Adkins Arboretum is pleased to announce the release of the Rooted Wisdom Audio Essay, the latest addition to the Rooted Wisdom initiative. Recorded at the Arboretum and featuring filmmaker Mecca Lewis and historian Anthony Cohen, the production explores the Underground Railroad and reveals how sometimes what’s before us is the past.

Rooted Wisdom examines how self-liberators used their knowledge of the natural world as they forged a path to freedom on the Underground Railroad. It comprises a guided experience, the heart of which is a beautifully filmed and narrated documentary, Rooted Wisdom: Nature’s Role in the Underground Railroad, in which Cohen guides viewers through the Adkins Arboretum landscape and reveals freedom seekers’ methods for navigation, concealment, evasion and nourishment. The guided experience also includes a companion website, rootedwisdom.org, that presents the film in five chapters and invites a deeper understanding of the relationship between self-liberation and nature through detailed accounts, related historical sites and resources relating to the landscape both then and now. The film and virtual companion premiered in 2022.

In the new audio essay, Lewis and Cohen discuss the Underground Railroad, the unending process of pursuing and interpreting history and how a cultural knowledge of nature factored into the planning and process of self-liberation, all while walking the Arboretum grounds. The guided experience and audio essay are available at rootedwisdom.org. To ensure ongoing community engagement, the Arboretum has partnered with Beech Works, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to broadening public discourse and advancing public education on social issues through thought-provoking documentary and narrative films, to advance the rootedwisdom.org web presence, offer a 26-minute version of the film for community screenings and develop additional programming for audiences beyond the Arboretum. Additional resources at the Arboretum, including information about school field trips and docent-led guided walks, can be found at adkinsarboretum.org.

Mecca Lewis is a Baltimore-based documentary filmmaker and a lover of experiential research and play. Her works include Florence’s Flowers, an expeditious search for the echoes of once-resonant voices in the formerly vibrant radical abolitionist utopian society of Florence, Mass., and Perspectives from “Nowhere,” collage excerpts of visual and auditory landscapes of West Baltimore with community voices both past and present to detail the ongoing stories of history about the people of the Westside and the Highway to Nowhere.

Anthony Cohen is a historian, author and explorer of the American past. In 1996, he traveled 1,200 miles of Underground Railroad history from Maryland to Ohio, tracing the steps of freedom seekers along wilderness trails and waterways and stopping in towns along the way to chronicle their stories through artifacts, documents and oral accounts. He embarked on a second trip, from Alabama to Ontario, in 1998 and in 2015 followed the route of a great-great-granduncle who fled slavery in Savannah, Ga., in 1849 for freedom in Canada. He is founder and president of The Menare Foundation, Inc., a national nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the history of the Underground Railroad, and operates the Button Farm Living History Center, a 40-acre farm that depicts 1850s plantation life in Maryland. He has served as a consultant to the National Parks Conservation Association, Maryland Public Television and NASA, among others.

The audio essay is a co-production of Adkins Arboretum and Schoolhouse Farmhouse. It was written by Mecca Lewis, Lauren Giordano and George Burroughs and was produced, recorded, edited and mixed by Giordano and Burroughs. It is based on work made possible by a grant from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, funded by the 400 Years of African American History Commission, and was financed in part by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority.

 A full day of forest fun is planned for Adkins Arboretum’s inaugural Earth Day Adkins event, a celebration of Earth Day and Arbor Day, on Sat., April 22.

Participants can expect a bevy of Earth-friendly activities, including mixing up gooey seed balls, painting with natural dyes, drumming, stitching a tree tapestry and dip netting in the stream. A forest scavenger hunt, nature bingo, guided walks and citizen science demos will also be part of the fun.

The event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Legendary ecologist and conservationist Nick Carter will be dip netting on the wetland boardwalk between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and there will be a tree giveaway with a Department of Natural Resources forester, made possible through the Backyard Buffer program. Yoga instructor Suzann Zdnowski will lead a Yoga in the Woods class at 2:30 p.m. that is free with event admission.

