Boxerwood Gardens: Nature Center and Woodland Garden
“Focus on Flare,” a hands-on workshop to learn correct mulching techniques as a landscape tool when working with trees will be held from 9 a.m. until noon on Friday, Sept. 10, at Hopkins Green in downtown Lexington.
Mulching is a common landscape practice that only benefits plants if it is done correctly. Participants in this workshop will gain experience with inspecting root flares of trees for potential problems and applying mulch. Instructors for the workshop are Betty Besal, arborist for the city of Lexington; and fellow arborists Karen “KB” Bailey of Boxerwood Gardens and David Rosher of Lexington.
Registration for the workshop is required by contacting Besal at bbesal@ci.lexington.va.us by Friday, Sept. 3.
This is part of the September 1, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
-------
"Focus on Flare,” a hands-on workshop to learn correct mulching techniques as a landscape tool when working with trees will be held from 9 a.m. until noon on Friday, Sept. 10, at Hopkins Green in downtown Lexington.Mulching is a common landscape practice that only benefits plants if it is done correctly. Participants in this workshop will gain experience with inspecting root flares of trees for potential problems and applying mulch. Instructors for the workshop are Betty Besal, arborist for the city of Lexington; and fellow arborists Karen “KB” Bailey of Boxerwood Gardens and David Rosher of Lexington.Registration for the workshop is required by contacting Besal at bbesal@ci.lexington.va.us by Friday, Sept. 3. This is part of the August 25, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
MRMS Receives Grant For 21st Century Learning Center Rockbridge County Public Schools received notification this week that it has been awarded a 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant to develop a center at Maury River Middle School. Funding for the first year is $159,525, with two additional years of funding available dependent on the success of the center. The total amount of the grant over the three year period is $478,575. The school division’ major partner for this endeavor is the Teacher Education Program at Washington and Lee University. Additional partners for the Maury River Center include the Department of Social Services, RARO, the Maury River PTA, the VDOE Region 5 Training/Technical Assistance Center, Fine Arts in Rockbridge, the Adult Education Consortium, the Rockbridge Regional Library, and Boxerwood Education Association. The center will provide after-school activities for Maury River students that will include academic instruction and tutoring, as well as fine arts and recreational activities. Middle school students will be introduced to Career and Technical Education in an effort to get students involved in activities that they will be able to continue at Rockbridge County High School. A major goal of the Center will be to provide a smooth transition to high school and to decrease the dropout rate. Bus transportation will be provided for the after-school program. The evening program will include a GED program for parents of Maury River students and childcare will be provided. Parents will play an active role in the Center’s programs. The overall goal of the center is to improve the academic performance of the students and educational opportunities for all family members. The center will be open 33 weeks annually. During the school year, the school calendar will be followed, with additional services in the summer. For additional information, contact Alice Waddell at 463-4043 or Phillip Thompson at Maury River Middle School. This is part of the August 25, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
See Pictures of our Play Trail: We on on the Gallery of Photographys of the Staunton News-Leader!: Go to August 17, 2010, "Exploring Fun at Boxerwood:" http://www.newsleader.com/section/PERMGALL
Spectacle Work Days For Families At Boxerwood Boxerwood is having a family puppetry workshop this Saturday, Aug. 21, from 2 to 5 p.m. in preparation for the second biannual outdoor spectacle production to be presented at this year’s Fall Family Festival on Sept. 25. The workday session is open to adults and children ages 10 and older in the community who would like to be involved either backstage or onstage. Artists and performers Stephanie Hodde and Jim Stewart are co-directing this year’s spectacle production, titled “The Bones of Boxerwood: A Re-creation Myth.” The show will feature fossilized creatures from an imagined prehistoric Boxerwood, whose bones lay deep in the soil for millions of years - until the coming of Dr. Robert Munger, the physician and arborist who planted the woodland garden that Boxerwood is today. Saturday is the first of two family workshops. A second session is planned for Saturday, Sept, 11, also from 2 to 5. Those attending one or both workshops will learn to build, paint and manipulate masks, scrolls, and large-scale puppets. Hodde and Stewart will also hold work sessions in the scene shop behind the Lenfest Center on several weekdays and evenings before the event. Like the “Harvest Spectacle” presented in fall 2008, “The Bones of Boxerwood” will be an intergenerational production involving scores of community artists, dancers and physical performers - many of them novices. More information about the Boxerwood Spectacle Project and family puppetry workshops, including puppet-making and rehearsal schedules, can be found online at www.boxerwood.org and on the Boxerwood Spectacle Project Facebook page. For more information, call Hodde at 460-4225. This is part of the August 18, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Boxerwood Spectacle Campers Learn The Art Of Giant Puppetry If one happened to be at Boxerwood during the week of Outdoor Spectacle Camp, one might have encountered a bunch of kids in the orchard engaged in what looked like a joust between a giant fist mounted on a bamboo pole and a waving hand that measured 4 feet from wrist to fingertip. It was all part of a lesson in learning how to handle super-huge puppets, the kind that will be featured in a Spectacle production next month at Boxerwood’s Fall Family Festival. Twenty-one campers ages 7 to 13 attended Outdoor Spectacle Camp, directed by local teaching and performing artist Stephanie Hodde, with puppet designer, Jim Stewart. Campers worked cooperatively in mixed-age groups supervised by counselors Josh and Taylor Anne Moffett and Washington and Lee University Environmental Studies intern, Sarah Monte. The children worked at their own creative pace, with older campers often assisting the younger ones.This was year two for the spectacle arts camp; last year, Boxerwood received a grant from W&L’s Work-Life Committee to develop a summer program that would serve as a pre-production workshop for children wanting to participate in Boxerwood’s biannual outdoor spectacles. A 10-minute puppet exercise introduced campers to the idea of making something out of almost nothing (spectacle puppets are traditionally crafted from recycled materials). Using only objects found in nature, a bit of masking tape, and a few arts-and-crafts embellishments, they quickly designed puppets and brought them to life. The main project for the week was to create an original transformation mask modeled on masks built by the Kwakiutl Indians in the late 1800s on the Northwest coast of Vancouver Island. On the interior, campers designed a three-dimensional self portrait or favorite landscape; on the outside, they crafted their totem, the animal spirit they would like to embody. In the process, they learned the art of paper mâché, 3-D puppetry design and painting for