Seize the Carp!

While our annual volunteer extravaganza "Carpe Diem" had absolutely nothing to do with seizing carp, as most of our event fliers and advertisements would have you believe, it did have everything to do with accomplishing a great deal of volunteer service learning in the form of many projects in a single morning. In case you missed this year's ELC "Carpe Diem"(Seize the Day) Volunteer Day, we've created this post to help you experience much of what went down while you were asleep the morning of Apri 17th, 2010.

The began early on a cold Saturday morning as ELC staff frantically prepared final arrangements for the volunteer crews arriving later that morning. Coffee flowed freeley from the ten gallon containers ,courtesy of Starbucks Coffee, and staff members mixed over breakfast snacks donated by local Sunflower Market. Bossman Brett Bruyere, seen here, administered yellow head protection to staff members in order to both foster a false sense of safety and set staff apart from the rest of the crowd.

Nicole TimmonsStafford works furiously to count volunteers as they arrive, over 150 volunteers were recorded at this year's Carpe Diem event.

Volunteer groups from both Colorado State University and the Fort Collins community participated in the various service projects throughout the morning.

Groups were assigned to projects such as trail construction and maintenance, native tree and shrub planting, removal of an old bridge, the construction of a nature viewing area, removal of invasive species, and a river access trail.

Additional projects took place in the compost, greenhouse, and organic garden preparing seedlings and irrigation lines for Spring and Summer.

Groups met at noon for lunch ,provided by Pudge Brothers Pizza, for a brief break from service learning and to reorganize volunteers to projects that would need more help in the afternoon.

Two former CSU Alternative Break groups, one CSUnity group of Collegiate Scholars, CSU Greeks from Pi Beta Phi and Kappa Sigma, students fro Natural Resources Recreation and Tourism Class 331, and a multitude of good-hearted individuals and families mingled over cheap pizza refreshments before returning for the second half of the service day.

Below(left), volunteers work to break new trail in the place of an old and rotting bridge.

Above(right), volunteers dig up Canada Thistle along the Wetland Wonder trail at the ELC.

Overall, "Carpe Diem" 2010 went as well as it could have. Plenty of volunteers participated despite forecasts of snow and rain, and nearly every project was completed before the end of the day when the weather began to turn. Members of the ELC staff would like to thank our donors, local community volunteers, and CSU students for their help in making this year's "Carpe Diem" celebration a success!

Powered by the Sun!

This past Monday, twelve of Fort Collins' finest youth learned first-hand what it means to be powered by the sun. Had it not been for the sun on such a cold morning, we might have been huddled next to the space heaters scattered inside the nature center. Instead, we used solar and kinetic energy to warm up for a day of hands-on learning! After playing tag for a bit, we modeled electric currents, wrote folk tales about the meaning of the sun, walked the entire solar system (well, we did not get out to Pluto), and toured a solar panel on the CSU campus. We had fun and managed to stay warm! We still have four Great School Escapes this semester. Register now to join in on our adventures.

The rest of February will be pretty quiet around here. We will hold our monthly Service Saturday on Saturday, February 27th. Come out and help us ready the ELC for spring. Bring a friend or two with you!

Home Improvements

Over the past six months or so, the ELC nature center has had a shadow cast over it by one man and a plethora of power tools, some paint, particle board, and a passion for putting things together. Collin Jacobsen(AKA "CJtelemarker," "The Craftsman," "Mr. Goodwrench," or simply "CJ", which is Jesus Christ's initials backwards, who was also a carpenter, but not as good as Collin) has taken home improvements at the ELC to a new level.




Beginning with the widescale removal of unnecessary junk and copious amounts of rodent fecal matter, not to mention the recovery of one life-size coffin, Collin began organizing the ELC in a way that will soon become legendary. Where once there was a crappy curtain, now stands not one, but TWO doors, WITH a handle!


Where once beaver costumes, programming bins, and random nature crafts were strewn about with no particular method to the madness, they now fall neatly into place, compartmentalized and simple, elegant yet bold like a Zen garden, special thanks to Emily and Alysse who undertook the task of organizing these items.

Remember the speckled orange carpet that more closely resembled a bacteria trap for dust bunnies? Well now you don't have to! Collin instead has plans for a slick new tile vibe that is sure to compliment the easy forest green paint that now hugs the walls of the classroom, very soothing.

