www.wellsreserve.org/news/20080910_punkinfiddle.htm

PUNKINFIDDLE: FAMILY FUN FOR ESTUARIES DAY

WELLS, MAINE - Punkinfiddle, A National Estuaries Day Celebration, will be held rain or shine on the Laudholm campus of the Wells Reserve, 342 Laudholm Farm Road in Wells, on Saturday, September 27, from 10 am to 4 pm. Admission is $10 a carload.

Punkinfiddle features traditional crafts, hands-on science activities, lively music, old-fashioned games, fun food, farm animals, and lots of pumpkins in a historic seaside setting.

Special short performances by Hope Hoffman and Jackson Gillman will kick off the sixth annual Punkinfiddle festival. Arrive a few minutes early to join a slow parade toward our garden patch, where the first fifty kids 6 and under can pick a free pumpkin for decorating or carving.

Wells Reserve educators will display live salt marsh creatures like mummichogs, sticklebacks, and green crabs, and will explain why estuaries are important not only for sea life but also for people throughout southern Maine.

At 11:30 am, we offer a 90-minute Watershed Tour and Narrated Trolley Ride that describes how changes in land use affect water supply and water quality in the Webhannet and Little River watersheds. To reserve your space in advance, call 207-646-1555.

Throughout the day, artisans will demonstrate their crafts and provide insight into traditional livelihoods. Punkinfiddle will have wool spinning, rug braiding, violin and folk instrument making, basket weaving, chair making, chair caning, knot tying, knitting, felting, and bee keeping.

Kids can build scarecrows, press apples, churn butter, carve or decorate pumpkins, and play games. Sack races, three-legged races, egg-and-spoon relays, and wheelbarrow races are planned.

Punkinfiddle's main stage will feature Erica Brown and the Bluegrass Connection, Jackson Gillman, and Hope Hoffman & Kittlish.

Julie Giles of Lady Luck Farm returns with her massive but gentle prize oxen, including "Little Lion," who was recently saved from a life-threatening leg fracture. Punkinfiddle will have horse-drawn hay rides and pony rides for a small fee.

The Master Gardeners of York County and University of Maine Cooperative Extension will provide information on gardening with herbs. The Wells Farmers Market will be on site, too, so folks can take home fine local produce and products.

A country lunch will be offered for sale, with hot dogs, baked beans, cole slaw, veggie wraps, and home-baked desserts.

Laudholm Trust is selling Punkinfiddle raffle tickets, with a kayak as first prize and L.L. Bean tent, pack, and poles for second prize. Winners will be drawn at 3 pm.

Laudholm Trust's 2008 Season Sponsors are Corning Life Sciences, Pratt & Whitney, Bay State Gas & Northern Utilities, and Sevigney-Lyons Insurance Agency. Punkinfiddle sponsors are Shaw's Supermarkets, Farm Family Insurance, Bandaloop, and LL Bean. Kennebunk Savings Bank supports Wells Reserve education programs.

Punkinfiddle proceeds benefit Laudholm Trust, the nonprofit organization that supports research, education, stewardship, and preservation at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve.

For more information, visit www.punkinfiddle.org or call 207-646-1555.

The Wells Reserve is located at 342 Laudholm Farm Road, just off Routes 1 and 9 near the Wells-Kennebunk line and just 7 minutes from Maine Turnpike exit 19. The site boasts several historic buildings, excellent exhibits, and seven miles of easy hiking trails through fields and forests to salt marshes and a sandy beach.

Tentative Performance Schedule

• 10:30 am: Kittlish
• 11:30 am: Erica Brown and the Bluegrass Connection
• 12:30 pm: Jackson Gillman
• 1:15 pm: Kittlish
• 2:15 pm: Jackson Gillman
• 3:15 pm: Erica Brown and the Bluegrass Connection

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