The Wrack

History, pumpkins, and fiddles were the conceptual underpinnings for the first Punkinfiddle festival in 2003. Fiddle music remains a key part of the festival.

It is probably a rare coastal beachfront property owner who is not aware that beaches are dynamic systems that erode and accrete in response to storms, sediment supply, rising sea level, and the proximity of sea walls, jetties, and other forms of coastal "armor." Many beachfront owners are also aware that "natural" barrier beaches and their dune systems are able to persist in the face of sea level rise by transgressing, or migrating shoreward.

Some say it's a copper beech, but the family that planted it and watched it grow for decades called it a purple beech. Who's right?

Appearing as wide as it is tall, the Wells Reserve's copper beech tree is a dominant presence. As befits a tree with such stature, the Reserve's beech has an interesting cultural and natural history.

Anyone who has walked or brushed by Japanese barberry knows how vengeful its thorns can be.

This "History of the Project" was written around the time the Wells Reserve was dedicated in 1986. 

This wish goes back a ways. Laudholm Trust's first president requested it, and followed up once or twice in letters to members. The Trust deeply appreciates all of its many kind donors  some of whom have been very generous  but we have yet to receive a million dollars "in one clump" (as bookkeeper Karen might say).…