TLC E-News November 2008

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1. Join TLC for the Deep River Historical Tour November 8, plus two other 25th Anniversary Outings

From House in the Horseshoe to the Lockville Dam, the Deep River between Chatham and Lee counties is home to some of the most fascinating human history in the Triangle. On November 8, led by local historian Edwin Patterson, we will visit and explore four of the historic jewels of the Deep: House in the Horseshoe state historic site; the circa 1800 Tyson House; Deep River Park and the Camelback Bridge; and Endor Iron Furnace. Also, mark your calendar for the final 25th Anniversary Outings: the Irvin Farm Conservation Tour December 6 and the Johnston Mill Moonlight Hike December 12. Details online.

On November 7, Johnston County landowners should join the North Carolina Cooperative Extension and guests, including TLC’s Jon Scott, in a discussion of opportunities available for planning the future of farms and forests. Topics include voluntary agricultural districts, property tax benefits, conservation easements, cost-share programs, estate planning and more. Find details online.

Artist Emily Eve Weinstein, whose book Saving Magic Places features 100 color plates of her New Hope Creek paintings, opens her studio for a TLC benefit on November 23. Guests can visit any time between 1 and 4 pm to view Emily’s paintings, talk with her about her work, and purchase books and paintings. Emily will be donating 35 percent of sales to TLC. TLC staff will also be on hand to talk about our work. Light refreshments will be served. We hope you can join us! Information online.

As we think of the bounty the pilgrims harvested and celebrated at the first Thanksgiving, take time to reflect on our agricultural heritage close to home. We are pleased to announce this month’s do-it-yourself Backyard Adventure itinerary: Agricultural Empires of Durham County. This tour begins with pre-Civil War plantation life at Historic Stagville and ends at Duke Homestead with a look at North Carolina’s tobacco legacy after the Civil War. Find out more online.

TLC recently assisted NC State Parks in the purchase of two tracts along the Deep River in Lee County, with large portions in the White Pines Promontory, a federally significant Natural Heritage Site. These tracts, held by the state as “conservation land,” will become part of the Deep River State Trail, a series of conserved lands and recreation amenities stretching along the Deep from its headwaters in Guilford County through Randolph and Moore counties to the confluence of the Deep and Haw rivers in Chatham and Lee counties. Read more online.

After first hearing about TLC from their friend & fellow TLC member David Connell, Gina and Carlton became River Society members in 2007. Their mutual love for the outdoors and concerns over the rapid growth they’ve seen in Raleigh since moving here in 1994 drew them to the organization. Read more about Gina and Carlton Goldthwaiteon our Member Spotlight page.

TLC and its friends and members can be very proud of our accomplishments, but a lot of planning goes on behind the bold headlines. Read more about this aspect of TLC’s work in a letter from TLC President Kevin Brice.

Over 100 TLC members and guests gathered at the Raleigh City Museum for the annual River Society Soirée in October. TLC’s River Society is comprised of people who make annual membership contributions of $1,000 or more. Event participants celebrated the River Society’s part in TLC’s success over the past 25 years and learned more about both the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. Find more information and pictures from the event online.

Soirée guests were also reminded of the River Society Challenge. Anonymous donors issued the following challenge to their fellow River Society members: “Make a gift or pledge* to TLC’s Our Water, Our Land campaign this year between May 1 and December 31 and we will match you dollar for dollar up to $200,000.” Our Water, Our Land is TLC’s campaign to grow our Land Opportunity Fund and to steward our conservation lands. Thanks to many generous donors, TLC has raised $3.9 million toward the $5.5 million goal.

There is still time to donate as part of this challenge, or to become a River Society member, then donate. For more information, go to the Our Water, Our Land Web site or contact Cheryl, associate director of Our Water Our Land.
(* a pledge to the campaign can be paid over 3 to 5 years)

Want to make your TLC donation go even farther? Take advantage of your employer’s matching gift program! Many local businesses will match your donation dollar-for-dollar; others, including Hewlett-Packard and IBM, will allow TLC to accept their match in the form of much needed equipment. Check with your human resource department today to find out if your gifts can be matched. Special thanks to the following companies for their generous matching gift contributions in Fiscal Year 2008:Amgen Foundation Matching Gifts Program, BD Matching Gift Program, Cisco Systems, Inc. Matching Gift Program, Covidien Matching Gift Program, GlaxoSmithKline Matching Gift Program, Global Impactl IBM Matching Grants Program, Johnson & Johnson Matching Gift Program, Progress Energy, Square D Company, Teagle Foundation Matching Gift Program, The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation and Wachovia Foundation.

The latest edition of TLC News is landing in mailboxes throughout the Triangle, but if you just can’t wait, check it out online.

The TLC “Where in the Triangle?” quiz is back to challenge your knowledge of the villages, backroads and crossroads communities throughout our region, from Bennett to Bentonville to Bahama. We are sure this quiz will soon be as popular as Wheel of Fortune. So, eager contestants, here is the next puzzle. Take a look at this picture, then send an e-mail telling us where you think the photo was taken. (Here’s a hint: the photo was taken in the region of this month’s Backyard Adventure, Agriculture Empires). One lucky reader will receive a stylish TLC baseball cap. We will draw a winner from all the correct answers we receive at enews@triangleland.org by 5 p.m. on Friday, November 7.

Thanks to all of you who responded to last month’s inaugural “Where in the Triangle?” quiz! The correct answer was the site of Carbonton Dam.

As always, thanks for reading E-News! Have a great month!

Jennifer Peterson
Communications Coordinator
jpeterson@triangleland.org
(919)833-3662 ext. 108

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