Summer camps at Latta Plantation

Historic Latta Plantation near Mountain Island Lake

Programs at historic plantation let kids explore Civil War, Revolutionary War and early plantation life

June 1, 2012 – Historic Latta Plantation on Mountain Island Lake is offering several summer camps for youngsters through teenagers who like history, farms and life before electricity. Latta Plantation is a restored Southern farm within Latta Plantation Nature Preserve. The plantation address is 5225 Sample Road, Huntersville. Just take the park’s main road to the farm.

CLICK to learn more about the camps and to register, or contact Matthew Waisner at 704-875-2312.

Farm Camp

• June 18-22, July 16-20 and Aug 13-17
• 9 am-4 pm $200

This is an intense, extremely hands-on training course in all things 'farming' for ages 12-17. The course will include animal husbandry, historic natural farming techniques, woodworking, and much, much more! Participants should be prepared for labor intensive work and training. This camp is designed for those with a serious interest in learning about farming, animals, and agriculture, as well as those who have a future interest in veterinary medicine.

Junior Farm camp

• For ages 6-8
• July 30-aug 2, 9 am – 1 pm $100

This camp is for boys and girls ages 6-8. If your child likes the outdoors and animals, they will love this experience! In addition to getting up close with a variety of farm animals, campers will learn and participate in farm chores, animal care, natural plants and medicines, and much more!

Revolutionary War Soldier camp

• 9 am-3 pm July 23-26
• $170 – choose British or Patriot

Boys and girls ages 8-12 can relive the American Revolution as a Patriot or Loyalist, during a fun filled week of drills, battles, learning about soldier life, and much more!

Civil War Soldier Camp

• For ages 8-12
• 9 am-3 pm June 25-28, July 9-12 and Aug. 6-9; $175, Union or Confederate

Boys and girls ages 8-12 are mustered into the Union and Confederate armies to experience life as a Civil War soldier! Relive the war through a week of drills, battles, hikes, farm programs, and 19th century life. Campers receive several items to keep that they will use during the camp week, including a replica musket, kepi, haversack, t-shirt, and more. The camp week will end with a major battle engagement that families can watch and a formal graduation ceremony.

53^rd Call to Arms Camp

• For ages 13-14
• 9 am-3 pm June 18-21 $175

Advanced Civil War Camp for 13-14 year olds that have graduated out of the Civil War Soldier Camp. Experience strategic battle planning, tacticals in the woods, fire starting with flint and steel, campfire cooking, and much more!

Miss Jane’s Academy

• For girls ages 8-12
• 9 am-3 pm June 25-28, July 9-12 $175

This Civil War camp takes girls ages 8-12 back in time to see what life was like for women in the 19th century. Hands-on activities include spying, making fans, sewing, open-hearth cooking, and English Country Dancing to name a few. The girls will have a great time taking a horse drawn covered wagon ride through the nature preserve. Each girl will receive an apron, bonnet, and t-shirt to keep.

Help Lake Wylie have a July 4 blast

Annual fireworks program seeks donations for big lakeside display

June 1, 2012 – Fireworks displays are among the most “democratic” events you can imagine. Everyone within miles gets to see and hear them.

The annual July 4 display by the Lake Wylie community is also democratic in how it is funded – quietly by individuals, groups and businesses that like to help celebrate our nation’s birthday.

The show’s organizers invite you to be part of that latter group this year.

Catawba RiverViews recently received this request from Biff Virkler, a member of the Lake Wylie Marine Commission who also is chair of the Lake Wylie Fireworks Committee.

Dear Rich,

Please help us raise the money required for the Lake Wylie Community 4th of July Fireworks display.  We raise $25,000 each year for this great display that is totally funded by individuals and business in the Lake Wylie Community.  The fireworks display starts at dusk, around 9 PM, and is professionally staged off the property of Camp Thunderbird.  This is an annual tradition on Lake Wylie that has thrilled families for generations.  No public money is used for this celebration.  All donations are from people who love Lake Wylie and this annual celebration of our nations Independence.

