Fun contest kicks off new year

#MiddleburyCT #MLT #Contest #FindTheSigns

Participants in this month’s Middlebury Land Trust scavenger hunt, “Find the Signs,” can use this photo as a guide to the other signs. Note that the sign names the property, “Lake Elise,” and includes the Middlebury Land Trust logo and website address. (Janine Sullivan-Wiley photo.)

By JANINE SULLIVAN–WILEY

January can be a slow month: the holidays are past and winter has set in. To add a little fun, the Middlebury Land Trust (MLT) is having its first-ever contest this month: “Find the Signs.”

The contest goal is to see how many MLT properties, identified by the new green signs, you can find. Those signs currently are on 12 properties. One of the 12 is shown here.

How to win: Locate and document with a photo the ones you find. (Selfies with the sign are fine.) Use the photo accompanying this article as a guide to what eligible MLT signs look like. All 12 can be seen from a road in Middlebury. And even though the Lake Elise sign is shown here, please be sure to document it, too.

Entries are one per family. If more than one family finds them all, we will draw names to determine the first, second and third place winners.

How to enter: Send the list of the green MLT property signs you have found, with accompanying photos as proof, to jswspotlight@gmail.com. The contest will close at midnight, January 31. 2025. Winners will be contacted directly, so include your email address, home address, and a phone number with your entry. Members of the MLT Board of Directors are not eligible to win. Other members of the MLT are encouraged to enter. Winners will be posted on the MLT Website and Facebook pages.

The three prizes are:

• “A Beginner’s Guide to Recognizing Trees of the Northeast,” a great book with photos and lots of tips.
• The pocket-size “Birds of Connecticut Field Guide,” organized by bird color so it can be used by anyone.
• A set of three folding pocket field guides: Connecticut Trees and Wildflowers, Connecticut Birds, and Connecticut Wildlife.

Winners will choose their prize in the order they are drawn – first place gets first choice, etc. Any of the prizes would be useful while hiking, or just to learn more about your own backyard.

How to find all of the signs identifying a MLT property? You could start by looking on the MLT website (middleburylandtrust.org) Click on Maps, then “Full Size map,” which can be enlarged to see where there are properties owned by the MLT. These are colored dark green. Because not all of them have the green signs yet, it’s really a “Find the Signs” scavenger hunt!

Here are hints to help you:

1. Property names on the map are the legal names, but the signs use the common name. Use the map to find the potential places for signs.
2. Only properties with road frontage have the signs you need to locate.
3. Don’t be fooled by other green signs – look for that MLT logo.
4. A few MLT properties are marked in two places, on different roads. Only one of those signs will count. (Names are identical.)
5. Two properties next to each other and identified as “East” and “West” are two different properties.

Lastly, a special thanks to Anne Cunningham, our sign designer in chief. I hope you think the new signs are as nice as I do.

Good luck to all in finding all 12 signs! May it be a lucky start to the New Year for you!

For questions or comments, contact this writer at jswspotlight@gmail.com. You can visit the Middlebury Land Trust on Facebook or the website at middleburylandtrust.org to find plenty of great outdoor spaces to explore. Happy hiking!