Volunteers Needed at Jamison's Mill

Friends of Philpott will host a volunteer workday on July 12th at Jamison's Mill Park in Henry, VA. The group will meet at 9 am.

Work will entail corridor clearing like blowing leaves, cutting saplings, moving fallen trees to make way for the Ditch Witch and then hand finishing work.

Please Wear: work boots, gloves, long pants, and helmet or hard hat (if you have one)

Tools needed include gas powered blowers and loppers. Bring a snack and water too please.

If a large number of volunteers signs up for this workday, Linda Drage will provide hot dogs and drinks for everyone. Please RSVP to Linda Drage at ldrage@comcast.net.

Volunteers Needed at Jamison's Mill

Friends of Philpott will host a volunteer workday on July 12th at Jamison's Mill Park in Henry, VA. The group will meet at 9 am.

Work will entail corridor clearing like blowing leaves, cutting saplings, moving fallen trees to make way for the Ditch Witch and then hand finishing work.

Please Wear: work boots, gloves, long pants, and helmet or hard hat (if you have one)

Tools needed include gas powered blowers and loppers. Bring a snack and water too please.

If a large number of volunteers signs up for this workday, Linda Drage will provide hot dogs and drinks for everyone. Please RSVP to Linda Drage at ldrage@comcast.net.

Bike Tour for Great Expectations

Help teenagers in the foster care system move from
the margins to the mainstream!

Join us in welcoming Dr. Glenn DuBois,
Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System,
when he stops at Patrick Henry COmmunity College

during his Great Expectations Summer Bike Tour.

Thursday, July 3, 2 p.m.
Walker Fine Arts/Student Center

Great Expectations is a new transitional
education program for foster care youth.
Learn more at http://www.greatexpectations.vccs.edu/

Bike Tour for Great Expectations

Help teenagers in the foster care system move from
the margins to the mainstream!

Join us in welcoming Dr. Glenn DuBois,
Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System,
when he stops at Patrick Henry COmmunity College

during his Great Expectations Summer Bike Tour.

Thursday, July 3, 2 p.m.
Walker Fine Arts/Student Center

Great Expectations is a new transitional
education program for foster care youth.
Learn more at http://www.greatexpectations.vccs.edu/

Geocache Fun

Nearly 30 eager treasure hunters of all ages gathered at the Richard P. Gravely, Jr. Nature Preserve in Ridgeway to participate in the Virginia Museum of Natural History's (VMNH) first Geocache Day. The program was led by Robin Jensen of VMNH, and designed to teach families how to enjoy this fun sport.

Geocaching is an international game played using a hand held Global Positioning System, more commonly known as a GPS. Cache seekers, can simply log onto the website www.geocaching.com to find a cache nearby and go treasure hunting. Over 600,000 caches can be found across the globe, and 1,600 of those are within 50 miles of Martinsville!

After the initial purchase of a GPS unit there is no other cost to participate in the game, which makes it a popular form of entertainment for families. The sport is also good for tourism, as it encorages travelers to visit smaller towns and lesser known communities.

The Calbanese Family has been Geocaching together for several years. Below they are shown reading their first clue of the day.


Others who had never Geocached before recieved instruction on how to operate the GPS unit from Robin Jensen.


I followed the father-son duo: Brad and Connor Kinkema of Henry County as they embarked on their first Geocaching adventure together. It took a little practice to learn how to operate the GPS, but soon they were on their way to the first cache! Connor found a tiny container called a mini-cache. Inside the small aluminum container was a tiny roll of paper listing all the names of people who have found this particular cache. Brad added their names to the list of successful cachers and Connor re-hid the cache making sure to put it back exactly the way he had found it.


For the next cache, Brad and Connor worked with fellow cacher, T Butler of Reidsville. After about 15 minutes of hiking through the beautiful woods of the nature preserve, the group found the next cache. This box was larger and contained an assortment of items including a ring, AAA decal, a key chain, small toys, and a note book. When a cache like this is found the cache seeker can take an item to keep, and leave another treat in the box for others to find. All the cache seekers learned that candy, food and fragrant items are not allowed in caches because it might attract animals and make them sick. Connor did not have a trinket to put in the cache this time, but said that he would visit again another day to make the trade. The cache seekers all signed their names in the note book and Connor hid the cache back in the secret home.


The last cache of the day was a Puzzle Cache and required a little more thinking. Brad, Connor, and other cachers explored the historic Burgess cemetery located on the property to find clues. After answering all the questions they found the last cache. Everyone had a great time exploring the nature preserve and learning the sport of Geocaching. According to Conner, his first Geocaching adventure "was a great experience"!

Geocaching tips:

• Read the section "Getting Started" on www.geocaching.com prior to going caching for the first time.
  
• When Geocaching, please respect the land and dispose of waste properly. Many seekers also participate in "Cache In- Trash Out": after finding your treasure, pick up any trash that you see on the way back.
• Never put food, candy, tobacco, or fragrant items in a cache.
  
• When hiding a cache, make sure to get permission from the land owner first.
• Always travel with a buddy!
  

Photos and Article by: Jennifer Doss

Geocache Fun

Nearly 30 eager treasure hunters of all ages gathered at the Richard P. Gravely, Jr. Nature Preserve in Ridgeway to participate in the Virginia Museum of Natural History's (VMNH) first Geocache Day. The program was led by Robin Jensen of VMNH, and designed to teach families how to enjoy this fun sport.

