A word from

WildwoodThe Friends of Wildwood, 100 Wildwood Way, Harrisburg, PA 17110

Awesome Authors Coming to Wildwood Park

Meet book authors Floyd Stokes, Kathy Miller and Toni Albert at Wildwood Park on Saturday, August 4 from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. They will be here to sell and sign their wonderful children’s books. Bring your children, grandchildren and even the neighborhood children for this exciting program. Children will also have the opportunity to write their own little book, make a craft and much more. Call the nature center for more infor-mation.

Floyd Stokes

Kathy Miller

Wildwood Family Triathlon 2012

The energy was building like clouds before a summer thunderstorm as 150 racers converged on Wildwood Park for the 10th annual Family Triathlon.

For some, it was a chance to shave seconds or even minutes off of last year’s time. Families in home-made team shirts who have been participating for years mixed with people who had never attempted anything like this in their lives.

David Botero of Harrisburg’s Handball Initiative en-couraged four young ladies from the mentoring program to participate. They were initially unsure of themselves and “struggled through every leg of the challenge, but they communicated, encouraged each other and they made it!”

Photo by Larry Imes

Photo by Larry Imes

Continued on Page 4

Wildwood Family Triathlon 2012 Continued from Page 1

Salome Hall remem-bered feeling intimi-dated as she biked through the forest and “heard birds and something rustling close to the ground….”

As Jada Hargrove got out of the canoe she said, “I hope the rest of this doesn't involve arms!”

But the teams pushed on and their perspective shifted. Ciera McCowin was surprised by how friendly people were as other racers encouraged them along the way.

Her twin sister LeAshia said, “When we kept going, we felt like we got more stamina.” They found strength within that they hadn’t known was there all along.

Wildwood Celebrate

Sunday, September 23

Summer 2012

Toni Albert

A word from Wildwoodis published quarterly by

The Friends of Wildwood100 Wildwood Way

Harrisburg, PA 17110(717) 221-0292 • (717) 221-0318 fax

www.wildwoodlake.orgEmail: friendsofww@wildwoodlake.org

A Word from the President

2

Wildwood Park and the Benjamin Olewine III Nature Center are part of the Dauphin County Parks and Recreation Department. The Benjamin Olewine III Nature Center is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and is closed Mondays and

holidays. Wildwood Park’s trails are open from dawn until dusk. Programs can be viewed at www.dauphinc.org and questions can be directed to wwstaff@dauphinc.org.

Welcome Summer! Wildwood Park abounds with many species of birds, wildlife, beautiful wildflowers and mature trees. Summer is a wonderful time at the park. Come, cool off, explore and enjoy all Wildwood has to offer! Bring a picnic. We have several picnic tables near the Nature Center as well as in the Olewine Pavilion. Join us for a “stress free” guided walk on selected Wednesdays. You will make new friends and see some of Wildwood’s wildlife.

This is a great time of year to capture Wildwood’s beauty. The Friends are sponsoring their annual Photography Contest. It is open to all amateurs with prizes awarded at the Jan. 2013 reception. All photographs are due by Dec. 2. A contest brochure is available at the Nature Center or online.

The Friends of Wildwood continue to sponsor two special projects in the Park. The Dickinson College biology de-partment, the Friends of Wildwood, and the State Mu-seum of Pennsylvania are partners for the Turtle Research Project. Your sponsorship of a turtle helps make this on-going study possible. Supporting the Park by purchasing a memorial brick is the second special project. It is a wonderful way to honor a loved one or commemorate a special event.

New and exciting programs are scheduled. Come meet 3 local authors of children’s books on August 4 at 10:00 AM. Activities will include: stories, reading and creating your own book! Save the date Sept. 23 for the new Cele-brate Wildwood that includes the annual Walk for Wild-wood.

Thank you to all who volunteer with your valued skills to make the park so special. You always make visitors wel-come. You are the best park ambassadors!