the theater. Campers also practiced moving with large-scale puppets and masks created by Jim Stewart for the upcoming spectacle, “The Bones of Boxerwood: A Re-creation Myth,” to be presented at the annual Fall Family Festival on Sept. 25. The production will unearth fossilized creatures from an imagined prehistoric Boxerwood, whose bones lay deep in the soil tilled by Dr. Robert Munger, the local physician- cum-arborist who cavorted with crows and planted the woodland garden that is Boxerwood today. As part of the creative process, campers participated in a hunt throughout the gardens for descriptive words to use in composing a poem about their animal spirit. The poems were transcribed onto illustrated scrolls and presented to parents and friends along with the transformation masks on the final day of camp. Campers have been invited to perform in the Fall Spectacle, which will incorporate their masks and poems. Participation is also open to other interested adults and kids ages 10 and older in the community. Boxerwood will have two family puppetry workshops on Saturday, Aug. 21, and Saturday, Sept. 11, from 2 to 5 p.m. Those attending will learn to build, paint and manipulate transformation masks, scrolls, and large-scale spectacle puppets. More information about the intergenerational Spectacle project and Family Puppetry Workshops can be found online at www.boxerwood.org and on the Boxerwood Spectacle Project Facebook page. For more information about participating as a performer or visual artist, call Stephanie Hodde at 460-4225. This is part of the August 11, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Boxerwood Music Festival Supporters Thanked Boxerwood would like to thank all of the participating musicians, sponsors and volunteers who helped make the BoxerWoodStock music festival what Tony Russell, Boxerwood’s executive director, calls “a truly remarkable event.” The festival provided much needed financial support to Boxerwood’s fundraising initiative, Keep Boxerwood Blooming. Russell noted that at 11:30 on the day of BoxerWoodStock, as dozens of volunteers were making final preparations, a freak thunderstorm passed over the festival site. It hit hard, tearing down a huge shade awing erected for audience comfort, but thankfully sparing the stage. At noon the storm passed and the gates opened. The music began on schedule, continued seamlessly, and concluded eight hours later, again on schedule. “It was a truly amazing day of music and community that would not have been possible without the generosity of the musicians listed below,” said Russell. “We are grateful to them all for sharing their prodigious talents, at no charge, to support Boxerwood and the valuable educational programming we provide at little or no cost to local schools.” Thanks go to the musicians, The New Plank Road, Bruce Clark & Friends, Brad “Dog Soldier” Young, James Leva, Nate Leath, Leslie Tucker & Friends, Lamine Sylla, The Poison Bottom Boys, Honest Labor, Loose Gravel and The Rag Tops. Boxerwood would also like to recognize the following community businesses that provided support: the Computer Doctor, C&S Disposal, HDT Expeditionary Systems, Home Instead Senior Care, Kirchner Design, Salon 215 Day Spa, Sayre Enterprises, Scott & Stringfellow and Washington and Lee University. “Finally we cannot thank enough the communities we serve, for the support they have provided to Boxerwood,” said Russell. The goal of the Keep Boxerwood Blooming campaign is to raise $93,000 by the end of September. Achievement of this goal will allow Boxerwood to continue its educational programming uninterrupted and uncompromised. “As of this time, we have raised almost $75,000, a combination of monies received and pledges. We are almost there,” said Russell. Until the end of September, the Kendeda Foundation is matching or doubling community donations to help Keep Boxerwood Blooming. Every dollar donated will be matched. Donations of $100 or more will be doubled, up to a total grant of $20,000. This is part of the August 4, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Boxerwood Spectacle Auditions Set for Today: Volunteers from Teen Adventure Camp, a Quaker camp operated out of Common Ground by the Baltimore Yearly Meeting, model the fossilized creatures they created last week at Boxerwood for the second annual Spectacle that will be part of Boxerwood’s Fall Family Festival Sept. 25. Dancers and performers ages 10 and up who want to participate in the Spectacle can audition this afternoon, Wednesday, from 4 to 6, in the W&L Dance Studio, located on the fourth floor of Doremus Gymnasium. The Spectacle, titled “The Bones of Boxerwood: A Re-creation Myth,” imagines the prehistory of Boxerwood. For those who can’t make the audition but want to get involved, Boxerwood will hold two puppetry sessions on Aug. 21 and Sept. 11 from 2 to 5 p.m. Organizers are also looking for help in the Lenfest Center scene shop, where they will be crafting dinosaurs for the remainder of July and August. For more information about participating as a performer or as a visual artist, call Stephanie Hodde at 460-4225. This is part of the July 28, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
At the First Boxerwoodstock: One Day of Peace and Music: Dan Newhall and Jim Brown joins Leslie Tucker on stage at the first BoxerWoodStock music festival Saturday at Boxerwood. The all-afternoon and evening event drew a crowd estimated at 600 and grossed between $9,000 and $10,000, money that will be put toward the Keep Boxerwood Blooming campaign for Boxerwood’s environmental education programs. Tony Russell, executive director, described the event as “tremendous” and “magical,” and said it received rave reviews from all involved. Tie dying T-shirts was a popular activity.A youth does some scratch art during the BoxerWoodStock music festival Saturday at Boxerwood Nature Center. Area residents check out the tent at the entrance to the BoxerWoodStock festival. Among other items for sale at the tent were tie-dyed T-shirts made for the event. Those T-shirts can still be purchased at Boxerwood for $5 each. With blankets and lawn chairs, festival goers enjoy the music at BoxerWoodStock. After a storm rolled through before noon, the weather turned beautiful for the event, which was a fundraiser for Boxerwood Education Association’s environmental education programs. Children enjoy sliding in the mud at the “People Wash” at Boxerwood Nature Center Saturday. A young festival-goer blows bubbles as she checks out the mud face sculpture on a tree at Boxerwood Gardens Saturday during the first BoxerWoodStock music festival. This is part of the July 21, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
