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President’s Report

I hope everyone is enjoying their winter! Personally, I am counting down to the days of

warmer weather!

Earlier this winter, there was an email blast seeking volunteers to serve on the

beautification committee. I would like to thank those Fernbank residents who have

responded. If anyone would still like to join a committee or is interested in a board

position, please feel free to email me. We always welcome volunteers! As the expression

goes, many hands make light work.

One resident had asked me to bring up the topic of light pollution. Truthfully, besides

knowing that light pollution can reduce our view of the night sky, I was not very familiar

with the subject. In doing some research, I found a very informative article on light

pollution written by Nadia Drake and published in National Geographic last year.1 Light

pollution is “the inappropriate or excessive use of artificial light.” Excessive lighting can be

disorienting for birds, affects animal breeding patterns, disrupts ecosystems, wastes

energy, and can have negative health effects. Bright lighting (especially blue light), reduces

the production of melatonin, which can interrupt our circadian rhythm; circadian

disruption has been associated with heart disease, diabetes, depression, and cancer. While

Shepherdstown is not considered by any means to be a big city with bright lights, we can

all do our part in reducing unnecessary lighting. When choosing outdoor lighting, consider

where the light is illuminating. Keep lights directed on pathways. Consider installing lights

along the ground rather than overhead lights. Consider using timers or motion sensors so

that lights are not left on all night. LED lights are cost-effective and use less energy than

incandescent or fluorescent lighting, but the brighter “blue” LEDs have a more negative

Fernbank Fanfare

February 2020

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impacts on circadian rhythm. The American Medical Association recommends limiting

LEDs to no more than 3,000 Kelvin, which is a warmer white LED light. Please keep these

recommendations in mind when choosing your light fixtures and light bulbs.

Speaking of lighting, Fernbank does have street lights throughout the neighborhood in

order to provide a safer walking and driving environment. If a street light is out, please

notify either me, Bob Beckett (Security), or Gene Kelly (Roads Committee), and we will

alert Potomac Edison. Thank you all for making Fernbank a great place to live!

Warm regards,

Lisa Beard

1. Drake, Nadia. (April 2019) Our nights are getting brighter, and Earth is paying the price. "National

Geographic," https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/04/nights-are-getting-brighter-earth-

paying-the-price-light-pollution-dark-skies/#close

Deer Hunt Final Report

by Tim Murphy

At one half hour after sunset on January 31 the 2019/2020 Fernbank Urban Hunt ended. A total of 16 deer taken, 3 Bucks and 13 Does. Thirteen of the deer were taken in the September to December main season. Three Does were taken in the two-week January season. All deer were taken to a WV DNR meat processing facility for inspection. None was infected with any diseases. Some of the meat was donated to local food banks.

I have noticed that the pattern and timing of deer visibility has changed from previous years. Deer are appearing earlier in the morning and staying later in the afternoon. I also noticed that the deer I see look healthy, meaning no visible signs of any disease, and they appear to have eaten well. The impregnated Does will give birth in June with as many as two fawns per mom. Deer sightings will be more common beginning in early June. During the first week of February the hunters will be in the area to take down their stands.

Fernbank Holiday Decorations

The Christmas and New Year holiday season was celebrated throughout the Fernbank community with public and private decorations. The following pages provide a sampling of the displays of winter greenery, ribbons and lights.

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Fernbank Holiday Party On December 8 over 60 Fernbank residents and friends convened at the Club at Cress Creek for a celebration of the Christmas holiday season. A busy and lively cocktail hour

preceded sit-down dinner with Christmas musical entertainment provided by South Tamarac Drive resident Scott Beard. Much thanks to Cindy Morrow and the Social Committee for all the work to organize such a well-attended event. Lots of photos of the happy participants follow.

