About 2,300 people braved extreme heat to celebrate at the 18th Annual Reinstein Woods Fall Festival.  While most festival-goers came from Erie and Niagara counties, there were visitors from as far away as Rochester, Syracuse, the Adirondacks, Florida, Tennessee, and even France!

Mama Earth’s interactive music shows provided entertainment throughout the day. The festival area extended out to Flattail Lake, where attendees watched drone and search and rescue demonstrations. To go with the “Sustainable Earth” theme, volunteers at two Waste Centers collected trash from the event, diverting as much as possible into recycling and compost. We collected about 100 pounds of household batteries to be recycled and many pounds of other recyclables and organic wastes that otherwise would have gone to a landfill. Friends of Reinstein also purchased a carbon offset to reduce the festivals’ carbon footprint even further. To learn more visit www.footprintnetwork.org.

Special thanks to M&T Bank for sponsoring the event and providing a reusable bag to the first 500 families attending the event!

Thanks to everyone that made the 18^th Annual Fall Festival a success, including the Cheektowaga Police Department, Lexington Co-op, Mayer Brothers, Nussbaumer & Clarke, Inc., Paula’s Donuts, Paths, Peaks and Paddles, and all of our volunteers and exhibitors.

If you attended Winter Wonderland, you may have seen the Coalition of Positively Charged People‘s unique battery chute that was helping folks recycle alkaline (normal household) batteries. While Reinstein Woods is no longer accepting alkaline batteries, we do accept the following materials for recycling:

• rechargeable batteries
• sneakers in usable condition
• clean, empty skin care, hair care and cosmetic containers that otherwise wouldn’t be able to be recycled
• toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, floss and deodorant containers through Tom’s of Maine and Terracycle
• PERFECT #6 styrofoam (the kind electronics come wrapped in- must be in perfect condition)
• Cell Phones (for Soldiers)

You can bring these items to the “recycling station” inside the Education Center Monday through Friday 9 am to 4:30 pm and Saturdays from 1 pm to 4:30 pm.

Additionally, you can bring used clothing and blankets any time and place them in the Hearts for the Homeless bin in the main parking lot. Clothing doesn’t have to be in perfect condition (items can be sold to markets for industrial rags, for instance) but should be clean and dry.

To find where to recycle other items, visit earth911.org.

I’m trying to write this article as my wife and I volunteer at the Erie County Fair for Reinstein Woods. I’m not getting a lot done because so many people stop by our display and inquire about the “Woods.” I think most of the interest involves the ornate display created by Reinstein Woods Educator Ginger Wszalek which includes spinning CD “tops,” a water bottle recycle bin and the flowering water hoses.  There was a lot of interest shown by many of the fair goers.

My main purpose for this article is to ask for your help. A recent “MY View” article in the Buffalo News caused me to think about inviting Friends members to contribute a column to this newsletter. It could serve as a way to solicit thoughts and ideas from those who are members and want to be more engaged. Nature-related themes would be the main focus of the column. We will title the column “Tree Talk,” and if successful have an article appear in each edition of this newsletter. If many articles are submitted we could establish a screaming, I mean a screening, group to review. If you are interested in contributing, or have comments please let us know by emailing president@reinsteinwoods.org or by calling the office at 683 5959.

Thanks for your interest; we look forward to seeing you and your family this fall!!!!

– Michael Gettings, President