Collin has also removed the unsightly protruberance that previously occupied the center of the building extreme home makeover style, shedding some much needed light evenly throughout the building. Energy now flows "feng shui" throughout the nature center on a light breeze that reeks of learning.

A chic cluster of cubbies, occupying the northwest corner, exudes beauty in the form of much needed storage space for the packs of children who will be frolocking through the new nature center 2.0 as they listen, comprehend, analyze, and reflect more than ever before.

Thanks again Collin! We're excited to see how these home improvements turn out and what exciting new projects "The Craftsman" has in store for us in the coming months. Stay tuned my friends.

A New Year

Happy New Year! There is not too much to report these days as the weather has been so cold it has kept me indoors on most days. We have, however, opened up registration for our spring Great School Escapes (GSEs). We will hold five GSE's this semester: February 15, March 12, April 16, April 19 and May 14. The topic for February will be the Sun! We'll explore solar energy from various perspectives and attempt to answer the question, "What does the sun do for us (kids in America)?" Get online and register today because space is limited and these always fill up!

The end of a great semester!

Since we are attached to the university, our world takes place in semesters and this is the last week of the fall 2009 semester!

We capped off the last few months with our annual Holiday Nature Crafts program. This year's crafting event was a huge success; we had over 40 kids show up to make beautiful masterpieces. Some of the crafts included tree cookie ornaments, pinecone elf figurines, and coffee ground fossils. My personal favorite was artwork using sun print paper - something I remember doing as a child. In addition to crafting we snacked, colored, and played in the snow.

Things will be super slow around here through the rest of December and the beginning of January. Our staff will be enjoying their winter breaks! I'll be off to Virginia, but will be back in the New Year to fill you in on all things nature!

Are we sure it is not Winter yet?

Winter does not officially start for another couple of weeks, but Father Frost has arrived early! Man, is it cold out there! I was out at the Nature Center yesterday afternoon and all of the geese and ducks had their heads wrapped under their wings! Brrrrrr.

This past weekend, 10 volunteers braved the cold to help us out on Service Saturday. We are currently remodeling the inside of the nature center and these kind folks helped us repaint. Thanks so much! We appreciate your dedication!

We'll be staying warm this weekend during Holiday Nature Crafts. We still have some room left in this program, so don't forget to RSVP. We'll be crafting, playing games, and snacking out at the Colorado Welcome Center. Give us a call (491-1661) for more information!

In nature news, staff member, Ally, spotted two bald eagles and a golden eagle on our property last week. The Great-Horned Owl has also been making regular appearances right by the nature center. Our furry friends are harder to spot these days, but plenty of rabbits can be spotted roaming the fields in the early morning. If you are looking for something to do outside, I highly suggest bundling up and taking a walk after the sun has set (you don't have to go far, your neighborhood will do) ; you'll be amazed at what you find. After the first snow of the season a friend and I walked through campus around midnight and spotted a couple of foxes and tons of tiny mice jumping in the snow. It was really amazing!

That's it for this week. I'll be back next week with tales of nature crafts!

Our final GSE of the year and Holiday Nature Crafts!

First, I hope all of you had wonderful Thanksgivings! Whether you ate a robust feast fit for a queen or some lunchables from 711 (as one of my students did), I hope your days were filled with laughter!

As mentioned in my previous post, my family and I took a road trip to San Francisco. It was beautiful and on one hike we saw sea lions, porpoises, and a red-tailed hawk. Not to shabby for a big city walk-about.

On Monday we held our final Great School Escape of the year. Participants were full of energy, but focused enough to learn about the winter season. Students from my Environmental Education course wrote the lesson plans and objectives included everything from being able to define the term "diapause" to being able to identify types of avalanches. The weather held out for us and we had a good day!

Don't forget about our annual Holiday Nature Craft program coming up on Saturday, December 12. You can drop your kids off or come and create nature-related masterpieces with your children. Along with craft projects, we'll provide snacks, drinks, and games. This program takes place from 10am-2pm - drop by whenever you would like and stay as long as you would like. We'll be crafting in our classroom out at the Colorado Welcome Center (yup, its that funny looking building at the intersection of I-25 and East Prospect). Hope to see you there.

Have a great week and enjoy this lovely snow!