One month ago today, on October 7th, Wildlands Trust hosted our first ever OkTRAILberfest here at Davis-Douglas Farm in Plymouth. Over 200 people came out on a beautiful October afternoon to enjoy an abundance of trail activities, music, food, and beer, all to support the Youth Unplugged Initiative.
The earliest hikers arrived at 8:00 am that Saturday for the longest hike of the day: 9 miles from Myles Standish State Forest to Davis-Douglas Farm (DDF), led by John Bescherer and Bill Vickstrom of the Friends of Myles Standish. Around 9:00 am, the next group of hikers arrived, prepared for a trek that would start at Ellisville State Harbor and traverse hilly and difficult terrain for 6 miles before returning to DDF, led by Roger Janson and Betsy Hall. The largest hiking group of the day started at Redbrook for a 5-mile hike to DDF led by Malcolm MacGregor and Scott MacFaden of Wildlands Trust. Finally, around 11:30 am the last hikers of the morning embarked on a 4-mile journey from Old Sandwich Road to DDF, led by Frank Werny and Ann Prentice. Wildlands Trust arranged a shuttle to bring all of these hikers to their prospective trailheads so they could seamlessly hike back to their cars and the party.
6-mile hikers return to DDF from Ellisville State Harbor
In addition to the morning hikes, Stewardship Manager Erik Boyer organized a trail run with 3 and 6 mile options that began and ended at DDF. To win the Wildlands Trust swag bag, we challenged the runners to predict their time; the runner who came closest would win. In the end, it was a two-way tie and the prizes were split!
During the festivities, Naturalist Judy Macioci led a 2-mile family friendly hike in the afternoon to add to the fun. Families and friends hiked to the beech tree clearing at Emery Preserve and back, counting the dozens of mushrooms growing trailside along the way.
About half of those who came to OkTRAILberfest skipped the hiking and running and just came for the party. Everyone enjoyed the German buffet from Farms to Forks Catering, live authentic German music from the TubaFrau Hofbräu Band and later Americana music from the Butch McCarthy Bob Calderara Duo, libations from IndieFerm Brewing, a historic tour of DDF, a growler-hoisting competition, raffle prizes, and lawn games played throughout our 10-acre headquarters.
IndieFerm Beer was pouring all afternoon under the Beer Tent
With support from our sponsors and those who came out to celebrate, we were able to raise over $2,000 for Youth Unplugged. This money will support the Envirothon program at Brockton High School, the summer Green Team program, Boy and Girl Scout projects with Wildlands, and more!
Green Team members Roxie and Jill volunteering at OkTRAILberfest
We want to thank everyone who came out and made our inaugural event a smashing success! We’re already looking forward to doing it again next year!
A very special thanks to our sponsors – we could not have done it without you: Penobscot, Inc., The Pinehills, Solar Turf, Redbrook, Richmond’s Septic & Excavation, Mamma Mia’s, Anchor Press, Scorpio Craftsmen, Six Ponds, Woods Seafood, and Rockland Trust.
Over 200 people enjoyed OkTRAILberfest on Saturday, October 7, 2017