08/24/2026
🌳 Black Ash Splint Pounding Workshop at Atkins Field 🧺
Learn about black ash trees and their unique role in local ecology and culture in this hands-on workshop with Abenaki educators and basket makers Kerry Wood and Aaron Wood. Together, we'll pound locally-harvested black ash trees to create splints for future generations of basket makers and learn more about the introduced insect emerald ash borer. Attend for any part or all of the day; bring work gloves and lunch.
Atkins Field: 140 Granite St, Hardwick, VT 05843
Friday, September 25
10am - 4pm
Opening circle and presentation at 10am, recap of presentations at 1pm. Free and open to all.
Registration is appreciated but not required. Register here: https://loom.ly/dy2DD0k
Vermont Forests, Parks & Recreation partners with educators and basket makers Kerry Wood and Aaron Wood to present a black ash outreach event focused on splint pounding. Black ash trees (and all native ash trees) are threatened by emerald ash borer, an introduced insect that infests and kills almost all ash trees. Black ash are particularly susceptible to emerald ash borer infestation, and losing these trees creates both an ecological and cultural gap for forests and people.
Pounding black ash logs into splints is a lot of work, but together, we can preserve black ash as splints for generations to come. Learn about the growth patterns of black ash, the skills needed to pound logs, and the baskets that come from them. Black ash logs will be harvested ahead of the workshop from Hardwick properties, likely at least one tree from the black ash stand behind Atkins Field and on CAE property. Emerald ash borer was confirmed in Hardwick in 2026.
Photos: Volunteers participate in black ash splint pounding in Tinmouth, Vermont. Photos by Joanne Garton and Cathy Reynolds
