Are you interested in learning how you can do more to help the Chesapeake Bay?

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation can help! Join other people who care about the environment and come “back-to-school” for a six-week course taught by scientists, non-profit leaders, and others about how to improve water quality on the Eastern Shore and in the rest of the Bay’s watershed.

Classes will be held from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday evenings from October 9 until November 13 at Wye River Upper School in Centreville. Registration is open on the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s website.

Attendees will be able to learn about Bay science and fisheries, pollution problems and solutions, and how volunteers can help restoration efforts in their local waters and the Bay.

In this professionally taught course, you will learn from experts about crabs and oysters, farm and urban issues, Bay history and ecology, and how to play a personal role in the future of clean water restoration.

Volunteers as Chesapeake Stewards (VoiCeS) is the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s (CBF) most comprehensive adult education program available to the public. This year CBF is offering the program in Centreville for the first time! Registration costs $25 per person or $40 per couple and includes one Saturday field trip – a guided canoe paddle on the Corsica River.

Space is limited, so register now for a deep-dive exploration of issues that affect the Chesapeake Bay. Registration is required at www.cbf.org/voices-qa. For more information, contact CBF Grassroots Field Specialist Hilary Gibson at hgibson@cbf.org or 410-543-1999.

The Horn Point Laboratory (HPL) invites you to join them for Science Bytes a witty, interactive offering where one can learn, sip, and taste.  Join us Thursday, October 18 from 6 to 7:30 pm at Piazza Italian Market in Easton.

These gatherings are designed to share science relevant to our communities in a casual, fun setting.  Mike Roman, HPL Director, will discuss with faculty member, Louis Plough, his research and its impact for the Shore.  Louis will share his research on genetics and their role in oyster adaptability to changing water conditions as well as his work with DNA sampling to identify what is in our local waters.

Louis Plough and Research Assistant, Ben Lee, in the lab testing DNA samples from local water’s to identify what has been swimming there.

Savor wine, beer, and antipasto from Italy. Get to know the scientist behind the science and mingle with old friends and new acquaintances in this casual, local setting.

Tickets are $25/ person.  To register visit umces.edu/events/science-bytes or contact Carin Starr at cstarr@umces.edu, 410-221-8408.

This event is an activity of the University System of Maryland Foundation, Inc. (USM Foundation). Funds earned or contributed will be managed by the USM Foundation for the benefit of the Horn Point Laboratory. Please make your check payable to the University System of Maryland Foundation, Inc.”

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science leads the way toward better management of Maryland’s natural resources and the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay. From a network of laboratories located across the state, UMCES scientists provide sound advice to help state and national leaders manage the environment, and prepare future scientists to meet the global challenges of the 21st century. www.umces.edu

People around the world are celebrating 2018 as Year of the Bird. This year marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, one of the oldest wildlife protection laws in the United States. In honor of this milestone, Audubon, National Geographic, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, BirdLife International, and dozens of other partners around the world joined forces to celebrate 2018 as the Year of the Bird.

The CBMM’s Winnie Estelle will offer rides on Pickering Creek.

Pickering Creek Audubon Center will celebrate birds and fall on the Eastern Shore at this year’s Year of the Bird themed Harvest Hoedown on Sunday October 14. Harvest Hoedown features music at three locations, unique craftspeople, nature walks, wildlife exhibits, boat rides on the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s Winnie Estelle and entertaining kids and adult activities about birds as well as food prepared by the Easton Lions Club and new local food vendors. Activities and vendors will be found throughout the Center. Explore the property with wagon rides or take a stroll on the forest trail for a sampling of the Eastern Shore’s natural beauty from wetlands to 100 year-old trees, all highlighted in vibrant fall colors.

Harvest Hoedown 2018 will feature live music, puppet shows, a family friendly scavenger hunt with prizes and Year of the Bird themed fun throughout the day.  Native plants will be available for guests who participate in activities about birds, plants and habitat. From deep in the vaults of Pickering Creek the Harvest Hoedown T-Shirt Art collection will be on display, featuring the great folk art that has graced the back of each Harvest Hoedown T-Shirt for the last twenty years.  These works will be on display at the Center’s Welcome Center.  Scheduled events will include not only music on the main stage, but also brief nature talks by area naturalists including topics pertinent to the Year of the Bird, the Chesapeake Bay and life on the Eastern Shore.