Live entertainment includes music by Ampersand and hula hoop dancing by Baltimore performance artist Mina Bear. Food and drink will be available from local vendors: Ten Eyck and Bull & Goat breweries, Blue Monkey Street Tacos, Yo Java Bowl, Lucky Heart Bakery and Night Craft Bakery. Earth Day Adkins is a single-use plastic-free event; participants are invited to bring their own cup or water bottle.

Thanks to the generosity of the Arboretum’s sponsors, Earth Day Adkins admission is just $5 per person when purchased in advance at adkinsarboretum.org or by calling 410-634-2847, ext. 100. Children ages 3 and under are admitted free of charge. Only 400 admissions will be sold, so early registration is advised. Admission increases to $10 on the day of the event. Earth Day Adkins is sponsored in part by Babikow Greenhouses of Baltimore. For more details, visit adkinsarboretum.org.

From decadent chocolate-inspired cuisine and beautiful bouquets from our local florists to romantic winter walks and Valentine’s-themed art classes, here are a few ways to celebrate with your Valentine this February in Caroline County! This list is updated daily, so check back for more offerings!

• Indulge your senses at Chocolat, a decadent evening to benefit the Caroline Culinary Arts Center on February 10th featuring a chocolate-inspired menu, savory cuisine, cocktails, decadent desserts & more! Tickets are $70 per person and can be purchased online here by calling (410) 479-2144.
• Treat your sweetheart to a heart made of a dozen delicious tacos from Tenchi! The taco hearts are made of 12 double corn tortilla tacos in 4 styles – Authentic, American, Al Pastor and Street! Taco hearts are $40. Pre orders start on February 1st and pick ups start February 8th. Find out more at tenchifresh.com, on Facebook, or by calling (410) 482-4046.
• Tenchi is also offering a special Valentine’s Dinner for $55/person. The menu includes cream of crab soup, jumbo shrimp cocktail, caesar salad, filet mignon topped with chimichurri, chicken pesto penne pasta, Tenchi fajitas, chocolate covered strawberries, and fried ice cream. To make a reservation, please call (410) 482-4046.
• Caroline’s in Denton is offering a special Valentine’s Eve Dinner! This one-night-only event will also include a single’s table at the bar for their single foodie friends! The menu is $70 per person and includes Maine mussels, a charcuterie and local cheese board, steak tartare, lobster bisque, ham & clams linguine, Statler chicken, steak & shrimp, and a dessert course of chocolate fondue, rose-scented creme brulee, or Nancy’s famous cheesecake. Call Caroline’s at (410) 490-4495 for reservations!
• Earth Tones Cafe is offering a special dessert menu featuring chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate cupcakes with mocha buttercream, chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, and strawberry glazed sugar cookies topped with freeze dried strawberries. Orders must be placed before February 8th and can be picked up February 11th & 12th during normal business hours. To place your order, please call (443) 448-4355.

Flowers & Gifts for your Valentine

• Shop for a beautiful arrangement from our fabulous local florists, including Lucy’s Flowers or Tammie’s Country Florist in Federalsburg, Patti’s Petals Florist Garden and Gifts in Denton, the Greensboro Florist, or the Garden Basket in Preston.
• You’ll find artisan chocolates, caramels, Valentine’s cards, handcrafted conversation heart soap, local honey, Shore Sweet Treats Nuts, candies and much more at Shore Gourmet Denton Market!
• The Ridgely Pharmacy is stocked with wonderful Valentine’s gifts! From jewelry and Valentine’s-themed home decor and accessories to plush stuffed animals, there’s something for everyone! Find out more here.
• Give your Valentine a fragrant gift made from lavender at Smokey Cat Lavender Farm’s online store. From relaxing neck wraps and rejuvenating eye pillows to essential oils and lip balm, this Federalsburg farm has just what you need for your favorite lavender-lover. Visit the online store at www.smokeycatlavender.com.
• Denton Dollars eGift Card’s make a great gift! Your Valentine can use it at any participating Denton business. Learn more, view participating merchants, and purchase your eGift Card online here. 
• Looking for a unique gift for your Valentine? How about the 2023 Steam Engine Calendar – made right here in Caroline County! Calnedars are $12 each plus shipping. To place your order, visit vintagetractordigest.com/calendar.html or call (410) 673-2414.

