Henry County Naturalists report busy schedules

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Henry County Naturalists? schedules are packed.

That was the word from Henry County Naturalist Cari Nicely as she reported on her upcoming schedule this school year along with fellow naturalist, Trenton Hoekstra.

?Already, Trenton and I have booked about 52 classroom (presentations) for this year, which is fantastic,? Nicely reported during the latest Henry County Conservation board meeting on Monday evening. ?And we still have teachers that want to book us.?

And if 52 classroom presentations and counting isn?t enough, Nicely and Hoekstra also have some Henry County Conservation events coming up, the nearest being a presentation by Darrel Draper. Draper will be presenting an informational program as Teddy Roosevelt at the Oakland Mills Nature Center on Tuesday, Sept. 22, starting at 7 p.m.

?We are excited about this program,? said Nicely. ?I think the public will enjoy it.?

Draper portrays Theodore Roosevelt in a 45 minute, costumed re-enactment of Roosevelt on the campaign trail in his bid for the presidency. He will review Roosevelt?s life from his asthma-plagued childhood, his days at Harvard, personal tragedies and victories, military success, and his rise to the White House.

Contact Nicely at 319-986-5067 for more information.

Beyond activities indoors, Henry County Conservation Director, John Pullis, also reminded the board that the county?s new smart trails are now functional and says people have already been utilizing them.

?We have heard back from several people that have already used the smart trails, and they really like them. The wet weather we had earlier this year slowed us down a bit in getting them going, but now that they are up, they are working out well,? said Pullis.

Now, despite the overall workload the board reported on, Nicely shared one small piece of news indicating that one particular conservation program might be slowing down. The Adult Conservation Oriented Responsible Neighbors program, also known as A.C.O.R.N., has been reporting smaller numbers and Nicely is wondering if this is an indication of a more common trend in months to come.

?The last few months, our numbers for the A.C.O.R.N groups have been getting smaller, and it?s getting harder and harder to get a good number of people in our activities each month,? Nicely said.

Deadlines for both an upcoming day trip to Prairie Grove School and the October overnight trip to Marshall County are this Friday. The Prairie Grove School trip on Sept. 24 will leave at 9 a.m. The group will be back in the early afternoon and there will not be much walking required.

An overnight trip to Marshall County from Oct. 7 to Oct. 8, will leave at 7 a.m., and return the following day before 6 p.m. The group will tour a blacksmith shop, historical museum, Appleberry Farm (and retail store), sand prairie, nature center with monarch program, and the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge. There is not a lot of walking required for this trip, either.

Both of these A.C.O.R.N trips need ten people for each trip.

Pullis mentioned that should this trend continue the next few months, it may be prudent of the board to take closer look at the group in order to devise a way to boost participation, or perhaps to take a different route with the group altogether.

Besides talk of conservation groups and naturalist activities, the board also discussed new avenues in regards to their advertising and also scheduled a time for board members to have their pictures taken for their new identification badges.

The next Henry County Conservation Board meeting will be held on Monday, Oct. 12, at 6 p.m.