Outreach in the Community
Our educational programs, camps and scholarships aim to engage all ages in our local environment.
Calendar of Events
February
Who’s been in my backyard?
Highlights from this year’s tracking program with Erik Becker
February 24, 2024
March
Eunice Symonds Bushy Hill Camp Scholarship — Third and fourth grade students are encouraged to write a persuasive essay to win one- or two-week camp sessions at Bushy Hill Nature Camp.
Congratulations to this year’s Bushy Hill Day Camp scholarship winners!
Bushy Hill Day Camp is nature, education and exploration based. Campers participate in activities such as ropes course and team building games, tracking, plant and animal identification, fire building, and hiking.
April
Earth Day Event
HCH Library Community Room
Tap the link below to register!
Alice & David Crosby Environmental scholarship
This $1,000 scholarship is awarded to a graduating Clinton senior pursuing an environmental major in college. Download the application here.
Wishing Sophia Pacileo great success in her future endeavors!
CLCT is happy to announce that Sophia Pacileo was chosen as the 2023 recipient of the Alice and David Crosby Environmental Scholarship. Sophia is a Morgan graduate who will be attending Stonybrook University majoring in a combined degree of Biology and Environmental Science. She hopes to use the knowledge and skills gained from her studies to foster positive changes in the natural environment.
Friday, April 26th, 2024
Explore vernal pools after dark with flashlights, boots and nets! Watch firsthand as the tiny peeper frogs sing their spring courtship songs along with many other amphibians emerging from winter doldrums.
Highlights from last year’s Peeper Prowl below
May
Wild & Scenic Film Festival
SATURDAY MAY 4, 2024 Clinton Town Hall 54 E Main Street
We are very pleased to announce that the Clinton and Madison Land Trusts will again be hosting the Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour — a benefit for both Land Trusts.
10 FILMS • opening reception • Beer & Wine
Emcee: Bill Lucey, Soundkeeper, Save the Sound
May 22, 2024
Marine Science Day ——This is a full day of integrated learning for Clinton 4th graders at Clinton Town Beach. The students rotate through stations focusing on Math, Science, Engineering, Literacy and Conservation. The Clinton Land Trust (CLCT) station educates the students about the life cycle and history of osprey in the Hammock River.
June
Date TBD -National Trail Day-
Join us at Peter’s Memorial Woods for a hike through a CLCT favorite. We will meet in the parking lot off Valley Road.
Date TBD Ecology Camp — This is a camp for children ages 7–11. Campers explore many different habitats comparing and contrasting the animals and plants in fresh and saltwater. They discover animals in tidal pools, salt marshes, sandy beaches, woodland forests and vernal pools.
Story Hike (ongoing) – On Saturday, June 25th, 2022, volunteers installed a new Story Hike in Kenilworth Forest on the Burncoat trail, located at the Kenilworth cul de sac off Kings Grant Road. This free event is co-sponsored with the Henry Carter Hull Library and is open every day. The new story is A Nest is Noisy with beautiful illustrations by Sylvia Long. Be sure to scan the QR codes on the trail signs to get more info.
Highlights from Nature Painting Program with Cindy Stevens
The new story hike at the Elliot Preserve, behind the Clinton Town Hall has been installed! The book chosen, entitled If Bees Disappeared, by Artist and author Lily Williams explores how such a loss would effect not just bees’ environment, but the world as a whole. Building on that theme, Coralie Williams, Children’s Coordinator at the library and CLCT Board member, organized a program for 5-8th graders to walk the Preserve. The beautiful scenery observed on their walk at the preserve served as an inspiration for student artists to then paint their version of their experience with local artist Cindy Stevens at her downtown Art Studio.
2023 Summer Programs at HCH Library
All About Opossums and Backyard Wildlife
The Secret Lives of Owls
Reptile Show with Meigs Point Nature Center
Clinton Town Beach and Cedar Island Cleanup
On Sunday morning, October 1st, 2023, 56 volunteers took time from their weekend to help CLCT clean litter and debris from our town beach and Cedar Island. Overall, 385 lbs. of trash were removed (most of which was made up of plastics and cigarette butts). Plastic waste makes up 80% of all marine pollution and takes between 500-1000 years to degrade. The first step is to reduce our use and dependency on plastic whenever possible. Town beach and waterway cleanups are organized by Save the Sound who have coordinated the Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Cleanup in CT for over 20 years. The Ocean Conservancy compiles data collected from volunteers to help find solutions to the worldwide problem of litter pollution, poisoning oceans throughout the world.
*Special thanks to all the volunteers who assisted in this effort. CLCT truly appreciates your time and dedication to this worthy cause.
The above photographs are from our Beach Cleanup 2023.
Looper Moths and Hemlocks
These moths fly from mid-August to early October. The females lay their eggs on moss, lichen, or bark and the eggs don’t hatch until the following June. Pupation takes place in bark crevices or in masses of lichen or moss. The caterpillars eat the needles of Hemlock trees. — from “A View of Peters Woods” by Bert and Jinny Godwin