Please put this on your calendar and help us raise donations.

Best regards,

Howard "Biff" Virkler

Lake Wylie Fireworks Committee Chairman

How to donate

If you’d like to help with the fireworks display, here’s how to contact Biff. EMAIL Biff or call him weekdays at 704-587-3934. Or mail donations (payable to Camp Thunderbird Fireworks Fund) to: Camp Thunderbird Fireworks Fund, One Thunderbird Lane, Lake Wylie, SC 2971

See the big show on July 4

The annual Lake Wylie fireworks show will take place shortly after dusk on July 4 from the shoreline of Camp Thunderbird, just south of the Buster Boyd Bridge (NC 49). MAP

Best Viewing: The Buster Boyd Bridge Boat Landing, T-Bones on the Lake outside deck, Rey Azteca deck at Lake Wylie Plaza Lake Wylie Italian and Pizza on patio at Lake Wylie Plaza

Farmers markets and canning classes abound

Opening day 2012 in Cramerton - from Cramerton Facebook

Get your pick at three weekly markets, then learn how to preserve with help from these classes

June 1, 2012 – The Catawba River District is blessed this summer with three weekly farmers markets in the district or close by.

For those of us wanting to set by this bounty (or the bounty of our own gardens), we also have some upcoming classes on food preservation, such as hot-water and pressure-cooker canning.

We even can get a sneak look at what the local food vendors will bring to market in the coming week, thanks to each market's Facebook page.

Here are the details.

Enjoy it fresh

Belmont Farmers Market – 6:30-9:30 Fridays through autumn in the empty lot in downtown Belmont. Get details on FACEBOOK. You can EMAIL market manager Kevin Cline or call him at 704-747-2323

Mount Holly Farmers Market – 8 am-noon Saturdays at 130 S. Main St. Get current details on FACEBOOK. You can EMAIL market manager Leigh Brinkley or call her weekdays at 704-372-8666

Cramerton Farmers Market – 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays at the Town Center 8^th, 9^th and Center streets. Get details on FACEBOOK. You can EMAIL market manager Cristy Busler or call her weekdays at 704-824-4337

Preserve more for later

The Gaston and Mecklenburg offices of the NC Cooperative Extension are offering classes in food preservation, both hands-on and on line.

The Gaston Extension offers classes in Gastonia at the Lucile Tatum Center, 959 Osceola St., and in Lincolnton at the James W. Warren Citizens Center, 115 W. Main St. Upcoming classes include the basics of pressure canning, the basics of canning (hot-water bath) and pickles.

CLICK to view the full schedule and get registration details. Contact for many of the Gaston classes is Linda Minges.  EMAIL Linda or call 704-922-2127 to learn more.

The Mecklenburg Extension is offering “The Summer Home Food Preservation Institute,” beginning with the on-line free course, Basics of Home Food Preservation on June 4 and concluding with Canning and Preserving the Harvest on July 22. Locations and costs vary by class.

CLICK for details and to register. Call 704-336-2082 for more details and to register by phone.

Help celebrate National Trails Workday

Crowders Mountain State Park in autumn is packed with hikers

Area parks will benefit from 2 weekend work programs and new grant for Thread Trail

May 31 – This Saturday, June 2, is National Trails Day. We have reason to celebrate and ways to show appreciation.

The reason to celebrate? The Carolina Thread Trail recently received at $52,600 grant from the Women’s Impact Fund to train volunteers on trail building and outreach. The Thread Trail's goal is to weave together our region with hundreds of miles of walkable, bikeable, roller-blade-able trails including a major river crossing within the Catawba River District. Parts of the trail system already existing including short trail at Mount Holly’s Tuckaseege Park. But more than 200 miles of future trails have yet to be built. This program is an exciting new way to get trails open at relatively low cost.

You can show your appreciation this Saturday, June 2, by taking part in trail maintenance programs at Latta Plantation Nature Preserve on Mountain Island Lake and Crowders Mountain State park – the Charlotte metro region’s only state park - in western Gaston County.