BoxerWoodStock Music Festival Coming July 17 Music lovers don’t have to travel back in time, or to New York State, to experience Woodstock. No, this summer, all they have to do is head over to Boxerwood Gardens on July 17 for Boxerwood’s own version of the event, appropriately called the BoxerWoodStock music festival. And, no, there won’t be drunken, naked people running around. This will be a real family event, organizers say. The event is being organized by local musicians who will be showcasing their talents with music styles ranging from ole’ time to classic rock to support the current Keep Boxerwood Blooming fundraising campaign. The performers will include The Rag Tops, Loose Gravel, Lesley Tucker and Friends, Dog Soldier, Honest Labor, Andy Williams with Nate Leath, Bruce Clark’s Saw Mill Band, James Leva & Friends and Poison Bottom Boys. Gates will open at noon, with the music starting at 1 p.m. and continuing until 8:30. Ticket prices will be $25 per carload on the day of the event, with early bird tickets purchased before July 1 costing $20 per carload. On the day of the event, cars with just one occupant will cost $10. Tickets go on sale on Monday, June 28, at 10 a.m. and are available at Rockbridge Music in Lexington. Those wanting to attend can also mail checks to Boxerwood, 963 Ross Road, Lexington, VA 24450, call 463-2697, or pay online at boxerwood. org. BoxerWoodStock is a rain or shine event. Food and drink will be available on site along with other festival activities. No coolers are permitted. This is part of the June 23, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Party like a flower child at BoxerWoodStock Staff Report • Music lovers don't have to travel back in time, or to New York State, to experience Woodstock. This summer, all they have to do is head to Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Garden in Lexington on Saturday for BoxerWoodStock, a regional take on the iconic music festival, according to a press release. Boxerwood, with its unique natural amphitheater and Blue Ridge Mountains as its backdrop, is the perfect stage for this lively Virginian music festival. The event is organized by local musicians to showcase talents, with music styles ranging from ole time to classic rock, and to raise funds to support Boxerwood's environmental education programs. Performers will include The Rag Tops, Loose Gravel, Lesley Tucker, Dog Soldier, Honest Labor, Andy Williams & Toni Williams featuring Nate Leath, Bruce Clark & Friends, James Leva and The Poison Bottom Boys. Children's activities include tye-dying T-shirts, stringing love beads, running through the Kids Wash (a tunnel of sprinklers) and playing on swings and hammocks under the pines. BoxerWoodStock is a rain or shine event. Food and drink will be available to purchase on site along with festival T-shirts and other souvenirs. No coolers are permitted. Boxerwood staff and volunteers will serve up burgers (meat and veggie), hotdogs, pulled pork barbeque and side salads. Beer, wine and soft drinks will also be available. All proceeds go to Keep Boxerwood Blooming, a campaign to raise funds so Boxerwood can continue its educational programming uninterrupted after the loss of federal grants and other budget shortfalls. The Boxerwood Education Association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to inspire people of all ages toward becoming successful and responsible stewards of the Earth. Boxerwood is located at 963 Ross Road in Lexington, about a mile and a half from the center of town. For more information and directions, visit the nature center webpage, www.boxerwood.org or call 540-463-2697. Staunton News-Leader July 15, 2010
Boxerwood Donations Matched By Foundation Boxerwood has received a matching grant from a major foundation for its current “Keep Boxerwood Blooming” campaign. For every dollar local residents donate to Boxerwood from now until Sept. 1, The Kendeda Foundation will match or double it, up to a total grant of $20,000. onations up to $100 will be matched, and donations of $100 or more will be doubled. We are honored and gratified by this strong endorsement of the Boxerwood Education Association by The Kendeda Foundation,” said Tony Russell, Boxerwood’s executive director. "The grant comes at an important time for us as we close in on our fundraising goal of $93,000 by September of this year. With this generous matching grant, we will be able to greatly increase the value of giving from individual donors and thus ensure that Boxerwood’s education programs for all local schools, serving some 2,000 school children and their teachers, continue uninterrupted and uncompromised.” According to Russell, the “Keep Boxerwood Blooming” fundraising campaign has so far garnered $43,000 of the $93,000 goal for September. “With roughly a third of the fundraising time elapsed, we are approaching half the funds needed,” said Russell. “It is a great start, but we still have a way to go and the Kendeda matching grant will be a significant assist in helping Boxerwood to achieve our goal.” Ross Waller, president of the Boxerwood Education Association, added, “We have received donations from citizens who recognize and value of the services we provide. We are grateful to our members who have made additional contributions over and above their membership giving level. Local businesses have rallied round and provided significant support in a variety of novel ways. I am also pleased to report that every member of the BEA board and staff made their own significant contribution to keeping Boxerwood blooming.” The Keep Boxerwood Blooming campaign was launched by the Boxerwood Education Association to facilitate the continuation of its educational programming which was threatened after the loss of federal grants and other budget shortfalls. The campaign seeks to raise $93,000 by September of this year and a further $157,000 by April 2011 in the form of multiyear pledges so as to reduce Boxerwood’s dependence on federal grant funding and enhance its long-term sustainability. Contributions to “Keep Boxerwood Blooming” can be made online at www.boxerwood.org or by mail to Keep Boxerwood Blooming - Kendeda Foundation Match, 963 Ross Road, Lexington, VA 24450. This is part of the June 16, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Photo Fundraiser At Boxerwood Local photographer Kevin Remington will take candid photos of children playing Sunday, June 13, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Boxerwood play trail as part of the Keep Boxerwood Blooming fundraising campaign. Proofs of Remington’s Play Trail Portraits will be posted on the Boxerwood Web page with a link to an online store where families can purchase individual prints for $10 each. There is no obligation to buy photographs, and no personal information will be solicited. The Boxerwood Play Trail, adjacent to the nature center parking lot, is open to the public free of charge year-round from dawn to dusk. It is the ongoing project of Boxerwood garden steward Karen “KB” Bailey, who designed the play space. This is part of the June 9, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette. Portrait, Candid Photos To Benefit Boxerwood Kevin Remington, a photographer for both Washington and Lee and Virginia Military Institute, is donating his services for two fundraising efforts to “Keep Boxerwood Blooming.” Remington is accepting commissions now through June 1 to take “Boxerwood Portraits” and turn over the proceeds to the Boxerwood Education Association. For each $100 commission, he will spend an hour photographing individuals or families in various locations in the woodland garden, then provide a digital collection of 20 portraits from which families may make an unlimited number of prints. Remington will also spend Sunday, June 13, on the Boxerwood Play Trail from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. taking candid photographs of young children at play in nature. The photographer will also donate the proceeds from his Play Trail Portraits to the BEA to support Boxerwood’s Early Education programs. To commission a Boxerwood Portrait, contact Remington directly at (540) 817-6699 or kevin@kevinremington.com no later than June 1. Portrait sessions will be scheduled by the photographer between June and September. For Play Trail Portraits, families need only show up at Boxerwood on June 13. No individual sessions will be scheduled. “Keep Boxerwood Blooming” is a campaign to raise funds so that the BEA can continue to provide educational programming for public schools after the loss of a federal grant and other budget shortfalls. This is part of the June 9 and May 12, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette. [NOTE: You can see proofs and order prints online by lollowing this link]
