October 28th E-Newsletter |
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Gather with us this November for evenings that connect people, community, and the natural world. Our fall lineup features award-winning authors, green energy advocates, wildlife scientists, and more!
Scroll down for upcoming dates or visit our Event Calendar to view the full schedule and RSVP. See you at the Red Barn! |
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Wenatchee Bird Walk Thursday, October 29th 10:00AM-11:30AM |
Join us TOMORROW for a guided bird walk at Walla Walla Point Park! Co-hosted with Wenatchee Public Library, this stroll is a great way to explore local habitats, spot resident and migratory birds along the Columbia River, and learn identification tips from WRI naturalists. Binoculars are available to borrow, making this a perfect outing for families and beginning birders.
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| Red Barn Event: "Coiled" Book Launch Thursday, November 5th 7:00PM-8:00PM |
Join us for an inspiring evening with local author, Ana Maria Spagna! We will celebrate the book launch of her brand-new essay collection, Coiled: Essays on Urgency and Kinship. Coiled explores the intersections of nature, community, and resilience during disorienting times. Come early for a community social before learning about her work around urgency, kinship, and the natural world. A Book for All Seasons will be at the event in case you want to purchase a copy! | |
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Red Barn Event: Greenlight for Clean Energy Friday, November 13th 7:00PM-8:00PM |
Join us for an inspiring evening with Eli Duncan-Gilmour, Northwest Community Partnership Manager for Greenlight America! Learn how local grassroots advocacy is accelerating clean energy projects, the insights gained from over 100 successful campaigns, and what lies ahead for clean energy in our communities. Greenlight’s work has helped abate over a trillion tons of greenhouse gas emissions—the equivalent of planting nearly 18 billion trees.
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| Red Barn Event: Recreation Ecology in Cascadia Thursday, November 19th 7:00PM-8:00PM |
As outdoor recreation grows across the Cascades, learn how local wildlife—from cougars and bobcats to the native, state-endangered Cascade red fox—respond to human activity and ski resort footprints right here in the Wenatchee Valley and Leavenworth area. Join us for an insightful presentation on Recreation Ecology in Cascadia with local conservation ecologists, Marwa Mahmoud, Nate Redon, and Marcela Todd Zaragoza! | |
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Missed a recent Red Barn Event? Or busy during our next one? Catch the live stream or watch past recordings whenever you like on our YouTube Channel! |
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Alpine Lakes Elementary Watershed Naturalists 4th Grade |
Fourth graders joined WRI for four half-day Field Days in September and October. In week one, students played a learning game about salmon, explored the Watershed Model, and examined animal pelts and skulls to discover local wildlife. In week two, they became botanists identifying campus plants and chemists using a cabbage solution to test pH. During week three, students headed down to the river to study water quality and ecosystem health using chemical testing and aquatic macroinvertebrates. Finally, in week four, they listened to an Indigenous rock story and walked through the riparian zone, searching for salmon and observing signs of river health.
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| Vale Elementary Watershed Naturalists 4th Grade
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Students spent a full day of outdoor learning at WRI, splitting their time between terrestrial and aquatic explorations. During their terrestrial lessons, classes played Oh, Salmon! to learn about salmon survival needs and explored a model of the watershed. Over at Barn Beach, they put engineering skills to the test by designing and testing solutions to mitigate slope erosion. For their aquatic explorations, students pulled on rubber boots to collect aquatic macroinvertebrates, learning how these organisms serve as bioindicators of water quality. As they walked along the Wenatchee River, they assessed key signs of ecosystem health and were even treated to the sight of salmon swimming upriver to spawn.
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Over the last two weeks, After School Program (ASP) participants stayed active with a balance of community engagement, seasonal crafts, and plenty of outdoor play.
The first week featured lots of unstructured time enjoying the autumn weather at the park and beach. A highlight was the group’s first visit to the Leavenworth Public Library, where Librarian Hannah kept everyone engaged with a story time and paper airplane crafting. Last week, students jumped into fall-themed creative projects, crafting pipe cleaner pumpkins set in natural arrangements and making flapping, migrating Monarch butterflies. The group also headed to Barn Beach for a trash cleanup effort, giving students an early way to participate in Make a Difference Day. |
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Campers enjoyed lovely autumn weather for Fall Camp, spending most of their time outdoors taking in the peak fall colors. Campers incorporated nature into hands-on projects, creating art with leaves and found items and starting a chromatography experiment to reveal hidden pigments inside leaves. On Thursday, after reading the book, Leaf Man, everyone went on an exploration walk to collect leaves and assemble their own "leaf beings." The campers also prepped leaves in a solution to soak overnight for their science experiment. Friday featured a fall-themed scavenger hunt across the WRI campus, ending at a large patch of mullein that campers enthusiastically helped remove. Back from their walk, campers used their collected natural items as alternative paintbrushes and checked the results of their chromatography experiment to see the different colors hidden beneath the surface. Sprinkled throughout were plenty of fun games and free exploration time.
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Turkey Trot & Give NCW Kickoff! |
Plan your Thanksgiving morning with a fun run for a great cause! Hosted by the Community Foundation of NCW, the 4th Annual Give NCW Turkey Trot launches Give NCW. Now in its eleventh year, Give NCW is a community-wide giving campaign that connects people with the causes and communities they care about across North Central Washington.
The annual Turkey Trot features a Kids’ Race, 5K, 10K, and a festive costume contest. All proceeds benefiting local nonprofits, like WRI, participating in Give NCW. |
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We had a sporetacular time at the Fall Fungi Field Trip with the Puget Sound Mycological Society! I was most excited by the range of shapes and colors in the fungal kingdom. My favorite was a little yellow club fungus that isn't super common here, since I have a soft spot for rare and underreported species.
Dozens of participants from all over Washington converged in the upper Wenatchee River Watershed to see what they could find. We were definitely not disappointed—the variety was amazing! While most people were looking for edible mushrooms (and tons of matsutake, white chanterelles, bear's head, king boletes, and slippery jacks were found),
Keep an eye out for fungi during this rainy fall season and feel free to send in photos for ID help! Written by Tiffa Theden, WRI's Land Steward |
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Thank you to our donors from the last 2 weeks! |
Steve and Betsy Backstrom in honor of Arne Backstrom - Sustaining Gro Buer and Bruce Williams - Sustaining Dave and Pat Notter - Sustaining Heather and Ole Bore - Sustaining Susan Butruille Haley and Scott Simmons Pat and Gary Willett Tracy Brulotte - Sustaining Jackie and Tom Andrewjeski - Sustaining
Christine Benita and Steve Kivett Andy and Maureen Seikel - Sustaining
Stan and Robin Engler Jabe Blumenthal and Julie Edsforth Stacy Lee King
Kendra Wilson Kurt and Celeste Peterson - Sustaining Crunch Pak LLC Lisi Ott - Sustaining Kevin and Erin Leff
Susan Hamilton and Timothy Bates
John and Mary Schramm Lindsay Leffelman-Rogers and James Rogers
Pamela Trudeau Lisa and Brian Koblenz - Sustaining
Colleen and James Larson
Elise and Tyler Bain - Sustaining
Jeremy and Maria Howell - Sustaining Lynn Dickinson - Sustaining |
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