7.1.19
FOPFC’s Involvement in Sunflower Days

The Friends of Pope Farm Conservancy are not involved with Sunflower Days in 2019. The Friends are interested in Education and Preservation and enhancing Pope Farm Conservancy as an Educational asset. The Friends have no opinion on the Town of Middleton sponsoring Sunflower Days, however the Friends are opposed to the Town’s restricting public access for 10 days to those who want to visit the Conservancy but are not interested in the Sunflowers.

The Conservancy is currently free and open to the public all year around, but the Town is proposing to restrict free access to the entire Conservancy during the 10-day Sunflower Days event. All visitors will need to pay a fee ($4 for adults) to enter the Conservancy during the event. There are people who go to the Conservancy who are not interested in viewing the Sunflowers… for example, the volunteers who weed the prairies and work in the gardens, plus others who love to walk the trails. There are many other features in the Conservancy not related to the viewing of the Sunflowers. And so, the Friends are opposed to the Town’s restricting access for 10 days to those who want to visit the Conservancy but are not interested in the Sunflowers.