Happy Holidays Open House
George, the Barred Owl from Tailwinds, peeks through a Rocks Wreath at Creek Farm Open House!
The Holiday Season is a mixed bag of many activities and emotions for everyone. No matter how you celebrate this season, it is truly a wonderful time where we start to wind down for the winter, adjust to the dwindling daylight hours by adding lights to our homes and spaces, take time to count our blessings, give back to our community and to each other, and spend time with those we love, either in person, virtually or sometimes in memory alone.
Here at the Forest Society it is also an incredibly busy time of year as we sell Conservation Christmas Trees and wreaths galore from our reservation at The Rocks in Bethlehem. Mind you, growing Christmas Trees is a yea- round activity that just comes to fruition around the holidays, but I digress.
We transported a few Conservation Christmas Trees down to Creek Farm from the Rocks as well as a few Rocks Wreaths that were hand crafted right in Bethlehem by our amazing volunteers, dare we say elves! We know that there are many options to get Christmas Trees in the Seacoast and surrounding areas and often purchasing said festive tree helps to support the organization that is selling them. We are very proud to be in the mix of options with our unique Conservation Christmas Trees. So why choose a Conservation Christmas Tree? Glad you asked!
In the choice of trees, the benefits of live Conservation Christmas Trees from The Rocks are plentiful.
- It's better for the environment! Nearly all real Christmas trees sold in the United States are grown by American farmers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
- Growing trees help clean the air we breathe and provide much-needed shelter for wildlife. When trees are cut down, more are planted in their place.
- It's great for wildlife! In some cases, the biodiversity of animals living in Christmas tree plantations is even higher than what you might find in adjacent open grassland or dense forest habitats, especially for threatened and endangered species that only live in young forests.
- That smell! Real trees fill your home with that fresh fragrance of evergreen, a scent that can conjure up happy childhood memories.
- Artificial trees can’t be recycled. Made from PVC, a petroleum-based non-biodegradable plastic, they’re destined for landfills.
- In addition, when you purchase a live Conservation Christmas Tree from the Forest Society, you are helping to support the work of protecting over 190,000 acres of land in New Hampshire - a number that is growing. At The Rocks, we've been growing Christmas trees for over 35 years as part of our land conservation and management efforts, and we love sharing that work with our community both near and far.
In addition we were able to welcome over 50 community members in to say hello, enjoy some snacks and hot cocoa and hot cider, partake in some ornament craft making, and enjoy Creek Farm. Visitors were also able to meet a barred owl and turkey vulture up close with a visit from Tailwinds: Raptor Education and Conservation and learn how the important work that we do at the Forest Society benefits these wild neighbors.
We were very excited to have our partners on hand from The Gundalow Company, which hosts their summer camp at Creek Farm in our Education Center. hey offered a wonderful "Oar-nament" craft of a paddle that was made out of some of the White Pines that we milled.
Campers were able to stop in and visit and decorate their own oar to bring home. We additionally had tree cookie ornaments as well as a milkweed ornament craft. It was so wonderful to watch folks enjoying each others company, food and drink and crafts.
If you missed our Open House, not to worry, you can visit The Rocks in Bethlehem and enjoy the festivites up there while you cut your own Rocks Christmas Tree!
We will also be hosting more programming at Creek Farm this winter, so keep your eye out for upcoming announcements for programming including our First Day Hike, Owl Prowls, Winter Tree ID, Tracking and more! We send the warmest wishes of gratitude and appreciation this holiday season to you and yours, no matter how you celebrate. We look forward to seeing you soon!
