President’s Report
For the period July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026

The  ’25-’26 fiscal year marked the third season of operating the Valley Falls Farm and Heritage Center.   We continue to refine operations as a volunteer-run museum and cultural institution.  We extended our “open house” days to mid-October and happily, visitors kept coming!  We tallied record attendance at our Spring Wildflower, Bird, and Tree Walks, including the hardy folks who showed up in the rain for our History Walk.  While the operation of the Heritage Center is consuming, we haven’t lost sight of the founding impetus–this report’s theme–to preserve nature and history at Valley Falls as a resource for our town residents and visitors, and, importantly, for wildlife.

We continue to transform the Farm to a pollinator-friendly environment through plantings and invasive control.  We have made a plan, and budgeted funds, for a new rock garden beside the Ice House to honor late co-founder, Ginny Gingras.  We continue to nurture tree swallows, wrens and bluebirds on the Farm, and six bee houses remain active.  Friends of Valley Falls (FVF) members Sheryl Mc Mullen and Jeff Carlson have been instrumental in field-checking  and assessing the ephemeral vernal pools recorded in 2005 that are essential to breeding for some of our local amphibians.

Years ago, FVF was instrumental in hiring and supporting experts to do ecological surveys for Valley Falls Park and environs.  This year, in light of overuse concerns, FVF organized a committee to develop a habitat based management plan.  The project is being done in collaboration with the Town.  FVF obtained grants from the Rockville Bank Foundation and The Bafflin Foundation of Rhode Island to fund the natural resource studies needed for the plan, which upon completion in 2028 will be shared with the Town and the community as a guide for managing the landscape at Valley Falls Park.

Historic buildings require constant care, and old facilities put to new uses require adaptation.  The Northford Timber Framers completed stabilization of the Red Barn roof and FVF volunteers and friends spruced up the lower level by removing abandoned lath from the ceiling, and more.  As always, our work in the Red Barn is approved by the Town.  We have planned and budgeted for work now underway to address deterioration of the Farmhouse back porch and to improve comfort and efficiency for our tenants, who have explicit stewardship responsibilities.  The FVF endowment is healthy, and membership is steady, but most importantly, we are rich in heart, expressed by the dedication of volunteers and the generosity of members and friends.  In the coming year we’ll be planning for the future of the organization:  to assure continuity, to meet and maintain professional standards, to determine whether and how to grow, to nurture partnership with the Town of Vernon, and to carry forward the founding mission and ethos: to preserve history and nature at Valley Falls.

Jeremy Geller, President