Mark your calendar for Sunday
February 28!
After Church, there will be a Winter Fun Afternoon at the
Mirick Farm on the slopes of Mt
Plan to leave the Church about noon. Bring your own picnic lunch, which you can
eat in the dining room before leaving, in your car on the way (the drive is
about 25 minutes), or around the fire after you arrive.
This is an intergenerational event! Bring your own sleds, toboggans, snowshoes, and
skis. There are lots of slopes – some
steep and some gentle – all kinds of fields and lanes through the woods for
cross-country skiing, and lots of walks through the woods for those on
snowshoes. You can stand on top of a
beaver lodge, follow animal tracks through the snow (moose tracks if you’re
really lucky), scout for places where the deer have bedded down, and just enjoy
an afternoon outdoors. If you get
chilly, you can warm up at the cooking fire at the lean-to or around the
bonfire.
Of course, dress for winter weather: layers of clothing, boots, hats, and gloves.
Consider a small backpack for lunch, snacks, and odds and ends. And if you have little ones who may get wet
when playing in the snow or along the brook, put a change of clothes for them in
your car.
Princeton is just 17 miles north of Worcester. The quickest route from the Church is to pick
up I-290 in Lincoln Square, to I-190 north to Route 140 and then Route 62. You can also get to Princeton using Route 31 from
the center of Holden. We will pass out
maps and “Can’t Miss” directions on February 28. If you were on the Mt Wachusett climb in
October, the route will look familiar:
Mirick Road is parallel to Mountain Road, where we started on the trail
up the mountain. The Mirick farm has a
large red barn on the west side of the road, and a white colonial house and
other outbuildings on the east side of the road. For those who use a GPS, plug in “160 Mirick
Road, Princeton MA 01541”
Park in front of the barn – head-in parking, please! If you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle, you can
also park in the field to the right of the barn. And if everything else is filled up, then parallel
park along the edge of the road, but leave room for cars to get through. The bonfire and lean-to are a couple of
hundred yards down the lane to the right of the barn, past the pond, and over
the brook (there’s a bridge!) to the right when you come into the meadow.
Join us for as much of the afternoon as fits in your
schedule and your energy level!
Bad Weather Date: If
February 28 is terrible, we’ll move to the following Sunday, March 6.
Questions? Call John or Diane Mirick 978-464-2313
Emails: jmirick@mirickoconnell.com or dianemirick8@gmail.com
