Directions, schedules, activity descriptions and online registration are all available at http://merrylea.goshen.edu/. Register by May 9. Weekend registration includes Saturday breakfast and lunch. Saturday only registration includes lunch. Adults pay $5 for one activity, $10 for Saturday and $15 for the weekend. Kids through college students pay $5 anytime.

WOLF LAKE, Ind. – Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College will kick off its annual NatureFest on Friday, May 10 with a Haymow Concert in the Farmstead Barn at 8:30 p.m. The folk group The Nearby Elsewhere will play.

The Nearby Elsewhere is composed of Craig Mast, Kate Truscello and David Kempf, all from the Goshen/Elkhart area. The trio uses the fiddle, guitar, mandolin and banjo to preserve traditional tunes, give new folk-life to cover songs, and play some original material of their own. Merry Lea’s Farmstead Barn has beams, rafters and a few friendly bats to add to the atmosphere.

NatureFest is a family-friendly bash that showcases a wide variety of ways to get closer to the outdoors, from hiking to container gardening, from catching insects to tasting wild edibles. All festivities take place at Merry Lea’s Farmstead Site. This year’s theme, “Nature Nurtures Us All,” includes booths and activities that demonstrate our dependence on the Earth for our food, clothing and shelter.

Woodworker Dave Miller, of Goshen, Ind., a former program director at Merry Lea, is back to demonstrate his favorite hobby. Miller knows what kinds of wood will work best for various human needs and also where those trees grow and what they are like when they are living.

Julie Davidson, of Columbia City, Ind., and her daughter, Elena, own sheep and can transform wool into handcrafted garments. Visitors can watch them spinning and learn about natural dyes.

Merry Lea’s eggmobile

At Merry Lea’s agroecology booth, the program’s new eggmobile will demonstrate the chicken lifestyle at its best. This coop on wheels with portable fencing allows the chickens to graze outdoors on fresh pastures.

What do maple syrup, bison, lavender and apples have in common? They’re all grown on farms in Noble County. Farm to Fork, a program of the Noble County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau that aims to educate the public about its local food producers will also be represented.

At 8 a.m. on Saturday morning, athletes can run the Turtle Trot, a 5-K that follows grassy trails past wetlands, woodlands and prairies. Small prizes are awarded for the fastest male, female and child times and the most unusual nature sighting spotted while running.

Canoeing is one of NatureFest’s most popular activities, offered every year. The nine-acre Kesling Wetland is large enough to provide interesting nature sightings yet small enough to allow families to return to shore promptly when young children get restless. Canoes are provided.

Camping without the need to pack and cook food is a draw for some families. Weekend registration fees include Friday night s’mores and a hot breakfast and lunch. A wild edibles snacking table will supplement the more traditional fare.

For a foretaste of Fancheon Resler’s Container Gardening Workshop, drive by 3100 N. 350 W. Albion, where she practices her art. Participants are invited to bring a container to plant.

A new feature this year at NatureFest is a young adult track. It includes an off-trail hike led by Bill Minter, New Paris, Ind., who teaches land management courses at Merry Lea. Hikers ages 16 to 22 – or those spry enough to keep up with them – will see a perched bog and a ghost forest of tamarack trees. Following the young adult track is a good way to explore interests in environmental science and meet Goshen College professors.

Merry Lea was created with the assistance of the Nature Conservancy and the generosity of Lee A. and Mary Jane Rieth. The 1,189-acre nature preserve is located in central Noble County, midway between Fort Wayne and Goshen, south of Wolf Lake.

Frog Hike 2012

Early spring is an exciting and enjoyable time to explore the outdoors at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College in central Noble County. The ground begins to thaw, new buds emerge, wildflowers begin to flash their color, and the frogs begin their mating calls.

Naturalists Lisa Zinn, Jonathan Schramm, Tom Hartzell and Carol Good-Elliott will lead hikers in search of peepers and wood frogs and everything else that croaks. Many schools are on break this week, so these outings are especially geared toward families. Hopefully each participant will get to hold a frog as well as hear it.

“Every marsh and woodland puddle erupts in a chorus of frog song,” explains public program coordinator Jennifer Schrock, who has a small wetland right outside her office window. Like bird species, each has its own distinct call.

