September / October 2006 Mushroom Log

Summer Foray Report, Camp Myeerah

By Joe Christian

Some eager members came very early, some came a little late. For those of you who had good intentions, but didn’t make it, this is what you missed.

This was our second foray at Camp Myeerah. The location is ideal for our needs; located near Bellefontaine and not too far a drive for many members. It’s often the folks who are the farthest away that regularly attend. The property is a Girl Scout camp, 500+ wooded acres. It boasts well defined boundaries: if you cross a road, you’re out of bounds. A nice convenience for those of us, sans compass, who wander wide, miss parts of the program and the gourmet dining, then need to be rescued by hastily organized search teams. It has happened.

Operations were from the main lodge which has spacious well supplied kitchen facilities and a recently added ice machine. The Lodge also is used as a one-room, one-size-fits-all, free motel. Many members took advantage of this. Some chose to pitch tents and other stayed in campers.

Activities began Friday evening, with a social at the Lodge. We decided to use the lodge rather than a crowded, noisy in-town sports bar that we’d used previously. We learn from our mistakes! Members brought in food/beverages to share and it turned out to be a very nice relaxing evening.

Saturday morning kickoff was the usual greeting and meeting old and new members over coffee, donuts, and much more. Every one got a chance on the soapbox to introduce themselves and add their 2 cents or more! About two dozen signed in to our official entry log.

Dennis Rose, camp manager, welcomed the group and gave an interesting short talk about the camp’s origin and history. Jerry Pepera offered collecting hints/advice and then it was off to the woods to fill the baskets.

Lunch was an on-site pizza party and other delicacies generously provided by attendees.

John Plishke, guest speaker, did a fine job of not only showing and discussing mushroom slides, but also how to prepare and preserve what you bring home. John was also a great help with Walt, at the I.D. tables.

We returned to the woods again in the afternoon to retrieve any elusive specimens. Picking was adequate to sparse, not spectacular. Many specimens were brought in for discussion or display. There was enough to study, review and examine.

A group of about 18 Girl Scouts and advisors joined us during the table talk & I.D. session and Walt was kept busy answering, instructing and explaining to the young, eager, curious future mycologists.

Saturday evening was dinner in town at an oriental restaurant, returning to camp to socialize and discuss slides presented by John Plishke and Walt Sturgeon.

Sunday morning, casual, on your own foray, socialize, review collections, putting things back the way we found them and bidding farewell to old and new friends.

One important announcement: there is currently a job vacancy on our Board that needs to be filled. We desperately need a person in the Lost and Found Department, especially at Camp Myeerah Forays. Investigative skills are recommended but not essential. Last time a member lost a special walking stick. It was never found. But a new replacement was delivered to their front door. This time two baskets, two knives and some contraband poultry plumage was lost but then found. After several phone calls and e-mails the owners were located.

All’s well that ends well!

Metroparks yield many incredible, safe mushrooms

By Diane Sychetka

Plain Dealer Reporter

Reprinted with permission

PARMA - Over the phone, naturalist Debra Shankland tells you it's impossible to explain just how amazing wild mushrooms really are.

"Every mushroom has a story," she says, a child's excitement in her voice. ''Yeah, right," you think.

Then you head into Cleveland Metroparks' West Creek Reservation with Shankland and a dozen other people for a special hike Saturday morning called Fungi Foray. And you begin to get a sinking feeling that someone's about to say, "I told you so."

In a two-hour tromp through the woods, these people - some members of the Ohio Mushroom Society, some just curious - root around under trees and pick through rotting leaves to fill five small baskets, careful to take just one sample of each species.

Back in the parking lot, they dig into their treasure trove.

Gently, someone lifts what looks like a piece of slate out of a basket.

It's shaped like half a bread plate and looks as though it's made from smooth gray porcelain, its edges trimmed in white.

It's a mushroom called Artist's Conk. When you run your fingernail or a stick across it, the markings show up in dark brown or pencil gray, like nature's Etch-a-Sketch. Artists have created masterpieces on it.

You can see a few at http://members.aol.com/heerkens/ganart.htm.

Then there's Chicken of the Woods. Those who know say it has the consistency - and taste - of chicken. The piece we found looked like salmon-colored coral and, as would happen, was about the size of a chicken breast.

Shankland - and anybody else who hunts wild mushrooms - will caution you to never eat any mushroom an expert hasn't confirmed as edible. Once you know for sure, you can whip up a batch of Chicken of the Woods salad using the recipe at http://www.forestmushrooms.com/chicken.html.

