Crowley Museum & Nature Center
Spring 2008 E- Newsletter
Bats And Bar-B-Q
On March 15 we
held an educational program for all ages complete with
Crowley’s
famous barbecue. Our Learning center was a packed house
with 70
people in attendance. All eyes and ears were focused on the
presentation given by Cynthia and George Marks about the bats of
Florida and how they are quite beneficial to humans. Did you know
that a single bat can eat up to 3000 insects in one night? Along
with a video presentation highlighting the habits and habitats of
bats, the audience was treated with “up close and personal” views
of our little friends. Information was given about how big, how
high, and where to put your own bat house as well as how long it
would be till your new tenants would move in. Pick up a copy of
their book,
Bats of Florida
at local bookstores.
A big
thank you goes to Ken Knecht for supplying the smoked barbecue
for the
event.
Call 322-1000 to order a long leaf pine tree
that will be dedicated and labeled on our property. You will receive a
beautiful certificate to commemorate your participation in planting the
Crowley Memorial Forest
Call
322-1000 to order a long leaf pine tree that will be dedicated and labeled on
our property. You will receive a beautiful certificate to commemorate your
participation in planting the
Crowley Memorial Forest
Crowley Grape Vineyard
The Crowley Museum and Nature Center, The
University of Florida (IFAS Extension), and Rosa Fiorelli Winery
are collaborating to establish a small muscadine grape vineyard at
Crowley. The vineyard is part of an effort by this group to educate
regional small farmers and the community about sustainable
agriculture practices and how to grow native varietal grapes; a
product in high demand by Florida wineries. Seven varietals of
muscadine grapes are being planted; including two major varietals
for wine and five for eating. "We plan to demonstrate, within this
small area, the capability to produce multiple crops which can
result in a higher revenue per acre income for small farmers." said
Dr. Robert Kluson, Sarasota County IFAS Extension Agent.
We, at
Crowley, feel that the educational program opportunity
is synergistic with what our founder, Jasper Crowley, an agriculture
teacher and founder of the FFA in Sarasota County, had originally
intended for the Center. We also hope it will generate a small
income stream for us in the future.
A View from the Director’s Chair
Bill Cowdright, Executive Director
This year
started with one of the most successful Heritage Festivals in recent
history. Over1100 people attended the January 12th event that
included antique steam engines, fossil hunts, Florida cowboys, and
more. Mark
January 10, 2009
on your calendar
so you don’t miss this family fun event next year. .We followed the
Heritage Festival with another exciting Starry Nite fundraiser;
attendance was 40% higher than last year.
Our volunteers
are diligently working on the restoration of the Tatum ridge
Schoolhouse; 3 exterior sides are completed. We plan a grand
opening in the fall.
Becky Karnas,
our program director, has injected new life into our education
programs and added new quarterly events that have generated many new
family memberships. Visit our website for the list of new programs
and events.
Susan Almario,
our administrative assistant, has found virtual volunteers on-line
and is using them to add programs and events to the many
publications and electronic calendars to which we subscribe.
There is real
excitement around Crowley these days. We will be working with the
local IFAS Extension Agent, Dr. Robert Kluson, to generate new
educational and demonstration programs for sustainable agriculture.
For example, we planted a 1/3 acre plot of muscadine grapes where we
hope to demonstrate land utilization and improved farm economics by
growing different crops, in the vineyard, during the year.
Donations T h a n k Y o u ……
Sarasota Arts Council—$4000
donation to repair of pioneer cabin chimney
Florida Native Plants— $465 in trees
Marne Kaplan in memory of Brad Price—$1000
News and Notes
News Coverage
We have recently
received more business coverage in local publications. The SRQ
Journal wrote that “the Center is hoping to soon become the
backdrop for community events ranging from business conventions and
seminars to field trips and education.” Our program director, Becky
Karnas was quoted as saying ” There’s a phenomenal energy to this
land and we’re open to public input as to what events they’d like to
have here.”
The Sarasota
Herald Tribune’s photographer, Chip Litherland happened to stop in
on March 26 during a children’s program, Wildlife
Detectives—Insects. The next morning a slide show of photos from the
event were featured on the on-line version of the newspaper and a
written article was in the newspaper.
Student Interest in Nature
Booker Middle
School students have been out to write poetry specifically about
CMNC and will be featured at our Earth Day Sunset Celebration.
They have bound their writing for distribution.
The Road is Clear
The Fruitville Road widening project is complete! Access to Crowley
Museum and Nature Center is now easier than ever. That road project
also made your access easier to our neighbors Crowley Nursery and to
Miakka Methodist Church for their twice monthly dinners on Friday
night.