Bob Morrow with Larry and Elizabeth Toth John Brady and Elisabeth Staro

Helena Reca and Patricia Toffling Scott Beard at the Piano

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Cliff Smith with ladies in red Marianne Beckett, Jeff Wilson, John and Nancy Streeter, Val Smith Val Smith and Lori Kelly and Judith Ringer

Jack Young, John Spears and Ellen Jacobs Betse Hinkley joins the ladies in red to make a quartet

Have You Considered a Book Club? After the warming lights and good cheer of the holidays, the winter can seem like a long

slog. One way to bring an imaginative spark into these days is with a good book. But how

to choose? If you would like help in finding books or would like to share your feelings

about your reading, a book club may be the answer.

Shepherdstown has a wide variety of book clubs and two principal sources for making

contact with a club seeking new members. The Shepherdstown Public Library provides

logistical support for a number of clubs including the FOSL Book Club, which meets

monthly at the library. Four Seasons Books has sponsored its own book club for over 20

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years and also provides meeting space for a number of special interest clubs that meet

monthly at to bookstore. These special interest clubs persue genres that include: young

adult fiction, mystery fiction, world fiction (authors from other cultures), science and

technology issues and LGBT+ fiction and nonfiction. Details on the current readings for

these clubs and the meeting days and times may be found on the Four Seasons Books

website at http://www.fourseasonsbooks.com/book-clubs.html.

Every winter you can participate in Shepherdstown’s largest book club without even leaving your house by helping to select Shepherd University’s Common Reading for the next academic year. The nominees for the 2020-21 academic year have just been announced and are as follows:

Walking to Listen by Andrew Forsthoefel – a recent college graduate’s cross-country quest for guidance about entering adult life.

Rising out of Hatred by Eli Saslow – the story of how a prominent white supremacist changed his heart and mind.

Endurance by Scott Kelly – a memoir from the astronaut and modern-day hero who spent a record-breaking year aboard the International Space Station.

Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore by Elizabeth Rush – a guide to the effects of climate change through some of the places where it has been most dramatic.

The Life of Frederick Douglass by Walker & Smith – an illustrated biography of the escaped slave, abolitionist, public speaker, and most photographed man of the 19th century.

Any Shepherdstown resident may vote online for their favorite among these books between February 1 and March 31 at https://www.shepherd.edu/commonreading.

Searching for Spring If you wish to take a break from your reading as the gray days of winter march forward,

step into your garden or take a hike where early spring wildflowers are known to gather.

Close to home, daffodils are already sending their green spears skyward hoping that the

frosts will be short and not too deep. Snow drops and crocuses will soon bloom. Later the

yellow riot of forsythia and a motley of tulips and hyacinths, who have managed to hide

from the deer, will follow.

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If the day seems mild and February has given way to March, a hike along the C&O Canal

towpath or the Snavely Ford Trail near Burnside Bridge by Antietam Creek should yield

views of Dutchman’s breeches and bloodroot among other early spring floral visitors.

When April arrives dramatic clusters of Virginia bluebells will be found at many spots, but

most abundantly on the canal towpath between Snyder’s Landing and Taylor’s Landing

upstream from mile marker 78 or closer to home along Terrapin Neck Road near NCTC.

The rarer red trillium may also be spotted along the canal towpath.

Dutchman’s Breeches Bloodroot Virginia Bluebells Red Trillium

Wherever you seek them, spring wildflowers will be accompanied by a chorus of

migrating song birds heralding the new growth and warmer days.

The 2020 Annual Fernbank Community Yard Sale Co-Chairs Anne Small, Carol Ringoot, Peachy Staley are pleased to announce that the 2020

Fernbank Community Yard Sale will be held June 26, and 27 between the hours of 8:00 am

and 3:00 pm each day. Advertising, as in 2019, will be placed in multiple newspapers, on

the Shepherdstown Facebook Page, in Yard Sale Search (an on-line advertiser), posters in

local business, and on road signs. The cost of advertising will be split equally among

participants. Maps and house markers will be provided (no balloons!). Participants should

let Peachy know by June 1, 2020 by email to marystaley03@msn.com or by phone at 304-

676-8203

Editor’s Notes: Lex Miller, Communications Chair Thanks to Lisa Beard, Tim Murphy and Peachy Staley for their newsletter articles and to Betse Hinkley

for photos of the 2019 Fernbank Holiday Party.