February Fun for your Valentine

• UPDATE: SOLD OUT Come learn the art of charcuterie February 2nd! In this workshop, led by Sweet Bites Charcuterie at the Fretterd Community Center, participants will create a Valentine’s Day themed charcuterie board complete with meat, cheese, and desserts! All supplies are included. The cost is $55 for Caroline County residents, and $60 for non-residents. Register online here. 
• Enjoy a Paint Afternoon at Martinak State Park on January 29th –  just in time to make something special for your Valentine! Paint a lovely composition of miniature hearts on branches. The afternoon includes guided instruction, materials, and refreshments! All proceeds benefit scholarships for future teachers and the Friends of Martinak and Tuckahoe. Find out more here. 
• The practice of forest bathing encourages you to slow down, quiet your mind, and connect with nature.  Awaken your senses and deepen your relationship with the natural world at Valentine’s Forest Bathing at Adkins Arboretum on February 11th! Grab a partner, friend, or loved one and join certified forest guide Shelli Smith to experience the forest together and foster a connection with nature and each other. The walk will conclude with a tea ceremony. Find out more here.
• Take a winter walk in the woods and enjoy the natural beauty of Caroline County! Check out our list of trail maps here to find the perfect spot!
• Escort your princess to Caroline County Recreation & Park’s 17th Annual Daddy Daughter Dance on February 19th. Dad and his Little Princess will enjoy dancing, games, refreshments, and great music.  Registration deadline is February 10th.  Dance has limited number of spots, so sign those princesses up early! There are two times to choose from: 4:30 – 5:30 pm or 6 – 7 pm. Cost is $40 per couple and $10 for each additional young lady. Register online here.
• Join art teacher Megan Parker for a Wine & Paint night at the Foundry on Friday, February 10th from 5:30-7pm and celebrate your sweetheart! Bring your valentine along, go single and make a unique gift for your valentine this year, or bring your besties for a ladies or guys night out and just have fun! All materials will be provided. $40/1 ticket, $75/2 tickets. This event is limited to guests ages 21+. Learn more and sign up here. 
• The Caroline County Council of Arts invites you to celebrate Black history with a diverse offering of the arts on February 18th from 11am – 3pm, including readings of original published stories by Author Dawn Wayman, cultural collage-making by artist Yolanda Acree, delicious soul-food prepared by Chef Jameyra, and music by Teran Goldsborough. Fabric and textile works by Black Eastern Shore artists will be on display at FACES. This is a FREE event for all ages. Find out more here. 
• Head to the Goldsboro Volunteer Fire Company for Designer Purse Bingo on February 12th! Doors open at 11:30am and bingo starts at 1pm. There will be 20 regular games and 5 special games. The cost is $30 in advance or $35 at the door for the regular game packet. The special games will be $10 per packet or $2 a sheet. There will also be door prizes and 50/50. Proceeds benefit the Children Exploration Organization. For more information, please contact Angie Cowgill at (410) 829-6084.
• The Fiber Arts Center of the Eastern Shore (FACES) in Denton invites you to their latest exhibit: The Winter Coverlet Collection of Catherine K. Spence, on view through February 25th. Dated coverlets in the collection range from the late 1830’s to 1850’s. Come visit this beautiful textile display and be mesmerized by their beauty! The exhibit is free of charge, and FACES is open Wednesday – Saturday from 12pm – 4pm. Find out more at FiberArtsCenter.com.
• The Tom Cheezum Memorial Toy & Train Show on February 11th features Lionel, Plasticville, Ertl, Legos, action figures, farm toys and more!  Admission is $4 for adults, $3 for additional people in your group, and free for children under 12 with adults. Come enjoy the vendors, great food and train display at this great event at the Preston Firehouse! Find out more here.
• Cow Barn Events in Ridgely is partnering with On Cloud Cline and Jeffery Murphy Photography to host a Wedding Expo on February 25th from 12pm. – 3pm. Come check out this beautiful barn wedding venue and meet some of the Eastern Shore’s best vendors to make your day perfect! Learn more here. 