Spaces Remain for Boxerwood Camps Boxerwood Nature Center will continue to accept registrations through June 15 for openings in three summer day camp sessions —two sessions of Nature Detectives and one session of Outdoor Spectacle Camp. The theme of this year’s Nature Detectives Camp is “The Heart of Nature.” Session I, for children who have completed grades K-2, will run Monday through Friday, June 14-18, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Session II, for children completing grades 2–4, will run on the same schedule from June 21-25. uring Session I, younger campers will use all their senses as they for clues to find the heart of Boxerwood. During the second session, older campers will investigate the hidden secrets within Boxerwood, checking in on the frogs, turtles, and trees. Activities for both sessions of Nature Detectives Camp include hands-on investigations and projects as well as supervised free play. Children completing grades 2-7 can register for Outdoor Spectacle Camp at Boxerwood. The single session runs Monday through Friday, July 26-30, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Campers will build huge puppets and creature masks, and learn to perform with them, and will automatically have a part in “The Bones of Boxerwood,” an intergenerational spectacle celebrating the natural history of Boxerwood from its geological origins to the woodland garden of today. The show will be performed at Boxerwood’s 2010 Fall Family Festival on Sept. 25. The fee for each session of Nature Detectives or Outdoor Spectacle Camp is $140 for Boxerwood member families and $160 for non-member families. For more information and registration forms, visit the Boxerwood Web site at www.boxerwood.org or contact Hannah Klein at 463-2697 or hannah@boxerwood.org. Boxerwood is cooperating with the YMCA to offer a shuttle service from Boxerwood day camps to an afternoon session of Y Camp on the Washington and Lee campus. For more information about the camp shuttle, call YMCA director Suzanne Mayerchak at 464-9422. This is part of the June 2, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Teacher Urges Support off Boxerwood Campaign Editor, The News-Gazette:May 6, 2010: Experience in anything makes us comfortable with repeated experiences, for example, airplane traveling, driving in rush hour on roundabouts or speaking in front of a crowd. I never realized until recently, however, that an experience that I took for granted, that I thought was a human birthright, is in fact becoming rare enough to warrant concern. I am talking about the natural experiences of children playing outdoors. “What if ants come when I sit down?” “I wouldn’t climb a tree, I’d probably fall out and break something.” “I’m not sitting under a tree; I’d get covered with ticks.” “I am going inside when I get home.” These are but a few of the recent comments I have heard from fourth grade students this spring. They fill me with sadness. I worry that more than just experiencing the natural world as a child, a natural scientist, is at stake. As a teacher, I care about the development of students into active adult citizens of their community. As an ecologist, I understand that the community consists of all living organisms in an environment, not just the humans. How are my students going to be active members of a community that they are uncomfortable experiencing? Mounting evidence indicates that today’s youth are less and less engaged in outdoor activities and that this environmental dearth in their lives has implications for their social, mental and academic development (Louv, 2006, “Last Child in the Woods,” and Sobel, 2004, “Place-Based Education, Connecting Classrooms and Communities”). I would feel totally daunted by the task of providing enough outdoor experiences for my students if it weren’t for Boxerwood. For me, Boxerwood is more than a resource. Though if it were merely a resource, I would still place a high value on its programs. No, I really value Boxerwood and its staff of teachers and volunteers because they can help me as a teacher provide invaluable experiences for my students. With Boxerwood teachers, my students have sat — yes, they did sit down — on the banks of South River and written haikus. My students have rediscovered thousands- of-years-old arrow heads and imagined the Native Americans who once used this same river. My students have conducted chemical and biological monitoring of South River. They have a favorite macroinvertebrate and a memory of the importance of healthy water, not because I told them so in a classroom while looking at a picture of water, but because they experienced a river, their river. This is a very important experience to have when as adults they will be asked to take care of and protect South River. If you value children experiencing the outdoors, if you worry that such experiences are competing with an ever-growing pull toward computer screens, please join me in supporting Boxerwood’s Keep Boxerwood Blooming campaign in any way you are able. Let’s help our children bloom. LISA CONNORS, Lexington - This is part of the May 19, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Opportunities Available to Combat "Eco-phobia" Editor, The News-Gazette: Thank you for printing the letter last month by Jennifer Andrews about children and the environment. Ms. Andrews was concerned how the focus on bad news about the environment can lead to a sense helplessness and inaction. She is right to be concerned: studies have shown that too much bad news at an early age backfires — children feel guilty and depressed and simply shut down. The antidote to eco-phobia (a real term) is simple and effective. It is connecting young children with their own local environment and giving them opportunities to engage in its care. How many readers are aware that Rockbridge is actually at the vanguard of this national educational movement? This year alone, almost 2,000 local children under age 12 are engaged in outdoor programming that 1) connects them to places they love, 2) builds skills in eco-literacy, and 3) empowers them as active earth citizens. This programming is provided by Boxerwood Nature Center in partnership with all three local school divisions and other allied groups such as Natural Bridge Soil and Water District and Washington and Lee University. These programs take place on the grounds of Boxerwood Nature Center during the school day, alongside creeks and rivers throughout our beautiful county, and back in the schoolyards themselves. Yes, we introduce environmental concerns, but the focus is learning how to become problem- solvers. Again and again, we have seen how this approach empowers children and encourages even the most discouraged learner. We have also benefited from the actual work these young citizens are doing. Here is a sampler of some of the stewardship activities pursued by children ages 8-12 this year: monitoring water quality at multiple stream sites across the county (758 children), restoring habitat on school grounds (150 children), raising trout (an entire school), monitoring air quality at a local school (25 students), contributing data for an international study on climate change (75 students), creating public education materials about water conservation (125 students), addressing soil erosion in a schoolyard (25 students), trash pick-ups in schoolyards (50 students), and of course recycling (all schools). I used to count myself as among those people overwhelmed by environmental problems. The problems are still with us, but I am incredibly encouraged by the desire of young people to make a difference if given an opportunity. As one 8-year-old boy said to another after a successful group project addressing an erosion problem, “I’ve always wanted to be a hero!” ELISE SPRUNT SHEFFIELD, Director of Education, Boxerwood Nature Center This is part of the May 12, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