Another highlight from Saturday's soggy hunt was the famous Jack-Q'-Lantern mushroom, bright orange like its namesake. It's spooky, too, like Halloween - the immature ones glow in the dark.

And poisonous. If you want to know how sick it can make you, go to http://www.wemjournal.org click on search .and type "mushroom toxicity" in the title box.

There were other fascinating finds, too: Puff Balls and Honey mushrooms, False Turkey Tails and Coral Fungi.-Some were blue-green, some bright yellow; some could kill you.

Saturday's trip was designed to teach the basics about wild mushrooms and to build a scientific inventory of the species growing in West Creek Reservation.

Picking mushrooms - or anything else - in the Cleveland Metroparks is forbidden.

Doing it anywhere else is risky.

You can find details about safety at http://www.mushroomthejournal.com/mhma/mushroomsafety.html.

As Pauline Munk, a mushroom society member who helped with the hunt, says, "only eat things if you have positive identification from someone who knows.

"Don't depend on those old, wives tales."

West Creek Fungus Foray

By Debra Shankland

Fourteen fungus fans gathered at Cleveland Metroparks new West Creek Reservation in Parma on Sat Aug. 19, 2006 for a mini-foray. Recent weather had been warm & dry, dry, dry, abruptly ended by heavy showers the night before and morning of the foray.

The group included co-organizers Pauline and Pete Munk and Debra Shankland, Cleveland Metroparks naturalist. Chairman Jerry Pepera led the table walk. Plain Dealer Reporter Diane Suchetka and a photographer were also in attendance. She wrote a half page article with lots of pictures that made the front of the Metro section in the Sun. Aug. 20 edition.

In two hours the group collected a nice and somewhat unexpected variety of over 23 species from the woodlands there. Following is the species list: (in alphabetical order)

Amanita brunnescens var. A.pallida

A.citrina (Citron Amanita)

A. daucipes

A. rubescens(The Blusher) Armillaria tabescens (Ringless Honey Mushroom)

Boletus innixus

Clitopilus prunulus

Clavulinopus sp.

Daedaleopsis confragosa (Thin Maze Polypore)

Daedalea quercina (Thick Maze Polypore

Ganoderma applanatum (Artist’s Conk)

Hydnellum scrobiculatum

Lactarius hygrophoroides

Laetiporus sulphureus (Chicken of the Woods)

Meripilus sumstinea (Black Staining Polypore)

Omphalotus olearius (Jack O’Lantern)

Phylloporus rhodoxanthus (Gilled Bolete)

Pluteus cervinus (Fawn Mushroom)

Russula compacta

Russula virescens (Green Quilt Russula)

Scleroderma citrinum

Stereum ostrea (False Turkey Tail)

Tricholomopsis platphylla (newer name…Megacollybia platyphylla)

**references for scientific names and common names: Bessette & Bessette, Mushrooms of Northeastern North America, 1997.

Roody, Mushrooms of West Virginia and the Central Appalachians, 2003.

Fall Mini- Foray-Groves Woods

By Pauline Munk

It took two years for us to return to Groves Woods, Trumbull County, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2006. Pete Munk, Dave Miller, Diane Lucas and I were treated to the wonders of the woods. Fungi were abundant! Mosses were abundant for Diane, a bryologist. We needed only venture within 100 yards of the lane and cabin for more specimens than we could handle! As usual, the identification took longer than the collecting. (see attached list). These 155 acres of beech-maple hardwoods are rich with fungi. With only 4 attendees, I would classify this mini-foray as a miniature mini-foray. Although this site is ”far from the maddening crowds” we will return for its “wealth of riches”. Save the date for 2008!!

Grove Woods Species List**

Amanita citrina

Amanita flavoconia (yellow patches)

Amanita flavorubescens

Amanita fulva

Amanita rubescens (The Blusher)

Amanita vaginata

Amanita virosa (Deadly!!)

Armillaria (Armillariella) mellea (Honey Mushroom)

Armillaria (Armillariella) tabescens (Ringless Honey Mushroom)

Boletus pallidus (Edulis Group)

Cantharellus cibarius (Chanterelle)

Cantharellus minor

Clavulina cristata

Clavaria pyxidata

Clavulinopsis corniculata

Clitocybe gibba

Collybia dryophila

Cortinarius iodes

Cortinarius laniger (Hoary Webcap)

Cortinarius sp. (huge genus)

Daedaleopsis confragosa

Gyroporus castaneus

Hericium ramosum

Laccaria ochropurpurea

Laccaria sp.