Harvest Hoedown features great music for all ages!  The Harvest Hoedown main stage, framed by Pickering’s historic corncrib, will host toe tapping blues and bluegrass with four acts throughout the day. The kid’s stage is just down the lane right next to Pickering’s beautiful gardens, surrounded by a bevy of fun educational activities led by Audubon Naturalists and budding volunteer leaders.  The musical artists featured frequently perform in their own right, but Pickering puts them all together for a wonderful fall day of music and fun.

The kid’s stage features Slim Harrison and the Sunnyland Band from Western Maryland and returning for their seventeenth year. The best thing about the Sunnyland Band is that it is you!  With over 40,000 members worldwide it may very well be the biggest band around.  The main stage kicks off at 11:30 am with local favorites Fog after Midnight, followed by Baltimore musician Norm Hogeland. Playing next at Harvest Hoedown on the main stage are Slim Harrison and the Rock Candy Cloggers.

The New and Used Bluegrass Band headlines the Mainstage

Headlining the main stage is the New and Used Bluegrass band, based on the Eastern Shore with members from across the shore. New and Used Bluegrass features Alan Breeding on banjo, Jim Bieneman on bass fiddle and vocals, Toby Price on mandolin and vocals, Ed Finkner on guitar and vocals and Jon Simmons on fiddle, mandolin and vocals. New and Used Bluegrass performs various flavors of bluegrass music, ranging from the traditional  – like the Stanley Brothers “How Mountain Girls Can Love” to “Eastbound and Down” from the Smokey and the Bandit movie, to “Caravan”, a Duke Ellington tune, as well as assorted banjo and fiddle tunes and songs.  They are well known locally for their excellent bluegrass pickin’.

Harvest Hoedown is generously supported by the following sponsors: Bartlett Griffin and Vermilye, Johnson Lumber Company, Shore United Bank, Shorebancshares, Donald and Dorothy Whitcomb, Stuart and Melissa Strahl, Wye Gardens, LLC, Dorothy and Donald Whitcomb, Jo Storey, Bountiful, Hank Spies, Richard and Beverly Tilghman, The Star Democrat, the Chesapeake Audubon Society, Out of the Fire, Kelly Distributing, and Pepsi Cola. Please contact the Center for if you would like to be a sponsor.

Harvest Hoedown means fun for all ages!  Music, hayrides, boat rides, local arts, and great family activities put smiles on every face. Mark your calendar, dig up your overalls, boots and hat and make your way out to Pickering Creek on October 14.  We will be having fun from 11 am- 4 pm.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is celebrating National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 22, by hosting its annual volunteer litter cleanup day and offering free admission to the refuge. The public is invited to work with staff, Friends of Blackwater members and other volunteers as we clean up refuge roads to promote the health of the forest and wetlands. This year’s event is being held in conjunction with International Coastal Cleanup, a worldwide effort by the Ocean Conservancy to keep litter from entering our oceans. In addition, the usual entrance fee for Wildlife Drive will be waived so that everyone has an opportunity to enjoy their wonderful public lands!

Blackwater NWR’s annual litter cleanup will be held on September 22 from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.  Trash will be collected from the roads around Blackwater NWR, beginning at the Blackwater Visitor Center, located on Key Wallace Drive near Cambridge.  Snacks and drinks will be supplied by the Friends of Blackwater for everyone who comes.  In addition, the first 30 people who register for this event will receive an appreciation gift.  Individuals and groups of all ages are invited, and low-traffic litter areas will be set aside for those with young children.  Participants are encouraged to bring gloves and wear brightly colored clothes for working along the roads.  If you, your family, or your organization is interested in registering for the Litter Pick-up please contact Tom Miller or Michele Whitbeck at 410-228-2677. Information about the refuge can be found at www.fws.gov/refuge/Blackwater.

More information about National Public Lands Day can be found at www.neefusa.org/npld.  If you wish to learn more about the International Coastal Cleanup, please visit www.oceanconservancy.org .

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, protects over 29,000 acres of rich tidal marsh, mixed hardwoods and pine forest, managed freshwater wetlands and cropland for a diversity of wildlife.  To learn more, visit our website at www.fws.gov/refuge/blackwater or follow us on Facebook @BlackwaterNWR.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.