Heritage Conservancy is hosting “River Days Community Event” at the Bristol Marsh Nature Preserve in Bristol, PA, on Sunday, October 6th, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. There will be family-friendly activities going on throughout the day.
Hidden in plain sight behind bustling Mill Street, you can find the Bristol Marsh Nature Preserve, a 17-acre marshland receiving water from the Delaware River and Atlantic Ocean. As one of the last remaining freshwater tidal marshes along the Delaware River, this delicate ecosystem supports over 350 different species of plants, birds, mammals, and more. Heritage Conservancy holds the easement on this preserve, which helps keep the community’s water pure while lessening the magnitude of flooding in the area.
During River Days Community Event, Heritage Conservancy is offering opportunities to experience the Bristol Marsh through nature and history walks and art workshops.
From 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, there will be a historic walk where you’ll learn about the Delaware Canal’s impact on this small riverside town during the second phase of the Industrial Revolution. From the time the canal was built in 1832 until the last mule-drawn boat was pulled in 1931, the Delaware Canal helped completely transform this area of Bucks County now known as Bristol Borough. Knowing how humans have used and altered the land in your “own backyard” throughout time is important to understand where we’ve been and where we can go in the future.
Beginning at 11:00 AM, environmental educators from Silver Lake Nature Center will guide attendees around the Bristol Marsh, pointing out migratory birds and greenery that depend on the marsh for survival. They will explain the importance of this wetland and provide a new perspective on this critical community asset. Attendees will learn more about the actions they can take each day to help the marsh and river thrive so that all of the communities that depend on the Delaware River Watershed can continue to drink clean water.
From 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, an en plein air painting workshop will take place where a scenic view of the Delaware River waterfront will serve to inspire. The Michener Art Museum will lead the workshop, taking community members from any skill level into the outdoors and providing a space for creativity to flourish.
From 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM, the Michener Art Museum’s Curator of American Art, Laura Turner Igoe, Ph.D., will present “Ebb and Flow: Visualizing the Delaware River from Impressionism to Modernism,” at the Silver Lake Nature Center, only a 5-minute drive from the Bristol Marsh. Attendees will journey through time from the early 1900s to the present day through the eyes of Pennsylvania Impressionists as lower Bucks County, once known as a peaceful refuge from the busy streets of New York City and Philadelphia, shifted into a more industrial identity.
All of the day’s activities are free, but pre-registration is required to reserve your spot. Please contact Emily, Heritage Conservancy’s Development Associate at 215-345-7020 ext. 107 or ehart@heritageconservancy.org to register for one, two, or all four of the great activities Heritage Conservancy has lined up!
River Days Community Event sponsored by the Alliance for Watershed Education and the William Penn Foundation.