Conservation field days outdoor “classroom” promotes learning

Cambell Hall - The Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District recently held its 16th annual Conservation Field Days Program. Since this is an outdoor event, we are always at the mercy of the weather but Mother Nature cooperated to give us two beautiful, but very warm, days. Approximately 850 sixth graders were on hand, listening to eight presentations on a variety of local environmental topics, meeting people who work in many different environmental fields, and enjoying the beautiful scenery at Thomas Bull Memorial Park, Montgomery. Conservation Field Days is definitely a “team” effort - the commitment to youth conservation education by the presenters, the willingness of the schools to attend such a program, and the cooperation of the Parks Department staff who are invaluable in getting the Park ready for the event. This year the schools that attended included: Monroe-Woodbury Middle School, Monroe; Warwick Valley Middle School, Warwick; and Washingtonville Middle School, Washingtonville. Field Days presenters and their affiliations were: Gary Keeton, Orange County Land Trust; Alice and Bill Johnson, Orange County Dairy Farmers; Neal Needleman, N-Man Dairy Farm; Mary Wickes and Jennifer Mulvey, Orange County Department of Health; Carol Ringanese, Minisink Valley Middle School; Edith Bush and Russell Smiley, Smiley Family Farm; James Beemer and and Chris Pray, Natural Resources Branch-USMA. Also, Mike Maillet, Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District; Carl Heitmuller, Hudson Highlands Nature Museum; Audrey Reith, Cornell Cooperative Extension; Doris Bialas, Bialas Farms; Marie Springer, Friends of the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge; Larry Larson, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; Master Gardeners, Cornell Cooperative Extension; Deb Keane and Mary Lynne Malone, Orange County Water Authority; Richard Rommel, NYS DEC Forester; Stiles Najac and Ingrid Hill, Cornell Cooperative Extension ; Bob Ewald, John Bruder, Sean Otis and Bob Rueter, Orange County Federation of Sportsmen; and Julia Preston-Fulton, Richard Parisio and Josh Roberts, NYSDEC-Stony Kill Farm EEC. We are also grateful to Brett Simmons, Commissioner of the Orange County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation for allowing us to use Thomas Bull Memorial Park. A “special” thank you to the staff at the Park for all their great assistance and to John Wildenberg for providing first aid coverage again this year. Also thanks to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for assisting with student safety during the event. If anyone would like more information on this program or other District programs, check out our Web site at www.ocsoil.org