"This Dang
Planet" - Long Hunter State Park's spring nature festival - is set for April 11,
2015.
This free event features nature-themed activities for the entire family:
an edible plants demonstration, bird walk, live snakes (and other animals!),
craft station for kids, butterfly program, artist sketching, natural movement
workshop, a water/habitat assessment program, and much more.
At lunch time there
will be food trucks and a musical guest with a nature theme.
See below for
schedule of events, presenter bios, and more!
Main Track (All Main Track events take place or start at the park office except where
noted):
8 a.m. - Welcome/Opening Remarks
8:15 a.m. - Morning Bird Walk - John Froeschauer: Take a short walk to view and hear local and
migratory birds.
10 a.m. - Eating Wild - Sharen Bracy: Let's go outside to search for wild edible plants -
and then come inside for samples.
11:30 to 1:15 - Food Trucks - Jones
Press Sandwich Shop and
Maggie Moos (located at parking lot beside picnic shelter in Area
2)
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. - Musical Guest Jerry Vandiver (located at picnic
shelter in Area 2)
1:15 p.m. - Why Butterflies Need Trees - Rita Venable: Learn three good reasons why we should plant trees
for butterflies. Rita will sign copies of her new book Butterflies of Tennessee
after the presentation.
2:30 p.m. - Hiking With An Artist’s Eye - Fred Dickson: Try your hand at sketching the flora and fauna of Long Hunter. Attendees should bring a clipboard or other hard surface for drawing, as well as paper, favorite writing tools, and a camp chair if they don’t wish to sit on the ground.
Kids Track (All Kids Track events take place in or around picnic shelter in Area 2 except where noted):
10 - 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 - 3 p.m. - Learning About
Cedar Glades Through Art - Liana Dranes - This is a craft station for kids who are welcome to come and go. Kids must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
(Located under tent near picnic shelter)
10 a.m. - Water Water Everywhere But Not A Drop To Drink - Will Caplenor:
Bring wading shoes for this water and habitat assessment program. Meet at Percy Priest Lake shoreline past Group Camp 2 at end
of gravel road beside office.
11:15 a.m. - Rooted Movement: Natural Movement Workshop - Eric Newman: Participate in this physical education and fitness system based on the full range of natural human movement abilities. Meet beside playground in Area 2.
11:30 to 1:15 - Food Trucks - Jones Press Sandwich Shop and Maggie Moos (located at parking lot beside picnic shelter in Area 2)
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. - Musical Guest Jerry Vandiver (at picnic shelter in
Area 2)
2:30 p.m. - Exotic & Invasive Animals - Josh Justice: Live animals courtesy of the Natural History Education
Company of the MidSouth.
"This Dang Planet" is organized and sponsored by the Friends of Long Hunter State Park.
"This Dang Planet" is organized and sponsored by the Friends of Long Hunter State Park.
For more information on the Friends of Long Hunter, visit http://www.friendsoflonghunter.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/longhunterstatepark
* * *
PRESENTER
BIOGRAPHIES
Rita Venable - Why Butterflies Need Trees
Rita Venable is a writer, photographer, and speaker whose much-loved
subject is nature, especially butterflies. She is author of Butterflies of
Tennessee (2014, Maywood Publishing). She was formerly an assistant
biologist with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation
conducting biological surveys in state parks and natural areas with the All Taxa
Biodiversity Inventory program. She developed butterfly checklists for
individual parks, led field trips, conducted training sessions for seasonal
naturalists, and spoke at wildflower festivals and other state park
events.
Fred Dickson is a visual artist, harpist and actor from Nashville,
Tennessee. In 2014 Tennessee's first lady, Crissy Haslam, asked him to create an
ornament representing Long Hunter State Park for the Christmas tree on public
display in the Governor’s Residence. Mr. Dickson also designed "The Flora and
Fauna of Long Hunter State Park," a collection of hand-painted ceramic plates
which sold for the benefit of Friends of Long Hunter State Park. Much of his art
can now be found on display at Long Hunter. Dickson is also a noted hiker,
having completed four Long Hunter Mega-Hikes, which consists of hiking all 26
miles of the park's trails in a single day.
John Froeschauer - Morning Bird Walk
John Froeschauer is the Middle Tennessee Regional Interpretive Specialist
for Tennessee State Parks. He is responsible for overseeing, planning and
providing assistance with interpretive programming, exhibits and signage,
resource management, regional seasonal interpreter management, and serves as
statewide fund administrator of monies generated by sales of the environmental
state parks license plate. For the past 20 years, the state parks environmental
"Iris Plate" has had receipts earmarked for landscaping and related maintenance
in state parks.Jerry Vandiver - Musical Guest
Since making the move from Kansas City to Nashville, Jerry Vandiver has
seen his songs recorded by such artists as Tim McGraw, Phil Vassar, Lonestar,
Barbara Mandrell, Lee Greenwood, and The Oak Ridge Boys. He scored a Top 5
single on Gene Watson's Don't Waste It On The Blues, a Top 20 on Wild Rose's Go
Down Swingin', and #2 on Tim McGraw's For A Little While. Jerry can be heard
regularly at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe, The Ford Theater at the Country Music
Hall of Fame's Songwriter Series, and NSAI's Tin Pan South.
Sharen Bracy - Eating Wild
Sharen Bracy is a freelance naturalist and author who specializes in wild
edible foods. A native Tennessean, Sharen is a former interpretive specialist
for Tennessee State Parks. Sharen has been teaching people about edible plants
in Tennessee for many years. She hosts the annual Wild Foods Day at Fall Creek
Falls State Park and also prepares edible plants for the annual Wildflower
Pilgrimage at Cedars of Lebanon State Park. She is author of the cookbook
Eating Wild, which features over 100 of Sharen's favorite recipes for
preparing wild food and game.
Liana Dranes - Learning About Cedar Glades Through Art
Liana Dranes works with State of Tennessee Department of Military as
Natural Resources Manager with focus on keeping TNARNG lands available and
suitable for mission activities while conducting responsible management of
natural resources to ensure resources are used wisely and are protected.
Previously she worked 24 years with ESC Lab Sciences in Mt. Juliet, TN. In 2010,
Dranes was awarded Tennessee Recreation and Parks Association "Four-Star
Programming Award" for her volunteer partnership with Tennessee State Parks
bringing environmental science and nature education programs to children through
"The Nature Circle" at Long Hunter State Park.
Josh Justice - Exotic & Invasive Animals
For almost 10 years, the Natural History Educational Co. of the Midsouth
(NHECM) has been providing educational outreach wildlife programs to many
schools, libraries, State and Federal Parks, conservation & youth-oriented
groups and other learning institutions. NHECM programmer Josh Justice has worked
with a variety of animals and wildlife providing outreach programs to local
schools and youth organizations for almost 25 years, including volunteer work
with the Tennessee Outdoors University and the Wildlife Society at
UT-Martin.
Eric Newman - Rooted Movement: Natural Movement
Workshop
Will Caplenor - Water, Water Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink
Will Caplenor is a Watershed and Restoration Specialist at the Tennessee Environmental Council. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2013 with a B.S. in Geoscience and will be pursuing a Masters in an Environmental field in the fall.
