February 20th E-Newsletter

Programs

A person wearing an outfit made of upcycled trash

Trashion Show Team Registration Deadline

Friday, March 28th

There's still time to register your team to walk the Green Carpet at the 4th annual Trashion Show! There are limited spaces in each category, so act fast! Register your team below.

Rails & Ales

Saturday, March 8th

12:00PM-3:00PM

Come visit WRI at Rales & Ales at Centennial Park in Wenatchee. Before the rail jam starts, get acquainted with the wonderful world of snowshoeing. Community Educators will be on site with snowshoes for all to try out. Stick around for more festivities and a showcase of some of the best rail skiers in Wenatchee!

Snowshoe Here

A person with blonde hair holding binoculars and smiling at the camera

Fire Reverie

Wednesday, March 12th

6:00PM-10:00PM

Join the Wenatchee River Institute, Cascadia Prescribed Burn Association, and Enchantment Mobile Sauna in a celebration of fire. We will have firepits set up to gather around fire, a mobile sauna to enjoy after a cold plunge, food, stories, music, and your community's company. Bring a chair and and a quick/easy snack to warm up over the fire.

Burn Here

Red Barn Event: Exploring the Intricate Relationships Between Plants and Pollinators

Tuesday, March 18th

7:00PM-8:00PM

Pollinator networks involve and impressive amount of plants, animals, and insects. Learn about the many interesting ways plants have evolved to attract pollinators at this Red Barn Event. Presenter, Lisa Robinson, will give examples of some of the most extreme pollinator-plant relationships. She'll also teach us about some specific relationships with our plants in Eastern Washington.

Pollinate Here

Science on Tap with Johnna Eilers

Thursday, March 20th

7:00PM-8:00PM

Are you in the mood for more science? Join us at Ground Control in Wenatchee for casual and exciting science talks from local speakers. Next month's speaker, Johnna Eilers, will teach us all about the wonderful wildlife we see in Chelan and Douglas counties. Johnna is a wildlife biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Tap in Here

Astronomy Along the River

Wednesday, March 26th

8:30PM-10:00PM

Take a journey through space from the banks of the Wenatchee River. Park Ranger, Paul, and astro-enthusiasts from the Wenatchee Valley Astronomy Club will teach us about the best sky objects to view and explore the basics of telescope use. Come prepared for a full night outside in the brisk spring air.

Stargaze Here

23rd Annual Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest

May 15th-18th, 2025

We are so excited for another year of celebrating the return of North Central Washington's migratory birds. Birders of all levels are encouraged to explore one of our 30+ birding trips, workshops, and other activities. Registration will open on March 18th. Learn more below.

Bird Here

Youth Programs

A watercolor illustration of a hummingbird with pink flowers

Bird Fest Youth Art Contest

It's that time of year! The 2025 Bird Fest Youth Art Contest is now accepting submissions! Participating students have the chance to win a prize and have their art featured on the 2025 Leavenworth Spring Bird Fest Poster.

To participate you must

Be in grades K-8
Focus on a bird in your art piece (preferably a species found in North Central Washington)
Submit a full color piece

Submission deadline is THIS SUNDAY, March 9th at 11:59PM

Check out the Bird Fest Youth Art Gallery for inspiration! Follow the link below for submission instructions. If you have any questions, reach out to Michaela.

Submit Here

A line of children supervised by 2 adults

After School Program

We are so excited to continue the After School Program (ASP) for the rest of the 2024/25 school year! Field Educators will meet students at Alpine Lakes Elementary and meander to WRI for a fun afternoon. Pickup is at 5:30PM on the WRI campus.

Registration for ASP is now open! This program will be Pay What You Can. ASP will run 4 days a week with registration split into 2 sessions - Tuesday/Thursday and Monday/Wednesday. You may sign up for one or both sessions.

Mon/Weds Registration

Tues/Thurs Registration

Spring Break Camp

Monday, March 31st through Friday, April 4th

Spend spring break outdoors with WRI from April 1st-5th! Registration will open for Spring Break Camp (for grades K-3) on March 10th at 5:30PM. Find the registration link below.

Have Fun Here

Summer Camp Timeline

The Summer Camp Lottery is now closed. Keep reading for the full timeline.

Friday, March 7th at 5:00PM - Lottery results announced
Friday, March 14th by 8:00PM - Camp registration deadline for lottery spots
Monday, March 17th at 5:30PM - All remaining camp spots will open for general registration

WRI is committed to continuing the Pay What You Can structure for camps and all summer camps will be Pay What You Can in 2025. We look forward to seeing your campers this summer!

Eastmont Snow Explorer Field Days

Over the past few months, 379 4th grade students from 6 different schools from Eastmont School District visited WRI for Field Days full of snowy learning and fun! They went snowshoeing on a winter hike to look for animal signs and discuss how animals adapt to survive winter. They then did a Snow Water Equivalency lesson to learn about how much water is in our snowpack. WRI's Educators also made the journey to Wenatchee for some extra programming at their schools. What a great way to start 2025!

Place

We're Hiring - After School Program (ASP) Educator

We are hiring for an After School Program (ASP) Educator. The ASP Educator will work with WRI’s Youth Programs through our new After School Program. The ASP Educator will work alongside the ASP Lead Educator to facilitate After School Program for 12 students in grades K-3. The daily work schedule will be approximately 2:00pm-6:00pm for a minimum of 2 days every 2 weeks. This position run through the end of the 2024-2025 school year. There would be a possibility of summer work with WRI. We hope the ASP would continue at the start of the next school year.

Learn more at the button below.

Apply Here

Land Steward's Observations

Before the snow started melting, I went out on a frosty midnight walk around the trails along the river. I also brought my UV flashlight! I love seeing how different the places I know so well during the day seem to transform at night. There is an unbelievable amount of UV fluorescent lichens on all the trees (and many of the railings), everywhere in town! Candleflame lichen (Candelaria) is especially abundant. This small little lichen covers the bark of the trees and is yellow-orange in daylight but fluoresces a bright red-orange under UV! I also saw another unidentified species that was a bright blue-white under UV, and Sunburst lichen (Xanthoria) that was a bright orange, not the red-orange of the Candelaria. One of the biggest surprises was actually how pretty dog pee in the snow is under UV light! It fluoresces a really pretty bright turquoise and looks like modern art that's invisible to us during the day. Good job, dog friends, keep up the good work.

Entry and photo by Tiffa Theden, Land Steward.

Thank you to our donors from the past 2 weeks!

Lisi Ott - Sustaining

Gro Buer and Bruce Williams - Sustaining

Lisa Therrell and Rich Haydon

Obertal Inn

South Restaurants

Riverfront Rock Gym

Patrick Henneghan

Lynn Dickinson - Sustaining

The Bubblery

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