Home » Community News, Featured Stories Portage Park District Foundation Awards Environmental Heroes Estelle R. Brown Published on April 9, 2014 Portage County – True heroes earn their place of honor by doing the hard work over the long haul and making repeated sacrifices for the benefit of others until the work is done… so to pause from their labors for a night of fine dining and a turn under the spotlight is a rare and welcome respite.

Five heroes of environmental conservation were so honored during the 16th Annual Portage County Environmental Conservation Awards Benefit Dinner on April 5. Recipients of the 2014 awards each made a significant contribution to improving quality of life in Portage County through natural resource conservation and environmental awareness and protection.

Environmental Conservation Heroes were selected through a nomination process, in five categories. Under the spotlight for the record, 2014 awardwinners are as follows:

Green Business ~ Lucky Penny Creamery in Kent (owned by Abbe and Anderson Turner of Lucky Penny Farm in Garrettsville) was recognized for providing farm-to-table local cheeses according to sustainable agricultural practices. Lucky Penny Creamery is dedicated to food, family, simple living, and sustainable business practices. Their focal product is homemade artisanal cheeses produced from goat milk and goat milk Cajeta — a rich and creamy Mexican caramel sauce. Lucky Penny manages the entire food production process from pasture to plate, and is committed to getting children outdoors and involved in the process of understanding where food comes from. Abbe and Anderson believe that being a part of a local business community also means being the first to give back to that same community. The Turners recycle their farming waste products and are good stewards of the land.

Environmental Education ~ Crestwood Outdoor Education Committee in Mantua — represented by educators Jo Cobb, Cheryl Brugmann and Rosemary Krupar — was recognized for educational programming and outreach. The Crestwood Outdoor Education Committee has provided many years of innovative environmental education programs for elementary and intermediate students in the Crestwood School District. Students in the program receive handson outdoor educational experiences at the school campus to learn about science and the world around them. Guest speakers from area agencies expose students to the growing field of environmental careers. The committee’s efforts earned Crestwood a special designation as a “green school.” To receive this award, the Crestwood Outdoor Education Committee guided the school to make improvements to their infrastructure, including bioswales for innovative stormwater management.

Environmental Activism and Advocacy ~ Friends of the Crooked River was represented by Elaine and Harold Marsh. This group meets monthly in Peninsula for education, activism and watershed health. Founded in 1990, their focus is on programming and education that improves the water quality and health of the Cuyahoga River and its watershed. Staff have organized and participated in countless river cleanups and advocacy events for water quality legislation. They have provided a voice for the Cuyahoga River in regional planning meetings and advocated for ordinances and setbacks to protect the river and its floodplain. Friends of the Crooked River have been instrumental in removing dams from the Cuyahoga River, allowing water to flow freely and improving water quality. Their flagship program is River Day, an event that stretches across several northeast Ohio counties and focuses on events aimed at education, advocacy, and action in the Cuyahoga River watershed. They are also helping to develop a Cuyahoga River Water Trail to showcase this iconic asset.

Lifetime Achievement and Stewardship ~ Rick Strebler of Ravenna Auto Body was honored  for community leadership, volunteerism and beautification. Strebler is a tireless volunteer and community leader who has served as the president of the Garden Club of Kent  for more than a decade. There he has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for gardening, greening, and beautification projects in Kent and Portage county. The purpose of the Garden Club is to promote an interest in and knowledge of horticulture as it applies to the growing of lawns, vegetables, flowers, shrubs and trees. In addition to this educational function, the club engages in programs and activities that inform the public, benefit students, encourage better gardening practices, promote community beautification, and promote social fellowship among the members of the organization. Strebler’s leadership has allowed Kent Garden Club to offer scholarships to area youth, and develop the Ode to Joy Garden Center, a  greenhouse and popular public community garden program. Strebler also volunteers as a trustee on the Portage Park District Foundation Board and donates the services of his business to keep the park truck on the road.

Honor Roll for Land Conservation ~ Fred and Carol Maier own farmland in Randolph Township. In 2013, they placed a conservation easement on 22 acres of their property, which they donated to Western Reserve Land Conservancy, ensuring its preservation and protection for all time, regardless of its future ownership. The Maiers raise sheep for wool and have restored their Civil Warera farmhouse on the property. Fred is a former Farmland Preservation Board Member for Portage County, where he advocated for the conservation and protection of farmland and the character it provides to county residents. The Maiers hope that their donation might inspire others to consider farmland preservation through conservation easements, as well.

