Photo: Front: David Forrer; Back (l-r): John Bauman, Linc Gray, John Schuster, Elizabeth Pass, Rebecca Stimson, Pam Gray, Derek Blyer
The evening of August 9 turned out to be perfect weather for Cohort VI’s Potluck at Pam and Linc Gray’s house. Pam and Linc graciously opened their home for delicious food, great conversation, and fun games. Who knew Pam was a killer cornhole player?
Many of our Cohort who couldn’t make it were at destinations far and wide, and we missed you all. Linc and Pam grilled a fantastic salmon, Pam made delicious potato salad, and we all brought sides and desserts.
We ate, talked, laughed, ate some more, played games, kept laughing and eating…in all, a great time with great people!
HMN Outreach Needs You . . . To Put a Friendly Face on Our Biodiverse and Accessible Parks and Forests
We have two wonderful opportunities for HMN outreach, especially if you are conversational in Spanish or Russian. Even if you aren’t, volunteers to represent Headwaters and share information about and your enthusiasm for our area nature and wildlife are needed!
August 11 is a less formal, but all-day Hispanic Festival at the Smithland Soccer fields. If you would like to organize our display and be our chapter outreach person that day, please call Sandy Greene (540-487-1224) for more information. (Spanish would be most helpful.)
The 22nd Annual Harrisonburg International Festival will be September 28th, from 10:30am-6:30 pm in downtown Harrisonburg. Please come chat about our wildflowers and native wildlife just for an hour or two (it’s a great day with lots of activities!). Then, enjoy the international food and culture of our area. The International Festival is popular, and 10,000 people are expected to come.
The International Festival requires that we sign up. You can sign up on the VMNvolunteersystem calendar, or call Sandy Greene (540-487-1224) for more info. Volunteers are needed from 10:30 am – 6:30 pm, so please sign up and get some volunteer hours while having a great day!
Saturday October 21st and Sunday October 22nd were gorgeous days in Elkton, Virginia and the crowds at the annual Autumn Days festival took full advantage. There were an estimated 6,000 people in attendance on Saturday, and 3-4,000 on Sunday!
Rachael Baczynski organized and manned Headwaters Master Naturalist tables in the Kids’ Zone on both days. I came and helped out for a few hours each day, but Rachael did the lion’s share of the work! She put up the display board, provided chapter brochures and a sign-up sheet (we got several people sign up!), and had lots of different materials for people to look at. The HMN Outreach Committee loaned us a pair of binoculars and a bird call device which were both big hits. In addition we encouraged the kids to make pine cone bird feeders. We were so busy on Saturday that we went through two large tubs of shortening (Rachael wisely choose not to use peanut butter, taking into consideration any nut allergies) and all our paper bags! Peggy Plass came out Saturday and Sandy Greene joined us on Sunday for the fun. Thanks to them, and to everyone who contributed pine cones. We had plenty. Rachael is working on creative ideas for her holiday celebrations incorporating the leftover cones!
A photo of Sandy manning our pine cone table made it onto the front page of the October 26 edition of the Valley Banner! (Click on the image at right to see the article.) What a great way to expand Headwaters’ outreach into the eastern portion of Rockingham County!
Stay tuned for a new chapter project starring Elkton’s Elk Run Trails, with a surprise guest appearance by Wonder Woman!
– Elaine Smith, Cohort IV, October 2017
Top photo is of Rachael working the HMN outreach booth at Elkton Autumn Days. Photo credit: Elaine Smith.
Stay tuned for a new chapter project starring Elkton’s Elk Run Trails, with a surprise guest appearance by Wonder Woman!
More photos of the HMN outreach at Elkton Autumn Days 2017:
Sandy and Rachael working HMN outreach at Elkton Autumn Days. Photo by Elaine Smith.
Elaine with Kai Franklin helping at the HMN table at the Kids Zone. Photo by Peggy Plass.
Ike Dean will be making some birds happy this winter. Photo credit: Elaine Smith.
A festival-goer learns which birds make which calls at one of the HMN activity tables.
Sandy Greene watching over Mac Stabler’s work. Thanks to Bethany Stabler. for use of her photo.
Some of Rachael’s Girl Scouts visiting the HMN table. Photo by Rachael.
Rachael spreading the word about the VMN program. Photo credit: Elaine Smith.
Kai Franklin helps out at the HMN pine cone bird feeder-making table. Photo by Rachael.
Elkton Autumn Days 2017 HMN outreach set up. Photoo by Rachael.
Find more of Elaine’s photos in her Autumn Days Flickr album here.
Rachel Kreiger, Cohort V, expertly worked the reptile room. Ask her the difference between poisonous and venomous animals!
