen Stanley who gathered it all together. As you'll read, we’ve got far-flung fans! |
Boxerwood Bridge Builders |
How do you build bridges between Rockbridge County and communities in Michigan, California, St. Croix, Texas, the Bahamas, Massachusetts, and beyond? Earlier this month, four members of the Boxerwood team traveled to the North American Association for Environmental Educators' annual conference to find out. |
“It was just incredibly inspiring,” said Boxerwood Educator Ginny Johnson (above left, with colleague Catherine Epstein center). “That’s the best way to sum up the experience of this year’s NAAEE conference.” Ginny and her BEA colleagues spent three days learning from other environmental educators from around the country – and around the world – who shared their wisdom, questions, challenges, and victories with hundreds of others in attendance. |
Go Green for the Holidays |
How about a lump of carbon mitigation in your loved one’s stocking? Our homegrown, high-integrity carbon offset marketplace has 1-ton carbon offsets available for a $120 donation, with recipients receiving a lovely certificate highlighting the local project generating all that good. Speaking of gifts that keep on giving, all proceeds in turn fund additional tree planting, composting, and solar projects in Rockbridge. Offset your travel, celebrate a friendship, translate your values into on-the-ground by supporting COREworks. |
PARTNER IN THE PICTURE: Katherine R. Smith (1940-2024) |
The theme of this month’s newsletter is “coming together" and thus how fitting to share the story of a unique force of nature: Rockbridge citizen Katherine Raiford Smith, who passed away this fall after a lifetime of summoning all of us back to the garden. Katherine arrived in Rockbridge more than thirty years ago and with great vision, knowledge, and tenacity brought folks together to found both the Rockbridge Area Master Gardeners (RAMGA) and the Upper James Native Plant Society, – two of Boxerwood’s treasured garden partners. |
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