Geocaching is an international game played using a hand held Global Positioning System, more commonly known as a GPS. Cache seekers, can simply log onto the website www.geocaching.com to find a cache nearby and go treasure hunting. Over 600,000 caches can be found across the globe, and 1,600 of those are within 50 miles of Martinsville!

After the initial purchase of a GPS unit there is no other cost to participate in the game, which makes it a popular form of entertainment for families. The sport is also good for tourism, as it encorages travelers to visit smaller towns and lesser known communities.

The Calbanese Family has been Geocaching together for several years. Below they are shown reading their first clue of the day.


Others who had never Geocached before recieved instruction on how to operate the GPS unit from Robin Jensen.


I followed the father-son duo: Brad and Connor Kinkema of Henry County as they embarked on their first Geocaching adventure together. It took a little practice to learn how to operate the GPS, but soon they were on their way to the first cache! Connor found a tiny container called a mini-cache. Inside the small aluminum container was a tiny roll of paper listing all the names of people who have found this particular cache. Brad added their names to the list of successful cachers and Connor re-hid the cache making sure to put it back exactly the way he had found it.


For the next cache, Brad and Connor worked with fellow cacher, T Butler of Reidsville. After about 15 minutes of hiking through the beautiful woods of the nature preserve, the group found the next cache. This box was larger and contained an assortment of items including a ring, AAA decal, a key chain, small toys, and a note book. When a cache like this is found the cache seeker can take an item to keep, and leave another treat in the box for others to find. All the cache seekers learned that candy, food and fragrant items are not allowed in caches because it might attract animals and make them sick. Connor did not have a trinket to put in the cache this time, but said that he would visit again another day to make the trade. The cache seekers all signed their names in the note book and Connor hid the cache back in the secret home.


The last cache of the day was a Puzzle Cache and required a little more thinking. Brad, Connor, and other cachers explored the historic Burgess cemetery located on the property to find clues. After answering all the questions they found the last cache. Everyone had a great time exploring the nature preserve and learning the sport of Geocaching. According to Conner, his first Geocaching adventure "was a great experience"!

Geocaching tips:

• Read the section "Getting Started" on www.geocaching.com prior to going caching for the first time.
  
• When Geocaching, please respect the land and dispose of waste properly. Many seekers also participate in "Cache In- Trash Out": after finding your treasure, pick up any trash that you see on the way back.
• Never put food, candy, tobacco, or fragrant items in a cache.
  
• When hiding a cache, make sure to get permission from the land owner first.
• Always travel with a buddy!
  

Photos and Article by: Jennifer Doss

Spend the Holiday with DRBA!

DRBA JULY FIRST SATURDAY OUTING FLOATS MAYO RIVER

Want to spend your holiday close to home, in a beautiful setting with congenial folks?
Come to the Mayo River in Rockingham County, NC for the Dan River Basin Association’s First Saturday Outing on July 5. Meeting at 10:00 a. m. at a private put-in downstream from Anglin Mill Bridge, the group will float nine and a half miles to US 220 Business Access, near the towns of Stoneville and Mayodan.
Trip coordinators are T and Lindley Butler, among the founding members of the Association. T Butler recalls that the Mayo River was the first river she ever floated, and she has been canoeing ever since. She considers it an excellent place for “first-timers,” a fairly easy section of mostly Class 1 rapids suitable for a family outing. “The Mayo River is one of the region’s great treasures,” adds Lindley Butler, who helped secure the Mayo River State Park designation. “The unspoiled beauty of the river, with forested banks, wildlife, birds, and few signs of civilization make it a perfect get-away within easy reach of Piedmont North Carolina and Virginia.” Participants will pass through portions of the Mayo River State Park, navigating through several 1000-year-old fish weirs created in the river by Native Americans and used by early settlers. “The vee-shaped stone fish weirs concentrated migrating fish at the point of the vee, where they were collected in nets or baskets,” says North Carolina historian Lindley Butler, who has studied the history of the region. Great spawning runs came from the Atlantic, up the Roanoke and Dan, into the Mayo River and its tributaries, where the fish laid their eggs and headed back downstream. For centuries, until dams stopped the fish migrations, people who lived near the river made huge catches that fed their communities or provided a living. Nowadays, the fish weirs provide routes through shallow water, enhancing the interest of the float.

Participants in the outing are asked to bring boat, life jacket, lunch and water, to dress in layers of artificial (quick-drying) fabric and to sign a waiver.

To reach the put-in, from US 220 north of Stoneville, exit onto Smith Road (SR 1360) and turn west. Go four miles to a T-intersection with Anglin Mill Road (SR 1358). Turn left on Anglin Mill Road and travel about a half-mile to within less than a mile of the Anglin Mill Bridge over the Mayo. Turn left onto unpaved Old Anglin Mill Road (SR 1385). Go one-half mile to a T-intersection with Mayo Beach Road (SR 1359). Turn left, and travel one mile to the south end of the road.

Outings and meetings of the Dan River Basin Association are open to the public without charge.
For more information, contact T Butler, members@danriver.org or 336-349-5727.
For membership information, visit http://www.danriver.org/.