Friends Wilderness Center

Start with a potluck dinner at 5:30pm and followed at 7:30pm with music: Bryan Seith's Sandy Spring Friends School Jazz Band and The Silver Strings. At the Sandy Springs Friends Meeting Community House. Admission is free if 17 and younger, $15 for 18 and above. Come and support Your Mother, Mother Earth, on this day before Mother's Day. Proceeds to benefit Friends Wilderness Center and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Join the Friends in Unity with Nature Committee to help protect and sustain our environment. Directions to Sandy Spring Friends Meeting are at www.ssfs.org. Contact info: call 301-774-3636 or email mewa42@aol.com.

A great opportunity to discover Friends Wilderness Center and the preserve we share. Guided hikes, walks, independent rambles, unique art activity, adventures for children, hanging at the Cabin, and a yummy lunch. Event is free (though a donation is welcomed) and runs between 10am and 4pm. Note: There is a 15-minute walk or car shuttle ride between the parking meadow and the Cabin. Please arrive a bit earlier to allow for this if wanting to attend a scheduled event below. Visitors are welcome anytime between 10:00am and 4pm: please let us know by May 15, if possible, if you're coming, so we can plan lunch.

One playful event in particular will be a hands-on art experience where people of any age will be able to go out on the land and create art with found natural material, reminiscent of the creative work in nature by reknown British artist Andy Goldsworthy. Guided by Resident Artist, Trish Stefanik. This starts in the morning and can extend into the afternoon. See schedule above. You can see a 4-minute video on his visionary work on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TWBSMc47bw. You're also free to explore the extensive trails and forest on your own and we'll have a portable trail map to help guide you. We suggest you bring your camera to get photos of your natural art work.

A very yummy lunch, with vegetarian option, is available for $7 ($5 for children under 7). Or bring your own lunch for an outdoor picnic. We highly recommend you bring ample drinking water as well as wear shoes fit for the trails. More ideas on what to bring, and not to bring are listed on the helpful Essential Information page on this web site. Be sure to get driving directions from us: web-based mapping services are not reliable. Unfortunately, we can't have dogs at this large event.

Help the environment: If you are in need of a ride or if you might be able to offer a ride to the Open House, please email Sheila at center@friendswilderness.org or call her at 304-728-4820. She'll try to pair up drivers and riders.

We thank our premier sponsor, River and Trails Outfitters (www.rivertrail.com), and also Beans in the Belfry in Brunswick, MD (www.beansinthebelfry.com), Four Seasons Books in Shepherdstown, WV (www.fourseasonsbooks.com) and Orion Magazine (www.orionmagazine.org) for their sponsorship of the Open House. See below: you can cut and paste this box ad, a save-the-date card, and send it to a friend or post it on a listserv or bulletin board if you like.

All who cherish nature are welcomed at the Center. Please read our Essential Information section in this web site for helpful information before coming out to the Friends Wilderness Center! All events typically are, or initially gather, at Niles Cabin, unless noted. Visitors should check in with Sheila Bach for directions, to confirm event and space availability, and for the latest road conditions if weather seems mischievous. Please try to RSVP with her at least two days in advance of your planned attendance. If a meal is offered with an event and you plan to eat with us, please register with Sheila in advance. For most events we suggest a $10 donation. For events that include a meal, we ask an additional contribution (unless otherwise noted for a particular event) Typical prices: Breakfast $5; Lunch $7; Dinner $10; take $2 off for children 6 years old and under. We usually offer a vegetarian option.

To inquire or register for an event, or to propose one, contact Sheila. A great way to get news of upcoming events is by subscribing to our email updates: you'll get no more than 10 a year. Just click on the Sign Up... feature in the left hand column. Please provide your name and email address; include your snail-mail address if you want to receive the free Footprints newsletter. Privacy: We will not share your subscriber information with anyone outside of the Center.

You can design or hold your own event at Friends Wilderness Center. We have had weddings, board, committee brainstorming sessions, staff getaways, poetry readings, night sky viewings, birding hikes, silent retreats, escapes for authors to write, and more. Inquire about your own event at the Center. We hope to see you here some day!