The Friends of the Wapack invite you to join us at our Annual Meeting on Saturday, October 19th, 2024, at the Sharon Meeting House, Route 123 in Sharon, NH

Our guest speaker will be Swift Corwin, Consulting Forester, Calhoun and Swift Forestry LLC. His topic: “Revelations of stone walls in the vicinity of the Wapack Trail”

Swift moved to New Hampshire in the summer of 1982 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin forestry school.  He has lived in the Monadnock region the whole time he has been in New Hampshire.  All the while, he has worked for private landowners. He had little understanding of New Hampshire land use and the change that has gone on over the years. But over 43 years he has become fascinated by being out on the land and seeing the way the forest is, the layout of stone walls, roads and cellar holes. The intense use that happened once, and then stopped.

Given the opportunity to present to the Friends of Wapack, he will explore the great changes that have taken place about the people that used the land — The indigenous people who left barely a trace, the settlers who cleared the land and built the walls, the naturalists who learned to appreciate the land in its altered state, the recreationalists who built the Wapack Trail and the conservationists who have sought to protect the land.  Their attitudes are starkly different. He will talk about this through the lens of American history that we are familiar with.  Hopefully, bringing into focus our short time here and the incredible changes that have taken place over our history.

On display will be the guest books from the Wapack Lodge and photos from the early years of the trail.
We will end with sharing a delicious cake.

Agenda:

• 9:00 AM Hike (optional) Join us on a morning hike on the Wapack Trail on the Sharon Ledges
  Meet at 9:00 AM at the Sharon Meeting House. We will car-pool to the trail head from there.
  For details contact Mike Przybyla 603-878-3350 or email Mike at mikep218@comcast.net
• 12:00 Noon (optional) Informal “bring-your-own” lunch at Sharon Meeting House.
• 12:30 PM Gathering and sign-in.
• 1:00 PM Friends of the Wapack Annual Meeting and presentation by Swift Corwin