Sneak Peek of some Great TLC Silent Auction Items

TLC's Hootenanny Hoedown is rapidly approaching--have you heard it is taking place on Saturday, September 13 at The Ruins on The Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Course.  If you have not yet purchased tickets, you are not going to want to miss this event--so BUY THEM NOW. 

We have so many wonderful silent auction items which are listed this page, so be sure to preview them to find out what item you may want to take home but we are going to highlight a few items which may take some planning with friends and family before the event--VACATIONS!!

Isabela, Puerto Rico: Casa de Olas is very private oceanfront rental on Shacks Beach, Isabela Puerto Rico. Situated on the North West coast of PR it is just steps away from some of the best SURFING, STAND UP PADDLEBOARDING, KITEBOARDING and DIVING. A first floor 2 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen with dishwasher; 2 full bathrooms with showers inside; another half bath with washer and dryer outside next to the private POOL!  This property sleeps six. 

Pick your dates of one week from May 1 through October 15

OBX, Carova, North Carolina: This vacation rental is ONLY accessible with a 4WD vehicle (NOT AWD).  You will drive along the beach to access this beautiful home situated behind the dunes with stunning views of the ocean.   Be sure to invite your friends/extended family as this house has SIX bedrooms and 7 1/2 BATHS.  The wonderful amenities include a gourmet kitchen and a theater room but the beach steps away beckons.  Wild horses among the dunes offer frequent photo opportunities.

This Opportunity is for October 11-October 18th 2014!! 

Lewes, Delaware: This 3 bedroom/ 2 bath apartment sleeps six and offers beautiful views of the Delaware Bay and Lewes lighthouse.  It is located above the East of Maui Surf Shop and convenient to the city beach (just across the street) and to Cape Henlopen, which is a short bike ride or drive away, as well as to the town of Lewes.  Cape Henlopen State Park is a mecca for the avid bird watcher, and offers many nature trails and hiking options.   The historic town of Lewes has wonderful shops, museums, and restaurants. Choose your week from October 2014 through May 2015.

Bonmartini-Fini & TLC?

 What does a vineyard in Italy have to do with TLC? Read on to find out!!

In 1497, the two noble Venetian families of Barone and Fini united in marriage and began producing wine in northeastern Italy.  Archival notes show they were the wine makers for the Medicis. 

Today, the Bonmartini family of Greenville, Delaware-- direct descendants of the Barone Finis-- continue to manage this venerable property that lies at the foot of the majestic Dolomite mountains in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of northern Italy that shoulders up against Austria.

Giovanni Bonmartini-Fini took control of the winery in 1997 after his uncle Sebastiano passed away. Cultivating grapes in as natural a manner as possible, the winery specializes in producing just two varietals: Pinot Grigio and Merlot. All of the fruit for Barone Fini is sourced from old vines, is hand harvested and subjected to rigorous hand sorting to ensure that only the best fruit is used.

The son of Greenville's Francesco and Charlotte Bonmartini-Fini,  Giovanni has lived his life with one foot on each side of the Atlantic Ocean. Born in Massachusetts, his formative years were  spent on his family’s farm on the shores of Lake Garda, attending various schools in France, Italy, and Belgium. After Francesco's retirement as an executive with Hercules Corporation, he became heavily involved in the business of the winery. When the family returned to America, Giovanni graduated from the Tatnall School in Wilmington in 1981. He speaks French, Italian and English fluently.

Barone-Fini produces a lovely Merlot, but they are especially known for their distinctive Pinot Grigio Valdadige and Pinot Grigio Alto Adige.  Created from relatively young vines planted about 25-30 years ago, the  wines are created to be medium-bodied, without harsh tannins or high alcohol content. The vineyard  produces 60,000 cases of Pinot Grigio a year, 100,000 cases overall. Bottles are adorned with the striking Bonmartini-Fini family crest.

 This is a sneak peek of one of the wonderful silent auction items that you will have a chance to bid on at the 2014 Hootenanny Hoedown.   We are thankful for Terry Conway for connecting us to the Bonmartini family, and for this wonderful write up of Giovanni Bonmartini-Fini and his wines.  Purchase your tickets now to the 2014 Hootenanny Hoedown and YOU could be the highest bidder on the case of Merlot and Pinot Grigio adorned with the Bonmartini-Fini family crest.  

Read more great articles from Terry Conway. 