It's All About The Earth At Boxerwood: Second Annual Event Features Natural Art, Market, Music: Boxerwood Gardens will hold its second annual EarthArt Festival on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 9, from noon to 5 p.m. During the event, individual artists and artist teams will use natural materials to create site-specific artworks that draw their inspiration and form from the natural surroundings. Several of the projects invite community participation. This year’s festival will once again feature an EarthArtisan Market and auction, where festivalgoers can purchase and bid on items that have been hand-crafted by area artisans. The event will also include the Recycle Bus, providing cans in which mothers can pot a free Japanese maple seedling from gardener Karen Bailey’s nursery; SPCA pets available for adoption; and music by the Poison Bottom Boys. There will also be the ethereal sounds of flute by Elizabeth Daystar and dulcimer by Suzanne Friedrichs, the beat of drums by Lamine Sylla and Mirabai McLeod, and the footfall of improvisational dancers from Washington and Lee filtering through the woodlands. Families can bring their own picnics or purchase snacks from the Boxerwood Bakery and a Campus Kitchen lemonade stand. One of this year’s local participating artists is Michael Kopald, who will forgo his usual medium of Chinese brush painting to work with Boxerwood clay, producing what he playfully refers to as a “groundbreaking” work of art. Kopald plans to excavate a perfect pyramid in the ground, then reassemble the excavated material into bricks and create over the exposed void a step pyramid that over time and subject to the natural elements of wind and rain will eventually return whence it came. “A lot of sculptors believe that clay is the basic building block of life, so it seems very appropriate for an EarthArt project,” said Kopald. “The key to the success of the piece is not the concept or even the end result, but adherence to the intention and the step-by-step process of removing layers from the ground, doing something simple, that has depth and meaning, and being uplifted by the result.” Some Earth artists are working in collaboration and invite community participation. Mollie Messimer and Betty Besal have blazed an interactive Trail of Nests, along which “cowbirds” will be encouraged to explore and deposit some unusual eggs. Messimer, co-founder of the Boxerwood Education Association, and Besal, an arborist for the city of Lexington, were inspired by the many examples of these structures in nature. Messimer wants viewers to reflect on the “nesting instinct” that even humans possess. “Nests, whether made by birds, mammals, fish or reptiles, are uniquely designed to protect eggs and nurture young,” Messimer explained. “Yet a nest’s design is hard-wired into each animal. The animal is driven to create its own distinctive nest. You’ll always recognize the nest of a robin as being different from that of a hummingbird.” Adults and children attending the festival are invited to participate in several of the EarthArt projects. Claudia Cutler, a painter and teaching artist, will set up easels for those who want to try plein air — “in the open air” — painting. Yates Spencer and Devan Malore will provide natural objects and pigments that participants can use to create their own earth art, and raw materials will be available for those who want to design a oneof- a-kind bird house. Also participating in this year’s festival are students in Larry Stene’s site sculpture class and Kathleen Olsen’s landscape painting class at W&L and John Ronnenburg, a Dabney S. Lancaster Community College student who will create life-size, soil-filled figures out of plastic wrap and plant them. Vendors in the EarthArtisan market include potters Brian Lacy and Jan Jarrard; Erica Mitchell of Enchanted Elm Designs, recycled jewelry; Nest fiber art; SueNell Dillon, jewelry; Gina Carter of Ezra Creek, soy candles and soaps; Margaret Carroll of Nutmeg Glass, stained glass and art photography; Chris Skovira of Jackson River Gallery, slate frames; Preston Williams, Mill Hole Enterprises, copper and brass figurines; Penny Lane, fungal jewelry; Yates Spencer, metal garden sculpture; and Cynthia Atkins, wooden box and paper bag assemblages. In lieu of a fee for admission, festival-goers are encouraged to pay what they will, with all proceeds going to Keep Boxerwood Blooming, a campaign to raise funds so that the Boxerwood Education Association can continue its educational programming for local schools after the loss of a federal grant and other budget shortfalls. This is part of the May 5, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Boxerwood Offers Important Opportunities April 22, 2010; Editor, The News-Gazette: As the person who succeeded Frank Parsons as president of the Boxerwood Education Association’s board of trustees, I would like to reinforce some of his comments regarding the importance of Boxerwood to our community. In particular, I will focus on its importance to our schools. I am aware of Boxerwood’s importance as a result of my many interactions with principals, teachers and students in my capacity as a central office administrator for many years. Even before serving on the Boxerwood board, I was struck with the almost reverent tone teachers and principals used in discussing the experiences that students of all abilities and interests had at Boxerwood. I think it is highly important to note that their experiences are ones that will have a life-long impact on our students as the individuals who will be responsible for making important decisions about the environment. Anyone reading your paper over the past few months knows very well that the financial downturn has had a particularly devastating impact on our schools. Thus, this is an especially important time to spend dwindling educational dollars wisely. As an organization able to provide students with important, indelible, hands-on experiences at a low cost, Boxerwood’s importance to our community has never been greater. As one who has seen the impact that Boxerwood has had in our schools, I certainly would echo Frank Parsons’ comment that every person should take great pride in Boxerwood. Unfortunately, to make it possible for Boxerwood to continue to provide quality programs, it needs that pride to translate into financial support. To Keep Boxerwood Blooming, please consider several options, the first of which is to visit Boxerwood yourself, especially during those times when students are there. See firsthand for yourself the excitement of the students and their teachers. Whether you’re able to follow this advice or not, please consider becoming a member. While the membership fee is nominal, it makes a statement that you support this valuable organization and want to keep abreast of its progress. If you’re able, consider becoming a contributor. In conclusion, as a public school teacher and administrator for 33 years, I never saw a facility that offered such a rich, important and effective program as Boxerwood’s. As a member of the Boxerwood board for six years, I saw first-hand the commitment and dedication of the Boxerwood staff. Now, I urge all members of our community to help Boxerwood continue its legacy as an invaluable resource for all of us. PAUL G. LEONHARD Rockbridge Baths --- This is part of the May 5, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