Sponsored by the Portage Park District Foundation, the Annual Portage County Environmental Conservation Awards Dinner is held each April to honor and thank local environmental heroes, socialize, and raise funds to support park district initiatives, fulfilling its mission to conserve Portage County’s natural and cultural heritage. This year’s emphasis is to support park and trail maintenance and to promote the 2014 levy campaign, Issue 10, which will ensure adequate funding for park operations.

Home » Featured Stories, Mantua, Schools Students Explore On Nature Treks Stacy Turner Published on April 9, 2014 Mantua - Through a special program offered at Crestwood Intermediate School, students and their families have the opportunity to experience guided adventures in nearby natural areas. The goal of the program, called Nature Treks, is to share the natural world with families who don’t have the opportunity to experience it regularly. Each trek is led by Crestwood Intermediate teacher Mrs. Rosemary Krupar, and often includes student-teacher participants from nearby Hiram College. Through this program, children and their parents or grandparents visit some the area’s hidden treasures. And the discoveries they make are priceless.

Last summer, Mrs. Krupar worked as a Teacher-Ranger-Teacher at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP). In her role as a Teacher-Ranger-Teacher (TRT), Mrs. Krupar spent eight weeks of her summer sharing nature with children through the National Park’s Junior Ranger classes and leading student field trips through the park. In addition, she developed educational materials about butterflies and their role in our ecosystem. Those materials are used at the Cuyahoga Valley Environmental Education Center and in her own classroom at Crestwood Intermediate School.

The most recent Nature Trek was held over spring break, and included a visit to local beekeeper Melanie Seal, who spoke to trekkers about caring for honeybees. Ms. Seal owns Lazy Bee Studio, which produces and sells honey and beeswax-based products in Hiram. Ms. Seal answered students’ questions, including what it’s like to be stung, and how many bees she has. Kids were surprised to learn that although the hives currently hold 12,000 bees, by July or August, the numbers will reach between 60,000 and 90,000. Ms. Seal also showed students the tools she uses in beekeeping and honey production, including hive boxes, an extractor, and a bee suit. The high point of the visit, however, was honey sampling, where students tasted honey as varied as the plants it came from – including wildflowers, blueberries, and buckwheat.

The next stop on this day-long-adventure was the Rocking K Ranch in Shalersville. The 180-acre horse farm, owned by Jack and Heidi Kohl, offers area horse enthusiasts the optimum location to board horses. With pastures, paddocks and miles of trails outside, tack rooms, a hayloft, and a light-filled 100’ by 220’ arena inside, there was plenty to see. While seeing horses is always a wonderful experience for children, the trekkers favorite part of the tour was the indoor riding arena, where one trekker immediately asked, “Can we run in here?” After much practice trotting and galloping around the arena, the kids were hungry as horses, and ready for lunch.

After lunch, we visited Oscar Brugmann Sand & Gravel, now in its 85th year of operation. Vince Vanauken, one of the fourth generations in this family-run business, served as our guide. The company, which has been operating of the area since1929, excavates roughly 5,000 tons of rocks and sand per day. Our tour included a view of the dredger, which was excavating sand and rock from the bottom of a 65-foot lake, and stops to watch sand and gravel products being hauled, washed and sorted. Students enjoyed finding and identifying samples of all sizes of sandstone, quartz, granite, flint, shale, coal, and sandstone, and were delighted to take some home. After successfully clambering over rocks and scaling gravel piles, the group headed to the final stop of the day, and a brief hike on the Headwaters Trail in Mantua.

In the fall, students went on the first Nature Trek on NEOEA day. They toured Monroe’s Apple Orchard, Hiram College Field Station, and hiked at Nelson Ledges State Park. Trekkers celebrated Martin Luther King Day in January at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park exploring the Beaver Marsh and hiking through the ledges.  Mentor Marsh and Penitentiary Glen were the destinations on a February Waiver Day. The final Nature Trek will be in June at Camp Hi in Hiram, for a family canoe trip down the Cuyahoga River.

Prior to each trek, participating students meet to conduct online research about the areas they will visit. They compile a list of questions for the people they will meet. After each trek, students meet to share their thoughts and comments. Journal entries and photos of each experience are posted to the Crestwood outdoor education blog.

The Nature Treks program is funded through a grant by the Hiram Community Trust, and is sponsored by Matt Sorrick, the Director of the Center for Science Education at Hiram College. Crestwood Intermediate third-grade teacher Rosemary Krupar is the Nature Treks Instructor. For more information on the program, visit www.crestwoodexplorestheworld.org.

Since this was my birthday treat for my class and trekkers, I waited until they were ready to leave to give them a sweet snack.  Peeps rest on a nest of no bake cookie with jelly bean eggs.