Great Marsh Surf and Turf Mini Blitz
2024-09-21 13:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Great Marsh Institute, 28 MOORES RD, Elverson, PA, 19520, United States
Date: September 21
Time: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Description: Take a closer look at the smaller critters of the Great Marsh, both aquatic and terrestrial, as we attempt to document as many species as possible. We will walk through the Marshlands using dip nets to sample aquatic life and sweep nets to catch and photograph the critters of the meadows. Dress for buggy conditions and uneven natural surfaces, some of them soggy. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.

Bird Walk
2024-09-22 08:00 - 11:00
Come join us at The Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, September 22nd at 8:00 AM for our monthly bird walk. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.

6th Annual Work Party
2024-09-28 - 2024-09-29
Join us September 28th or 29th for our 6th annual work party cleaning up the trails around the Great Marsh. Please bring your own tools (clippers, weedwackers, chainsaws and/or hedge trimmers etc) and RSVP for a time slot at: lori@greatmarshinstitute.org
The time slots are as follows:
September 28: 8am-Noon
September 28: Noon-4pm
September 29: 8am-Noon
September 29: Noon-4pm
Thanks for your help in advance.

Nature Walk
2024-09-29 16:00 - 18:00
Join us at Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, September 29th at 4pm for a Nature Walk with PA Master Naturalist, Diana Cormack. Grasses are interesting this time of year so we’ll look for different species. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org to attend.

Arts at the Great Marsh
2024-10-05 11:00 - 16:00
Join Great Marsh Institute for our fourth annual Arts at the Great Marsh.
WHEN: Saturday, October 5th, 2024* – 11 AM – 4 PM
*Rain Date: Sunday, October 6th, same time
WHERE: Great Marsh Institute, 28 Moores Road, Elverson PA, 19520
Founded by GMI Administrative Assistant and Dance Artist, Mijka Smith, Arts at the Great Marsh works to expand environmental awareness and education through art.
FREE to the public, this year’s event will feature live music by Philadelphia-based group, BORBS, as well as the historic Ringgold Band of Reading, PA. Members of GMI’s Science Advisory Board will offer educational talks on the flora and fauna of the Great Marsh, including An Introduction to the Avian Sound Studies with Mike Coulter and Herping the Great Marsh with Bernard Brown. Epicurean Garage’s Food Truck will be on site serving delicious meals on the go.
See presentation descriptions and participating vendors below.
Online Program: ATGM 2024 Program

Live Performances & Lectures
Yoga Demonstration with Solstice Yoga Shala (12-12:30 PM– The Stage)
We brought yoga to the heart of Morgantown in 2009. Community, yoga, and mindful living are at the heart of what we do here. Shala is a Sanskrit word meaning “home” or “space” where we invite the community to gather, practice, learn, and grow. With regularly scheduled yoga and meditation classes 7 days a week, and monthly specialty classes; Yin Yoga, 108 Sun Salutations, Sound Immersion, Qigong and more. Our mission is to make yoga accessible to all, and to send students home feeling better than they did upon arriving at the studio. We invite you to try a complimentary class by dropping into any regularly scheduled class or signing up ahead of time using coupon code FIRSTFREE. Ask us about our ‘Pay From The Heart’ initiative!
Connect with us online: www.solsticeyogashala.com
On Facebook: Solstice Yoga Shala
On Instagram: @solsticeyogashala
Via email: admin@solsticeyogashala.com

Live Music with BORBS (1:30-2 PM– The Stage)
BORBS is an ensemble of improvising musicians inspired by the awe of nature.
www.peoplesmusicsupply.org
Follow @borbsband and @peoplesmusicsupply on social media

Live Music with The Ringgold Band (2-4 PM – The Stage)
The historic Ringgold Band, located in Reading, PA, is one of America’s first community bands. Ever since its formation in 1852, the band has continued a longstanding tradition of providing southeastern Pennsylvania with fine musical entertainment.
www.ringgoldband.com

Herping the Great Marsh with Bernard Brown (11:30 AM – 12 PM – Nature Center)
The Great Marsh is crawling with snakes, turtles, frogs, and salamanders, but they can be hard to observe over hundreds of acres of muck and vegetation. Learn about efforts to study the Great Marsh’s herpetological diversity.

An Introduction to the Avian Sound Studies at The Great Marsh with Mike Coulter (1:30-2 PM – Nature Center)
Over the past five years, Mike Coulter has been deploying Autonomous Recording Units (ARU’s) throughout The Great Marsh in an effort to better understand the presence and distribution of often difficult to observe marsh bird species. This will be an introduction to the purpose, equipment, processes, and results thus far in this continuing long-term project.

