Mud Season Speaker Series – Salamander Crossing Brigades

Mud Season Speaker Series

The Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center and the Brooks Memorial Library invite you to a series of programs based upon the Vermont Reads 2025-26 selection, The Light Pirate, with the themes of climate resilience through community and the unstoppable power of the natural world.

The Light Pirate

Named after a catastrophic storm, Wanda is born into a world that’s rapidly changing. Rising sea levels and devastating weather patterns transform her coastal Florida town. As she moves from childhood to adulthood, Wanda adapts to this remade landscape, finding adventure, love, and purpose in a place largely abandoned by civilization.

Told in four parts—power, water, light, and time—The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton is a meditation on the beauty and violence of an untamable wilderness. It considers the dissolution of the human-made world, and helps us see how human connection, adaptability, and a little bit of magic might guide us to a new future.

Get a copy at the library!

Monday, February 9, 2026 from 6:30-8

Pumpkin and Pye: How Beavers Keep Us Cool

Pumpkin was born in a stone culvert under Upper Dummerston Road and orphaned when his mother was hit by a car. Pye was attacked and badly injured by a dog as a yearling. BEEC naturalist Patti Smith will tell how these young beavers came together and into her care. Photos and videos will illustrate the adventures that ensued.

Patti maintains that beavers are not just lovable, they are important. She will also talk about their crucial role in holding water on a warming planet and mitigating floods. Find out how communities are solving beaver conflicts in ways that allow beavers to keep us cool.

Monday, March 9, 2026 from 6:30-8

Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transformed New England

A hurricane will never surprise us again. But that’s what happened to the people of New England on September 21, 1938. Without any warning, the most destructive weather event ever to hit the Northeast pummeled the coast and blasted its way to Vermont and New Hampshire with torrential rain, flooding, and sustained winds over 100 miles per hour.

Stephen Long tells the story of New England’s Katrina, focusing on the devastation to the region’s forests and the daunting challenge facing New Englanders still in the throes of the Great Depression. His presentation is richly illustrated with archival photos of storm damage and the unprecedented recovery operation, making the storm and its aftermath come alive. A journalist and co-founder of Northern Woodlands magazine, Stephen Long is the author of Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane that Transformed New England.

 Monday, March 30 at 7 pm

Salamander Crossing Brigades: help save salamanders

As our planet heats up amphibians are vulnerable. A group of important amphibians in our region depend upon temporary ponds—vernal pools—for egg-laying. These pools can dry much too fast in drought years. They are also vulnerable when they must cross roads to reach their breeding habitat. You can help! Join a Salamander Crossing Brigade. Getting adult amphibians safely across roads is a big way we can make their populations resilient.

The Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center has been organizing crossing brigades at known crossing sites for decades. Come to the library to learn more about the amazing amphibians that head for vernal pools in the spring and what you can do to help them.

Saturday, April 4, 10:30-12pm

Salamander Tea Party with BEEC

Enjoy salamander story books read by our salamander mascot, snack on salamander cookies, and learn all about salamander season in Vermont!

Naturalists will be on hand to answer questions about how and where you can take a peek at amphibian eggs or help out with amphibian conservation and community science projects including BEEC’s Salamander Crossing Brigade.

Monday, April 13  from 6:30-8

Vermont Reads Book Discussion: The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton

Join us for a thoughtful, guided conversation centered on The Light Pirate, a novel that follows one girl’s life as climate change reshapes Florida’s coast—and the meaning of home, resilience, and community. Rachael Cohen, environmental writer and editor, will facilitate this 90-minute discussion, creating space to reflect together on the book’s themes, characters, and emotional impact.

Participants will explore themes such as climate adaptation and how people respond—individually and collectively—to environmental change. All readers are welcome, whether the book moved you deeply or left you with lingering questions. Come prepared to listen, reflect, and engage in a meaningful exchange inspired by this powerful and timely novel.