This is also an opportunity to enjoy some very special natural places. Latta Plantation Park is both the region’s largest nature preserve and the home to both the historic Latta Plantation and the Carolina Raptor Center. The Raptor Center helps restore injured birds of prey for release back into the wild. The center also cares long-term for birds whose injuries prevent them from being able to live on their own.

Crowders Mountain State Park includes both Crowders Mountain and Kings Pinnacle within its several thousand acres in western Gaston County.

You can show your appreciation this Saturday, June 2, by taking part in trail maintenance programs at Latta Plantation Nature Preserve on Mountain Island Lake and Crowders Mountain State park – the Charlotte metro region’s only state park - in western Gaston County. Crowders Mountain, at an elevation of 1,625 feet, is a registered natural heritage area that features sheer vertical cliffs ranging from 100 to 150 feet in height. The park also connects to Kings Mountain State Park and Kings Mountain National Military Park.

• Visit the Catawba RiverViews calendar to get details on trail maintenance.

• Not able to make the trail event? No problem. SUBSCRIBE to our e-newsletter to get reminders about upcoming events like this.

Schoolyard gardens seek a crop of volunteers - perhaps you?

Chris Hardin (blue shirt) discusses plans Tuesday for Whitewater Farms

Community meeting explains Whitewater Farms concept and need – people to tend gardens this summer

May 23, 2012 – The River District has spent months planting the seed for schoolyard gardens and community-supported agriculture. Children at Whitewater Academy recently began harvesting their first broccoli, cabbage and peas.

On Tuesday the garden organizers also had an important first harvest: a dozen survey forms and contact information from people interested in helping the gardens grow and thrive.

The names came from the first Whitewater Farms information meeting, held last night at Whitewater Middle School. Students there recently planted summer crops of tomatoes, peppers and squash and are tending the gardens daily now. But they leave in early June for summer vacation.

“We need people to sustain the gardens over the summer,” explained Jeffie Hardin of Rivendell Farms, who is overseeing the garden project with her husband, Chris. “Tomato plants will start to bear fruit in July. The kids won’t be here, but if we take care of the gardens they will have tomatoes and other produce ready to harvest when the kids come back in August.”

The River District hopes to gather dozens of volunteers in the next month to make that happen. Fifteen teachers have already volunteered to help.

Schoolyard gardens are just the start

Whitewater Middle students plant marigolds

The schoolyard gardens here and at four other River District schools are the first phase of a much larger River District effort to nurture locally grown food in our region.

Schools nationwide are finding that schoolyard gardens help even young children develop stronger math and science skills. “I have kids down in the dirt measuring how long an inch is,” Jeffie Hardin told the group.

Plus children are much more likely to eat fresh vegetables when they have helped grow them, she added: “If you get kids out there planting broccoli and picking bugs off the broccoli and picking the broccoli, you will see them eat the broccoli.”

The next phase of Whitewater Farms will create community gardens and a full working farm where adults can grow food for their families while learning how to develop their own gardens at home, Chris Hardin said. 
Whitewater Farms will use Rivendell Farms as its model, Chris Hardin said. People pay to receive fresh food from the farm but also spend time working in the gardens and tending chickens and cattle. The Whitewater Farms plots will go on land near the Whitewater schools, made available by ReVenturePark.

“My vision for Whitewater Farms is 50 to 100 raised beds, developed over several years, to build a real working farm that the community could benefit from,” Chris said.

Food hub will process locally grown food from many sources

The third phase calls for creating a food hub that can collect, process and sell food from many small farms in the area, including Whitewater Farms.

These ambitious goals will require financial support. Presbyterian Healthcare and Huber Technology, a clean-water company, are helping underwrite the schoolyard gardens. The River District is seeking additional corporate and foundation support.

But right now, the single biggest need is volunteers who’ll come to the gardens faithfully this summer to water, weed and harvest the first crops so our students can harvest them in August.

Stephanie Wade, principal of Whitewater Middle, hopes that the community will get behind the effort.