Great Marsh History from ice age tundra, mastodons, and permafrost to a warm peatland with groundwater springs and turtles with Dorothy Merritts and Robert Walter (12:30-1 PM – Nature Center)
Professors Dorothy Merritts and Robert Walter of Franklin and Marshall College will talk about how the Great Marsh formed at the end of the cold period of the Last Full Glacial episode about 12,000 years ago. They’ll discuss the shift with warming since then from permafrost (frozen ground), tundra, wooly mammoths and mastodons to wet meadows surrounded by forested hillslopes filled with elk, deer, bears, and humans. Today Great Marsh is a rare vestige of what much of the region’s valley bottoms looked like until about 1700 AD, when European settlers began clearing forests, building dams for water power, and altering most of the mid-Atlantic landscape–especially wetlands. The story-telling will include time to look at actual samples of marsh soil that are thousands of years old and contain fossil seeds from early marsh plants.
Participating Vendors
Davis Witmer Visual Arts
Offering pen and ink sketches and prints.
daviswit.wixsite.com/doodlevis
Follow @doodlevis on social media

Epicurean Garage
Food truck offering delicious meals on the go.
www.epicureangarage.com

Nature Walk
2024-10-06 09:00 - 11:00
Join us at Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, October 6th at 9am for a Nature Walk with PA Master Naturalist, Diana Cormack. We’ll look for nuts and seeds, maybe we can find some beech nuts. RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org to attend.

Artist Day
2024-10-13
Calling all photographers, painters, and artists! Sunday, October 13th the Great Marsh will be open dawn to dusk for all interested artists. Take a self-guided tour to paint, take photos, and enjoy the property.
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org with your name and the time you plan to arrive. Check-in will be at the Farm House.
This event is free of charge but we humbly ask for a suggested donation of $20. Donate through our Paypal, Venmo, or make a cash donation at the door.

Bird Walk
2024-10-13 08:00 - 11:00
Come join us at The Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, October 13th at 8:00 AM for our monthly bird walk. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.

Nature Walk
2024-10-13 16:00 - 18:00
Join us at Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, October 13th at 4pm for a Nature Walk with PA Master Naturalist, Diana Cormack. Late afternoon walk, we can see if we can find rabbits or evidence of other animals in the marsh. RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org to attend.

Nature Walk
2024-10-19 09:00 - 11:00
Join us at Great Marsh Institute on Saturday, October 19th at 9am for a Nature Walk with PA Master Naturalist, Diana Cormack. Morning walk looking for a variety of fall species. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org to attend.

Fungus Walk with the Philadelphia Mycology Club
2024-10-20 13:00 - 16:00
Join the Philadelphia Mycology Club for a walk at the Marshlands. Learn to identify mushrooms and explore a world of organisms that mostly thrives out of sight and plays a critical role in the ecology of fields, forests, and wetlands.

Register via the PMC’s event page: https://events.humanitix.com/guided-walk-at-the-great-marsh-institute

Nature Walk
2024-10-27 16:00 - 18:00
Join us at Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, October 27th at 4pm for a Nature Walk with PA Master Naturalist, Diana Cormack. Last walk of the year, we’ll look and see what is left, seeds, nuts, rose hips and anything else we can find. RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org to attend.

Artist Day
2024-11-16
Calling all photographers, painters, and artists! Saturday, November 16th the Great Marsh will be open dawn to dusk for all interested artists. Take a self-guided tour to paint, take photos, and enjoy the property.
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org with your name and the time you plan to arrive. Check-in will be at the Farm House.
This event is free of charge but we humbly ask for a suggested donation of $20. Donate through our Paypal, Venmo, or make a cash donation at the door.

Bird Walk
2024-11-17 08:00 - 11:00
Come join us at The Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, November 17th at 8:00 AM for our monthly bird walk. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.

Artist Day
2024-12-15
Calling all photographers, painters, and artists! Sunday, December 15th the Great Marsh will be open dawn to dusk for all interested artists. Take a self-guided tour to paint, take photos, and enjoy the property.
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org with your name and the time you plan to arrive. Check-in will be at the Farm House.
This event is free of charge but we humbly ask for a suggested donation of $20. Donate through our Paypal, Venmo, or make a cash donation at the door.

Bird Walk
2024-12-15 08:00 - 11:00
Come join us at The Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, December 15th at 8:00 AM for our monthly bird walk. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.

Artist Day
2025-01-11
Calling all photographers, painters, and artists! Saturday, January 11th the Great Marsh will be open dawn to dusk for all interested artists. Take a self-guided tour to paint, take photos, and enjoy the property.
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org with your name and the time you plan to arrive. Check-in will be at the Farm House.
This event is free of charge but we humbly ask for a suggested donation of $20. Donate through our Paypal, Venmo, or make a cash donation at the door.

