The Grand Traverse Conservation District officially welcomed the new Oleson Pavilion Thursday evening.
Nearly 100 staff members, volunteers and community members gathered at the 960-square-foot covered facility at the Sabin Pond Trailhead to launch a new era in educational programs offered by the organization. No longer will inclement weather cancel planned hikes or expeditions as participants can be brought under cover to complete the program.
The opening also was a milestone toward the completion of a hoped-for 7,000-square-foot Boardman River Nature Center. The conservation district is hoping to begin work on this indoor classroom facility, laboratory, gallery and community room, which will be situated adjacent to the Oleson Pavilion, next year.
"We're so excited about this pavilion, it's the first step to the Nature Center," said Cindy Retherford, an education specialist with the Grand Traverse Conservation District.
Thursday evening, Retherford presided over a table of displays ranging from plant galls with insects inside to Petoskey stones to information on a snake's diet. Retherford has already welcomed school groups to the facility for programs this fall and is hoping to schedule more visits.
"These are examples of the things we do with kids," said Retherford of the district's many programs kids as well as people of all ages. "The kids love this, they love doing the hands on stuff and they're so interested in everything at this age."
The kick-off, held under a large white tent erected for the evening, also featured guided hikes plus a campfire and s'mores as darkness fell.
Tim Ervin of the Great Lakes Water Studies Institute at Northwestern Michigan College gave a keynote address enthusiastically praising the new pavilion. Ervin also noted how crucial organizations such as the Grand Traverse Conservation District are to the preservation of the Great Lakes, which hold 20 percent of the world's fresh water and 90 percent of the United State's fresh water.
"The Grand Traverse watershed has 287 square miles, 197 miles of river, 22 tributaries and 12 lakes," he noted. "The Boardman River contributes 30 percent of the flow to the Grand Traverse Bay."
Noting that the Conservation District programs led 1,700 people on hikes annually, the Boardman River Nature Center would be another key to preserving and promoting the area's natural features. He also outlined a survey of area residents and educators that showed overwhelming support for the conservation district programs and mission plus a strong desire for more programs.
Ervin rounded out his talk with a call to action, noting that the Grand Traverse Conservation District was considered one of the finest, if not the finest, conservation district in the state.
"The Boardman River Nature Center must be built and its operation supported," he said. "We have the choice here at the heart of the Great Lakes to develop a place to learn about land and water that is second to none."
Conservation District officials hope to tap the momentum from this summer's work bees and volunteer efforts to build the Oleson Pavilion to pursue the Boardman River Nature Center.
"We need to use this to keep going because we continue to be the best kept secret," noted Jim Teahen, a board member, about the Grand Traverse Conservation District.
For more information on the Grand Traverse Conservation District and its programs or the Nature Education Reserve, call 941-9060 or see their website at www.gtcd.org.