Ipswich

Celebrate the New Year with a Walk in the Winter Labyrinth on New Years Day, 2016 at Strawberry Hill, 56 Jeffrey's Neck Road, on Smith Island, along the Eagle Hill River.  At its most basic the labyrinth is a metaphor for life's journey. The labyrinth is not a maze. There are no tricks to it and no dead ends. It has a single circuitous path that winds its way into the center. The person walking it uses the same path to return from the center and the entrance then becomes the exit. The path is in full view, which allows a person to be quiet and focus internally.

For more than one hundred years, wild cranberries have grown in the sand dunes behind Crane Beach. With our staff naturalist as your guide, join us for this cranberry workshop. You'll learn about the history and habits of this local fruit, and get a boots-on-the-ground feel for the matrix of trails that crisscross Castle Neck. When you finally arrive at the bog (our largest and most hidden) you'll have the opportunity to pick cranberries. Later, we'll head up to the Great House kitchen on Castle Hill to make something tasty. We'll even send you home with a few of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes!

Join The Trustees of Reservations on an exploration of the dunes at the Crane Wildlife Refuge in ipswich! This hike explores the wild wonders of the dune trails through the Crane Wildlife Refuge, from the Crane Beach parking area to Essex Point and back again! We'll launch our long walk at the dunes trailhead, and make our way along the backside of Crane Beach, then tuck into the dunes again to reach Essex Point. A bag lunch prepared by Ferreira Foods of Salem will be delivered to us at the approximate halfway point. Come prepared for a leisurely long-way-around walk of about 8 miles!

Appleton Farms needs volunteers for their Flower Project service learning program that engages youth in the planning, growing, cutting and arranging of flowers. The program culminates as participants deliver their arrangements weekly to area nursing homes and hospice patients. The program meets weekly in July and August.  Teens are encouraged to sign up for the whole Summer season.