May: Full Flower Moon

The May Full Moon (happening on May 27th) is often called the Full Flower Moon due to the abundance of flowers typically visible this time of year. Other variations also include the Full Corn Planting Moon and the Milk Moon.

Letterboxing Fun

On May 12th, NKOA had fun searching for a Letterbox filled with trinkets that their leaders placed in Pettengill Woods in Auburn. Each child brought along a trinket to exchange. Our members and their parents had to find our treasure by using a clue filled poem (Thank you Tamra for your creative use of words!).

After our first Letterboxing experience we have since learned from more experienced Letterboxers that we made a few gaffes. First, we used a coffee can instead of a waterproof container. So we will need to exchange that metal can for a tight-sealing Tupperwear. Second, we did not leave a stamp in our Letterbox. A Letterbox should contain a stamp that represents us. Since we are a nature-based group we should have a stamp that reflects that. I believe that someone took pity on us and left a stamp for people to use. But we need to get to work either designing our own or will need to purchase one that reflects what we are about. We should also have a stamp pad in our Letterbox too. But since it was our first time we didn't do too bad if more experienced Letterboxers found it, right?

After scouring online to find a tutorial to show the process here is the best one that YouTube has about Letterboxing:



Also, if you want to design your own stamp here is a tutorial about that:


If you are looking for something fun to do this summer, please check out NKOA's Letterbox!

Barker Mill Trail Cleanup

On May 5th several of our families got together to clean up the Barker Mill Trail in Auburn. The children and their parents clipped prickly bramble, picked up trash, raked, and had fun discovering the bulky waste on the hill beside the trail. Two unusual finds were a reclining chair and a boxing bag!

This was NKOA's second time cleaning up this very underused and undermaintained trail. We were able to get a little further down the trail this time, however we did discover it gets pretty murky in some areas. Eventually we hope to discover where this ellusive trail leads to, as we have yet been able to get very far down due to the overgrowth. But for now we are pretty proud of our efforts!

Despite the trash and brambles we all enjoyed the way the sun sparkled on the Little Androscoggin and the sounds of both the birds and the falls. It was a good day!

If you are looking for a community service project contact the L/A Trails System and tell them you would like to help clean up the Barker Mill Trail.