Freeman Patterson, Shamper’s Bluff, NB (Photo by BrainWorks)
Freeman Patterson
Freeman Patterson was a teenager with one foot out the door to university, when an idea occurred to him.
“I don’t know what made me say it, but I turned to my father and said, ‘If any property becomes available on Shamper’s Bluff, let me know.’”
About three years later, while still a student at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, Freeman became the proud owner of four acres on the tip of the rocky, forested bluff overlooking the St. John/Wolastoq River in south-central New Brunswick.
Over the next decade, the land he calls both his childhood playground and his best friend was never far from his mind as he leapfrogged across the country, building a flourishing career as a nature photographer, visual designer and teacher. Finally, in 1973, on the hunt for a place to host photography workshops, he returned to Shamper’s Bluff to build the house and studio that remain his safe haven nearly half a century later.
“I make time every day to visit the land,” he says. “It gives me a sense that everything is happening the way it should. Nature takes its time, but it gets everything done.”
Male bobolink, Shamper's Bluff, NB (Photo by NCC)
The hilltop meadow overlooking the river, home to bobolinks, goldfinches, and tree swallows, is one of his favourite places, together with the woodland garden he began planting 15 years ago after two liver transplants left him searching for a way to celebrate life even more fully. More than 1,500 azaleas and rhododendrons now bloom in the garden, the largest garden in Canada devoted to these plants.
“These are the original inhabitants of this place,” he says of Shamper’s Bluff’s native trees, flowers, animals and birds. “We’re merely visitors.”
Which is why when the 40 hectares (100 acres) of land between his property and the farm he later inherited from his father was subdivided and listed for sale, Freeman knew he needed to take action. He called the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC), an organization he first heard about as a photographer and later supported as a Board member and a donor.
“I went to NCC and said, ‘If you can buy the intervening 100 acres, I’ll donate my property and we can create a nature reserve.”
The deal was finalized in 1998 and Freeman continues to live on the Shamper’s Bluff Nature Conservancy, tending his gardens and the meadow, forests and marshes with advice from NCC’s scientists. He also opens up the property’s trails to Shamper’s Bluff residents and local school children.
“When I realized what could happen if the property were sold, I didn’t have a moment’s hesitation,” he remembers. “The only solution was NCC.”
He’s reminded of the value of this partnership and of nature’s gifts every time he steps out his front door. Three years ago, while wandering the trails on his 80th birthday, Freeman suddenly found himself hugging a birch tree.
“It was just the sheer joy of being in nature,” he smiles. “That’s the true gift.”
