|
May 19,
2003
CONTACT: Gordon Ovenshine (724)
738-4854; e-mail: gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu
McKEEVER ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING CENTER TO
HOST 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
JUNE 18-19; EVENTS OPEN TO
PUBLIC
SANDY
LAKE, Pa. -- With a new retreat center for adults completed and
more children attending earth-centered programs, McKeever
Environmental Learning Center celebrates its 30th
anniversary June 18-19 with a series of wildlife programs, concerts
and an evening campfire. All activities, including a folk concert,
are free.
Nature
activities include a morning bird walk, programs on black bears,
rattlesnakes, birds of prey, tree identification, wildflowers, as
well as a 5-K race and sing-along at the campfire. Meals will be
sold in the dining hall on June 19, a Saturday.
30 years of outdoor
programs
Administered
by Slippery Rock University, McKeever is a public service institute
of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
Seventy-fivemiles north of Pittsburgh,
McKeever’s 205 acres provide an educational setting for
experiencing and exploring connections with the natural world.
Teaching environmental stewardship to children remains its primary
mission. Every year, close to 4,000 children from across
Pennsylvania attend outdoor programs there.
“It’s a real
magical place,” says Director Fran Bires. “It’s
the programs. It’s what happens to people when they’re
here. It’s the magic of our forest. It’s the magic of
the activities that folks are involved with here. It’s the
people.”
New retreat center
The
purpose of the new retreat center – two of 10 on site
buildings -- is to offer adult groups, businesses,
college/university departments and non-profit groups an overnight
retreat site for staff conferences, workshops or business meetings,
Bires says.
Each of the two
houses is equipped with five semi-private bedrooms, kitchenettes
and dining room tables and chairs made from Pennsylvania oak. Each
house has a geothermal heating/cooling system and energy efficient
lighting.
Here is the schedule:
June 18
7 p.m. Pennsylvania black bears, Gary
Alt
8 p.m. Song for the Earth Concert, Jim
Scott
9:30 p.m. Nightwatchers
* (by reservation only)
June 19
7 a.m. Bird
walk
8 a.m. 5 k
Race
9 a.m. Children's
concert, Jim Scott
10 a.m.
•
Mushrooms of McKeever
•
Touch The Earth
•
Eating at the Crossroads
•
Backyard Habitats
11:30 a.m. Timber rattlesnakes, Matt
Wilson
2 p.m.
•
Tree Identification
•
Micro Parks - McKeever staff
•
History of Rocky
•
Basin Green Cleaning Products
3:30
p.m.
•
Hardwood Lumber Grading
•
Critters in the Stream
•
Aromatherapy
•
Wildflowers of McKeever
5 p.m. Birds of
Prey, Earl
Schriver
7:30 p.m. Evening
Campfire of Stories, Songs and Skits
#PN, PR, PgN
|
