News & Events

Annual Meeting 2023

Please join us for our Annual Meeting on Sunday, November 19 at 3 pm at Wee Burn Country Club. We are pleased to welcome Anthony Zemba of LANDTECH who will give a presentation focusing on the top invasives attacking the plants and trees in our community.  Enjoy light bites and refreshments during the reception. Click here to register.

Adventure Day

Come explore the beauty of Dunlap and Selleck’s Woods on Adventure Day! This beloved annual event is geared towards families with children aged 2-10 years old, but all are welcome! Children can test their forest skills in the ever-popular Adventureland. Naturalists and representatives from the Darien Nature Center and Darien Land Trust will sponsor multiple, hands-on activity stations throughout the woods.

To register for Session 1 from 11 am-1pm, please click here. For Session 2 from 1-3 pm, please click here. The fee to attend is $35 per family (up to 6 family members).

Walk Your Land Trust

 

Please join us on Saturday, April 29th at 11 am at Olson Woods. Den Frelinghuysen of the Darien Land Trust will host a walk and talk on waterways and river herring.  Please park at the Heather Lane cul-de- sac. RSVP here.

 

 

 

A Tribute to Chris Filmer

At our Annual Meeting on November 17th, long-time and retiring Trustee Chris Filmer was honored.  The  Darien Land Trust collaborated with the Darien Community Association, the Town of Darien Parks and Recreation Dept., the Darien Nature Center, Friends of Selleck’s Woods and DAF Media, to pay tribute to Chris, one of Darien’s most beloved and greatest volunteers.

Chris has made a lasting and profound impact on Darien since moving to town 45 years ago.  In the 1970s, the Town’s Selleck’s Woods and DLT’s Dunlap Woods were not the beautiful nature preserves they are today.  In fact, the properties had been damaged by vandals and oil slicks, and were strewn with garbage.

Despite the huge obstacles, Chris had a vision for the properties and joined the boards of both the Darien Land Trust and Friends of Selleck’s Woods in the 1990’s. With Chris’s leadership, Friends raised the necessary funds to clean up Selleck’s Woods and partnered with DLT’s Stewardship Committee to transform Selleck’s and Dunlap into an urban oasis with seven distinct ecosystems.  Thanks to Chris’s commitment, both “Woods” host community cleanups, family discovery events, and more than a thousand visitors a year.

DLT is forever grateful to Chris for his 27 years of service as a Trustee, including 3 years as President.  The town of Darien is truly a better place because of him.

Many thanks to DAF Media for livestreaming the event which is available to view. Photos from the event can be found here.

Chris Filmer Scholarship 

Among the many tributes was the formation of the Chris Filmer Scholarship. This need-based college scholarship will be administered by the DCA and awarded to a Darien High School student applicant who best exemplifies Chris’s commitment to community, and to the environment.

In honor of Chris and his legacy, we hope you’ll consider contributing to the scholarship by making a gift to the DCA.*

* When making an online donation, please check “This gift is for a scholarship” and enter Chris Filmer Scholarship.  If you would like the gift to remain anonymous, please indicate in the “Notes” field.  Donations can also be made by credit card by calling the DCA at (203) 655-9050 ext. 10, or by mailing a check payable to DCA (Chris Filmer Scholarship in memo line) to 274 Middlesex Road, Darien, CT 06820.

2022 Annual Meeting

Annual Meeting

Thursday, November 17th at 6 pm

The Darien Community Association

274 Middlesex Rd

Please join us for our Annual Meeting on Thursday, November 17th at 6 pm at The Darien Community Association.  The meeting offers an opportunity to learn more about our organization and meet fellow members. The event will feature a brief presentation by DLT Trustees, highlighting the accomplishments of the past year and our goals for the year ahead.

A special community-wide celebration of former DLT President and retiring Trustee Chris Filmer will follow at 7 pm.  Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served.  Please RSVP by Monday, November 7th.