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A walk in the woods
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| Andria Cossolotto, Ryan Lockwood and Jack Tye (not shown) were busy installing 40 signs to identify trees and plants at the woods on Monday afternoon. Photo by Laura Bacon |
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By Laura Bacon, NT Staff Writer
The Cass County Conservation Board along with descendants and relatives of Frank Pellett will hold a special 100th anniversary event celebrating the beginning of the Frank Chapman Pellett Memorial Woods, located three miles northeast of Atlantic, on Saturday, April 28.
The event will include one-hour presentations on “The Life of Frank C. Pellett,” given by grandson, Norman Pellett, as well as guided hikes, provided by Frank’s descendants at the woods. The presentations will be held at Iowa Western Community College Atlantic campus at Highway 6 and Walnut Street, at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
Guided woodland wildflower hikes will be held starting at 10:20 a.m. Organizers say there will be no parking at the woods the day of the event, but shuttle buses will be provided to take visitors from IWCC to the woods and back. Buses will leave IWCC starting at 10:20, at 20-minute intervals until 12:45 p.m. Pre-registration - for the presentation and hikes - is required by Friday, April 20.
Visitors to the woods should be treated to an array of different flowers during the event. Flowers expected to be present on that day include Bellwort, May Apple, Dutchman’s Breeches, Hepatica, Prairie Trillium, Blood Root, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Virginia Waterleaf, Buttercup, Wild Leek, Wild Ginger, Spring Beauty, Toothwart, Dogtooth Violet (Trout Lily), Blue Cohosh, Sweet William, Virginia Bluebells, Rue Anemone, Solomon’s Seal, and Woodland Violets.
“Witness Frank C. Pellett Memorial Woods ‘spring to life’ as you hike along side Frank’s descendants in southwest Iowa’s only State Woodland Preserve,” organizers said.
Norman Pellett, Frank’s grandson, has written an account on the “Life of Frank Chapman Pellett,” and will present two one-hour presentations at IWCC.
In the account, Norman explains that Frank was born and raised on his parents’ farm, northeast of Atlantic, and adjacent to the current woodland preserve. He became completely engrossed in the study of nature after physical ailments made him leave school in the ninth grade. While he sold real estate as a young adult, and studied and practiced law in Missouri, after he married he returned to the area to photograph and study nature at the Pellett Gardens site. He started a five acre woodland preserve in 1907 to save wildflowers he saw disappearing as farming expanded, and published books like “Our Backdoor Neighbors,” “Birds of the Wild,” “Flowers of the Wild,” and “Success With Wildflowers.”
Frank was a beekeeper, and was the managing editor of the American Bee Journal, and managed a honey plant test garden on his Atlantic farm, and wrote a well-known book on “American Honey Plants,” looking at hundreds of plants by state, across the country. He also communicated with plant scientists, agriculturists and beekeepers around the world, and wrote hundreds of articles on beekeeping subjects.
His son and daughter-in-law, Melvin and Elizabeth Pellett, operated Pellett Gardens, which included the wildflower woodland for 50 years, and then donated 20 acres of property to be named the Frank C. Pellett Memorial Preserve in 1987. Today, the Cass County Conservation Board manages the Preserve.
The board, along with Todd and Susie Pellett has been working on a number of improvements to the area for the anniversary event. Officials said that Akins donated a brochure box, and stakes for the new woodland signs, and provided a discount on the wood for the new fence that was installed. Bill Casteel provided new woodland signs at a discount, and Doug Auerbach worked on the signs as part of his project to become an Eagle Scout. The Cass County Conservation Board provided funding for all of the improvements.
The deadline for registration for the event is Friday, April 20, and those wishing to attend should call 712-243-6665 with the following information: full name of caller and anyone else wishing to attend and should include a contact phone number. Those wishing to attend should also choose which session of the one-hour presentation they wish to attend - 9 or 10:30 a.m., - and what time they would like to attend a hike. A bus, leaving from IWCC, will take all visitors to the gardens. The bus will leave at 10:20, 10:40, 11, 11:20 or 11:45 a.m., 12:05, 12:25, or 12:45 p.m. Officials note that there will be no parking at the woods the day of the event - all visitors will ride the shuttle buses from IWCC to the woodland and back.
Comments on these stories are welcome, but please include your complete first and last name, and a phone number that can be used to verify the posting. Phone numbers will not be published.
The event will include one-hour presentations on “The Life of Frank C. Pellett,” given by grandson, Norman Pellett, as well as guided hikes, provided by Frank’s descendants at the woods. The presentations will be held at Iowa Western Community College Atlantic campus at Highway 6 and Walnut Street, at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
Guided woodland wildflower hikes will be held starting at 10:20 a.m. Organizers say there will be no parking at the woods the day of the event, but shuttle buses will be provided to take visitors from IWCC to the woods and back. Buses will leave IWCC starting at 10:20, at 20-minute intervals until 12:45 p.m. Pre-registration - for the presentation and hikes - is required by Friday, April 20.
Visitors to the woods should be treated to an array of different flowers during the event. Flowers expected to be present on that day include Bellwort, May Apple, Dutchman’s Breeches, Hepatica, Prairie Trillium, Blood Root, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Virginia Waterleaf, Buttercup, Wild Leek, Wild Ginger, Spring Beauty, Toothwart, Dogtooth Violet (Trout Lily), Blue Cohosh, Sweet William, Virginia Bluebells, Rue Anemone, Solomon’s Seal, and Woodland Violets.
“Witness Frank C. Pellett Memorial Woods ‘spring to life’ as you hike along side Frank’s descendants in southwest Iowa’s only State Woodland Preserve,” organizers said.
Norman Pellett, Frank’s grandson, has written an account on the “Life of Frank Chapman Pellett,” and will present two one-hour presentations at IWCC.
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Frank was a beekeeper, and was the managing editor of the American Bee Journal, and managed a honey plant test garden on his Atlantic farm, and wrote a well-known book on “American Honey Plants,” looking at hundreds of plants by state, across the country. He also communicated with plant scientists, agriculturists and beekeepers around the world, and wrote hundreds of articles on beekeeping subjects.
His son and daughter-in-law, Melvin and Elizabeth Pellett, operated Pellett Gardens, which included the wildflower woodland for 50 years, and then donated 20 acres of property to be named the Frank C. Pellett Memorial Preserve in 1987. Today, the Cass County Conservation Board manages the Preserve.
The board, along with Todd and Susie Pellett has been working on a number of improvements to the area for the anniversary event. Officials said that Akins donated a brochure box, and stakes for the new woodland signs, and provided a discount on the wood for the new fence that was installed. Bill Casteel provided new woodland signs at a discount, and Doug Auerbach worked on the signs as part of his project to become an Eagle Scout. The Cass County Conservation Board provided funding for all of the improvements.
The deadline for registration for the event is Friday, April 20, and those wishing to attend should call 712-243-6665 with the following information: full name of caller and anyone else wishing to attend and should include a contact phone number. Those wishing to attend should also choose which session of the one-hour presentation they wish to attend - 9 or 10:30 a.m., - and what time they would like to attend a hike. A bus, leaving from IWCC, will take all visitors to the gardens. The bus will leave at 10:20, 10:40, 11, 11:20 or 11:45 a.m., 12:05, 12:25, or 12:45 p.m. Officials note that there will be no parking at the woods the day of the event - all visitors will ride the shuttle buses from IWCC to the woodland and back.
Comments on these stories are welcome, but please include your complete first and last name, and a phone number that can be used to verify the posting. Phone numbers will not be published.
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