WFTA Annual Meeting and Talk by Francie Von Mertens, Sunday, May 4, 2025, 4 PM

Join us for our 69th Annual Meeting and a special presentation by Francie Von Mertens on “In the Midst of Nature: Intimate looks at the wild world around us.” The meeting will be held at the Scout House on School Street.

Based on her “Nature Almanac & Calendar,” Francie Von Mertens will share insights into the wild ones around us, plants and animals, and the wonders awaiting out the window, out the door, and farther afield.

During decades writing about the natural world, offering field trips and workshops, some questions recurred: What do we need to know about the natural community of plants and animals that we not-so-wild ones share? And, how best to do the learning?

Her answer: A basic literacy delivered through a daily turn of an almanac page.

We’re learning that immersion in nature is good for us, which leads to another question: How can we give back to the wild world in return? Von Mertens will explore that question, too, along with many stories of mutualism — plants and animals interconnected for mutual benefit.

Beguiled by the wild ones, she is eager to lure others into their world and its care.

Francie (Hunt) Von Mertens grew up on the Boston Post Road in Weston, exploring old roads through the woods and the railroad tracks that now are a paved Rail Trail, skating on Foote’s Pond, fishing Hobbs Brook before it was dammed to became Hobbs Pond. A wonderfully “free range” childhood.

She is active in land conservation and stewardship with the Harris Center land trust (Hancock, NH), NH Audubon, and her hometown, Peterborough, NH, conserving exceptional habitat for the wild ones. As she often writes, “We’re all in this together.”