Friday, October 29, 2010

Keep Visiting!


Pine Hollow is looking particularly beautiful these days - we are having a lovely fall this year. As we make the transition from fall in to winter we hope folks from Bethlehem and the greater Capital Region community continue to come on by to observe and enjoy the daily changes. PHA weekend Open Houses have concluded for this calendar year but anyone wishing to visit during the week or on weekends should contact the Arboretum by phone or email to arrange a time and date.

Visitor From Cornell


A few weeks ago, Nina Bassuk stopped by to visit with PHA Founder Dr. John Abbuhl. Dr. Bassuk is a Professor of Urban Horticulture in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York and Director of the Urban Horticulture Institute there. Dr. Bassuk is a world-renowned figure, and has led ground-breaking research in many areas of interest to the greater Pine Hollow Arboretum community. During a several hour tour Dr. Bassuk remarked that some trees at the Arboretum she had only read about or seen in pictures! She also indicated that she wished Slingerlands were closer to Cornell because she would use the arboretum as a lab for students. We hope to develop a closer relationship with Cornell, along with other schools in upstate NY whose students might be interested in our unique forest resource. Many thanks to PHA Board Member Chuck Smith for setting up this visit.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

BETHLEHEM SCIENCE TEACHERS VISIT


On October 12th Board Member and Bethlehem School District Science Education Coordinator Mike Klugman hosted a gathering of BCHS middle and high school teachers at the arboretum. About 20 "GREEN TEAM" people were in attendance. As a result of the visit Mike and Pine Hollow have received numerous emails from teachers, and others, suggesting ways the Arboretum and its facilities might be used to engage and educate students at all grade levels. While the Life Sciences might be the most obvious area to design and deliver curriculum material there are obvious connections to art, language and even various forms of media studies. Pine Hollow would also like to develop an easy to use curriculum that can be used by a lay person to lead a tour of the arboretum with children. Mike has already brought a few students to do geomapping at the arboretum and plans on expanding efforts in this area. We encourage any interested educators in the area, at any level of study, to take advantage of our unique forest resource. Please phone or email us! Phone:518-439-6472 and E-mail: pinehollowarb@aol.com