I hope to see you at Wildwood Park.

Mary Lou McDowell, Friends of Wildwood President

A Word from Wildwood is published quarterly byThe Friends ofWildwood Lake Nature Center 100 Wildwood Way Harrisburg, PA 17110 (717) 221-0292 (717) 221-0318 fax www.wildwoodlake.org Email: friendsofww@wildwoodlake.org

Board Officers Mary Lou McDowell-President Art Schiavo-Vice President Marilyn Dowling-Secretary Shawn Scott-Treasurer

Board Members Carolyn Blatchley Robert W. Colman, Ph.D. Carl Dickson John W. Greenleaf, III Emily Matlin, D.O. Wendy McClintock Chris Rebert Kathy Silks Valerie Simmons Lou Starzl Olivia Susskind Eugene Wingert Wildwood Park and the Benjamin

Olewine III Nature Center are partof the Dauphin County Parks and Recreation Department. The Benjamin Olewine III Nature Center is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and is closed

Mondays and holidays. Wildwood Park’s trails are open from dawn until dusk. Programs can be viewed at www.dauphinc.org and questions can be directed to wwstaff@dauphinc.org.

County Commissioners Jeff Haste, Chairman Mike Pries George P. Hartwick III

Parks and Recreation Director Carl Dickson

Wildwood Park Staff Chris Rebert, Park Manager

Sandy Lockerman, Environmental Educator Sandy Nevius, Part-time Environmental Educator Deb Rowe, Administrative Assistant Jane Webster, Environmental Educator

Park Highlights

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Students Hit the Trails School groups took advantage of the wonderful spring weather and visited the park during May helping to make it the busiest month of May yet with nearly 4,000 visitors in the Olewine Nature Cen-ter and more than 1,200 students served.

Turtle Research Project Continues Dickinson College and Wildwood Park continue to research the painted, snapping, and stinkpot turtle populations of Wildwood Park. The project began in April 2011 when 106 turtles were tagged and re-leased. In July of the same year, 10 of them were re-captured, measured and weighed and released again. This past April, another round-up was done and 23 turtles were captured and tagged by Professors Scott Boback and Gene Wingert and their students. Research projects such as this one are important tools to aid in understanding the populations, ages and overall population health of Wildwood’s turtles.

Funding for this important ongoing project is through the Adopt-A-Turtle Project. Turtle sponsorships of $20.00 are available on the Friends’ website. As a do-nor you will receive a certificate with your name, the PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tag registration number and turtle species.

TreeVitalize in Action

The Friends of Wildwood provided matching funds for a TreeVitalize tree planting grant. The planting of 35 large trees included a highway buffer at the Na-ture Center and specimen trees to boost the diversity of trees around the Nature Center.

Favorite native trees planted included swamp white oak, common persimmon, flowering dogwood, serviceberry and Eastern red cedar. The trees were planted as part of the annual Wildwood Cleanup on Saturday, April 14 where over 100 volunteers worked tirelessly while enjoying the beautiful weather and meeting new faces.

They were from: • Highmark • Expedition Chesapeake • Capital Area Junior Bassmasters • 3-Star Youth Program • Central Dauphin Friends of the Swamp • Viridian Green Energy • Crossroad Community Church • And the general public

Another popular project that day included the suc-cessful garlic grab where many hands went into the effort of pulling invasive garlic mustard.

A special thank you to neighbor Sygma for donating bottled water for the volunteers.

Wildwood Park Named As Traveler Recommended Attraction Wildwood Park was recently named #4 of 15 as a traveler recommended attraction to visit in Central Pennsylvania by TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor is a website for travelers who are actively planning a trip. It features reviews and advice on hotels, restaurants, vacation packages and local places to visit. The website is www.tripadvisor.com.

