Bird Walk &  Promised Garden Tour

BRIDGEWATER — Make plans to get up early Saturday, May 20, for a 7:30 am bird walk and garden tour sponsored by the Western Connecticut Bird Club and Promisek, Inc at the Promisek property in Bridgewater.

This privately owned parcel is located on Skyline Ridge Road and sits at the confluence of the Housatonic and Shepaug Rivers. The public is welcome to enjoy the meadows, fields, and mature forests that are Promisek (from the Native American word “Paumshosek” meaning Land He Walks On Forever).

For the dedicated bird watcher, there will be a walk starting at 7:30 am, and for those who prefer a more leisurely walk, there will be a group leaving at 9:30 am.

At 11 am after both bird walks, there will be a private tour of Promisek’s formal gardens. These gardens were designed in 1921 by one of America’s most noted landscape architects, Beatrix Farrand. Long forgotten but rediscovered in 1992, they are being restored to their original design as noted in the Beatrix Jones Farrand Collection in the Environmental Design Archives of the University of California-Berkeley. The Promisek Garden is one of the three known Beatrix Farrand designed gardens in Connecticut, and it is included among Connecticut’s Historic Gardens by the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.

The public is invited free of charge, although a $5 donation is suggested for the garden tour to help maintain the gardens.

Directions from Newtown  & Brookfield: Take Route 133 north across the bridge over Lake Lillinonah into Bridgewater. Take the first right turn onto Wewaka Brook Road, then the next right onto Beach Hill Road East. Follow  to the end at the top of the hill and turn right onto Skyline Ridge Road. Follow to the end and bear right at the Promisek sign. The walks will begin from the main (white) house.

Directions from New Milford & Roxbury: Take Route 67 to Route 133 South into Bridgewater. At the four-way stop, turn left onto Clapboard Road and then first right onto Hut Hill Road. Go approximately two miles and turn right onto Skyline Ridge Road. Follow Skyline Ridge Road to the end and bear right at the Promisek sign. For information & directions, call WCBC President Larry Fischer at 426-3901, or Kristin Havill at Promisek, 860-355-8015.