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Calendar for the latest list of upcoming
ONP events. 
ONP Newsletters
These Newsletters are in PDF format to read online,
download or print.
Spring 2009 (April)
Winter 2009 (January)
Summer 2008 (July)
Spring 2008 (March)
Autumn 2007 (October)
Summer 2007
(June)
Autumn 2006 (October)
Summer 2006 (June)
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Lake Apopka Cleanup Postponed
Mike Brinkley, 6/5/09:
Unfortunately, we are going to have to postpone the Lake Apopka
Clean Up scheduled for June 20, 2009 to a future time to be determined. High
water levels (thanks to the no-name storm system that sat over us for
several days) have made the trash nearly impossible to find and with the
rain we’ve been getting daily, water levels show no signs of receding by the
20th. Thank you for your continued support and I will update you once we
have another date.
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June 5, 2009 ONP Update
by President Jim Thomas
Our number of activities at the preserve have greatly increased. I hope each
of you will participate in as much as you can be. This is what we have been
working for all these years, now let’s make sure this place is as valuable
and enjoyable as possible.
1. I have cancelled the June board meeting because of the number of people
who will be away (including me). We will deal with any urgent business by
e-mail or with committees. The July Board of Directors meeting will be on
Saturday, July 11 at 10:00 AM. We must get the caulking on the logs
completed ASAP, so we are scheduling a caulking party instead of board
meeting. Meet at 9:00 A.M, bring a caulking gun and putty knife if you have
them. We also need step ladders. Please help.
2. The Insect Study Group will still meet on Saturday, June 13 and have
decided to meet at 8:00 A.M. The collection they are beginning will be
valuable as part of our education program, so I hope you will plan to help.
3. The Finance Committee has been meeting to complete our budget for the
next fiscal year. We have also prioritized remaining tasks needed to
complete the building and determined where the funds will come from. If you
have input on the budget, please call Tom, me, Frank Marritt, Don Hickman,
Dennis Foltz, or Teresa Joiner. The new budget will be presented to the
Board of Directors at the July meeting. Our fiscal year begins July 1.
4. The Education Committee has been meeting to plan our education programs –
a major task when everything is considered. We will meet Saturday, June 6 at
9:00 AM to continue discussions about the programs and about the hiring of a
Director of Education. I’d like as many of you as possible to attend. The
Committee has scheduled a very important meeting with School Board directors
of science programs in the public school system and we will make plans for
this meeting, which is scheduled for Monday, June 15 at 2:00 P.M. Please try
to attend both meetings.
5. My next “Take a Hike” is next Sunday, June 7 at 2:00 P.M.. I hope some of
you will attend so we can keep training you for leading school groups, etc.
6. Because of the success of our Open House last February, the Board decided
to do an annual spring event. So, I need a volunteer chairman and committee
to begin thinking about it. We are not thinking of an event as large as our
Heritage Festival – just something to get people to the Preserve. Please
call me. Don’t make me come after you.
7. The Central Florida Turtle and Tortoise Club will meet at the preserve on
Tuesday, June 16 at 7:00 P.M. and everyone is invited. I’d like to think
about a gopher tortoise display of some sort and hope they will agree to
help.
8. I’m working on a major campaign to raise operating funds. We have a
matching grant if we can raise $12,500 by September 1. Please give me your
help and ideas.
9. Next Monday, June 8, a group of students from the Oakland Summer Camp
Program will be at the preserve at 9:00 A.M.. We have about 20 children
registered so far. If you have some time, please plan to help. Please
contact Nancy Mote, Education Coordinator at
nsmote@acm.org to let her know you will help.
10. We now have two archeology interns working at the preserve on Mondays
and Fridays from 12:00 – 5:00 P.M. for the next two months. They are
archiving our historic records on Lake Apopka and will be doing museum
displays. One of the things we really want to do is a demonstration “dig” to
look for artifacts as an education program. We would like to do it near the
lakefront and have selected a good likely spot. We are going to hike down
there this Friday (June 5) at 1:00 P.M. and you are welcome to join us.
11. The Lake Apopka cleanup scheduled for June 20 has been canceled because
of high water. We will let you know when it has been re-scheduled.
12. I would love to have a volunteer crew to take down the little tin shed
in front of our building – it really distracts. Any volunteers?
13. I am scheduling the annual review for Tom in late June in preparation
for a new contract to coincide with the fiscal year. Please get any comments
you may have to me right away.
The following Calendar is important – plan to attend everything if you can:
Saturday, June 6 - Education Committee, 9:00 A.M.
Sunday, June 7 - Take a Hike, 2:00 P.M.
Monday, June 8 - Oakland Summer Camp Program 9:00 – 12:00
Saturday, June 13 - Insect Study Group 8:00 A.M.
Log Caulking Party 9:00 A.M.
Monday, June 15 - Education Committee meeting
with OCPS science supervisors 2:00 P.M.
Tuesday, June 16 - Central Florida Turtle and
Tortoise Club 7:00 P.M.