“The kids are so excited working as a team,” she said, “and so protective of their vegetables! I look forward to this growing and growing and growing.”

How you can help

• LEARN MORE: Visit catawbariverdistrict.org.

• VOLUNTEER: To learn how you can help our schoolyard gardens, EMAIL Edna Chirico or call 704-562-8847.

Deadline's Friday to join Catawba Canoe & Kayak-a-thon

Event features 7-mile "easy to moderate" morning paddle

June 2 paddle on Mt Island Lake raises money for conservation

One of the great canoe and kayak events on the Charlotte stretch of the Catawba takes place on June 2, and you have only until this Friday to register.

The  NC Wildlife Federation’s annual Catawba Canoe & Kayak-a-thon features a 7-mile “easy-to-moderate” morning paddle on Mountain Island Lake. These events draw dozens of paddlers and, more importantly, raise money for natural-resource conservation.

The minimum cost to take part is $50 per person and includes a T-shirt, lunch and special wildlife gift. You’re encouraged to get sponsors who will donate additional money on your behalf.

Several businesses have provided prizes and giveaways, including the grand prize: a Perception Sport Sound 9.5 Kayak, provided by the Great Oudoor Provision Co.

A certified biologist will also join the group to talk about local land protection, plants, animals, fish and birds – including osprey who nest along the lake.

Interested in taking part but don’t have a boat? A few may still be available to borrow. Contact Chris North, below, to find out.

Details:

• Time: 8:30 a.m.-noon June 2
• Location: Riverbend Steam Station (directions will be provided to people who register).
• Registration: CLICK to register and for more event details
• Questions? EMAIL Christopher North or call him at 704-332-5696.

Mecklenburg, Catawba lead NC recycling efforts

New state report finds Catawba County soars above rest of state in per-capita effort

Depending upon how you stack the numbers, both Mecklenburg and Catawba counties can claim they are tops among 100 NC counties in waste recycling.

Data released this week by the N.C. Department of Environment and natural Resources show that Mecklenburg County recycled nearly 90,000 tons of wastes in 2011, not including tires, yard waste and some specialty wastes.

That figure is 45 percent higher than total wastes recycling in the No. 2 largest county down east, Wake (home to Raleigh).

How does Catawba County come out on top, then? By counting the amount of recycled material per person. Sliced up that way, the trash count shows Catawba recycling more than one-third ton of waste per person – or more than triple Mecklenburg’s per-person total of 194 pounds. 

Recycling's up on several fronts

CLICK to view Mecklenburg guide

Regardless of which county you rank as No. 1, the good news, say state officials, is that recycling continues to rise across North Carolina despite the economic slowdown’s impact on demand for recycled materials.

“Plastic bottle recovery in particular has experienced significant growth since the state’s disposal ban became effective on Oct. 1, 2009, increasing 22 percent in FY 2009-10 and 23.4 percent in FY 2010-11,” the report said.

Curbside recycling programs grew for the third straight year, from 214 in 2009 to 283 last year.

Catawba County officials credit their recycling success on strong partnerships among various local governments and businesses. Catawba County also created the first curbside pickup program in the state.

The state report also praises the Catawba County Regional EcoComplex and Resource Recovery Facility, “an innovative and interactive network of companies and operations that tries to match waste streams with the need for materials in the manufacturing of new products and energy sources.” The on-site use of discarded materials in turn helps Catawba County achieve higher rates of recycling, the state report said.

Local efforts to reduce non-recyclable waste, too

ReVenture Park, in the Catawba River District, plans to help the region deal with non-recyclable wastes by turning them into energy.

The anchor project of ReVenture Park is a Waste To Energy facility that will take non-recyclable paper fiber and organic matter, shred it into fuel and heat it to produce a gas similar to natural gas. This gas is created through a gasification technology, not incineration. The gas is then used to create steam that powers a turbine to create electricity. This process exceeds the most stringent EPA air quality standards. The only byproduct, says ReVenture Park, is an inert ash that has beneficial uses.

 

Get all the stats

CLICK to read the report including county by county results.

CLICK for recycling tips.