Annual Jane’s Walk Event

Heart of Ellsworth is proud to partner with area organizations and community members each year to produce Jane’s Walk. This year’s event will take place on the first Saturday, May 4th, 2024. This year, we are partnering with GrowSmart Maine and Ellsworth Historical Society.

Join us for the morning or afternoon walk—or both. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes!

What is Jane’s Walk?

Community activist Jane Jacobs inspired this global free, volunteer-led walking conversations festival. Jane’s Walks combines the simple act of exploring a place with personal observations, local history, and civic engagement. The annual Jane’s Walk festival takes place in more than 200 cities and towns around the globe. Visit MainePreservation.org to see all the Jane’s Walks in Maine.

Riverside Renewal: Forest Bathing Next to the Union River with Shep Erhart

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Saturday, May 4th, 2024

Meet at 20 State Street

Riverside Renewal spots are limited to create a peaceful experience for attendees. RSVP today!

Reconnect to nature and your five senses with a slow morning walk through the woods along the river. Calm your mind and nervous system. This 1.5-hour stroll starts with connecting to our bodies, breath, and sensations in the present moment. Then, participants are offered suggestions to explore the natural connection to their environment through touch, sight, sound, taste, or smell. There will be opportunities for silence, sharing and a final herbal tea ceremony; all help build trust, community, and direct connection to the world around us. Forest bathing is a traditional Japanese practice beneficial to all ages and abilities.

This walk’s facilitator is Shep Erhart, a Certified Forest Therapy Guide, Franklin resident, and founder of Maine Coast Sea Vegetables.

Accessibility: The Ellsworth Riverwalk, located behind the Ellsworth Public Library on State Street, travels along the Union River to an ADA-accessible overlook. However, after the ADA-accessible overlook, the trail is narrow and not ADA or wheelchair accessible.

Life & Death in Ellsworth

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Saturday, May 4th, 2024

Meet at Old Burial Ground, 73 State Street

At one time, you could have lived almost your entire life in downtown Ellsworth and never needed to leave. Schools, doctors, groceries, department and hardware stores, and even the undertaker and cemetery were right within a block or so of Main Street. GrowSmart Maine and Ellsworth Historical Society are partnering to take participants on a walk through downtown Ellsworth highlighting the ways building use, lifestyle, and culture have evolved with urbanization and modernization of our small city. We will meet at the Old Burial Ground on State Street behind the Congregational Church and end at Fogtown Brewing on Pine Street. We will stop at locations of interest along the way including a couple of former schools and boarding homes to discuss past, current, and potential uses of our downtown’s valuable historic buildings. Good walking shoes are recommended and participants should be aware that we will be walking up and down hills.

Accessibility: Ellsworth is a hilly community so we will walk both up and down hills on our journey together. The Old Burial Ground also has steps and is not paved. The majority of our walk will be on sidewalks in the Downtown.