The Fort Atkinson Club (FAC) has announced that it will be hosting a FACTalk titled: “Bee-friendly: How ‘No Mow May’ Protects Pollinators and How You Can Be Part of the Solution.” The presentation is offered as one in a series of informative free seminars which will be held at the Fort Atkinson Club Community Center this spring.
The club is located at 211 S Water St., E., Fort Atkinson.
The Bee-friendly talk will be held Wednesday, April 27. Talks begin at 7 p.m. and typically run for 45 minutes, followed by an opportunity for participants to ask questions.
According to information released by the club, three members of the nonprofit group, Heart of the City, which is the organization sponsoring the No Mow May initiative, now in its second year, will be the program’s featured speakers.
They are Heart of the City President Frankie Fuller, and organization members Margaret Schroeder and Barbara Brouwer.
About the speakers
As stated within the release, Fuller is a master gardener and a master naturalist, earning those distinctions in 2009 and 2012, respectively. She holds a certificate in horticulture and a Liberal Arts Associate Degrees from MATC. Throughout her life, she has enjoyed volunteering on behalf of many civic organizations, and she has served on the board of directors of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) as well as Heart of the City president for three years.
Schroeder is a state licensed clinical social worker with 40 years of experience in a variety of healthcare settings, with emphasis in the fields of mental illnesses and psychiatric care of the elderly. She operated an office in the Fort Atkinson downtown area until 2019, when, the release noted, she joined Heart of the City. According to the release, Schroeder was among architects of the idea of bringing a No Mow May project to Fort Atkinson. She embraced the idea after learning of a study about the positive effects of such a program conduced through Lawrence University.
Brouwer, who first served as a licensed practical nurse, later changed her career to massage therapy. She holds a master’s degree in Oriental medicine and has studied in Bejing, China. She has worked with members of the Karen Hill Tribe in the mountains above Chaing Mai, Thailand. She continues in practice in Fort Atkinson as a massage therapist and acupuncturist.
Brouwer has cultivated a lifelong fascination with the natural world, the release noted, citing childhood solitary walks in the woods, and foraging and gardening as an adult, “planting everything from mushrooms to trees.” She enjoys harvesting food and medicinals from wild places, the release noted.
The FAC Community Center, as described in the release, is a beautiful, historical building on the Rock River in downtown Fort Atkinson.
To learn more about the Bee-friendly talk and others featured within the spring series, visit: https://www.fortatkinsonclub.org/factalks/.
The above contributed graphic shows signage used last year in the city of Fort Atkinson “No Mow May” campaign.
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