River Testers Report To Board alf a dozen fifth-graders reported on a water testing project that they carried out with Boxerwood Education Association staff earlier this year. The students were Hayden Bartley, Sydney Coffey, Kelsey Garrett, Quincy Nowlin, Hannah Pruett and Jace Wheeler. oxerwood, which had received a grant for the project, helped with expenses, including travel to the Maury River, whose waters were tested, as well as with instruction. The students were also addressed by Jenny Templeton of the Natural Bridge Soil and Water Conservation District. he students, who are in Andrea Lantz-Reamer’s class, told the School Board on April 22 that they had learned to identify macro invertebrates, or “critters,” in the river, and had concluded that the Maury is biologically healthy. They also learned about the geology of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Art and English were also part of the project, as the students made water color paintings of the river and wrote thank you letters to Boxerwood staff. This is part of the April 28, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
It’s Our Turn To Help Boxerwood (lead editorial) Boxerwood Gardens has been a good neighbor for our community. This horticultural treasure just outside Lexington is the setting for unique, high quality, hands-on instruction about nature for students and their teachers from all three Rockbridge area school systems. For more than 10 years, Boxerwood has provided nature education lessons for our youth. During the current school year, more than 2,000 children in more than 100 classrooms from all 12 schools in Rockbridge County, Buena Vista and Lexington will participate in this nature-based programming. The lessons support the Virginia Standards of Learning, ensuring that each local student has a watershed experience before graduating from high school. Educators laud the lessons, saying they’ve helped raise students’ test scores in science and enhance their appreciation of nature. Boxerwood also holds festivals like Earth-Art and provides the public with free access to its children’s Play Trail. Boxerwood, like other area organizations, has become a real gem that we’ve taken for granted would always be there, and most of us probably haven’t even considered where it gets its funding. Well, we’ve all just gotten a wake-up call. Boxerwood recently learned that a pending three-year proposal for funding from the U.S. National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration hadn’t been accepted because of economic constraints. Not having this funding from NOAA, which has had a longstanding relationship with the nature center, means Boxerwood will have to seek financial help from other sources or drastically cut back its educational services. Boxerwood doesn’t have an endowment, so its educational programming has been supported through donations, memberships, program fees and competitively awarded grants. The partnership with NOAA has provided thousands of dollars each year in transportation and program fee subsidies. It’s now time for the community to express its appreciation for Boxerwood by responding generously to the Keep Boxerwood Blooming campaign, the organization’s first fundraising drive. With the fiscal challenge ahead, Boxerwood is turning to its neighbors in the community. The shortterm goal is to raise $93,000 by this September. The hope is that an additional $157,000 will be raised by April of 2011 in the form of multi-year pledges from a variety of sources, especially within the community, in order to reduce its dependence on federal grant funding. Boxerwood will also be seeking out civic organizations to “adopt” specific classrooms or grade-level programs. These organizations would, in turn, receive letters from students offering details about their educational experiences. The nature center is also looking to increase its individual memberships and the contributions they provide. Those who wish to support the Keep Boxerwood Blooming campaign by making a donation, arranging a benefit event or volunteering, can contact Tony Russell, executive director of the Boxerwood Education Association, by phone at 463-2697 or E-mail at tony@boxerwood.org. It’s appropriate that the community show its gratitude for Boxerwood’s many contributions to the education of our young people. Let’s be good neighbors by helping the nature center plant deeper roots so it can blossom for future generations. This is part of the March 31, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette (Lead Editorial)
Boxerwood Fund Drive Launched After Loss Of NOAA Funds oxerwood Gardens is launching its first fundraising campaign, Keep Boxerwood Blooming, with the short-term goal of raising $93,000 by September of this year. The funds are needed for Boxerwood to continue its educational programming uninterrupted after the loss of a federal grant and other budget shortfalls. The campaign will seek to raise a further $157,000 by April 2011 in the form of multiyear pledges so as to reduce Boxerwood’s dependence on federal grant funding and enhance its long-term sustainability. Recently, Boxerwood learned from the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration, with whom it has had a long relationship, that a pending three-year proposal for funding was declined because of economic pressures. While Boxerwood has sufficient funding for the rest of this school year, next year looks bleak, said Elise Sheffield, Boxerwood director of education. “The loss of this funding is very significant to Boxerwood, and unless we recoup these funds via alternate sources, our programming will be seriously impacted,” she said. “Funding from NOAA had enabled our cash-strapped schools to continue our partnership by providing thousands of dollars each year in transportation and program fee subsidies. Without these subsidies, kids will not be having hands-on experiences in nature as part of their school curriculum.” Sheffield noted that many in the community have assumed Boxerwood funds its operations through an endowment, but this is not so. “We don’t have any debt except for a small mortgage, but we don’t have an endowment either – we work lean,” she said. “Every year we earn our keep through donations, memberships, program fees and those competitively awarded grants,” she continued. “Frankly, after 10 years of building our organization, it’s time to focus on putting down deeper support ‘roots’ in our local community.” Boxerwood’s services over the past 10 years have included offering a horticultural center, a site for thought provoking-community festivals such as EarthArt, free access to the avante garde Play Trail, and school programs, including Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences. This program supports the Virginia Standards of Learning and ensures that each local student has a watershed experience before graduating from high school. This school year, more than 2,000 children from more than 100 classrooms in the Rockbridge area will participate in nature programming at Boxerwood, which represents 50 percent of local children in kindergartn through second grade and almost all the children in grades 3-6. Cindy Crance, Rockbridge County schools director of instruction, credited her division’s relationship with Boxerwood for the high SOL scores the children achieved in math and science. Marilyn Elder, the science and math specialist for the Virginia Department of Education, said, “Boxerwood has raised the bar in watershed education in Virginia.”