Indiana Campfires event at Merry Lea
Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College and Indiana Humanities are hosting a Next Indiana Campfires excursion at Merry Lea’s Farmstead Site on Saturday, July 23, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The outing is part of “Next Indiana Campfires,” Indiana Humanities’ new series that pairs literature and nature to help Hoosiers explore Indiana’s wild places and discuss conservation.
Attendees will venture on a 90-minute walk through a diversity of ecosystems, from wetlands to woodlands to prairies. The hike is an easy walk on mowed trails. During the outing, a humanities scholar and poet, Micah Towery of Goshen College, Goshen, Ind., will lead attendees, stopping periodically to read aloud the words of important Hoosier poets. Participants will then gather for a lunch featuring foods grown on the Merry Lea Sustainable Farm. Around a campfire, they will discuss connections between nature, literature and place.
Event tickets are $10. The ticket price includes the excursion and meal. A limited number of fee waivers will be available in the event of financial need. To register for the event, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/next-indiana-campfires-merry-lea-learning-center-of-goshen-college-wolf-lake-tickets-24059631004.
The complete list of Next Indiana Campfires can be found at http://indianahumanities.org/programs/campfires and includes places like the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and the Hovey Lake Bald Cypress Swamps near Evansville. Do-it-yourself “Trek and Talk Toolkits” are available to Hoosiers who want to create their own Next Indiana Campfire. Toolkits include suggested itineraries, a literary text and discussion prompts, a Next Indiana Campfires patch, snacks and more. To learn more about Indiana Humanities’ Next Indiana Campfires, visit www.IndianaHumanities.org/Campfires.
About Next Indiana Campfires
Next Indiana Campfires is generously supported by the Efroymson Family Fund, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, Pulitzer Prizes Centennial Campfires and the Ball Brothers Foundation. Upland Brewing Company will be providing in-kind support as the alcoholic beverage sponsor. Indiana Humanities is supported in part by The Lilly Endowment, Inc. and the National Endowment of the Humanities.
About Merry Lea
Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College is an 1,189-acre nature preserve in north central Indiana, midway between Fort Wayne and Goshen. The center is known for its ecological diversity, its quality environmental education and its efforts in the area of sustainable building and land restoration. While prairies and woodlands are also part of the landscape, the diverse wetlands at Merry Lea are its greatest treasure. To learn more, see Merry Lea’s web site at https://www.goshen.edu/merrylea.
Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. Visit https://www.goshen.edu.
About Indiana Humanities
Indiana Humanities connects people, opens minds and enriches lives by creating and facilitating programs that encourage people to think, read and talk. Learn more at www.indianahumanities.org.