New Outdoor Nature Club at Elsie Holmes
How would you like to see your children looking at something besides their electronics, getting some fresh air, exercise, learning how to ID snakes and mushrooms and birds?
You’re in luck (and so are the kiddos). There’s a new club in town — the Outdoor Nature Club at Elsie Holmes Nature Park — and it’s free.
The last Tuesday of every month, children of all ages and their parents or guardians are invited to participate in the club sponsored by the Catoosa County Recreation Department. Club meetings will include hiking and learning about conservation and local wildlife and plants.
“We hope to get kids so excited they’ll want to put down their technology and embrace nature,” says recreation assistant Chelsea Hoge. Hoge says some of her personal passions are reptiles and amphibians, hiking and conservation.
Hoge and Kim Sawyer, Catoosa Parks and Recreation program manager, will be teaching the classes, which, including hiking, will last 1-2 hours. The first club meeting will be held Oct. 30 at 4:30 p.m. and will be an introductory meeting. Meetings will be held year- around, but may sometimes have to be rescheduled due to inclement weather.
“We plan to keep adding topics and activities like plant and insect identification and composting to our meetings,” says Hoge. “We’re big on safety, too, so we’ll be teaching a lot about that.”
Hoge encourages those who attend to wear long pants, longsleeved shirts and closed-toed shoes suitable for hiking. Parents or guardians are required to remain at Elsie Holmes Nature Park during meetings.