Lactarius vinaceorufescens (Yellow-staining Milk Cap)

Lactarius sp.

Lentinus suavisssimus

Lepiota clypeolaria

Lycoperdon perlatum

Mycena leaiana

Mycena galericulata

Mycena haematopus

Panellus stipticus

Pleurolus ostreatus

Pholiota aurivella (Golden Pholiota)

Russula sp.

Russula compacta

Russula laurocerasi

Russula variata

Stereum ostrea

(FalseTurkeyTail)

Strobilomyces floccopus

(Old Man of the Woods)

Trametes elegans

Trametes versicolor (True Turkey Tail)

Xerula furfacea

**There were many other additional specimens collected, but not identified at this event.

Dick Grimm Banquet

By Jerry Pepera

SPECIAL NOTE: The banquet is NOT located at the Buckeye Lake Yacht club as mentioned in the previous newsletter. We apologize for the incorrect information and any confusion that it may have caused.

Come join us for the 10th annual Dick Grimm Banquet to be held on Saturday November 11th, at The Sawyer House Restaurant in Mentor, Ohio. The Sawyer House is one the oldest buildings in Lake County and was built in 1843 by Daniel Sawyer. The nostalgia of this tastefully renovated field stone house is the perfect backdrop for our banquet. We will meet in the adjoining rooms just up the stairs on the 2nd floor.

This year, our program will feature our very own Walt Sturgeon.

When: Saturday, November 11th, 2006

Where: The Sawyer House Restaurant

9470 Mentor Ave (Rte 20).

Mentor, OH 44060

440 358-0100

Time: 5:30 PM Social Hour. Cash bar for those that want to imbibe.

6:30 PM Dinner

Program (Walt Sturgeon, speaker) immediately following dinner.

Directions: The Restaurant is located on Rte 20 (Mentor Ave.) approximately 3 miles East of Rte 615.

From the West:

Take I-271 North to I90 East.

I-90 East to Rte 615 exit and turn left (North).

**** Allow extra time for several miles of construction along I90 *******

Take Rte 615 North to the 2nd light Rte 20 (Mentor Ave.) and turn right (east).

Take Rte 20 east approximately 3 miles.

The Sawyer House will be on the right just past Heisley/Chillicothe Rd.

(If you pass Dick's Sporting Good's you passed it!)

From the East:

Take I-90 to the Rte 44 exit and turn right (North).

Take rte 44 North several miles to the next exit (Rte 84/ Johnnycake Ridge)

Turn left on Rte 84/Johnycake ridge and take it west 2 miles to the light at Old Johnycake (Zapp's Gas is on the corner).

Turn right onto Old Johnycake and take it to next light (Mentor Ave. / Rte 20)

Turn left on Mentor Ave. (Dick's Sporting Goods is across the street.)

Restaurant is on the left before you get to (Chillicothe/Heisley).

(If you see Wal-Mart you have gone too far!)

Cost:

Entrees which include House Salad, Bread, Starch, and Vegetable will range in price from $17 - $25 (See menu below). A gratuity will automatically be added to the bill.

RSVP: No later than Tuesday, November 7th (Late Additions: Call First)

This year, it is not necessary to pre-pay for your meal or choose your entree. Please RSVP by contacting Jerry as soon as possible, however, to help facilitate planning by the restaurant. If you have special dietary restrictions, please call and I would be happy to discuss it with the restaurant event planner.

Questions or RSVP to:

Jerry Pepera

(440) 354-4774 home

G_pepera@sbcglobal.net

Menu:

All Entrees include House Salad, bread, vegetable, and starch.

