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Learning
Expand your knowledge of the natural world! RDGC offers monthly programs by professional speakers to help us be better stewards of the earth.
2023-2024 Programs
2024 - 2025 Programs
We welcome everyone to our monthly speakers’ programs. We appreciate a contribution of $5 for non-members to help us support our programs and activities. We hire professional, well-known garden, floral arrangers and horticultural experts to help us learn how to make our environment more beautiful and sustainable.
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9:30 Coffee and Social Time
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10:00 – Club Business
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10:30-11:30 plus – Guest Speaker
Cancellation Policy: When Rye public schools are cancelled due to weather, our meeting is cancelled. If the schools delay opening, we hold our meeting as scheduled. Members are notified of changes by email.
Programs At-A-Glance
September 17, 2024
Jennifer MacLaren, Dew Collective
Decorating with Flowers & Plants by Season
Jennifer MacLaren launched her company, Dew Collective, in the fall of 2023. She brings a 20-year career in management consulting and a passion for flowers, home décor, and community. Dew Collective is a modern florist and events company that creates artistic floral arrangements and sells contemporary and artisanal fine art.
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Jennifer will give us a guided presentation to teach us to think outside the box by utilizing fresh flowers, artificial, artisanal fine art, and home décor items to create an inviting space for you and your loved ones to enjoy any season of the year.
October 15, 2024
Bob Dale, Center for Wildlife
Seacoast Habitats & Coexistence Native Life
Bob Dale of the Center for Wildlife will teach us about the many habitats in the Seacoast Region and the abundance of wildlife that call those habitats home. This presentation, featuring live Center for Wildlife ambassador animals, will teach how to better coexist with wildlife and create communities that balance the many needs of humans, habitat, and wildlife.
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As a resident of the Seacoast, Bob has an intimate knowledge of the many natural spaces and wildlife species that can be found throughout our region. Bob's presentation will look at both current conservation efforts conducted throughout the Seacoast and provide insight into ways healthy habitats can be promoted in your backyard.
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November 19, 2024
Jean Stefanik
Orchids All Around Us
Jean is an Educator and Naturalist who enjoys traveling and photographing orchids and other plants and animals in nature. She enjoys becoming fast friends with people near and far including the polar Arctic tundra in Canada, the Olympic Peninsula in California, New England and the Maritimes, Arizona, Florida swamps, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and New Zealand. During these trips, she gives talks, does judging, and spends time with other orchid enthusiasts. A theme that permeates her presentations is that conservation of native orchids means conservation of native habitats.
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Jean serves as the Conversation & Education Chair for the New Hampshire Orchid Society and is an accredited judge.
January 21, 2025
Melissa Law, Bumbleroot Organic Farm
Building a Sustainable Small Farm
Melissa will discuss the joys and challenges of starting a small farm business from scratch. She’ll share the mission and ethos of Bumbleroot Organic Farm as well as some of the nuts and bolts of how the farm operates and the markets they serve. The focus will be on building a sustainable farm business from a holistic perspective–for the land, the community, and the farmers themselves. She’ll discuss how Bumbleroot has grown and evolved over the past ten years, where they have found success, and what obstacles stand in their way as they look to the future of farming in New England. Melissa Law grew up in Bedford, New Hampshire, graduated from Boston College, and now co-owns and operates a small organic vegetable and flower farm with her husband and business partners.
February 18, 2025
Dave Anderson, Forest Society
Maple Sugaring: Myth, Magic, & Reality
​Dave's talk will take a humorous look at the dark (amber) side of maple sugaring at Meetinghouse Hill Tree Farm...also known as "the quest for the $15,000 pancake".
The romance of backyard maple sugaring led Dave to construct a post & beam sugarhouse on his property in South Sutton from timber cut and milled on-site. He operates the old-fashioned way: gravity-fed and wood-fired, a slower process. Learn how he strives to improve the process in light of changing weather, new technology, and even climate change. The family sugaring hobby connects all of us closely to trees, woodlots, home, the future, and the annual circle of seasons.
March 18, 2025
Laura Brown, Fox Point Oysters
From the Bay to Your Belly & Beyond
Stay tuned for more detailed information!
April 15, 2025
Karen Pryer & Jen Thayer
Gardening Supplies Co.
Creative Containers for Everyone
Stay tuned for more detailed information!