“Boxerwood has historically brought into our community thousands of dollars annually in the form of federal grants,” said Tony Russell, executive director of the Boxerwood Education Association. “Last year the value to our local schools was around $220,000, of which $75,000 was provided as direct support in the form of equipment, project stipends, substitute teachers and professional development for teachers. Most of the educational programming we have provided to local schools has been at little or no cost to them. “We are fortunate to have sufficient funding for the remainder of this school year,” Russell continued, “and, as such, time to seek alternate sources of funding for the upcoming school year.” One important aspect of the Keep Boxerwood Blooming campaign, said Sheffield, is a new initiative for sponsoring school visits to Boxerwood. In this partnership model, Boxerwood is actively seeking civic groups and organizations willing to “adopt” specific classrooms or gradelevel programs. “It’s a three-way partnership,” explained Sheffield. “Boxerwood will provide instructional staff and programs, schools will contribute a modest amount per visit as in the past, and the partners will cover the subsidy formerly met by external grants.” Sheffield noted that the necessary support would be between $500 and $1,500 per year, depending on the number of classrooms supported by the organization. This figure also includes support for bus transportation to help the financially strapped school systems. “We are also looking to our membership,” added Russell. “If every member donated just $25 more, that would provide about $10,000 of the $93,000 we are seeking. If each member recruited a friend to become a member of Boxerwood, we would be well on our way to a more self-sustaining future. We also have a wonderful facility that folks can rent for private parties and business functions.” Despite the challenges ahead, both Russell and Sheffield remain upbeat about Boxerwood’s prospects. “Boxerwood has been so pleased to provide environmental education services on behalf of our local community for these past 10 years,” said Russell. “We know from kids and adults that this place means a lot to a lot of people. The silver lining is this will be a great way for our supporters to let us know they care. Increased community support, in turn, is attractive to grantors who see real community buy-in. With help from our friends, Boxerwood can keep thriving as a vital part of this great community.” To make a donation, arrange a fundraising event or help reduce expenses by volunteering, contact Tony Russell at 463-2697 or tony@boxerwood.org. This is part of the March 31, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette
Boxerwood Seeking Artists For Next EarthArt Challenge Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Garden is accepting proposals from Rockbridge area artists to participate in the 2010 EarthArt Challenge during Boxerwood’s second annual EarthArt Festival May 8-9. The intent of the festival is to bring nature and artists together in process-oriented collaborations. This year, in addition to professional artists, Boxerwood is also seeking five “family teams” to participate in the EarthArt Challenge. Last year's event attracted a viewing audience of some 700. Participants in this non-competitive event are challenged to create site-based artworks that either draw their inspiration and form from nature, or use raw natural materials as the primary medium. Working solo or in collaboration with other artists, they may produce “EarthArt” using traditional methods, such as painting or woodcarving, or they can explore alternative processes that may result in tangled assemblages, leafy sculptures and other more ephemeral works of art. Family teams may also consist of a single family or two or more families working in collaboration. Proposals are due Friday, March 26 and will be reviewed by April 2. Boxerwood will hold an orientation Tuesday, April 6, at which time artists and artist teams will select the garden sites for their installations. The proposal process is the same for family teams as for teams of professional artists. Artists will be responsible for supplying or gathering their own natural materials and bringing their own tools. Each artist group will receive an honorarium in appreciation of their spirit, skills, and creative effort. Family teams will receive a certificate of appreciation. For additional information, call Tony Russell at Boxerwood at 463-2697. Proposal forms can be downloaded from the Boxerwood Web page at www.boxerwood.org. This is part of the March 3, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Students To Help At Boxerwood Forty students from the University of Minnesota will stop at Boxerwood Gardens during a bus trip from Minneapolis, Minn., to Washington, D.C. e students, part of a group called Students Today, Leaders Forever, will spend the night of March 16 at Grace Presbyterian Church and will arrive at Boxerwood at 8 a.m. March 17 to help out in the garden, the play trail and Munger Lodge. The students, on spring break, will engage in leadership through service by stopping at sites along their trip and working on similar projects. Anyone interested in volunteering at Boxerwood should call Sharon Schinstock, volunteer coordinator, at (520) 234- 7507 or 463-2697. This is part of the March 3, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Groundhog Pays Visit to Schools Rockbridge preschoolers are learning about hibernation first-hand from a drowsy groundhog who wakes up briefly from his long winter’s nap to visit them. Woodchuck Chuck and his sidekick, Chatter the Squirrel, are hand puppets animated by Boxerwood naturalists as part of Boxerwood’s Winter Detectives outreach program. They’re trying to make the rounds – weather permitting- to 16 preschool classrooms in the Rockbridge area. Recently Chuck and Chatter (a.k.a. Hannah Klein and Jessica Sullivan) visited children at Noah’s Ark preschool and in Head Start classes at Enderly Heights Elementary. They were scheduled to be in Connie Huffman’s preschool classroom at Fairfield elementary on Groundhog Day this past Tuesday, but, appropriately, that turned out to be yet another snow day. Chuck explains to the children how he fattens up in fall and demonstrates how his heartbeat and breathing slow “way, way, way down” in late autumn. In this way, he burns up very little energy and is able to sleep through most of the winter, when food is scarce. The Fairfield children were scheduled to learn from Chuck that groundhogs wake up in the middle of their long winter’s nap not to look for their shadows and predict the weather, but to grab a quick snack. After two months in hibernation and two more to go, a groundhog can get pretty hungry! Winter Detectives is sponsored by the Dale Waller in Early Childhood in Nature Program at Boxerwood. Although their schedule is busy, Chuck and Chatter are willing to add a few more classes to their tour.For more information about Winter Detectives and Boxerwood’s other Early Education programs, visit the Boxerwood web page at www.boxerwood.org or contact Bonnie Bernstein at 463-2697 or bonnie@boxerwood.org. The Weekender, Lexington, VA February 6, 2010
