"The Fungus Among Us": Mushroom Foraging Class in Litchfield

Saturday, October 3, 10am | Litchfield, CT

White Memorial Conservation Center hosts "The Fungus Among Us," a mushroom walk with Dave Paton, on October 3. The program starts with a short indoor introduction and specimen viewing in the Mott–Van Winkle Classroom, then heads into the forest for identification, foraging dos and don'ts, and stories about local fungi.

Paton grew up in Sharon and now lives in Lakeville. He got hooked on wild mushrooms as a kid at a Sharon Audubon camp, after an adult pointed to an Amanita and told him, "This can kill you." He's self-taught, has been studying mushrooms since the 1970s. He focuses on which mushrooms are good to eat, which have medicinal value, and which are deadly, following the rule of thumb "the deadly dozen and the foolproof five." He's led similar walks for the Cornwall Conservation Trust, the Scoville Memorial Library, and Twin Star Herbal Education in New Milford.

Outside of mushrooms, Paton has had an unusual life. He grew up in a musical family—his parents ran Folk-Legacy Records after moving to Sharon in 1968—and he plays concertina and hammered dulcimer. He was also a member of the U.S. National Whitewater Slalom Team and a national champion. He works in the safety and security office at the Hotchkiss School.

White Memorial Conservation Center, 53 Whitehall Road, Litchfield, CT. Register at whitememorialcc.org.