Bringing Families out to the Woods in Lawrence County, IN

By Teena Ligman on Oct 10, 2010

Hosted by the White River RC&D, Bedford Park Department and several other agencies the Forest Family Fun Day was well attended by some 130 people.

There were nine stations set up along the edge of the woods at Murray Forest Park and as families got out of their cars and came over to register they scattered like quail to try each of the stations.

Some of the kids were soon darting along the woods looking for a specific leaf or a sweet gum ball to check off items on the scavenger hunt led by Jerry Lish, recently retired from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Nearby the Bedford Park Department had a station where kids could make a bird feeder and learn about taking care of the birds this winter. They left with a bird feeder stocked with bird seed and ready to hang.

Andy Ritter had a station to teach people several methods to measure trees, both heights and diameters. His friend Jesse was leading kids on a bug hunt. Dennis Eger laughed that the logs along the edge of the woods looked like they'd been pulverized from all the kids prying them apart looking for bugs. Dennis, hidden back in the woods, could be heard all day making all matter of animal calls. If anyone heard reports of an elk being heard in Bedford on Saturday, it was only Dennis.

Carol Payton from the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District had nature crafts. Kids made a variety of fun crafts from leaves and acorns. They were sporting duck tape bracelets with colorful leaves and acorns stuck merrily around the band and carrying pictures made from leaves and sticks. A little boy in a wheelchair, carefully gluing maple leaves on a paper to make a moth - explained that his father had given him two choices of what to do that day. He could have gone to Seymour and ridden in an airplane, or come to the Forest Fun Day. He said he chose this event and he was glad he did because he was sure having a fun time.

Hoosier National Forest's Teena Ligman taught map and compass navigation. One couple came all the way from Gosport when they saw the map and compass class was going to be offered. They hung on every word and were delighted to be able to finally learn how to read a map and use a compass. Several people who had no idea how to use a compass were thrilled to learn and said they intended to buy one because this seemed such a fun way to be able to find your way around.

Janet Eger, from the Indiana DNR had activities on invasive species. She had an interactive game on how invasives get into our environment and how we could each do our part to keep them out. She said most people were unaware that they played a part in spreading invasives. At noon, Leslie Grow, also from IDNR, brought raptors from Hardy Lake and gave a program to a large crowd.

Perhaps the most popular station was Sam Bond and his saws. Sam had not only a chainsaw, but also had two of the Forest Service's small 2-person buck saws. He let the kids use the bucksaws and saw their own "cookies" of wood, and then guess how much time it would take him to cut a slice with his chainsaw. He had a pile of wood "cookies" to the side and let each kid decorate a slice with a face and set up a rogue gallery of faces. Each kid autographed his artwork after discovering and drawing the face hidden in the wood. Sam also had a checkerboard set up to the side - spray painted on the ground with walnut and cedar slabs for checker pieces. Kids could challenge each other to a game of checkers- cedar slabs vs. walnut slabs.

The Bedford Park Department had also recently maintained the trail at Murray Forest Park and encouraged people to hike the trail before they left. The weather was perfect and the publicity had been superb. We all agreed the event had come off as well as it could. People had fun and left with maps of other outdoor recreation opportunities nearby and a wealth of new information about forests and the great outdoors.