Welcome Summer! Wildwood Park abounds with many species of birds, wildlife, beautiful wildflowers and mature trees. Summer is a wonderful time at the park. Come, cool off, explore and enjoy all Wildwood has to offer! Bring a picnic. We have several picnic tables near the Nature Center as well as in the Olewine Pavilion. Join us for a “stress free” guided walk on selected Wednesdays. You will make new friends and see some of Wildwood’s wildlife.

This is a great time of year to capture Wildwood’s beauty. The Friends are sponsoring their annual Photography Contest. It is open to all amateurs with prizes awarded at the Jan. 2013 reception. All photographs are due by Dec. 2. A contest brochure is available at the Nature Center or online.

The Friends of Wildwood continue to sponsor two special projects in the Park. The Dickinson College biology de-partment, the Friends of Wildwood, and the State Mu-seum of Pennsylvania are partners for the Turtle Research Project. Your sponsorship of a turtle helps make this on-going study possible. Supporting the Park by purchasing a memorial brick is the second special project. It is a wonderful way to honor a loved one or commemorate a special event.

New and exciting programs are scheduled. Come meet 3 local authors of children’s books on August 4 at 10:00 AM. Activities will include: stories, reading and creating your own book! Save the date Sept. 23 for the new Cele-brate Wildwood that includes the annual Walk for Wild-wood.

Thank you to all who volunteer with your valued skills to make the park so special. You always make visitors wel-come. You are the best park ambassadors!

I hope to see you at Wildwood Park.

Mary Lou McDowell, Friends of Wildwood President

4

Outdoor Learning Day Held at Wildwood Park The first annual Outdoor Learning Day was conducted at Wildwood Park in May. Over 100 students from local schools and organizations attended the all-day event. Speakers from the PA Game Commission, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of For-estry, Department of Environmental Protection and Wildwood Park presented programs on trees, birds and bird banding, mammals, macroinvertebrates and water quality, plants and wetlands.

Nature Books Wanted For Annual Winter Book Sale Friends are collecting used nature books for the winter 2013 book sale. Topics wanted include nature guides, animals, plants, birds, insects, wildflowers, gardening, stars, fishing, camping, canoeing, hiking, mountains, rivers , etc. CDs/DVDs with bird calls and animals sounds are needed. We are also collecting any chil-dren’s books and videos. Sorry, no magazines or National Geographic Journals. Items will be accepted at the Olewine Nature Center during business hours Tues.-Sun. 10:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.

Wildwood Family Triathlon 2012

The energy was building like clouds before a summer thunderstorm as 150 racers converged on Wildwood Park for the 10th annual Family Triathlon.

For some, it was a chance to shave seconds or even minutes off of last year’s time. Families in home-made team shirts who have been participating for years mixed with people who had never attempted anything like this in their lives.

David Botero of Harrisburg’s Handball Initiative en-couraged four young ladies from the mentoring program to participate. They were initially unsure of themselves and “struggled through every leg of the challenge, but they communicated, encouraged each other and they made it!”

Photo by Larry Imes

Photo by Larry Imes

Continued on Page 4

Wildwood Family Triathlon 2012 Continued from Page 1

Salome Hall remem-bered feeling intimi-dated as she biked through the forest and “heard birds and something rustling close to the ground….”

As Jada Hargrove got out of the canoe she said, “I hope the rest of this doesn't involve arms!”

But the teams pushed on and their perspective shifted. Ciera McCowin was surprised by how friendly people were as other racers encouraged them along the way.

Her twin sister LeAshia said, “When we kept going, we felt like we got more stamina.” They found strength within that they hadn’t known was there all along.

Jack Hubley Visits Wildwood Park

It was an excited group of children and adults waiting for Jack Hubley to begin his program in May. This was the first time Jack presented his “Critters Beyond Your Backyard” program at Wildwood Park and the crowd thoroughly en-joyed every minute.

With his menagerie of critters, Jack talked about the natural history of the animals that live in this area. Some of the critters he brought were the black snake, striped skunk and red-tailed hawk.

