Somers Land Trust members, scouts, local civic organizations, companies, town employees and countless volunteers have all come together at Angle Fly Preserve on projects to enrich the recreational, aesthetic and educational experiences of all who visit.
The 18th Century Silas Reynolds House situated at the entry to Angle Fly Preserve is being restored to its original look and brought up to current code to provide a home for a caretaker.
The work is a collaboration between the Somers Land Trust, numbers local companies, and the Town of Somers.
The Silas Reynolds house frame and interior dates back to the late 18th Century and the earliest days of Somers as a town. Over the years many additions were appended to the original structure.
Somers Land Trust volunteers like Mike Lubchenko braved the grime and plaster dust of centuries to knock out the interior walls, readying the house for an assessment of needed structural repairs.
Volunteers pushed to finish the exterior before winter snows fell. As finished as it may look from the outside, the inside required lots of work: framing, floors, electrical and plumbing, insulation, appliances...
The Silas Reynolds house frame and interior dates back to the late 18th Century and the earliest days of Somers as a town. Over the years many additions were appended to the original structure.
The Mickey Oliver Native Habitat honors the late Somers Town Historian who was a champion in the effort to save Angle Fly Preserve and the Silas Reynolds House.
Part of the original Reynolds farmstead, this area hosts a variety of educational demonstration projects aimed at restoring native species.
Projects include the wildflower garden surrounding the farm pond, meadow restoration, trees planted to repair the riparian slope near Primrose Street, and the Memory Forest where native trees and benches provide a welcoming place for contemplation.
 |  |
|---|---|
 |  |
 |
Below is a very rough prototype for how the Scout project information can be organized. It may be the best way for showing projects and items of interest generally:
- Map will need to be much simpler version than trail map - for instance by leaving off contour lines, location box, trail length box, titles, etc. (I've hidden some of this beneath white boxes here.). Can we get this from Ed?
- We will probably need to "zoom in" on areas where projects are congregated.
- Red dots (or some other shape) for scout projects can be linked to separate pages, or to text below map which then links to separate page with more information.
- Green dots (ditto) for sites of interest: old dam, bridge over Angle Fly, native garden...
Benches/Scout Name
I am trying out a bunch of different techniques and graphic layouts to make the project map simple, effective and useful. There is nothing linked to this paragraph.
Bog bridge
This bog bridge, constructed by Scout Name, is something you'll be glad to find along the trail after a late winter snowmelt or early spring rains. Adding a small photo to each paragraph could be nice or could end up being too busy, especially with the numbered dots. Plus they will look raggedy if they don't line up with the text, which will be a lot of work - and perhaps not even possible on the diversity of browsers and devices out there.
Rain Garden
Scout Name
Right now, the icon on the map intended for the Rain Garden, goes straight from the map to a project page that would have information and pictures about the Rain Garden. I think that feels a bit abrupt and leaves the overview information here in a kind of limbo.
The dot on the map for the Nature Trail goes to the anchor just above this paragraph, but I think that is too ambiguous. A link on this title (only) goes to the project page.
Memory Forest/Scout Name
I like the inclusion of the scout name to the project name on a single line as above. It also has the virtue of saving space which will be even more important as the list of projects continues to grow.
ANGLE FLY PROJECTS
 Rain GardenRain garden was planted near the Reynolds House. |  Rain garden locationElectrical work made relocation of rain garden necessary. |
|---|