The Bent of the River recently received generous support from local business owner George Stone of Stone Construction and GE to build a rain garden in the Center’s North Parking lot. The Bent of the River’s entrance parking lot suffers yearly in the muddy, rainy spring season. Each year the unpaved entrance area becomes a very sludgy, difficult to negotiate quagmire. With the help of our generous donors this problem is being solved through the careful design and implementation of our new rain garden.

The central planting island is a layer cake of stone, gravel, sand and topsoil carefully designed and constructed to allow water to seep in from the sides and down through the bottom to drain the parking lot in the wettest seasons. Native plants for the garden have been carefully chosen by the folks at Earthtones in Woodbury, CT.  Planting will be done this fall and by springtime there will be an intact parking lot and a blooming garden!

Over 55 volunteers from GE turned off their computers and cell phones for a day to help the Bent of the River with several projects, including: building a deer proof fence around the new native plant nursery; repairing the hand rails on the Birding Balcony; installing rain bars along the Old Orchard and Tulip Tree trails; and removal of invasive plants along our steepest trails. GE’s continued support of the Bent of the River is gratefully appreciated, as it allows are staff to concentrate on the habitat improvement projects and other projects that further our mission.

Junior Girl Scout Troop 61173 from Pomperaug Elementary School in Southbury recently installed their beautiful Peace Pole in the North/Entrance parking lot area at Bent of the River for all to enjoy. The Peace Pole was their project to achieve the Bronze Award, which is the highest award a Junior Girl Scout can achieve.

A Peace Pole is an internationally recognized symbol of Peace on Earth. The Peace Pole is one of over 200,000 across the world each carrying the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth.” The concept of a Peace Pole originated in Japan in1955 when Masahsa Goi dedicated his life to spread the message of peace around the world in response to the bombings of Hiroshima.

Hosting a Girl Scout project is a true reflection of our donor, Althea Clark, who frequently volunteered with the Girl Scouts in Southbury during her life here. Troop 61173’s ceremony of dedication here at the Bent of the River with a musical presentation by troop members was a very special event. On your next visit to the Bent, take just a moment and stop to appreciate their hard work and think of Peace.

Save the Dates:

Saturday, February 6, 2010
Bent of the River’s Chocolate Dinner
Westover School, Middlebury, CT
Come experience a complete dinner in chocolate sponsored by New Morning Natural and Organic! More information will be provided in the future.

Saturday, May 22, 2010
Bent of the River Festival
This year’s festival will include activities for all ages, a boxed picnic dinner and square dance in the Bent’s historic barn.  Visit our website for more details.

The Audubon Center at Bent of the River, lies on 660 acres in Southbury, Connecticut, near the historic village of South Britain. Visitors often call it one of the most beautiful places in Connecticut. It is both an inviting outdoor sanctuary where people can connect with nature on 15 miles of walking trails and an environmental education center where students, young and old, can find strong, enlightening programs.

The Bent of the River is an evolving nature center. Donated to Audubon in 1993 by Althea Ward Clark, the Bent was held as a limited access nature sanctuary through 2000. Since that time, Audubon has opened the gates daily from dawn to dusk and introduced many public and school programs, particularly for middle and high school students. The Bent is envisioned as a place for environmental education, research, advocacy, collaboration, and land conservation; as a laboratory and showplace for habitat preservation and restoration practices; and finally as a sanctuary for nature and people.