Winter Tourist Season
has come to an
end. Beginning May 1 Crowley Museum and Nature Center will return
to being open 4 days a week, Thursday through Sunday. Our hours
will stay the same at 10 am till 4 pm. We can still be reached by
phone during our business hours, Tuesday thru Friday, 10 am till 4
pm.
New Items in the Gift Shop
Susan can’t
restock fast enough. The book, entitled A land Remembered by
Patrick D. Smith flies off the shelf. Children’s Wild Things
T-shirts with snap on bugs are a big hit and the adult
advice
tee shirts are a favorite. On your next visit, please include some
time to browse to music from our donated stereo.
New Books —
Looking for
Longleaf, the Fall and Rise of an American Forest by Lawrence S.
Earley
Last Child in
the Woods, Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by
Richard Louv
Ecology of a
Cracker Childhood by Janisse Ray
Cracker, The
Cracker Culture in Florida History by Dana Ste. Claire
New
T-Shirts—Adult, Advice from:
Eagle, Bat ,
Hummingbird and Ladybug
The Wisdom of
Chief Seattle
Sugar Cane Molasses
Only a few jars left of our homemade Cracker delicacy for a donation
of $8. We also have a decorator jar complete with recipe for Sugar
Cane Syrup Cookies, donation $4.
Cracker Cooking
Still available
in our Gift Shop is the cookbook called Cracker Cooking, Fifty
Recipes from Cracker Kitchens by Carolyn Teicher Potts. I made
Sweet Tater Surprise for my Easter dinner contribution and received
rave reviews. They kept all the leftovers! Below is an excerpt
from the cookbook.
Susan Almario
Sweet “Tater Surprise
Or
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a yam!”
Of all the
Southern foods, the sweet potato, even more than grits, is the most
beloved. Although only a potato, the sweet tater has managed to be
integrated into virtually every aspect of Southern cooking.
Interestingly, the further north the sweet tater travels, the more
it is referred to as a yam. Yams are nice but just aren’t
Southern. I suppose there is a some place where yams and sweet
taters peacefully coexist, but then one wonders if they don’t suffer
some sort of identity crisis that might affect their taste…..
Boy Scout
Programs at Crowley
or
Are You
Smarter Than a 5th
Grader?
By Marie Brooks-Deamud
This spring
marks the end of our 2nd
season of Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs at Crowley. These two
years have been filled with the faces of Cub Scouts eager to hike in
search of snakes, gators, and bobcats; the exclamations of Scout
leaders and parents excited to discover a new community resource;
and the sighs of relief from Boy Scouts just completing the
Environmental Science Merit Badge. And, occasionally during these
two years, one could hear a low groan coming from an adult stymied
by a question a 5th
grader so readily answered.At Crowley we offer 7 different Cub Scout
programs and one Boy Scout merit badge program. Right now the
Webelos (grades 4-5) Naturalist and Forester Badge combo is the most
popular Cub Scout program. Topics include poisonous plants and
animals, wildlife uses of plants, food chains, prescribed burns,
tree ID, epiphytes, wildlife clues, and endemic, endangered, and
threatened plant and animal species. This is the time when adults
realize that they may not always be smarter than a 5th
grader!
The highly
successful Boy Scout Environmental Science Merit Badge Workshop,
initiated 6 years ago by Myriam Springuel, continues to attract Boy
Scouts pursuing the Life Scout and Eagle Scout ranks. Boy Scouts
participate in ‘hands on experiments’ detailing the effects of air,
water, and land pollution as well as oil spills. Scouts identify
environmental concerns as they outline an environmental impact
statement based on an upcoming project, the retrofit of the Crowley
boardwalk.
What makes Boy
Scout programs so successful at Crowley? Gifted volunteers and staff
willing to share their knowledge, experience, and time with Scouts
tops the list of reasons. Next we have our five natural communities
which provide the rich biodiversity so important in an environmental
education outdoor classroom. And last, we have a relaxed, friendly
atmosphere that encourages Scouts and their families to linger after
the program to picnic and make Crowley ‘their own’ for the
afternoon.
Cub Scout Packs
and Boy Scout Troops in the Two Rivers District (Sarasota,
Charlotte, and a part of De Soto Counties) of the Southwest Florida
Boy Scout Council have participated in our programs over the last
two years. We would like to thank the Boy Scouts, Scout leaders, and
parents for participating in our programs and for giving us this
opportunity to share our remarkable natural and cultural resources.
A special
Thank You
goes out to Paul
Antes, and Vaughn Yeager. Their help with the Boy Scout Merit Badge
Program was invaluable.
“Scouting brings
value to every segment that it touches. We really need to
reintroduce Scouting to the American people.”
Outdoor Programs.