Photo by Adam Aukamp

Photo by Adam Aukamp

5

Events CalendarNPR-No pre-registration, no fee * PR-Pre-registration and possible fee * PwR-Payment with Registration is required

All programs meet at Olewine Nature Center unless otherwise notedPrograms and events are listed at: www.dauphincounty.org and www.wildwoodlake.org

Call the Nature Center at 717-221-0292 for more details

EVENTS CALENDAR

NPR-No pre-registration, no fee * PR-Pre-registration and fee * PwR-Payment with Registration is required All programs meet at Olewine Nature Center unless otherwise noted

Programs and events are listed at: www.dauphincounty.org and www.wildwoodlake.org Call the Nature Center at 717-221-0292 for more details

Mon., July 9 to Fri., July 13, Junior Naturalist Day Camp 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m., PR Wed., July 11, Stress Relief Walk 6:00—7:30 p.m., NPR Sat., July 14, Volunteer Work Day 10:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m., NPR Mon., July 16 to Fri., July 20, Outdoor Week 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m., PR Sat., July 21, Wandering Wildwood with Photographer Phil Lloyd Walk 8:00—10:00 a.m., NPR Tues., July 17, Educator Workshop: Biodiversity 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m., PR Thurs., July 26, Educator Workshop: Flying Wild 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m., PR Sat., August 4, Awesome Authors 10:00 a.m.— 1:00 p.m., PR Wed., August 8, Stress Relief Walk 6:00—7:30 p.m., NPR Mon., August 6 to Fri., August 10, Digital Photography Day Camp-FULL 9:00 a.m.—3:00 p.m., PR

Sat., August 11, Volunteer Work Day 10:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m., NPR Sun., August 12, Flower & Plant Walk: Heat Tolerant Plants 10:30 a.m.—12:00 p.m., NPR Sat., September 1, Photography by Canoe 9:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m., PR Sat., September 1, Canoe Wildwood 1:00—3:00 p.m., PR Sun., September 2, Small Wonders 1:00—2:30 p.m., PR Sat., September 8, Volunteer Work Day 10:00 a.m.—1:00 p.m., NPR Sun., September 16, Boy Scout Workshop: Webelos “Forester” 10:30 a.m.—3:00 p.m., PwR Sun., September 23, Celebrate Wildwood! 12:00—5:00 p.m. PR Sat., September 29, Girl Scout Workshop: Juniors “Finding Your Way” 10:30 a.m.—3:00 p.m., PwR

Wetlands at Work-The Ebb and Flow of the American Lotus

“What’s that big, yellow flower in the water?” is a common question asked while walking the Towpath Trail at Wildwood Park, especially in late July when the up to 13-inch diameter cream-colored blooms blanket the marsh.

Wildwood Park is known for its expansive colony of American lotus, a plant common in the south but rela-tively uncommon in Pennsylvania. The plant with its large floating lily-like leaves is found in slow moving waters.

Last year’s flooding and fast moving waters slightly reduced the lotus density. Those interested in seeing the blooms carpet the wetlands should walk the Tow-path Trail during the last week of July and bring a camera.

Wetlands at Work-The Ebb and Flow of the American Lotus

“What’s that big, yellow flower in the water?” is a common question asked while walking the Towpath Trail at Wildwood Park, especially in late July when the up to 13-inch diameter cream-colored blooms blanket the marsh.

Wildwood Park is known for its expansive colony of American lotus, a plant common in the south but rela-tively uncommon in Pennsylvania. The plant with its large floating lily-like leaves is found in slow moving waters.

Last year’s flooding and fast moving waters slightly reduced the lotus density. Those interested in seeing the blooms carpet the wetlands should walk the Tow-path Trail during the last week of July and bring a camera.

Wildwood Family Triathlon 2012

The energy was building like clouds before a summer thunderstorm as 150 racers converged on Wildwood Park for the 10th annual Family Triathlon.

