Entering Rock Hollow Woods
A Robeson couple lands a grant to expand offerings to the young, young at heart
When Amelia Giangiulio stepped into Rock Hollow Woods her heart changed.
She didn’t understand it entirely. She was just 11. But the woods in Robeson Township have called to her ever since. They might have even saved her.
“The most distinct part of it felt like a wonderland of forest,” said Giangiulio, now 28. “To be in that sizable chunk of forest — it was so opposite of my every day in school. It was cleansing. Those woods kind of hold this magic. It was almost like Narnia.”
Gianguilio was among a handful of children who attended a small camp led by Jean McCarney, special education teacher who also loved the woods. McCarney, then Jean Bernhard, had come to Rock Hollow Woods shortly after college.
She grew up in Malvern, Chester County, and discovered the woods when her parents moved there.
Eventually, Jean would fall in love with the woods, grow up and marry a man, Jim McCarney. They moved to a trailer by the woods on her parent’s land and then in bungalow on their own property along Rock Hollow Road, which lends its name to the woods. Jim built their home. It took two years, finishing in 1996.
Their dream, even before they were married, was to create a place where children could learn about and discover the woods. It was inspired by Jean’s experiences as a camp counselor in Thompson, Susquehanna County.
Bigger footprint
It would take more than 25 years for the McCarneys to see their dream take shape.
On Dec. 18, they settled on a long sought-after parcel that enables their small nonprofit center, Rock Hollow Woods Environmental Learning Center, to double in size.
Now up to 77 acres, Rock Hollow will be able to flourish, said McCarney. The new parcel is more than an expansion. It represents an affirmation for her vision.
The purchase was made possible through a donation from The Boomerang Fund of the Berks County Community Foundation.
Neither the foundation nor McCarney would reveal the donor’s name.
County records show Rock Hollow paid $182,500 to the Malickson Trust for 45 acres. The property continues to maintain Malickson’s conservation easement.
Rock Hollow will expand its educational programs to the additional acreage while reducing potential overuse of existing land and ensure conservation of the property, said Elizabeth Matteo, the center’s board president.
The newly acquired 45 acres includes a stone house, barn and other outbuildings.
The property includes land on both sides of Rock Hollow Road with a diverse topography: a stream, a spring-fed tributary to Indian Corn Creek; woods, next to the largest contiguous forest between New York and Washington D.C., the Big Woods; marsh and open space.
The McCarneys were in the right place at the right time. They found themselves among neighbors who also loved the woods.
There was Ephraim Malickson, a Montgomery County man who sold his tree farm to find solace in Robeson Township and space for his dog Tip to run. Some of his land would eventually pass into the care of Berks Nature, the county’s leading conservation organization.
And there were Charmoine and Curtis Jones, self-taught naturalists who in the 1930s were members of Natural History Hikers when the group became the Mengel Natural History Society to honor Reading Public Museum founder Levi Mengel.
The Joneses lived a short walk from a building outfitted for camp classes with mostly repurposed materials that was named Jean’s Place.
In 2003, in what was the precursor to the environmental center, the Joneses would join McCarney in sharing their knowledge of the woods with the children.
“Being in the presence of such old and wise people was really powerful,” said Giangiulio, a photographer and mom of a toddler. “I lost my grandparents at a young age. Being in their presence felt like they were from a different world.”
She didn’t appreciate the sense of wonder and mystery they conveyed until she was older.
Assembling a dream
Being in the woods with guides like McCarney gave Giangiulio a chance to look inward, to contemplate her place in the world.
“There’s something about the immensity of the woods that sort of asks you to do that,” Giangiulio said.
The McCarney’s acquired the Jones’ property in 1999 and cared for it while the couple lived there until they passed away. Curtis died in 2014 at 100 and Charmoine in 2018 at 99½.
Their home is not part of the Rock Hollow Woods Environmental Center but their spirit is.
Step by step the McCarneys been moving toward their goal.
In 2014, Jim McCarney and friends built a pavilion made from repurposed pieces of an old Twin Valley School District barn.
In 2014, Rock Hollow Woods Environmental Learning Center received nonprofit status retroactive to 2012. They continued to present more camps and workshops like those that touched lives of children like Giangiulio.
By 2017, they were able to convey land and property to the organization. But to make it sustainable it needed buy-in to stand on its own, which is why the Boomerang Fund support was so important.
“We are extremely grateful,” Jean McCarney said, adding that it took a year and a half to purchase the property.
Along the way, they’ve deepened the learning tools, adding a tube that shows children how water exists below the ground, a monarch butterfly house, an expanding milkweed patch.
An Eagle Scout created a series of trail signs describing the variety of trees in the woods.
Call of the wild
The center’s reputation has grown, too. In addition to a popular toddler program, the center has provided programs for students from Exeter, Wilson, Wyomissing, Great Valley (Chester County), Schuylkill Valley and Fleetwood school districts. Private schools such as Immaculate Conception and Berks Christian have accessed the center. There are programs for home-schoolers, too.
Meanwhile, Jean’s former campers were growing up — and returning.
Jacob Leonowitz of Exeter had his first s’more there about 16 years ago. Leonowitz, now a 26-year-old music teacher at the Gov. Mifflin School District, has returned three summers as a counselor.
“Being a student and camper of Jean’s was part of what has inspired me to become a teacher, mostly just because Jean herself is so inspiring,” Leonowitz said. “Experiences there also opened my eyes to how every child is different and requires a unique rapport with a teacher and unique educational experiences to be successful.”
He plans to return again this summer.
“I’ve done music theme weeks in the past, but this summer is shaping up to be more of a music and poetry hybrid week, and I’ll be collaborating with another educator,” he said. “Should be fun! I enjoy the opportunity because of how much I learn from Jean, from the kids, and since, as a middle and high school teacher, it is the only chance I get to work with younger kids.”
There is still much to do, said McCarney, who is the mother of two adult sons and a grandmother of two boys, ages 3 and 5.
“There are two beautiful old buildings that need complete renovation,” she said. “Berks Christian School will be creating a native garden.”
The acquisition will enable McCarney to run concurrent programs. Right now, she has only staff and space to hold one at a time.
“We will be able to take it up a notch with more facilities for older students to do research,” she said. “The sky’s the limit.”
What will stay the same is the center’s approach to children, said Matteo, who is interim arts and science dean at Alvernia University.
She has her own story of the power of Rock Hollow Woods. She took her son Jonah to a camp as a second-grader in 2007. She was nervous about whether he’d find a way to focus and participate. He did more than that.
When she picked him up after a day camp, she had barely opened the car door when McCarney exclaimed, “This is his place.”
Jonah’s experience made her a supporter.
“I’ve seen how kids do here — they thrive,” said Matteo.