Entree's:

Boneless Chicken Breast Piccata
Penne Pasta w/ Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce w/ sauteed vegetables
Pork Tenderloin w/ Apple - Cranberry Glaze
12 oz. Prime Rib
Pan Seared Tilapia - Topped with a Lemon buerre Blanc sauce

Dessert(s): Carmel Granny Apple Pie

Chocolate Cheescake

Hotel Accomodations:

Local Hotels (All Located at I-90, Exit #193 and Rte 306) :

Motel 6

8370 Broadmoor Rd, Mentor, OH 44060, Rte 306, North of I90.

(440) 953-1372

(440) 953-8835

Days Inn

4145 SR 306, Willoughby, OH 44094

(440) 946-0500

Red Roof Inn

4166 SR 306, Willoughby, OH 44094

(440) 946-3624

(440) 946-9872

Addendum & Ed. Note:

After my smart-alecky comments about neuropsychology (brain science) not being mycology at the end of “Magic Mushrooms Hit the God Spot” in the last issue of the Log and my (incomplete) listing of psilocybin bearing Ohio mushrooms, Walt Sturgeon sent the following:

“…there are at least three psychoactive Psilocybe species in Ohio. Psilocybe caerulipes has been collected at OMS Forays. It is native and grows on wood. Another species fruits en mass on soil on US Steel property (I think)just across the river in WV where there were major drug busts several years ago as folks came from at least 4 states to harvest them. I have forgotten the name of that one. Also Psilocybe cyanescens occurs in our area, perhaps a result of importing it and establishing it here. I have heard that wood-mulched flower beds around police stations and city halls are a favorite location!”

EDIBLE POLYPORES

By Walt Sturgeon

Many are large and some have bright colors. This makes them generally easy to find. They are also less dependent on heavy rains, as they can tap into a considerable reservoir of moisture in the rotting wood they feed on. Only a very few of these mushrooms that have pores and are found on wood are good edibles. With one exception all should be cooked thoroughly before eating.

Starting in June or even in May some years, and fruiting as late as October is one of Clyde Christiansen’s foolproof four. The sulfur shelf or chicken mushroom is common and its bright colors make it easy to spot. Actually there are several species which were formerly lumped together. In Ohio there are two or three of these chicken mushrooms. All three are edible with a warning. Fruiting bodies from oak, maple and most hardwood logs are fine. Ernst Both has reported digestive problems eating chicken mushrooms from honey locust wood. There are reports of problems from fruitings on conifer wood and on eucalyptus. The latter is not a concern here. Polypores have a lot of fiber and overindulgence is not recommended. Also old dry specimens should be left on the stump. Even some fresh chicken mushrooms are best when only the soft growing edge is cut off for cooking.

Watch for an orange topped shelf-like mushroom with a bright yellow underside. It occurs on logs, stumps and living trees. The pores on the underside are tiny. Sometimes many pounds of good edible mushroom can be harvested from one log. Chicken mushrooms do not taste like chicken. They have their own flavor. OMS and WPMC member Kim Plischke makes a delicious dip using this mushroom. It holds up well in casseroles and cream sauces. Its color can make a nice contrast to dark green vegetables. Our common species is Laetiporus sulphureus. When young and fresh this mushroom is almost never infested with fly larvae.

Equally as tasty and maybe even better is Laetiporus cincinnatis. This species lacks the bright yellow underside. I think there may be two separate species hiding under this name. One usually grows as a rosette on top of stumps and logs. It is a peach color with a pale underside. This is the one that I think is the real McCoy. The other species is colored like Laetiporus sulphureus on top but has a pale and not yellow underside.

In Ohio the sheep head or hen of the woods, Grifola frondosa is the most popular polypore for eating. Late August to late October is the time to search for this mushroom at the base of oak trees. I have also found it on beech, wild cherry and yellow birch. It can be enormous, weighing many pounds. It is perhaps best when it is basket ball sized or smaller. Currently, it being grown and offered for sale under the name maitake. It is a brownish gray on top and cream colored on the pore surface. It has numerous fronds emerging from a central base. Hen of the woods refers to its resemblance to a chicken with ruffled feathers nestled at the base of a tree. I guess sheep head indicates that some think there is a resemblance to the animal’s head. In Northwest Ohio I have heard it called cow’s mouth. I have no idea why. It has a firm texture and a mushroomy flavor which makes it an ideal mushroom for tomato sauce and soups. It has reported anti carcinogenic compounds and is thought to be of benefit to type 2 diabetics. Some like to boil it before preparing in other ways. I have never used that technique. It is a mushroom which holds up to and needs a thorough cleaning in water. It is a natural condominium for insects and may also be dirty from decayed wood and debris.

There are 2 look-a-likes. Neither are poisonous. One in fact is reportedly better tasting! This is Polyporus umbellatus which fruits in June and July. It is rare in most of Ohio and should be looked for at the base of beech trees. It is similar to the sheep head but the fronds end with individual caps. I have seen it in Minnesota and it is reportedly fairly common in Michigan. Bill Roody finds it in WV. I have yet to see it in Ohio. The other look alike is the giant or black staining polypore. This one has larger leaflike fronds. This mushroom does stain black when bruised. It is not toxic but also not popular. It fruits from June to October.