Boy Scouting is designed to take place outdoors. It is in the
outdoor setting that Scouts share responsibilities and learn to live
with one another. In the outdoors the skills and activities
practiced at troop meetings come alive with purpose. Being close to
nature helps Boy Scouts gain an appreciation for the beauty of the
world around us. The outdoors is the laboratory in which Boy Scouts
learn ecology and practice conservation of nature's resources.
Crowley Museum
and Nature Center is an integral part of the relationship of boy and
nature. Our badge programs are well planned and even better
received.
Personal Growth.
As Boy Scouts plan their activities and progress toward their goals,
they experience personal growth. The Good Turn concept is a major
part of the personal growth method of Boy Scouting. Boys grow as
they participate in community service projects and do Good Turns for
others. Probably no device is as successful in developing a basis
for personal growth as the daily Good Turn.
Crowley Museum
and Nature Center has been the recipient of the Good Turn concepts
for a number of years. In addition to the Smokehouse and Butterfly
Garden help, the Boy Scouts have built a shelter along the
boardwalk, put in the fire pit behind the Tatum house and helped
with installing the new section of the boardwalk. A new project
soon to begin is building a porch and wheelchair ramp onto our
admission building to make our site more wheelchair friendly.
Booker Middle School Poets
In keeping with
Crowley’s dedication to educating our youth as well as the
community, we have a close relationship with Booker Middle School.
We will soon be hosting a Poetry Workshop to encourage voicing the
beauty of nature through poetry. We are happy to present a featured
sample of some past works of our young poets at Booker Middle.
River Boy
By Alex
Dodson, 8th grade
The river
of words flows endlessly…
And the
boy sits on the hard shoulder of the shore,
Casting a
fain line of thought into the river’s depths,
That he
hopes will be strong enough
To pull a
big fish that still within the limit.
A foggy
atmosphere now shields the boy’s eyes,
But he
doesn’t care,
Because
he doesn’t need to see
In order
to feel his line tug.
The boy
wears what the weather permits;
A grey T
with thick denim jeans.
He
doesn’t wear shoes,
Only a
thin layer of dirt
And
calluses on his feet
To remind
him
He
doesn’t need protection from the nature he loves,
And he
attempts a deep breath,
Reaching
for fresh air,
he
doesn’t find any.
And he
tries again,
Still
unsuccessful.
Eyelids
embrace and wrinkles tighten;
The fight
is over,
And he
can’t help it.
Letting
his line go,
The boy
rests limply and internally broken on the craggy rock,
And he
lets the sharp stone engrave its message into his back.
His lungs
had finally given up:
The were
no match for the dead inspiration
That
pollutes the air of mind.
It is
over, and the world around him knows it,
The fog
lifts, seemingly sucked into the sky, letting the scene rest once
more.
The wind
is whipping again,
The river
calms again,
And the
sun shines with a persistence
It had
fear to show before
A lost
strain of wind finds the boy,
And
nudges him over on the cold, large rock,
Starting
a trend followed by its brother;
A summon
from coincidence.
Over he
rolls,
Slowly,
Until he
picks up his own momentum
On the
negative slope.
He falls
into the river of words,
The cold
rushing water stains his clothes dark,
Brushes
him away into his own thoughts,
Determined not to drown,
Until he
hits the end of the slowing current
He
realizes he has written the poem.
Master Wildlifer Course
Sarasota County Extension is offering the taped version of the
Master Wildlifer Regional Satellite course that was broadcast in
February and March of 2005 from Clemson University. Master
Wildlifer is designed for landowners, land managers, and outdoors
recreationists who are interested in including wildlife
considerations into their current land management activities.
Practicing land managers will find the course valuable in
highlighting alternative management approaches for wildlife in
forest and farm settings. Special emphasis is placed on wildlife
species (game species) that currently offer landowners additional
sources of income through recreational access fees.
The
course is a combination of presentations and field tours by wildlife
and natural resource experts that present the seven (7) course
sessions in the management of different wildlife species, such as
eastern wild turkey, white tailed deer, pond fish, waterfowl and
bobwhite quail. A final session will involve a class Master
Wildlifer project.
The location of the course will be the Crowley Museum and Nature
Center in Sarasota, Florida. This environmental center offers
natural areas for wildlife and habitat management on a heritage
farm. The cost of the course is $ 150.00. The schedule of classes
is from 2:00 to 5:00 pm on the following Saturdays: June 14, 21 and
28; July 5 and 12, and August 9, 16 and 23. For registration, see
instructions on the education calendar of the Sarasota County
Extension at
http://sarasota.extension.ufl.edu/ or call Amy Marrero at (941)
861-5000. Make checks payable to
Sarasota County
Extension Ag/Natural Resources Advisory Committee.