Bridgewater College Physics Professor (and vermiculture enthusiast) Deva O’Neill coordinated Science Night Saturday as a first annual public event “… for children ages four through 12 and their families to explore the world of science …”
Held on Saturday, November 12 from 4-6PM at the College’s McKinney Center for Science and Mathematics, members of the HMN Cohort V Basic Training class as well as other chapter members joined Bridgewater College science clubs and faculty in hosting displays and activities to engage and excite young (and older) minds.
Activity and demonstration stations were spread all over the three floors of the building. See below for a full listing of the stations.
Bridgewater College generously hosts the HMN Basic Training classes this year in room 124 of the McKinney Science Center .
Allen Baker, Cohort V, shown above, spent Science Night Saturday helping to host the “Murder Mystery” along with Peggy Plass, Cohort IV. Thanks to Peggy for the photo and Allen for his description of the activity here:
“… (Five) Bridgewater College students (working the station) had collected a group of fish consisting of some that were more tolerant of poor water conditions and some that were less tolerant. Then they created ‘Bridgewater Creek’ and ‘Eagle Creek’ in two separate aquariums. One was staged to be ‘polluted’ by placing mostly tolerant species in it. The other was staged to be ‘unpolluted’ by having primarily intolerant species present.
Each child was given a fish identification sheet, and a tally sheet for each tank to aid them in their research. The mystery to be solved by the children was to determine, based on the tolerance levels of the fish present in each tank, which waterway was polluted.
As it turned out, by simple dumb luck, the water in the ‘unpolluted’ creek was more cloudy than the ‘polluted’ one. That made it a bit tougher than originally planned, as some kids determined that one to be polluted based on the water clarity alone.
A number of kids spent a great deal of time working on their charts. While others blasted through as if it was simply an item to be checked off on a list. Some, usually the younger ones, were just interested in looking at the fish.
I thought it was a really creative way to engage the kids. They had to first identify the fish, then chart them based on their tolerance level. Finally they had to draw a conclusion based on their findings. Of course the fish performed their shenanigans throughout. It was a fun project.”
Stephanie Gardner, HMN Transferee, spent Science Night Saturday in the Fossil Fun room.
She says: “We had:
• Fossils on display from the Reuel B. Pritchett Museum Collection at Bridgewater College
• Bridgewater College Public History Club students doing hands on paleontology interpretive activities with children
• A visit from the library’s very own T. rex!”
Stephanie with T. rex are in photo at left.
Saber-toothed cat skull with other fossils in photo at right. Thanks to Stephanie for the photos from this activity.
List of Activity Stations
First Floor Live Animals (Turtles, Snakes, Fish, Invertebrates), Biological Mysteries, Skulls, & More
• Volcano Madness Make a volcano erupt, see real eruptions, touch real volcanic rocks!
• Sharks
• Snakes and Turtles and ‘Gators – Oh My!
• Water Pollution: A Fish Murder Mystery
Cheryl Shull, Cohort V, and participant Art Fovargue examine a flat-headed mayfly larva using special imaging equipment in the Bug room.
• Glow-in-the-dark Bacteria and Build-A-Bug
2nd Floor Electricity, Computers, Technology, & Baby Chicks
• Programming with Alice and Scratch
• Virtual Reality
• Static Electricity
• Live Baby Chicks – newly hatched
• 3D Printing
3rd Floor Brains, Fossils, Slime & Kitchen Chemistry
• Making Gummy and Gloppy Slime
• Chemistry Demos Making Gak / Painting with Household Acids and Bases
• Natural Dyes Taste the Pancakes of Seussville
• The Science of Star Trek
• Close Contact with Brains
• Geology
• Fossil Fun Hatch a Baby Dinosaur * Saber-toothed cat skull and mastodon tooth Make Your own Fossil Imprints * Hold the Ammonite And a special visit from the library’s very own T. rex
HMN Outreach Committee Chair Janet James has led an HMN presence at the major April – Earth Month-related events in the valley this year. Most recently, she was at Waynesboro’s Riverfest.
Riverfest was Saturday, April 30, and despite the clouds, it was well attended. The Headwaters Master Naturalists’ recruiting display was used and interested visitors were given Stick-A-Seeds. HMNs Margaret Speicher and Sophia Cliffe, and Janet James’ daughter Jenna Benzing all helped Janet at the booth.
Jenna talked about mammals using her animal skull collection, and kids were fascinated. In addition, many visitors had questions about the mason bee house that was at the booth, which provided an opportunity to educate visitors about these little known pollinators.
– Janet James, Cohort III, Outreach Committee Chair
Bamboo Bee House
Governor’s School student helpers Brenna and Taylor working the bee house table, Earth Day Staunton, April 16, 2016
Kites and Critters, Carolyn Ford Farm, April 17, 2016