Many a morel hunter has emerged from the spring woods with only a dryad’s saddle to show for their efforts. Sometimes called Pheasant back, this large, pale yellowish buff mushroom has prominent brown scales and a black footed stipe. It has large pores and a cucumber like odor. It is very tough and fibrous. Boiling and then frying after cutting it into thin chips is one way to prepare. It fruits throughout the spring, summer and fall. It is most common on elm but occurs on maple and other hardwood logs and trees.

An unusual pored mushroom on wood is the beefsteak mushroom Fistulina hepatica. It is a small to medium sized, fan shaped mushroom. It is bright red above and pinkish on the pore surface. In most of Ohio it is uncommon to rare. The oak woods of Southeastern Ohio’s hill country is home to this species. Look for it at the base of oak stumps. Its common name is appropriate as it does resemble flesh. It can be eaten raw and it has a naturally acidic taste. It can be cut in strips and served on salads. It can also be marinated. There is a recipe in McIlvaine’s old book 1001 American Fungi which was highly recommended to me.

The Impact of Mushrooms on the Science of the Brain

By Frank Lotrich

Reprinted with permission from the Newsletter of the Western Pennsylvania Mushroom Club.

Many mycophiles love the mushroom because some fungi are quite delectable, many love the mushroom because they come in so many interesting sizes and shapes, and some are delighted by their fascinating physiology, symbiotic relationships, and odd manners of sexual reproduction. However, the next time you walk through the woods (or across your lawn), I propose that you should be enthralled for yet another reason. For believe it or not, our little mycological friends (the mushroom and related fungi) have played important roles in our understanding of how the brain works.

A simple way to think of the brain is to imagine a few trillion tiny skinny cells (neurons), with each neuron making thousands of contacts with the other neurons. Moreover, each neuron carries an electrical charge just like a battery. When irritated in just the right manner, the electrical charge flows down the neuron, causing it to spit chemicals on its neuronal neighbors. These chemicals can either irritate or quiet down these neighboring neurons, continuing the cycles of irritation, electrical current, and chemical release. The patterns of this cycle going on trillions of times per second inside our heads we call thought, imagination, love, memory, fear, calculation, etc. But what are these chemicals being released by neurons and how do they work? Which ones do what things, and how?

One of the very first of these chemicals to be identified was acetylcholine, but the next question was "so what?" What does acetylcholine do and how does it do it? Well, in the latter half of the 19^th century, a chemical had already been isolated for Amanita muscaria that was called "muscarine." On hindsight, it turns out that many mushrooms, particularly Inocybes and Clitocybes, have lots of muscarine (about 10,000 times more than the Amanita). But the chemical was named after A. muscaria. Oh well. As scientists attempted to discern how acetylcholine worked, they discovered that acetylcholine was able to mimic some of muscarine's effects. In fact, muscarine chemically bound to an important protein on the neuron that transmitted the effect of acetylcholine. In honor of this, these proteins (there are five now identified), are all called muscarinic receptors. This elucidation of ncetylcholine transmission resulted in the 1936 Nobel Prize. Thus, some of the first neurotransmitter receptors identified are named after a pretty mushroom. (For a really nifty read if you can find it, see HH Dale, "The Action of C~rtain Esters and Ethers of Choline and their Relation to Muscarine". Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 6 147-190, 1914.)

Thanks to this pivotal discovery, we now know a lot more about what acetylcholine does in the brain. Drugs for Alzheimer's disease are now used that specifically target acetylcholine transmission. And there are muscarinic abnormalities in diseases like depression, guiding current research into this psychiatric disease. Interestingly, many medication side effects are the results of activity at muscarinic receptors.

But it's also important to note that muscarine can be toxic. Your brain connects with your heart, your digestive tract, your eyes, and other organs. Muscarinic receptors and acetylcholine play a very important role in these connections. If you eat poisonous Inocybe or other mushroom with lots of muscarine, the common symptoms that you can expect can be remembered by thinking of the word "SLUDGE." S = salivation and sweating (yes, this poison will make you drool). L = lacrimation (this means tears, even if you aren't sad yet). U = urination (your bladder may uncomfortably start contracting). DG = diarrhea and gastrointestinal distress (have you ever had really bad stomach cramps and nausea?). E = everything else. There are antidotes for muscarine poisoning, but it is better if you just avoid eating it in the first place. There are some mushrooms that should be looked at and not consumed. The SLUDGE syndrome is not pleasant.

