Fall 2011 Newsletter

Message from the President

It’s Good to Have Friends Like You…

Whether you are a member of The Friends of Crossroads, a program presenter, donor, event volunteer or just enjoy the Crossroads experience, you are a valued friend.

The Running Green fitness event is an excellent example of Friends of Crossroads bringing people together. It was also an opportunity to introduce the extensive trail system at Crossroads maintained by Jim Maki, our friend and one of our founders. 

Speaking of our founders, a Founders Day Celebration is scheduled for October 18th. We will honor that visionary group with a commemorative plaque mounted on a piece of Door County substrate, better known as a rock.

Family Science Day is scheduled for October 1. The Door Peninsula Astronomical Society collaborating with Friends of Crossroads will present

a day of discovery for children and adults alike.

It certainly is good to have friends, but it is even more gratifying to be a friend. Since 2003, Crossroads has provided lab space for students from the

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh to conduct water quality assessments of Door County beaches. As a result of research done at Crossroads and other Wisconsin sites, UWO recently was awarded a $1 million dollar grant as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

You may have noticed the trail maintenance equipment in the grass or the snowmobile in the basement along with our lawn tractor and assorted tools and equipment used to maintain trails and also the center, outdoor classrooms, and various plantings throughout the property.

Our Board of Directors, after discussing the need for a building to house all this equipment, has taken the initiative to make it a reality. Just east of the solar array in an open area delineated by the gravel base already present, we plan to erect a maintenance building and small workshop. We soon will be sending out information on this new project to all Friends of Crossroads.

Friendship is a very contagious condition. Be sure to pass it on to everyone you meet while enjoying Crossroads at Big Creek.

Dick Weidman,
President of Crossroads Board of Directors

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DPAS Celebrates Solar Systems

NASA Year of Solar System LogoThe Door Peninsula Astronomical Society(DPAS), like NASA and astronomical societies throughout the United States, is celebrating “The Year of the Solar System.” Understand that it’s a Martian Year.

During the time it takes for Mars to orbit the sun, DPAS has offered a number of programs – The programs continue on October 1st with the Crossroads Family Astronomy Day; “Celebration of Solar Systems and ExoPlanets” 

Activities and demonstrations for all ages will be offered at the Stonecipher Astronomy Center, the Collins Learning Center and along the trail between the two… the Planet Walk. This scale [1:10 billion] model recently has undergone a major makeover.

The DPAS Board members have generated new graphics and spent hours fact-checking and revising copy. The new plaques include a QR smart phone link to the DPAS web site and in the future will link NASA sites as well as others. A generous grant from the Raibrook enabled the purchase of permanent trail markers.

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Book Launch in the Garden

Vintage Gardens front coverThe chairperson of the Heritage Garden in The Historical Village wrote the book on vintage Wisconsin gardens. Literally.

Lee Somerville, author of Vintage Wisconsin Gardens: A History of Home Gardening, will discuss her new book at Crossroads at Big Creek on Sunday, October 1. The program begins with a slide talk in the Lecture Hall of the Collins Learning Center. Weather permitting, a garden party, with refreshments and a book signing, will be held on The Historical Village Green near the garden. This event is co-sponsored by the Door County Historical Society and the Friends of Door County Library. The author will also be available to sign copies of her book. 

As Wisconsin’s population moved from farmsteads into villages, towns and cities, the state saw a growing interest in gardening as a leisure activity and source of civic pride. In Vintage Wisconsin Gardens, Somerville introduces readers to the region’s ornamental gardens of the 19 and early 20th centuries, showcasing the “vernacular” gardens created by landscaping enthusiasts for their own use and pleasure.

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Running Green for Crossroads

The early summer foliage set the stage for the second annual Running Green for Crossroads Trail Run/Walk held on Saturday, June 25. Participants as far west as Seattle, Washington, as far east as Bethesda, Maryland, and as far south as Arizona, gathered on the 115 acre preserve to enjoy Crossroads at Big Creek and all the elements that make up Door County’s only trail running event. 

The newly created ‘Gathering Place’ was the perfect backdrop for the presentation of this year’s awards. Holding true to our ‘Green’ theme the winners received environmentally friendly awards.

On behalf of The Running Green for Crossroads Planning Team, countless thanks to the forty volunteers from Friends of Crossroads, Ministry Health Care and the community which helped make this run possible.

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