Celebrate the opening of Red Fox Ravine, a public ecological preserve and community space in the Wilbur neighborhood of Kingston. There will be musical performances by local bands, a plant walk through the preserve, a mushroom harvest, kids activities, a ribbon cutting ceremony and food/cold drinks!
FREEQUENCY--Hip hop and soul collective made up of Kingston locals who have captivated the Hudson Valley (including at last year’s Kingston Land Trust Fall Fest) with their words, beats, style, and heart.
Pulso de Barro--Local band exploring folkloric music that will make you dance with members with familial connections to the land and people of Mexico (Veracruz), Venezuela, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Lebanon, and the Rondout Valley! If you know the KLT, the conguero will be a familiar face.
Callie Mackenzie--a Kingston-based musician, multidisciplinary artist, and organizer who, armed with a guitar, brings the audience on a smooth, soulful and sometimes funky journey of deep feelings about oppression, freedom, love, heartbreak, and mental health.
Matthew O’Neill--A local band whose music combines elements of folk, rock, and world music to create a unique sound with lyrics that touch on themes of environmentalism, social justice, personal transformation, and celebrating the dynamic relationship between Mother Earth and all Creation, rooted in Indigenous ways. Their music invites listeners to reflect on their connection to the natural world and consider how they can play a role in protecting it. Matthew is also a member of the KLT Land Stewardship Team.
Plant walk: KLT Land Steward Shanique Aladden will introduce us to plants as we walk through the preserve. The calcareous terrain is home to some unique plants such as the purple cliffbrake fern, wild oregano, maidenhair spleenwort, and wild ginger.
Community shiitake harvest and cookout: We will harvest shiitake mushrooms from the community log yard that was established by Luke and Kaya, with help from community volunteers, as part of their Eat More Mushrooms Project and cook them on the campfire!
TICKETING
PLEASE PURCHASE A SLIDING SCALE TICKET FOR THE GRAND OPENING.
PARKING IS LIMITED AT THE PRESERVE SO TICKETS ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND and we ask attendees to carpool with friends as they are able!
All proceeds support our fundraising campaign to build more trails and improve trail accessibility at the preserve.
THE STORY OF RED FOX RAVINE
This land, centered around a historic limestone quarry, experienced a second period of intense disturbance five years ago. The KLT protected the first parcel of the preserve just after this, in early 2020, and we have since been working hard, inspired by the resilience of the land itself and with the support of the community, to protect additional land to expand the preserve (in collaboration with the Northeastern Cave Conservancy), and to clean up, revegetate, and make public access improvements at what has already become a treasured local park. [Performances will be taking place on a stage built by our land stewardship team in 2023, the quarry is being stewarded by us and the community, new art, revegetaing etc.etc]