Martha Woodroof To Lead Essay Workshop Martha Woodroof, writer, essayist and editor of “Civic Soapbox” on WMRA Public Radio, will lead a two-part workshop for adults, Creating the Personal Essay, Saturdays, Feb. 6 and 13, from 10 a.m. to noon at Boxerwood Gardens. [Because of the snow, the workshop has been rescheduled for February 13 and 20.] In the first session, participants will look at examples of some of Woodroof’s favorite essays, both traditional and written for radio. The group will discuss what makes them work and how writers use nonfiction techniques to find and form the story that is waiting to be told. In the second week, participants will read and discuss some of their own work, already in progress or completed in response to optional workshop assignments. Woodroof reports for Public Radio station WMRA and on assignment for the NPR Arts and Information Unit and NPR.org. She produces and edits the WMRA essay series “Civic Soapbox” and writes the WMRA blog at http://hopefulink. blogspot.com/, and her own essays have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune. The workshop is geared to adults. Registration will be $50 per participant on a first-come, first-served basis. There is a minimum of five and a maximum of 15 registrants. After overhead costs, proceeds will benefit Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Garden. For more information, contact Hunter Mohring at 463-2697 or hunter@boxerwood. org or visit www.boxerwood.org. This is part of the January 13, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Master Naturalist Chapter Forming A new Rockbridge Chapter of Master Naturalists will offer its first training course to certify Virginia Master Naturalists starting Feb. 24 at Boxerwood Nature Center. Those interested may attend a community information session on Wednesday, Jan. 20, from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Piovano Room of the Rockbridge Regional Library. “If you love this area, want to learn more about it and give back, this course is for you,” said Dawn Peck, a Lexington resident who recently completing training as a master naturalist with the Allegheny Highlands Chapter and is a volunteer interpreter at Douthat State Park. The course is open to all citizens regardless of educational background. Virginia Master Naturalists are volunteers who provide education, outreach and service dedicated to the beneficial management of natural resources and natural areas within their communities. The statewide program is sponsored jointly by five natural resource agencies. In November, a local steering committee spearheaded by Boxerwood received approval from VMN to form a Rockbridge chapter. The chapter is cosponsored by the Rockbridge Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Department of Forestry/Western Region. Serving on the steering committee are volunteers representing the Extension, the department, Rockbridge Area Conservation Council, Virginia Save Our Streams, Virginia Ornithological Society, Boxerwood Nature Center, Nature Camp and Washington and Lee University. VDOF forester Karen Stanley, the chapter’s adviser, explained why she has embraced the program. “The master naturalist program empowers citizens to take a direct role in local natural resource and conservation projects, while giving them a wealth of information for both their enjoyment and stewardship of their own land, whether it be a backyard, farm or forest. Working with landowners, I often see a disconnect between people and their natural environments, so I love to see any and all efforts for people to get hands-on in nature.” To be certified as a Virginia master naturalist, volunteers must complete a basic training course that includes a minimum of 40 hours of combined classroom and field experiences focused on the local natural environment. Within a year of graduating, master naturalists must also complete an additional eight hours of advanced training and a minimum of 40 hours of volunteer service for chapter-approved environmental projects.Through the Rockbridge Master Naturalists basic training course, participants will increase their general understanding of the natural world, become more knowledgeable about Virginia’s biogeography and the ecology of the Maury River watershed and learn naturalist skills that will enable them to be effective stewards of local lands and natural resources.Course instruction will be interactive, presented by local natural resource experts both in the classroom and the field. Examples of Rockbridge service projects might include participation in environmental education programs at Boxerwood or local schools, stewardship activities at local parks and preserves and citizen science projects such as stream monitoring and bird counts. Committee member Laura Henry-Stone, a doctoral fellow in environmental studies at W&L, is a relative newcomer to this area. “This is an excellent opportunity for me to get to know Rockbridge’s rich natural areas and abundant seasonal diversity. My particular interest is in sustainability education, so I’m excited to be involved in a program that will provide a way for local citizens to educate themselves and contribute to sustaining the land, water and wildlife in our rural area.” The Rockbridge chapter’s basic training course will continue through mid-October with vacation breaks, meeting most Wednesdays at Boxerwood from 5:30 to 8 p.m., with supper included, and on occasional Saturdays for field studies. The course includes 13 evening sessions organized seasonally around such topics as Virginia geology, aquatic ecosystems of South River, Rockbridge birds and wildflowers and forest ecology along the Blue Ridge. During June-August, classes will be suspended, but trainees can take advantage of optional field trips and volunteer opportunities until sessions resume in September. “We’re delighted to have our nature center serve as home-base for this new community program,” said Elise Sheffield, director of education at Boxerwood. “Our goals are very similar — to foster stewardship of our local environment through education and service. Lots of folks here love living in Rockbridge. This program enables us to learn more about where we live and how to care for it. It’s a great way to get involved and will certainly help connect those who love this place with organizations working to ensure its well-being.” Enrollment in the master naturalist course is limited to 20 participants, with applications accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. An application fee of $125 will cover course materials. Financial assistance is available if needed and requested. Enrollment forms will be distributed at the information session Jan. 20. They are also available at the Rockbridge Extension office, Boxerwood and online at www.virginiamasternaturalist.org/ rockbridge. For more information, contact Stanley at 463-5253 or karen.stanley@dof.virginia.gov.. This is part of the January 6, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.
Boxerwood Granted Tax-exempt Status The Boxerwood Education Association was granted taxexempt status for its nature preserve property by the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors at its Dec. 14 meeting. n ordinance adopted by the supervisors states that the taxexempt status is conditioned upon “continuing cooperation with the Rockbridge County school system and educational programming at Boxerwood that meets the standards of learning requirements, or other mandatory educational requirements, of the county public schools.” his provision was added by County Attorney Vickie Huffman, at the request by the supervisors, to ensure that a high standard would have to be met by any similar organization that requests tax-exempt status in the future. The ordinance was adopted 4-1, with Hunter Riegel dissenting. Riegel had pushed for even tighter language specifying Boxerwood’s unique situation. ith the exemption, Boxerwood will no longer be liable for a $1,991.84 tax bill on its 6.276-acre parcel, or $191.75 on a portion of a 1.794-acre parcel. The inhabitants of a nonqualifying residence on the smaller parcel will continue paying a $345.74 tax bill... This is part of the January 6, 2010 online edition of The News-Gazette.