Welcome! Enjoy the grounds of the Holton Eco-Preserve and Accredited Arboretum. Here is a possible walk you can take. You will visit the trees around the pond, the Nature Path in the woods, which is a loop, the walk between the memorial trees to the raised beds and finally the labyrinth.
UUCFM is located here on a 12-and-a-half-acre piece of land. Roughly half is devoted to the buildings we need and the other half to the eco preserve and arboretum. The land was given to us in 1997 By Paul Holton and was named for Mr. Holton in 2004. We just recently got the status of Arboretum from ArbNet, the accrediting organization for arboreta worldwide.
You begin this walk at our new official arboretum sign located between the parking lot and the pond at the southernmost point of the pond. There are about 20 signs identifying the trees around the pond. (about 40 in all on the grounds) Clearly the early congregants were devoted to making this a museum of trees native to Southwest Florida. An Arboretum is really a tree museum. Not every tree has a sign as there are numerous repeats, and we wanted to identify the number of different species. Forty is just the beginning. Using the Picture This Ap, we identify additional species every time we go out.
Take the nature trail about halfway around the pond. The trees in here are mostly bald cypress and slash pine. This is a designated wetland, and during the rainy season it is inaccessible. We have the goal of building a boardwalk someday so that it can be accessed all year with the added benefit that it would be also wheelchair accessible.
Scout Troup 3300, which meets on the grounds, has done amazing work in maintaining the path, which was an Eagle Scout project for one of the scouts. Watch out for cypress knees that pop up here and there. Invasive exotics are a real problem. We continue to fight the melaleuca tree which many years ago was imported from Australia to “drain the swamp”—the idea was to turn the Everglades into dry land. This was a very bad idea, and we are suffering from it today.
After the loop in the woods, continue around the pond. We have a new tradition of planting trees in memory of loved ones who have died. The five such trees here are Weeping Bottle Brush Trees. We just dedicated them in February. On a recent workday, the Scouts helped plant these trees and also weeded, trimmed and generally improved the grounds.
Ahead are raised beds which are meant to be community gardens.
We have a thriving Pagan group on campus – known as CUUPS (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans.) We will finish our tour at the Labyrinth, which you are invited to meditatively walk. A pagan labyrinth unlike a maze, is not designed to be a puzzle. It does not have confusing hedges. Rather, it symbolizes an inner journey.
Feel free to walk the labyrinth. Enjoy the rest of your day.
Here is some additional info about the labyrinth in case you are interested and want to take a meditative walk.
https://dowsingfordivinity.com/2016/01/02/walking-the-labyrinth/
In Paganism, labyrinths symbolize a journey to the underworld, or inner realm, and back again. The path through the labyrinth is a meandering but purposeful journey that can lead to insight, balance, and healing.
Walking the labyrinth is a very ancient form of meditation, very relaxing, and it’s well worth giving it a try. It’s very personal and inwardly focused, and yet shared with your fellow-travelers in a wordless communion.
(Click the image below to view our downloadable Arboretum Map)
