Laconia Based Environmental Center Runs Family-Friendly Programs, Autumn Style

By Austin Sorette

Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center (PFEEC) knows how important living a healthy, green lifestyle is to families and their values. It is essential for parents to teach their children, the future adults of our world, about the importance of respecting our planet and understanding how to treat it a little gentler.

Because of this, PFEEC has been running a series of Fall Programs for families to learn about the importance of a green lifestyle by participating in fun, engaging activities. Some of these programs include Campfire Storytelling, a Spiders & Webs Puppet Show, and a interactive lesson on how to preserve your fruit and veggie harvest with hot water bath canning, freezing and drying. PFEEC also has an upcoming winter program which will host activities adapted for the change in season, while still retaining the same amount of excitement and fun as the fall programs.

“We wanted programs that anyone can do; there is something for both kids and adults to enjoy,” says Kimberly Drouin, the director of marketing and administration at the Prescott Farms Environmental Education Center, “These are very self-efficient activities that families can do together.”

PFEEC is focused on providing environmentally conscious programs to people of all ages and abilities. The farm has programs that give people some insight of what farm life is really like, as well as showing them the practices of rural communities that they can do anywhere, regardless of where they live. These activities have become quite popular for academic field trips. The Prescott Farm staff demonstrates, to the visiting students and teachers, the typical “how-to” responsibilities of a farm, like properly tapping trees for sap and test-tasting the syrups.

PFEEC's programs and workshops take place on-site in Laconia, NH. Prescott Farm has been owned by the same family for over two hundred years. On the premises of the farm, there is a new, “green” building called the Samuel P. Pardoe Building. This “green” building provides space for PFEEC's programs and events, and is also available to rent for special events such as weddings, local business retreats and more.

The building itself, created in 2005, was built with several eco-friendly features. It uses solar electricity and passive solar heating to light parts of the building and retain the heat inside even after the sun has gone down. It has a geothermal heat pump system to control the temperature inside of the rooms, and the wood used in the building is bought from either regional or local sources.

PFEEC discovered the Green Alliance after they had read several publications written by the Green Alliance staff. The Green Alliance is a local green business union that specializes in promoting local businesses who are environmentally conscious, and also offers a wide variety of discounted green products and services to their card-carrying members. Right away, PFEEC believed that the Green Alliance could help them spread the word about their devotion to green lifestyles and help encourage families to do the same.

“We felt, with the Green Alliance, that it was a good opportunity to explore our possibilities,” says Drouin, “It was all in line with our mission to help us get the word out about what we do here.”

The Green Alliance was smitten with PFEEC and their dedication to family oriented activities. The two businesses place an enormous emphasis on the importance of family values and how they can affect nature, as well as our planet and our future, in a positive way.

“One of the most important missions we have with these programs is to create workshops where families can participate and enjoy themselves, but also be able to take something away from it,” says Drouin, “We want to raise awareness about PFEEC because we feel we have a lot of things to offer families about how important green lifestyles are and how they can appreciate our planet a little more by engaging in these activities.”

To learn more about Prescott Farm Environmental Education Center, visit www.prescottfarm.org

To learn more about the Green Alliance, visit www.greenalliance.biz