Celebrating National Honey Bee Day with TLC

TLC took part in celebrating National Honey Bee Day with two events last week.

On Thursday, August 14th there was a showing of More Than Honey in The Liberty Room at The Market at Liberty Place.   More Than Honey is a nationally acclaimed film that highlights environmental pressures impacting bee populations across the world.  Experienced beekeepers, novice beekeepers, and those just interested in learning more about these pollinators enjoyed their food from The Market vendors as they learned about the important role that honey bees play in the food that we consume.   TLC recognizes the importance of honey bees and in addition to education through movies like More Than Honey, we also have hives at New Leaf Eco Center which are opened up once a month for our Open Hive Days.

TLC's Observation Hive.

We celebrated National Honey Bee Day officially on Saturday, September 16th with an Open Hive Day at the New Leaf Eco Center. This month our beekeeper, Dan Bokoski, focused on ways to remediate mite problems occurring in the hive. The main step that we focused on was figuring out if your hive has a problem that needs to be treated. This is done by calculating the percentage of mites in a hive. Dan's preferred method is the powdered sugar technique, where mites are filtered from a jar of honeybees (~400 honeybees) containing powdered sugar and counted. Dan demonstrated this technique to our sharp-eyed group who were able to spot 20 mites that were filtered from the jar. This number is the indicator for treatment versus no treatment. Dan laid down the light, organic treatment, which should alleviate the mite problem on one of our three hives.

There are many things to learn as a prospective and experienced beekeeper. TLC's Open Hive Days are a great place for beekeepers to share ideas, and for new beekeepers to learn the ins and outs of installing and managing a hive on their own properties!

There are two more Open Hive Days left for the 2014 year: Saturday, September 20th and Saturday, October 18th. Both run from 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM and are located at New Leaf Eco Center (776 Rosedale Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348).

Dan Borkoski showing a frame from the hives. In the background are other materials to conduct the mite remediation.

Celebrating the Dog Days of Summer

If you are not aware, TLC's Nature Preserves are a wonderful resource for dog owners.  We ask that you maintain control while walking your dogs on our property, but we do not require leashes, only control.  We held our first ever Dog Days of Summer event last evening at Stateline Woods Preserve.  The weather was unseasonably cool (Dog Days of Summer adage did not apply) but beautiful none the less for a fun evening. 

Event attendees brought out their canine pals to explore our preserve and meet other four-legged friends.   After an introduction to TLC and Stateline Woods, attendees learned about the newest dog friendly addition to Stateline Woods Preserve, our dog compost sites.  We were very thankful for our good friend and TLC supporter Del Bittle & Diesel for bringing out the PA system!

There are three dog compost areas installed throughout the property that allow dog owners to clean the dog waste off of the trail, and dispose of it through the compost site.  It is important to note that ONLY Corn Based Compostable bags should be put into the dog compost sites.  TLC will provide bags at the preserve, but they can also be purchased at Harvest Market Natural Foods.  With the help of all dog users on our preserve, we can help to reduce the Nonpoint Source Pollution caused by dog waste.  In order for our composting sites to work properly, please only place dog poop in CORN BASED COMPOSTABLE bags into the compost.    If you are using recycled plastic bags from the grocery store, you must remove this waste from the property.

GiggyBites was on hand to provide delicious home-baked treats for all of the canines attending the event and Punk'd Pineapple was there to provide the humans with a little ice cream.  Paws for People is a Pet Therapy Volunteer program that was on hand to speak about volunteer options available with your pets.  Nancy Fitzgerald from Positive Results Dog Training spoke about ways to make sure that your dog is "off-leash" ready.  Mary Long, an Animal Communicator spoke to folks about ways to better understand what their dog was trying to tell them.

All attendees (in the four legged variety) received squeaky tennis balls courtesy of Concord Pets in Hockessin and entered to win a raffle for a painting party at Punk'd Pineapple.  The top prize for the Costume Contest was a gift certificate to Half Moon Restaurant, and one new Canine Pal member won a gift certificate for a Family Class with the Dog Training Center of Chester County.  We are thankful to our event sponsor In Home Veterinary Care for all of their support!



If you missed the event--be sure to stop by Stateline Woods for a hike and have your canine sport their own TLC Tags by becoming a Canine Pal.  Canine Pals and all members help to support TLC and our nature preserves! Click HERE to view all of the photos from the event.