Northwest Park is busy through every season of the year, bustling with picnickers, dog walkers, and children visiting the farm animals. The park’s 473 acres support a rich diversity of habitats, each home to a unique community of plants and wildlife for hikers to discover. At the core of NWP’s mission is a calendar full of opportunities to learn more about our local environment. The Friends of NWP support education programs and activities for all ages and interests. Below is a small sample of what your donations to the Friends helped park staff and volunteers accomplish in 2022:
The Friends’ annual Country Fair event made a triumphant return to the park for the first time since 2019. Hundreds of attendees enjoyed old fashioned crafts, games, live music, and great food on October 15th as they got reacquainted with their neighbors in real life!
Class field trips brought 2,748 students in 145 classes back to the park for hands-on learning that supports their science curriculum. Connecting children with nature makes lessons come alive, preparing the next generation of engineers, doctors, teachers, and land managers through observations at the beaver pond or in the park’s Starlab planetarium.
Camp Foxfire enrolled 314 children in 6 weeklong sessions this summer to learn about nature in nature. Over 100 of them were attending Camp Foxfire for the first time ever, catching up on outdoor adventures and playtime after two years of missed field trips at school. They may not even realize they were learning while having fun at camp.
741 people of all ages attended 43 guided workshops and hikes held outdoors with small groups. Topics included wild edible plants, looking and listening to birds, and a live snake program. Children enjoyed visiting with nocturnal wildlife after dark during a Halloween-themed event, ‘Night at the Museum.’
NWP served as a training site for 155 individuals in professional and community based environmental organizations this year, including 15 Windsor teens in the STEP program who contributed 800 work hours at the park this summer. Student environmental clubs and environmental education practitioners from across the state also used the park’s resources as a learning site to further their knowledge and skills.
1,100 people toured the Maple Sugarhouse to watch volunteers collecting sap and cooking it down to produce 45 gallons of syrup over this past winter. The park’s Sugar Maple trees never slowed down for the pandemic; they just change and grow with each season in turn, same as always.
We thank all the Members, Volunteers, and Supporters of the Friends of Northwest Park.
Come out to the park and enjoy the cycles of nature in any season, and share the magic with those you love!