After last year’s highly successful inaugural tour, Ways of the Woods: People and the Land in the Northern Forest, is gearing up for a 15-week “Fairs and Festivals—2007” tour.

Ways of the Woods is the Northern Forest Center’s mobile museum about the changing relationships between people and the land. This traveling exhibition combines interactive displays, interviews and artifacts with live performance and traditional arts demonstrations to showcase the history, culture and heritage of the Northern Forest region of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York.

Often called a “museum on wheels” because it is housed in an 18-wheel tractor-trailer, Ways of the Woods elicits powerful, emotional responses from attendees as they explore both the history of the region and their personal connections to it. The exhibit received major support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

“Ways of the Woods was designed to convey the idea that the changing relationships between people and the land—past, present and future—define the character and culture of the Northern Forest region,” said Northern Forest Center Senior Program Director Mike Wilson, who tours with the exhibit.

“When people come to Ways of the Woods they have a great time learning about the history of the region, but they’re also prompted to think about what life is like here today and how people can work together for a more prosperous and sustainable future.”

During its 2006 10-week tour, nearly 8,000 people visited Ways of the Woods, while thousands more saw the 53-foot long truck— which is decorated with images of the Northern Forest—as it rolled through communities. Those who visited the exhibit were moved and inspired. Comments included: “Thanks for helping me better appreciate a place I’ve lived for forty years!”; “Great exhibit. Kids nowadays need to know the history of this area so they can be part of planning the future”; and “This stuff is so interesting. Yay History!”

This spring, Ways of the Woods was an integral part of the Northern Forest Center’s Northern Forest Days celebrations that took place in eight towns across the region. Partner organizations in each location designed the multi-day events to reflect the local community’s needs, interests and opportunities. Community-designed activities included traditional music performances, art exhibits, community dinners, school group tours to a local hardwood sawmill, a 14.5-mile canoe race and more.

Local school group field trips to Ways of the Woods were a major aspect of each Northern Forest Days celebration.

“It’s so exciting to see young people begin to realize how important the Northern Forest is to their lives, and to get them thinking about how they might preserve what makes it such a special place,” said Carolyn Graney, Ways of the Woods tour manager. “It’s especially inspiring when they bring their parents back to see the exhibit.”

This summer and fall, Ways of the Woods will visit fairs, festivals and local museums as far west as Lowville, New York and as far east as Calais, Maine. The schedule is:

June
24: Fiddlers’ Contest; Lancaster, NH

July
4: Ticonderoga Heritage Museum; Ticonderoga, NY
6-8: Adirondack History Center Museum; Elizabethtown, NY
14-15: Woodsmen’s Days; Tupper Lake, NY
17-21: Lewis County Fair; Lowville, NY
28: Logging Museum Day; Rangeley, ME

August
1-4: Northern Maine Fair; Presque Isle, ME
9-11: International Festival; Calais, ME
15-18: State Fair; Skowhegan, ME
25: Moose Festival; Canaan, VT
29-Sept. 3: Lancaster Fair; Lancaster, NH

September
6-9: Lions Fair; Clinton, ME
13-16: World’s Fair; Tunbridge, VT
20-22: Festival of Traditional Crafts; St. Johnsbury, VT

Visit www.northernforest.org for updates. To schedule a Ways of the Woods visit for 2008, contact Carolyn Graney, tour manager, at 207-824-8263,

The Northern Forest Center is a private, non-profit organization that mobilizes people to build healthy communities, economies and ecosystems by working together across the Northern Forest region.

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NOTE TO MEDIA: Photos of the Northern Forest Center’s Ways of the Woods exhibit are available for publication. Please contact Shelly Angers, Marketing/PR Coordinator, at 603-229-0679, ext. 109,