But the story doesn't end there. There are some other chemicals in A. muscaria that have played additional important roles in studies of the brain. One example is muscimol. Another example is ibotenic acid, discovered by some Japanese scientists (Ibo Tengu Take, their common name for A. muscaria, means wart-nosed mushroom). However, the exciting story that begins with these two compounds will have to await the next installment.

In the meantime, remember that many Clitocybe species, many Inocybe species, a few Omphalatus species, some Entelomas, and a few Boletus mushrooms all have toxic quantities of muscarine. Enjoy looking at them. When you see them, remember the cool way that the chemical inside them has helped neuroscience progress. I think that it is truly fascinating. I hope you all will agree. But, please remember, don't eat them. Know what mushroom you have before you eat it. Muscarine poisoning is not fun at all.

Porcini Burgers with Tomato and Pesto

By Jerry Pepera

With all the rain we've been having, the woods are popping with Boletes. Try this recipe!

1/2 cup small pieces dried porcini mushroom, 1/2 oz total

1-1/2 pounds ground beef chuck (80% lean)

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons prepared basil pesto

4 hamburger buns

1 ripe tomato, very thinly sliced

1 cup shaved (chiffonade) green/red lettuce

1. Bring about 2 cups of water to a boil. Add the dried mushrooms, remove from the heat, and let the mushrooms soak until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain the mushrooms and gently squeeze out the excess water. Finely chop, discarding any tough stems.

2. Add the mushrooms, garlic, salt, pepper, and vinegar, and ground beef to a medium bowl. Mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Shape into 4 burgers of equal size, about 3/4 inch thick. make a shallow depression about 1 inch wide in the center of each burger so the centers are about 1/2 inch thick. This will help the burgers cook evenly and prevent them from puffing on the grill.

3. In a small bowl mix the mayonnaise and pesto.

4. Grill burgers on grill until medium, turning once on each side. Toast buns on grill a few minutes before the burgers are done.

5. Brush the bottom of each bun with the mayonnaise mixture. Place the burgers on the buns and top with tomato slices and lettuce.

Makes 4 servings

Enjoy!

Calendar of Events

OMS Events

Email Jerry at g_pepera@sbcglobal.net to receive notification of impromptu events. Check your most recent issue of the Mushroom Log for event updates and for more detailed information. Please plan to join us.

Sept. 30-Oct. 1(Sat.-Sun.)—Fall Foray at Penitentiary Glen in Lake Co., north of Chardon. At Lake Metroparks’ Pine Lodge.

See details in July/Aug. Log.

Sat. Nov. 11—10^th Annual Dick Grimm Banquet in the Sawyer House in Mentor. See announcement details in this issue of the Log. Walt Sturgeon, speaker.

Ohio & Regional

Oct. 1---2 PM Mushroom Lecture and hike led by Walt Sturgeon. Scenic Vista Park, Wayne Bridge Rd. Lisbon, OH. Follow signs. Park is ca. 3.5 mi. from the square in Lisbon. Take US Rte 30 West across bridge. Turn left at Wayne Bridge Rd, which is near the top of the hill after crossing the bridge. There are signs.

Oct. 21, 3 PM. Mushroom slide program and hike led by Walt Sturgeon at Moebius Nature Center, 929 E. Mennonite Rd. in Aurora, OH if you want to mapquest it. From Rt. 43 going north, after Streetsboro and the industrial section of Aurora, there will be a road called Mennonite that goes to your right (W. Mennonite doesn’t quite match up with E. Mennonite on 43). The Mennonite Church is on the corner. Take Mennonite Rd. for a mile or 2 and pass Sunny Lake Park (can’t miss that). Go up the hill, pass one house and see a parking lot with a kiosk and a sign for the Moebius Nature Center on your left. The gate should be open, so keep driving in (you can’t see the center from the parking lot).

National & More

Sept. 28-Oct. 1 Wildacres Regional NAMA Foray. Wildacres, North Carolina. Limited to 50, double occupancy. Cost is $200, covers 3 nights lodging and 8 meals beginning the evening of Sept. 28, ending breakfast on Oct. 1. Registration form can be found at the NAMA website, www.namyco.org. For more info contact Allein Stanley at wildacres@namyco.org