<< Back 5/29/02 Bartram Trail Society plans 25th anniversary celebration SMN Dr. James A. Duke will be the featured speaker at the 25th Silver anniversary meeting of the North Carolina Bartram Trail Society from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, June 29. The afternoon will feature several activities that will be of interest to a broad scope of nature enthusiasts. At 1 p.m, Bartram Trail Vice President Ina Warren will give a welcome and overview of club activities of the past year. This will include a brief slide show on the travels of William Bartram through WNC in the 1770s, the 25-year history of the N.C. Bartram Trail Club, and a salute to the volunteer spirit that has enabled this commemorative 80-mile trail to be built and maintained in the Nantahala National Forest in cooperation with the U.S.Forest Service. Dr. Duke’s keynote will be at 2 p.m. His presentation will be an entertaining and informative illustrated talk on the “Green Pharmacy of the Blue Ridges,” mentioning plants from William Bartram’s Travels as well as current medicinal research on plants of promise. From 3:30 to 4:30, attendees are invited to bring their stringed instruments and join in for some mountain music and fun. Dr. Duke is also an accomplished bluegrass musician, having written hundreds of songs on wildflowers, rainforest protection and other ecological topics. He has recorded a number of LPs, tapes and CDs of his songs with his bluegrass band. Door prizes will be awarded throughout the afternoon. The public is invited. This will be of great interest to naturalists, medical professionals, and gardeners alike. This event is far-reaching in scope. Young adults are especially encouraged to attend. Dr. Duke’s message on caring for the land, forests and wild things is insightful and thought provoking. This natural history information would be an excellent introduction for our young folks. Tickets are $10 per adult for the entire afternoon. No charge for children under 16. Parking is free for this event. Since auditorium seating is limited at the Arboretum, advance tickets will be made available by mail by sending request and checks payable to: NCBTS. to: Tickets, NCBTS, c/o 126 Country Road Brevard, N.C., 28712. The Arboretum is located next to the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance ramp at Milepost 393, two miles south of Exit 2 (N.C. 191/Brevard Road), off I-26. Duke retired after 30 years from the USDA in 1995 to concentrate on writing and teaching after a career that involved ethnobotany primarily in Latin America and Southeast Asia. He teaches courses on medical botany in Africa, Belize, Costa Rica, Maine, and Peru. Duke graduated Phi Beta Kappa at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1952 and was designated a Distinguished Alumnus 50 years later. He is a popular lecturer on the subjects of ethnobotany, herbs, medicinal plants, and the ecology of new crops. He has taped dozens of TV and radio shows and gives accredited continuing education lectures on herbal medicine, pros and cons, to chiropractors, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and physicians. While working on an encyclopedia of economic plants, he collaborated with the National Cancer Institute on both their AIDS and cancer-screening programs and their Designer Food Program (to prevent cancer). Before retiring, Dr. Duke brought his Father Nature’s Farmacy database online at USDA. It is one of the most frequently consulted databases with the Plant Genome Project at USDA. It is at www.ars-grin.gov/duke Duke has become known internationally as a teacher, elder and shaman to those drawn to this alternative approach to health. He has led eco-tours in the Amazon since 1991, where he has a teaching garden tended by a full-time shaman. His 1997 book, The Green Pharmacy, is considered a standard reference and has been translated into six languages. He has written over 25 books and countless other authoritative texts used by both the lay audience as well as the industry professional. At his home in Maryland he maintains a six-acre farmette called the Green Farmacy Garden. It contains 80 plots, and features more than 300 plants arranged in four terraced beds, each devoted to a specific disease or malady. For additional information on this event, phone Ina Warren at 828.862.4079 or email her at bartramtrail@hotmail.com. For more information on the trail club, check out the website at www.ncbartramtrail.org