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Field Trip: Critchfield Preserve on May 18, 2024

— by Cindy Chrisler

  • What:   Critchfield Preserve Field Trip
  • When:  Saturday, May 18, 2024, 9:30 am to Noon (no entry after 9:45am)
  • Where:  Critchfield Preserve, 801 CR 344, Jarrell, TX 78537
    • Directions: Take I-35 north to Exit 277 for CR 305. Go left under the interstate on CR 305 and in 2.3 miles turn right onto CR 344. The preserve entrance is about a mile down CR 344 on the left. You will be guided to a parking area. High clearance vehicles are not required.
  • Our field trip is free and open to the public. Reservations are not required.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
1) You must fill out a waiver for the Preserve (in addition to the NPSOT waiver that is signed at all field trips). Download the Preserve’s waiver at this link if you’d like to print and sign it ahead in order to save time at the start of the field trip.
2) Bathrooms are not available.
3) Be on time, as we will close the gates at 9:45am!  

Join us to tour this 100+ acre preserve in Jarrell that includes portions of Pecan Creek. There are no trails, and participants should dress for the weather, bring plenty of water, and use bug spray. We will hike around the preserve to places of interest as we look for unusual plants as well as the usual suspects. The terrain is mostly flat but there are rocks and the terrain may be uneven.

image of cactus in bloom
image of preserve
image of preserve
image of wildflower in bloom
image of preserve
image of preserve

Above: photos provided by the Preserve.

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See photos from other field trips ==>

Field Trip Photo Album
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Recording Available for April 11’s topic, “Drought-Tolerant Native Plants: Nothing Works Like Natives” with Randy Pensabene

The video recording from our chapter meeting on April 11, 2024 featuring “Drought-Tolerant Native Plants: Nothing Works Like Natives” with Randy Pensabene is now available on our YouTube channel. Randy’s presentation starts after a short chapter business meeting and NPSOT state update.

You can download a copy of Randy’s slides at this link and the meeting handout at this link.

Note on 4/18: Though the meeting title page below says “March”, it’s really our April 11, 2024 meeting. We’ll correct that video frame soon but, meanwhile, we wanted you to have access to the recording right away.

See more recorded topics on our YouTube channel. Like and Subscribe!

See our page Prior Guest Speakers for a list of past meeting topics by year.

Business slides for recent chapter meetings are here, listed by date. (If this particular meeting’s business slides were not added yet, they will be soon. Please check back later.)

NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. We hope you attend!  Meetings may be in person, virtual, or both, so be sure to check details in the meeting announcement. Meetings are announced on our website, our calendar and Facebook.

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May 9 Chapter Meeting: Archeology and Ethnobotany in Texas Botanical Gardens with Susan Reynolds

Join NPSOT-Williamson County on Thursday, May 9, 2024, when our featured topic will be “Archeology in Texas Botanical Gardens / Ethnobotany in Texas Botanical Gardens” with Susan Reynolds, ED, Texas Botanical Gardens & Native American Interpretive Center.  

Free and open to the public. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM.  Our guest speaker’s presentation begins after a short business meeting.

==> This month, if you attend in person, we’re at the Georgetown Public Library, 2nd floor, 402 West 8th St, Georgetown, TX 78626. Come early (6:30 PM) for expert advice, to check out the seed swap board, or just to visit.

==> To attend via Zoom register at https://npsot-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkfu6qqTIpGNXPq_BjGEpgYnlFCXCnDcef#/registration

About our topic: There will be two separate, but short presentations.
1. Archeology – Topics covered will include Texas prehistoric peoples, the Texas Archeological Society, artifacts in the gardens, active sites in Mills County.
2. Ethnobotany – Definition, role in the creation of the Texas Botanical Gardens, interesting plants growing there.

Texas Botanical Gardens video link. Provided by speaker.

About our speaker: Susan Reynolds retired from a 30 year career as an award winning band director in California and Texas in 2022. She has always loved plants, gardening, and digging things up from the side of the road and now serves her community as the Executive Director of the Texas Botanical Gardens and Native American Interpretive Center (TBG) in Goldthwaite, TX. She is the organizer, grant writer, fundraiser, and “general flunkie” for the Board of Directors. On March 28, 2024, Susan spearheaded the Grand Opening of the new Demonstration Gardens at the TBG’s office, a ground up, grassroots project that netted nearly $52,000 in grants and just over $18,000 in gifts.

Susan and her husband of 40 years enjoy her retirement and the “Mimi and Pop Pop” time they get with their two grandsons, Asher and Shiloh.

At every meeting, we give away a book — about native plants or the meeting topic — to one randomly chosen in-person attendee!

Have an idea for a speaker?  Let Program Leader Susie Hickman know via  email to wilco-chapter@npsot.org.

NPSOT-Williamson County meetings are free and open to the public. We hope you attend!  Meetings may be in person, virtual, or both, so be sure to check details in the meeting announcement. Meetings are announced on our website, our calendar and Facebook. See upcoming topics on our page Wilco Home or on our Calendar.