We have introduced an online auction feature to the 2023 Fall Symposium that is accessible to everyone online! It features four special packages designed with plant lovers in mind, and you do not need to be a Fall Symposium registrant or a NPSOT Member to bid.
You could win items like a cool river stay on the Native American Seed Farm, a Pineywoods cabin stay and private field trip from Symposium Speaker Peter Loos, or an Allen Acres Bed & Breakfast stay (shown) and Edible Plant Class hosted by Symposium Speaker Charles Allen, and more! And your winning bid also supports Kate Hillhouse Scholarship Fund and the Ann Miller Gonzalez Research Grant Fund!
View the listings here for further details and to bid: https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/bid/1847
2-Night “Cool River Cabin” Stay on the Native American Seed Farm in Junction, Texas
This experience includes two nights at a “Cool River Cabin,” privately located on the Llano River on the Native American Seed Farm outside of Junction in the Texas Hill Country and the opportunity to see a working native seed farm. This rustic cabin is equipped with a full kitchen stocked with staples, has two bedrooms, and two bathrooms, plus a sleeping loft and a porch perfect for morning coffee or evening cocktails. It also includes hand-built mesquite wood furniture and central air. Kids are welcome. Swimming, fishing, canoeing to the rapids are all possible; the Llano River is just 900 paces down the trail. One canoe and three kayaks come with the cabin. A diversity of native birds can be found in the area. Take a hike through a river hardwood forest, mesquite flats, and upland rolling hill country on a well-maintained trail system. Or walk around our fields to see the beauty of a working native seed farm!
One-Night Stay at Allen Acres Bed & Breakfast and Edible Plant Class, Pitkin, LA
This experience includes one night donated and hosted by NPSOT Fall Symposium Speaker Charles Allen at Allen Acres Bed and Breakfast, a 26 acre wooded paradise near Fort Polk and adjacent to the Kisatchie National Forest, near the picturesque Ouiska Chitto Creek. It is listed as a State Natural Area and a jewel in Louisiana Lodging. The Allen’s have spent years developing gardens specifically designed to attract butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds. Also, a variety of chickens and a flock of guineas can be seen and heard. Breakfast is your choice but the fresh eggs are very popular. Charles Allen, an accomplished authority on the native plants of Louisiana offers plant id classes including basic, wetland plants, edible plants, and graminoids. The Enduro Trail is nearby in the Kisatchie National Forest and is great for ATV, Motorcycle, Mountain Biking, Hiking, and Horse use.
The package also includes the Edible Plant One-Day Class taught on-site and available Saturdays from mid-March through the end of May. If you want to see, smell, taste, and learn many of the wild edibles in this area, this is the workshop for you. The workshop will include fieldtrips, where you can see the plants in their natural environment as well as tables of labeled specimens in a lab setting. The group will gather edibles as we walk and a meal will be prepared. Several teas will also be prepared from specimens collected this day plus some teas from already dried plants. Bread seasoned with wild plants will also be prepared. You are encouraged to photograph, take notes, ask questions, and take specimens home with you.
Private Field Trip with Peter Loos & 2-Night Stag Leap Cabin Stay, Pineywoods Ecoregion
This experience includes a private field trip with 2023 Symposium Speaker Peter Loos and a gift certificate for a two-night cabin stay in Nacogdoches, Texas. The all-day field trip deep in the heart of the Pineywoods include travel to a Cypripedium kentuckiense (Kentucky Lady Slipper) site in the Sabine National Forest, specific population TBD just prior to trip to ensure blooms. From there, you will travel south to Little Cow Creek in Newton Co to see Stewartia malacodendron (Silky Camelia). Then, you will travel west, stopping for lunch on the way, to a large Sarracenia alata (Pitcher Plant) Bog in the Angelina National Forest. If time allows after that, you will stop at a nearby Catahoula Barren and/or a Baygall to see Trillium pusillum var texanum (White Texas Trillium). The cabin stay gift certificate is for up to $350 towards a two-person, two-night cabin stay of your choice at Stag Leap Cabins-Nacogdoches. This amount covers the total cost for two guests in either the Creek Cabin or Bucks Head Cabin, and includes free use of a golf cart. If a larger cabin is desired, or you wish to stay more than two nights, or have more than two guests in your group, the gift certificate will be applied to your overall cost.
Anna Kraft Studio Session and 11 x 14 Fine Art Photography Portrait
Anna Kraft specializes in hand-crafted, legacy wall portraits inspired by the richness of the Old Masters’ paintings. The auction winner will receive a certificate (valued at $2000) for a 1-hour portrait sitting session and a 11×14 custom canvas portrait. Portrait artist Anna Kraft specializes in hand-crafted, heirloom canvas wall portraits inspired by the richness of the Old Masters’ paintings.
Find Out More and Bid!
Read more details about all offerings in bid now in the live action that closes on November 11th at 4:45!
https://www.charityauctionstoday.com/bid/1847
About the Proceeds
Proceeds from the online auction go toward the Kate Hillhouse Scholarship Fund and to the Ann Miller Gonzalez Research Grant Fund. Kate Hillhouse and Ann Miller Gonzalez were early supporters of Texas native plants and were devoted to preserving our area native plants thus funds generated from these two events provide us with a way to honor them. Please help us make this year’s symposium a great success by participating in this event!