The golden brown feathers of a perky cedar waxwing glow from behind dark, lacy cedar needles dotted with tiny blue berries in an unusual show in the Adkins Arboretum Visitor’s Center. On view through Feb. 24, Land as Teacher, Healer, Sustainer is more than just a show of exquisitely crafted botanical art. It’s a celebration of the plants that sustained the native peoples of the Chesapeake region for centuries before the arrival of Europeans. There will be a reception to meet the artists and learn more about this project on Sat., Jan. 14 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Created by 11 members of the Botanical Art League of the Eastern Shore, this show was inspired by the Indigenous Peoples’ Perspective Project, a collaboration between Adkins Arboretum and the Washington College Food Initiative. Focusing on 21 native plants used for food, crafts and medicine by the indigenous peoples of the Chesapeake region, the project aims at honoring their traditions and teaching about how their lives were intricately tied to the land and the plants that grow there.

Some are still used for food, including the blackberries in Sharon Weaver’s energetic watercolor of berries in every stage from unripe green to pink to the dark purple of ready-to-eat fruit. You’d be correct if the peeling bark of a river birch tree, drawn in precise and nuanced shades of graphite by Robert G. Hammond, makes you think of birchbark canoes, but a look at the informative list provided in the gallery will tell you that river birches also provided sap that was boiled down to make a sweet syrup and medicine to treat colds and stomach pain.

The Arboretum began offering classes in botanical art in 2006, and this program has become increasingly popular. In 2021, to address this interest, instructors Lee D’Zmura and Anna Harding co-founded an independent group, the Botanical Art League of the Eastern Shore, for artists interested in studying and developing their skills in botanical art.

“Many of the members who came to our first meeting said they were looking for inspiration and encouragement,” said Harding, the show’s organizer. “It seemed to me that a group project on an important theme might inspire people in their work, and I thought of the Indigenous Peoples’ Perspective Project.”

Harding proposed a show featuring the IPPP’s 21 plants, all of which grow at the Arboretum and on Washington College’s campus. Using detailed descriptions of the attributes and traditional uses of these plants listed on the IPPP’s webpage, members of the League began studying them and walking the Arboretum trails to observe them growing throughout the seasons

Each artist chose one or more species to draw or paint, often with an eye to catching the plants at crucial stages of their annual cycles. In Sarane McHugh’s pastel drawing, a trio of ripe persimmons seems ready to burst with sweet, succulent juice, while Robin Herman’s colored pencil drawing captures the rich shades of deep red, earthy green and brown of a white oak’s autumn leaves.

Martha Pileggi followed milkweed through the seasons in her pair of watercolor and colored pencil works that reveal tiny details of the plant’s purple-pink blossoms from buds to mature flowers and the pale green of ripening pods to a dried pod filled with seeds and silky fluff. There is another surprise here. While it’s become common knowledge that monarch butterflies will not survive without milkweed, their host plant, few of us know that the region’s native peoples also depended on milkweed for food and medicine, even gathering the gossamer fibers attached to its seeds to use as pillow stuffing.

“It’s our hope that this show will help visitors become aware of the incredible creativity and ingenuity of the ancient people who used these 21 plants in their daily lives,” Harding said. “And that, by looking closely at the artwork, people will be inspired by the beauty of botanical art and the talent of our art league members.”

This show is part of Adkins Arboretum’s ongoing exhibition series of work on natural themes by regional artists. It is on view through Feb. 24 at the Arboretum Visitor’s Center located at 12610 Eveland Rd. near Tuckahoe State Park in Ridgely. Contact the Arboretum at 410-634-2847, ext. 100 or info@adkinsarboretum.org for gallery hours.

From sparkling holiday lights to festive Main Streets, celebrate the season in Caroline County! Here you’ll find information on upcoming events, one-of-a-kind holiday experiences, and gift ideas from our shops, galleries and restaurants!

Caroline County, Maryland is the place to be this holiday season! From Christmas parades and tree lightings to winter festivals and craft shows, there is something for everyone! Tourism Manager Tara Hill-Coursey recently appeared on WUSA9 to highlight the holiday happenings. Check out the segment below!

