Have you ever wanted to learn how to make a basket or discover more about bats and their environment? The Daniel Boone Homestead is hosting two separate workshops that will allow participants to make a basket or a bat house to take with them.
On Sunday, Aug. 28, from 12 to 4 p.m., Vicky Heffner will lead participants in a workshop to make a one-pie basket for themselves. The basket is square and shallow with a wooden base and solid handle. The cost of the workshop includes all materials to make the basket. Ms. Heffner is the Education Curator at the Berks History Center in Reading, and has been making baskets for more than 20 years. To assist in their basket project, Ms. Heffner requests that participants bring an old pair of scissors, a flathead screwdriver, 10 spring clothes pins, a bucket and a towel.
On Sunday, Sept. 18, starting at 1 p.m., Jayme Schaeffer will discuss various species of bats, and which species will use a bat house. He will outline the differences between cave-hibernating bats and migrating bats, as well as share some of his experiences about field sampling and monitoring bats. Since the onset of white-nose syndrome in 2006, the cave-hibernating bat populations have decreased by as much as 95 percent in some areas. Mr. Schaeffer has been a practicing wildlife biologist for 11 years. There is a cost for this workshop, in which the participants will build their own bat house, learn where to hang it and learn which bats will use the house.
Please call the Daniel Boone Homestead, 610-582-4900, for more information or to register for the workshops. Pre-registration and payment are required for all workshops. Proceeds benefit the Friends of the Daniel Boone Homestead to help with events and educational programming.