Bird Walk
2025-01-19 08:00 - 11:00
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER.

Come join us at The Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, January 19th at 8:00 AM for our monthly bird walk. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.

CANCELLED: Bird Walk
2025-02-16 08:00 - 11:00
This weekend’s bird walk has been cancelled due to inclement weather. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Come join us at The Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, February 16th at 8:00 AM for our monthly bird walk. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.

Bird Walk
2025-03-09 08:00 - 11:00
Come join us at The Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, March 9th at 8:00 AM for our monthly bird walk. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.

Artist Day
2025-03-23
Calling all photographers, painters, and artists! Sunday, March 23rd the Great Marsh will be open dawn to dusk for all interested artists. Take a self-guided tour to paint, take photos, and enjoy the property.
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org with your name and the time you plan to arrive. Check-in will be at the Farm House.
This event is free of charge but we humbly ask for a suggested donation of $20. Donate through our Paypal, Venmo, or make a cash donation at the door.

Great Marsh Mud Mosey
2025-04-12 10:00 - 15:00
Welcome to the Second Annual Great Marsh Mud Mosey! This event features two signup options throughout the unique environmental landscape: an approximately 5k run and a one-mile walk. Proceeds of this event go to benefit two local nonprofit organizations: Great Marsh Institute and ChesCo Search Dogs (more info listed at our sign-up link below).
https://runsignup.com/Race/PA/Elverson/GreatMarshMudMosey
The course is relatively flat but will pass along through the marsh ponds on the property, alongside wooded boundaries past 100’s of acres of farm land and then into the muddy portion of the property and finish on the only paved road before you hit the finish line. The race/walk is limited to the first 150 runners.

Bird Walk
2025-04-13 08:00 - 11:00
Come join us at The Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, April 13th at 8:00 AM for our monthly bird walk. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.

Nature Walk with Diana Cormack
2025-04-13 16:00 - 18:00, 2025-04-27 16:00 - 18:00, 2025-05-10 16:00 - 18:00
Join Diana Cormack, a PA Master Naturalist, for a nature walk and see what is blooming at the Great Marsh. Wood anemone, jack in the pulpit, spring beauty, wild geraniums, and May apples can all be spotted, as well as trout lily leaves and Canada mayflower that will bloom soon. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small.

Artist Day
2025-04-19
Calling all photographers, painters, and artists! Saturday, April 19th the Great Marsh will be open dawn to dusk for all interested artists. Take a self-guided tour to paint, take photos, and enjoy the property.
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org with your name and the time you plan to arrive. Check-in will be at the Farm House.
This event is free of charge but we humbly ask for a suggested donation of $20. Donate through our Paypal, Venmo, or make a cash donation at the door.

The Art of Bird Photography
2025-05-02 18:00 - 2025-05-03 07:00
Join us May 2nd & 3rd as local bird photographer and hobbyist, Hilary Vadner, discusses, “The Art of Bird Photography.”

May 2nd from 6pm-8pm, In the Nature Center, there will be a presentation on avian photography techniques and tips.
May 3rd at 7am, Students will have the opportunity to bring their cameras and reconvene at the Great Marsh for a morning of mentored practice with Hilary in this spectacular and photo-worthy landscape.

Hilary is an avid photographer. Her work has been recognized by Wild Birds Unlimited BirdSpotter Contest (2022); Birds ’n Blooms Annual Photo Contest (2023); and Friends of Heinz Refuge Nature in Focus Photo Competition (2024).

10 spaces available with a wait list
$50 suggested donation

Sign up today!

Wyncote Audubon Society Bird Walk
2025-05-04 08:00 - 11:00
Come join us at The Great Marsh Institute on Sunday, May 4th at 8:00 AM for our monthly bird walk in collaboration with the Wyncote Audubon Society. Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org. This will help us to organize and keep groups small. This event is free but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.

Honey Bee Apiary Tour
2025-05-10 13:00 - 15:00
Join us for a brand new event: Honey Bee Apiary Tour and Honey Tasting, Walk & Talk, Q&A. Master beekeeper, Frank Ruthkosky, is the owner of Exton Bee Company and is the Apiary Inspector for the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Frank has had honey bee hives on our property for the past 3 years. Join us at 1:00 PM for a walking tour of his working bee hives (the walk is about 2 miles round trip with an uphill climb). After the walk (at approximately 2:00 PM) there will be a talk, Q&A, and honey tasting in the Nature Center. Feel free to join for just the walk, talk/tasting, or both!
Please RSVP to lori@greatmarshinstitute.org to attend. This event is free of charge but donations are always welcome via our Paypal, Venmo, or cash donations at the door.