For some, it was a chance to shave seconds or even minutes off of last year’s time. Families in home-made team shirts who have been participating for years mixed with people who had never attempted anything like this in their lives.

David Botero of Harrisburg’s Handball Initiative en-couraged four young ladies from the mentoring program to participate. They were initially unsure of themselves and “struggled through every leg of the challenge, but they communicated, encouraged each other and they made it!”

Photo by Larry Imes

Photo by Larry Imes

Continued on Page 4

Wildwood Family Triathlon 2012 Continued from Page 1

Salome Hall remem-bered feeling intimi-dated as she biked through the forest and “heard birds and something rustling close to the ground….”

As Jada Hargrove got out of the canoe she said, “I hope the rest of this doesn't involve arms!”

But the teams pushed on and their perspective shifted. Ciera McCowin was surprised by how friendly people were as other racers encouraged them along the way.

Her twin sister LeAshia said, “When we kept going, we felt like we got more stamina.” They found strength within that they hadn’t known was there all along.

Jack Hubley Visits Wildwood Park

It was an excited group of children and adults waiting for Jack Hubley to begin his program in May. This was the first time Jack presented his “Critters Beyond Your Backyard” program at Wildwood Park and the crowd thoroughly en-joyed every minute.

With his menagerie of critters, Jack talked about the natural history of the animals that live in this area. Some of the critters he brought were the black snake, striped skunk and red-tailed hawk.

Photo by Adam Aukamp

Photo by Adam Aukamp

6

Volunteer News

Introducing The Summer Staff

Veronica Lacy (center) is this summer’s educator for the Wildwood day camps. Veronica began as a volunteer at the Park and is a secondary educator in the Harrisburg area. The internship program supported by the Friends of Wildwood has provided Wildwood with two interns this year. They are Janelle Wommer (left) and Kayla Warshefski (right). Both interns were day camp volun-teers last year and have returned to Wildwood for this year’s summer camps. Janelle is a senior at Delaware Valley College where she is majoring in zoo science/environmental science. Kayla is also a senior and attends Millersville University where she is pursuing a degree in biology education. Both Janelle and Kayla reside in Millersburg.

Chuck Rhoads “Out and About” Features Wildwood Park and Girl Scout Chuck Rhoads of abc27 visited Wildwood Park in late June with his “Out and About” TV Series. He was here to highlight Rebecca Cole, a local Girl Scout who is working toward her Gold Award. Rebecca brought a group of campers from Aaron’s Acres, a non-profit organization that works with children with special needs in Dauphin, Berks and Lancaster Counties. The group cleaned up and spread new mulch around the bird feeder area and in the back of the nature center. The segment was aired the following week.

Annual Wildwood Volunteer Picnic Held Over 50 volunteers attended this year’s annual volunteer pic-nic in the Olewine Pavilion. Commis-sioners Jeff Haste and Mike Pries were in attendance and donned their chef caps to serve as the volunteers’ Grillmasters. Marilyn Dowling and Sandy Lockerman coordinated the food and beverages. Staff and the Friends of Wildwood thanked the volun-teers for their dedication and hard work. 2011 saw an increase in the volunteer hours logged with an incredible 6,211 hours. Duties ranged from trail trimmers and vol-unteer workday crews to front desk greeters and special event volunteers. Thank you volunteers for helping to keep Wildwood Park great!

Photo by Larry Arnold

Patriot News Volunteer in the Spotlight-Mary Lou McDowell The Patriot News re-cently chose Friends of Wildwood President, Mary Lou McDowell for their Volunteer Spotlight column.

Mary Lou began volunteering at the front desk with the opening of the Nature Center and also assisted with spe-cial events. She then joined the Friends’ Board of Direc-tors in 2006 and became President in 2009.

