2023 Fall Annual Meeting
Event Details:
Sunday, October 15, 2023
1:00 pm
Gowing’s Swamp, Concord
Free. Member event. RSVP here.
This event will occur rain or shine. Please dress for weather conditions.
The business meeting will be held and refreshments served under a tent. Umbrellas are encouraged if it is raining, since not everyone may be able to fit under the tent.
Parking is in the lot at Ripley School, 120 Meriam Road, Concord. Carpooling is encouraged. Gather on the lawn adjacent to the natural playscape at the school (behind the playground that is visible from the parking lot).
Join us as we celebrate the accomplishments of this past year, review the Land Trust’s financial performance, and elect or re-elect trustees. A special vote will also be conducted to amend Article III of the Land Trust’s instrument, with the aim of increasing the maximum number of trustees from seven to eleven. Following the business meeting, trustees will lead members on a tour of the bog, during which speakers will discuss the area’s distinctive features at various stops along the way. As is our tradition, we will end with homemade treats prepared by trustees for everyone to enjoy!
1:00 PM Business meeting
1:30 PM Walking tour of the bog
3:00 PM Refreshments served
The business meeting will begin promptly; other times are approximate.
Walk Descriptions
Cherrie Corey
Ecological treats
As an exceptional and locally rare level bog ecosystem, Gowing’s Swamp is characterized by its unique ecology and diverse flora. Explore its distinctive features to gain a deeper understanding of this remarkable area.
Andrew Joslin
The forest matrix
From the bog to the shoreline, and through the surrounding uplands, which trees inhabit Gowing’s Swamp today? Discover the tree species that now thrive here, decipher their age and history, and gain insight into the forest composition of the region.
Amity Wilczek and Richard Smith
Introduction to the natural and cultural history
Gowing’s Swamp, and its natural and fertile surroundings, has attracted humans for 7,000 years, as seen in the archaeological record. Historically known as Thoreau’s Bog in honor of Henry David Thoreau’s profound interest in it, this area has left an indelible mark on both literature and science for more than a century and a half. It stands as one of Concord’s longest continuously studied natural areas.
Jane Gruba-Chevalier
Trail sustainability
In simple terms, sustainability means maintaining something over time without harming the environment. A sustainable trail should enable safe enjoyment while minimizing impacts on surrounding plants, animals, and ecosystems. Learn about the strategies used by the Land Trust to improve the narrow, steep and eroding trail – restricted to a 10-foot wide corridor – leading into Gowing’s Swamp from Independence Road. Thanks to Land Trust members, neighboring support, and dedicated volunteers, we were able to complete this significant undertaking.
Walk Leader Biographies
Cherrie Corey, Gowing’s Swamp, and Thoreau came together in 1977 and moved into a deep communion over the next four decades. Cherrie has been a leading voice for the preservation of this historic bog and other significant natural areas in Concord. A long-time naturalist, educator, and photographer, her Sense of Place – Concord programs inspired all ages to connect more intimately with Concord’s beautiful and historically significant landscapes. In earlier years, she served as executive director of Harvard University’s Museum of Cultural and Natural History, the New England Wild Flower Society’s first education director, and as a board member for the Massachusetts Environmental Education Society in its formative years. In 2017, she received Concord’s River Stewardship Award, before moving to southern Vermont with her husband, where she continues her field work, photography, teaching, and advocacy for wild places.
Jane Gruba-Chevalier is the executive director of the Concord Land Conservation Trust since July 2021.
Andrew Joslin is a professional arboreal aeronaut, working arborist, tree climbing specialist, gear innovator and teacher. He specializes in facilitating nature experience in woods and on rope in wild trees. Andrew provides consultation on all phases of technical tree climbing for work or recreational climbing, and assists with research and wildlife projects involving access to trees. He is also an artist and natural history illustrator and photographer.
Richard Smith has lectured on and written about antebellum United States and 19th-Century American history and literature since 1995. He has worked as a public historian in Concord, Massachusetts for almost 23 years, specializing in Henry David Thoreau, the Transcendentalists, the Anti-Slavery movement and the Civil War. As a Living History Interpreter, he has portrayed Henry Thoreau at Walden Pond and around the country since 1999. In addition, he has written six books for Applewood Books, including two about Henry Thoreau, and is the current Scholar in Residence at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury.
Dr. Amity Wilczek is an evolutionary ecologist whose role as an educator and researcher has been shaped by attention to place, history, and student experience. Her teaching career started at Harvard and Brown before transitioning to Deep Springs College, where over 10 years she served as Herbert Reich Chair of Natural Sciences, Academic Dean, and Vice President. Her work on plant responses to changing environments has appeared in many journals, including Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ecology, American Naturalist, and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. Amity currently lives in Concord, Massachusetts and serves as trail steward of the Emerson-Thoreau Amble for the town.