Volunteer News
THANK YOU
The efforts of our small volunteer team is priceless. These
volunteers deliver hours to support our programs and projects.
Laura
Roginski—Laura comes out
willingly often to do photographs of our events as well as site
pictures to use in advertising and on our website.
Roger
Darus - Roger's
current career is in computer program writing and has done a mock-up
of a new website for Crowley as a project for the Florida Master
Naturalist Program. He also is currently enrolled to do
graduate work in Environmental Studies. With his busy schedule
hindering every step, he has been trying to hook up to complete the
website redesign. You'll love it when it is finished.
Marie
Brooks—Marie is still a most
valued volunteer. As well as working on a grant for the
restoration of our boardwalk, she is still available, often on a
moment's notice, to direct nature programs. She will also be
active in our summer camp program.
Paula
Wagner—Paula is working
alongside Marie as a member of the grant writing team. Another
project on her list is to photograph the sections of the boardwalk
in most need of attention.
Coordinate Plotting Team--
Tom and
Kathy Marquis – Tom and
Kathy have acquired the assistance of an estate appraiser to get the
museum collection properly appraised and organized.
Virtual
Volunteer Team
Volunteers
from all over the country help by advertising our events. More
information next quarter!
Volunteer
Recognition Award
Let us introduce
Mark Burrow, a
new addition to our Volunteer Team who
has proven
to be quite a gem. We don’t know what we did before he
willingly
came on board as our “Extreme” Nature Tour Guide
________________________________________________________
CMNC is
grateful to add Mark Burrow to our cast of super-talented
volunteers.
Born and raised in Sarasota, Mark is a professional nature
guide/photographer and
nuisance trapper for Wildlife Services of Florida.
Mark is like a
(well studied) little boy who never grew up. He loves hiking in the
woods, digging in the dirt, collecting fossils, examining plants,
and pulling apart bugs (just kidding). It is no wonder that he is a
big hit with adults and an even bigger hit with kids. Mark brings a
sense of wonderment and excitement to his tours. He specializes in
medicinal and herbal plant interpretation and survival skills.
During
February's
moonlit tour, visitors asked to "keep going" after finishing the
boardwalk tour and Mark was happy to continue the tour. A barred owl
was spotted along the way. Mark's fossil program which ran March 1st
brought in 40 visitors! The program included an overview of fossils
and a walk down to our new fossil pit. generously donated by Mr.
Jonathan Fields and built by CMNC's Jason Thompson. Kids plunged
into the pit to find handfuls of fossils, provided and interpreted
by Mark himself. Upon leaving one mother said, "We drove all the
way down to Dinosaur World and came home with one shark tooth. My
child has a pocketful of fossils today." Next Fossil program
Saturday, May 3 at 11 am.
Volunteer Opportunities
Crowley Museum
and Nature Center is known to be the best kept secret in Sarasota.
However, we are
getting the word
out more with the help of some new volunteers. This in turn,
created need for more
volunteers. If
any of these opportunities sound fun and appealing, call Becky at
941-322-1000 or email cmncprograms@aol.com
Newsletter
Writer, work with Susan
Children’s
Programs Asst Mgr, work with Becky
Senior Programs
Asst Mgr, work with Becky
Building
Maintenance Mgr,work with Susan or Becky
Museum Design
Customer Service
Assistants, work with Susan
Go Green—News You Can Use
Reasons to
Visit in Summer
Spotlight Graphics
makes our printed newsletter possible.
THANK
YOU!
T
h a n k Y o u to...
¨ Hoyt and Tim
Brawn, neighbors who donated 3 pails of fossils for our fossil
programs.
UPCOMING
PROGRAMS
Visit the
Educational Programs Page for a full list
of upcoming events.
New
& Renewing Members
of Crowley Museum &
Nature Center
|
Individual
Family
|
Family
|
Family
Patron
Donor
Donations
$1 - $5000
Please inform us of any errors or omissions |
Become a Crowley
Member
or Renew Your
Membership!
Click
here for a membership form
Crowley's Wish List
Gas powered blower
Crushed shell fill
All-terrain
wheelchair
We will be happy to pick up your
donation.
CMNC Board of Directors
MaryAnne Servian, President
400-8521
John Michel,
Vice President
955-4678
Marne Kaplan, Secretary
(Marne Kaplan Interior Design, Inc.) 955-5150
Paul Antes, Treasurer
360-1802
Bill Cowdright, Executive
Director
Mollie Holland
(Southwest Florida Water Mgmt District) 377-3722 x.6527
Craig Bruggeman (Stout
Homes) 379-8900
William
Johnson
345-7652
Diane Lawson,
(Abbey Realty & Management)
780-6136
John
Dover,
400-5805