Friends of Wildwood Membership Application

New Membership Renewal Membership

Name__________________________________________

Address________________________________________

City___________________________________________

State and Zip Code _______________

Telephone ______________________________________

Email Address ___________________________________

Make checks payable to: Friends of Wildwood 100 Wildwood Way

Harrisburg, PA 17110

Or

Sign up to use PayPal at www.wildwoodlake.org

Questions about the Friends of Wildwood or Wildwood Park can be directed to friendsofww@wildwoodlake.org

Membership Category (please check one)

$15.00 Student Membership

Student Membership: School _____________Grade ______

$35.00 Individual Membership

$50.00 Family Membership

Family Membership: Please list the family members’ names and dependent children’s ages.

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

______________________________________________

$100.00 Supporting Membership

$500.00 Business Membership

I would like to contribute additional funding in the amount of $ _______________ to help support Wildwood Park.

Membership Benefits Your membership supports the ongoing environ-mental education programs and conservation efforts of Wildwood Park and the Benjamin Olewine III Nature Center.

Membership includes the following:

• 10% discount off Nature Shop purchases

• Subscription to A Word from Wildwood quarterly newsletter

• Invitations to special programs or activities “For Members Only”

• Reciprocal membership in more than 125 nature centers throughout the country that participate in the Association of Nature Center Administrators program

The Friends of Wildwood Lake Nature Center, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization listed with the PA Bureau of Charitable Organi-zations, and incorporated within the Commonwealth of PA. It is an advocate for Wildwood Park through preservation, education and fi-nancial support. A copy of the official registration and financial information of The Friends of Wildwood Lake Nature Center, Inc. may be obtained from the PA Dept. of State by calling toll free, within PA, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.

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The Friends of Wildwood Lake Nature Center, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization listed with the PA Bureau of Charitable Organizations, and incorporated within the Commonwealth of PA. It is an advocate for Wildwood Park through preservation, education and financial support.

Upcoming Brick Dedication The Friends of Wildwood invite you to the annual brick dedication. The event will occur on Sunday, October 7 at 1:00 p.m. in front of the Nature Center. Established in 2008, the Memorial Brick Walkway is a place to commemorate a special event in someone’s life, honor a friend or family member or remember a special someone. Brick orders for this year’s dedication can be placed up to August 1.

Go Green Sign up for an E-newsletter

A Word from Wildwood can be sent

electronically to Friends of Wild-wood members. Contact the editor at

slockerman@dauphinc.org. Help save paper! Go Green!

Annual Wildwood Volunteer Picnic Held Over 50 volunteers attended this year’s annual volunteer pic-nic in the Olewine Pavilion. Commis-sioners Jeff Haste and Mike Pries were in attendance and donned their chef caps to serve as the volunteers’ Grillmasters. Marilyn Dowling and Sandy Lockerman coordinated the food and beverages. Staff and the Friends of Wildwood thanked the volun-teers for their dedication and hard work. 2011 saw an increase in the volunteer hours logged with an incredible 6,211 hours. Duties ranged from trail trimmers and vol-unteer workday crews to front desk greeters and special event volunteers. Thank you volunteers for helping to keep Wildwood Park great!

Photo by Larry Arnold

Patriot News Volunteer in the Spotlight-Mary Lou McDowell The Patriot News re-cently chose Friends of Wildwood President, Mary Lou McDowell for their Volunteer Spotlight column.

Mary Lou began volunteering at the front desk with the opening of the Nature Center and also assisted with spe-cial events. She then joined the Friends’ Board of Direc-tors in 2006 and became President in 2009.

Friends of Wildwood100 Wildwood WayHarrisburg, PA 17110(717) 221-0292www.wildwoodlake.org

PRSRT STDU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDHARRISBURG PAPERMIT NO. 533

30% Recycled post-consumer fiber

Awesome Authors at Wildwood Park

Saturday, August 4 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Mark your calendars for this special event!

Toni Albert,

Kathy Miller

and

Floyd Stokes

Busy with Bugs, Chippy Chipmunk and

Teddy, the Hungry Little Bear