Enter the Holiday 2022 Capture Caroline Photo Contest
Do you have amazing photos of Caroline County? Enter them in the Caroline Office of Tourism’s Capture Caroline Photo Contest: Holiday Edition! From your favorite activities and cherished places to one-of-a-kind events, show us what makes Caroline County special to you during the holiday season! Participants are invited to enter up to five photos in the contest. The winning photographer will receive a $50 gift certificate to the Caroline County business of their choice, and the two runners up will receive a $25 gift certificate to their Caroline County business of choice.

How to Enter
Photos may be entered by posting them to the Caroline County, MD Facebook page with the hashtag #CaptureCaroline or by emailing them to info@visitcaroline.org. Entries are due by 12pm noon on December 14th, 2022.

All eligible entries will be posted in an album on the Caroline County, MD Facebook page on December 15th, 2022, where the public will be invited to vote on them by liking the photo of their choice during a two-week open voting session. The winner will announced on the Facebook page on January 1st, 2023.

When submitting an entry, please provide a title for the photo and share details such as the location, the date taken and/or event name. Please make sure that your submitted photo is high resolution, as contest winners will be asked to submit a high-resolution file. Photos with watermarks are not eligible. If the photograph includes a recognizable person, a model release must also be completed and submitted. Model releases can be downloaded here.

Note: By entering your photograph(s) in the Caroline County Capture Caroline Contest, you acknowledge and grant permission for it to be used by the Caroline Office of Tourism in a variety of promotional materials, including newsletters, advertisements, brochures, media kits, websites, social media sites and other print and digital communications.

The bare trunks of loblolly pines reach toward the sky at slightly tilting angles in Ghost Forest, Geoff Delanoy’s achingly beautiful show on view through Dec. 23 at Adkins Arboretum. In this elegant series of large black-and-white photographs, Delanoy explores an increasingly familiar sight—the “ghost forests” that are left as rising water causes tidal marshes to take over where trees once flourished. There will be a reception to meet the artist on Sat., Nov. 12 from 2 to 4 p.m.

Delanoy became interested in the vulnerability of coastal landscapes to climate change while working for more than a decade on a series of photographs called Fugitive Landscapes. Photographing the Northern California coast at Point Reyes National Seashore, he began over time to notice day-to-day changes in the landscape and tides. Curious, he started to research predictions about the impacts of climate change on the California coast, a project that soon led him to think about what might be happening closer to his home in Baltimore.

“I became aware of climate change in the Chesapeake Bay,” he explained, “and how ghost forests were a very visible manifestation of changes in the environment with sea level rise.”

Delanoy serves as a professor and the chair of the art department at Notre Dame of Maryland University. Since 2018, he has been photographing the coastal landscapes of Maryland and Delaware, with a particular focus on Dorchester County. Full of nuance and intricate textures, his images reveal the grace and individuality of trees struggling with sea level rise. In one photograph, a single tree, bare branched and bent by years of wind, leans out across a seemingly endless expanse of marsh. In another, a fallen trunk lies at the edge of the water where a low, still-forested island in the distance is hardly more than a dark stripe on the horizon.

For most of his projects, Delanoy has worked in black and white, but when he started his Ghost Forest series, he tried photographing in color, thinking that the realism of color would convey the threat of climate change more strongly. But he changed his mind.

“As I worked through these series, I found the cool earth tones of the landscape of the shore too peaceful and visually pleasing to convey the urgency of the climate crisis,” he said. “The images have a more immediate impact in monochrome.”

Perhaps the most arresting photograph in the show is a shot from 2019 in which puffy clouds are reflected in a flooded road leading through a marsh to a distant stand of trees. Seemingly playful and happy, the clouds are a direct contrast to the destructive threat silently posed by the calm, smooth water.

“The trees bear witness to the landscape and communicate on a visceral level,” Delanoy said. “Hopefully the photographs strike a balance between the inherent beauty found in nature but also motivate us to change course with the great losses that we face because of climate change.”

This show is part of Adkins Arboretum’s ongoing exhibition series of work on natural themes by regional artists. It is on view through Dec. 23 at the Arboretum Visitor’s Center located at 12610 Eveland Road near Tuckahoe State Park in Ridgely. Contact the Arboretum at 410–634–2847, ext. 0 or info@adkinsarboretum.org for gallery hours.