The “Road Scholar” program is best described as “an adventure in lifelong learning.”  People of all ages, from K-12 aged school kids to parents and senior citizens  – join the program from all over the world and make “road scholar expeditions” all around America, learning as they go. One month your find the Road Scholars digging on an archeological site, the next month they might be learning to forage for wild mushrooms or picking blueberries on a farm. Jeremy Jones is the director / coordinator for the group in our region through http://socc.edu

“Explore the World With Road Scholar

Educational Travel Since 1975

Road Scholar, the not-for-profit leader in educational travel since 1975, offers 5,500 educational tours in all 50 states and 150 countries. Alongside local and renowned experts, experience in-depth and behind-the-scenes learning opportunities, from cultural tours and study cruises to walking, biking and more.”

This week the Road Scholars paid a special visit to Hazen’s Riverside Blueberry Farm, where they were treated to an informal talk given by owner Wally Hazen about the history of the farm, including some interesting trivia on the roots of blueberry agriculture in southern Oregon in general, then they shared a picnic lunch and headed out to the berry fields to do some U-picking.

Our family mascot Cooper greeted the group, and all the kids fell in love with him right away. Cooper’s job is to “meet and greet” all of the visitors to the blueberry farm, and to be sure to show off his favorite tennis ball as well. He’s an important member of farm team, and arguably our most popular attraction, other than the great farm fresh berries. The group planned to take their fresh picked blueberries out to the kitchens of the well known Oregon Coast Culinary Institute in Coos Bay to make pies and jam, the perfect ending to a perfect day. We were pleased to have the Road Scholars as our guests today and look forward to many more fun visits from their “traveling learning consortium” in the future!