Saturday, June 20 - Lake Apopka Clean-Up
Cancelled (Hold onto your flyers)
Saturday, July 11 - Board of Directors Meeting 9:00 A.M.
See You There!
Jim Thomas
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Here is a nice article by Darla Miller that
missed being included in the Winter 2009 Newsletter.
Read about the October Heritage Festival tour of the
ONP Education Center.
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Another successful Oakland
Heritage Arts & Crafts Festival
topped off the weekend when the sun came out
at Speer Park in
Oakland
on October 25th!
See Who was there
and Photos at Festival
2008...
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| May 19th ONP Update by President Jim Thomas
Our onslaught of 145 Thornebrook Elementary fourth graders on
Monday May 18th proved we can handle anything! They arrived in the middle of
a major rainstorm! I really appreciated the volunteer help we had and we had
it covered.
I had planned a series of groups, each led by one of our volunteers and a
teacher and chaperones. We organized exactly what we wanted them to see and
what we would say, using part of their own eco-unit vocabulary. It would
have worked well except for the on-going storm.
We pulled in all four groups, one on the front porch, one on the back porch,
one in the classroom and one in the museum. We gave them a lot of
information on the preserve, Lake Apopka, restoration, etc.
They were so well behaved, they paid attention to what we were saying and
they asked good questions. I just had a note from the teacher who planned
the trip saying, "parents and teachers were so impressed with the
volunteers, their knowledge and how engaging they were. Despite the
circumstances, the students learned a lot."
My sincere thanks to the volunteers: Clay Ferrara, John Deam, Jackie Rolley,
Diane Bradley, Sabrina Azzouz, Darla Miller, Jennie Reagan, Don Hickman, and
Ted Van Deventer. They really did a good job!
Here are a few pictures of the event. Some thought
the best part was the snake! See
Photos...
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March 19, 2009 Update
From: Jim Thomas, President, Oakland Nature Preserve
We had a busy day on Saturday,
March 14. The Board of Directors (BOD) had to discuss many items that are
very important. The entomology group had a good turnout and Doris Mager’s
Birds of Prey talk went very well.
The BOD voted to ban dogs from
the preserve and we are already receiving complaints, some to the town. The
answer is simple: this is a nature preserve, not a park and part of our
mission is to enhance habitat. We also need to respond that many people did
not obey leash laws and did not clean up after their dogs.
The BOD received info on a
draft policy for charges and use of the new building and we need to vote on
those at our next meeting. Please come prepared to discuss. We also have a
draft financial manual which is very important.
We have appointed an Education
Committee to begin preparing our educational programs and invite anyone else
who is interested to join the Committee: Mary Louise Grable, Darla Miller,
Alice Hoeltzer, Peggy Lantz, Dennis Foltz, Nancy Mote. We will also ask Kay
Cappleman and Karen Ardaman to advise the group. I urge this committee to
plan their meetings and send notices to both boards in case they want to
attend and help.
I have reviewed my monthly
outings in the preserve on Sunday afternoons and I’m calling it “Take a
Hike”. I have scheduled these walks as follows, all beginning at 2:00 P.M.
on the dates of March 29, April 5, May 3, and June 7.
Remember June 20 - 2nd
Annual
Lake Apopka Airboat Cleanup.
I need a volunteer Events
Coordinator to get notices and press releases to all the areas we need to
reach: posters in the preserve and town kiosks, West Orange Times, Oakland
Newsletter, Sentinel, etc. You don’t need to write everything, just see that
the notices get out.
As
you can see, this spring is going to be pretty hectic. Please get some rest
and volunteer all the time you can at
volunteers@oaklandnaturepreserve.org . We have a great project here!
If you would like
further information on any of these items, contact us at the preserve office
(407) 905-0054.
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Classroom at Oakland Nature Preserve to
Honor Rotary
A new environmental education center scheduled to be built at the
Oakland Nature Preserve will honor the commitment of ten local Rotary Clubs
that raised more than $75,000 to help build the center. Because of the
tremendous support given to the project by the local Rotary Clubs, one of
the center’s rooms will be named the “Rotary Classroom”. The center will
feature two large rooms, one designated as a classroom/laboratory and the
other as space for a museum.
“We feel this is the most appropriate room,” said Richard Irwin,
who chaired the Rotary fundraising committee. “All of our fundraising
communication about this facility was for an environmental classroom, a
place where our children and future generations can learn the importance of
the environment and water quality.”
The ten local Rotary Clubs pooled resources in a number of ways to
support this project and commemorate the centennial year of Rotary.
Construction on the $650,000 facility is scheduled to begin soon, according
to Oakland Nature Preserve president Jim Thomas.
The other large room in the center will be named the Ginn Museum to
commemorate the financial support of the Ginn Corporation.
Naming rights for the entire building are still available for the
cost of $250,000 and group members are now working toward this final goal.
For more information or to provide funding support for the center, call Jim
Thomas at 407 656 8277. Click on
Naming Rights to see a complete list.
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