The fee for Merry Lea’s frog hike is $5 for adults, $2 for children. Please call 260-799-5869 or email jenniferhs@goshen.edu by April 3 to register. Boots are recommended. Meet at the Farmstead site (directions).

Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College is a 1,189-acre nature preserve located in central Noble County, midway between Fort Wayne and Goshen. Merry Lea was created with the assistance of the Nature Conservancy and the generosity of Lee A. and Mary Jane Rieth.

Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College, Wolf Lake, Ind., is most frequently visited during the daytime, but at night, its trails hold a magic of their own. In fact, an October evening event for children is known as the Enchanted Forest.

Couples may arrive any time after 6:30 p.m. A hearty stew, homemade bread, salad and luscious dessert will be served buffet style at 7 p.m., followed by a night hike by lantern light.

Falling snow or stars would be nice, but we can at least promise the flickering of lantern flame, leaves crunching underfoot and the heightening of senses that happens when vision is limited. Owls may call; it is mating season for the Great Horned Owl. Couples will be alone on the trail for part of the time and with the group part of the time.

The hike will be on mowed trails with minimal hills, but some spots could be wet or slippery. Dress warmly. Boots are a good idea. The hike will be adjusted depending on the weather, but should conclude by 9 p.m.

“Last year when we held a Valentine dinner, I sensed we were genuinely nurturing couples’ relationships. People valued the chance to get away and be outdoors together, and I’m proud to offer this experience again,” said Jennifer Schrock, coordinator of public programs.

The cost is $20 per couple. To register, call 260-799-5869 or email jenniferhs@goshen.edu by February 13. Directions to Merry Lea can be found here.

A workshop, “Exploring Northern Indiana’s Ground Water Resources,” will be held on Saturday, Nov. 3 from 9 a.m. to noon at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center

covered Northern Indiana. But how vulnerable is our groundwater to contamination? Are we using our groundwater wisely or abusing it?

A workshop, “Exploring Northern Indiana’s Ground Water Resources,” will be held on Saturday, Nov. 3 from 9 a.m. to noon at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College in Wolf Lake, Ind., at its Farmstead Site. It will cover these issues and offer community members new insights into the tap water they depend on daily.

Dr. Larry Yoder and Jeff Yoder will lead the workshop. The former is a director emeritus of Merry Lea and longtime glacial geology buff who likes to call the Great Lakes region “the Saudi Arabia of the world’s water supply.” The latter is a water resources engineer who has spent 15 years working on rural water development in Southeast Asia. The two Yoders will be able to provide some lively contrasts illustrating the impact differing geologies have on water supply.

Practical questions the workshops will answer include, “How far down do those plastic water pipes sticking out of the ground in the countryside go?” and “Why does water sometimes have a sulphur taste?”

The workshop will be taught at the level of adult general interest. Specialized background is not expected. Brunch is included in the cost of $15. The student rate is $10. To register, call (260) 799-5869 or email jenniferhs@goshen.edu.

Seven students, most of whom are environmental science majors, will launch their canoes from Mallard Roost Wetland Conservation Area, east of Ligonier, Ind., on Tuesday, September 18. They’ll paddle northwest, tracing the path of the Elkhart River as it winds its way through Ligonier, Goshen and Elkhart and joins the St. Joe River. They’ll then follow the St. Joe through South Bend, Niles and Berrien Springs, ending in Benton Harbor where the St. Joe meets Lake Michigan.

Along the way, students will test the water quality of the rivers. They’ll also visit a wide variety of residents and institutions along their path. Among the stops are a a gravel quarry, a solar company, and a church that developed an interest in water quality because they baptize in the Elkhart River. They’ll also speak with a chef, see a hydropower installation in South Bend and meet a county commissioner.

The watershed trip offers opportunities for collaboration with faculty and students from other universities. In South Bend, the SSR students will spend an evening with students and faculty from the Center for a Sustainable Future, Indiana University South Bend (IUSB). In Berrien Springs, they will share a cookout with Andrews University students and faculty and tour a dairy farm and wastewater treatment plant on campus.

The SSR canoe trip and the courses that follow it are part of a pedagogy called problem-based learning. This form of learning places more responsibility on students to figure out what they need to know and how they can learn it. The faculty are guides and coaches rather than “sages on stage,” and the entire watershed is the laboratory.

For example, in the SSR’s Landscape Limnology course, instructor Lisa Zinn, Wolf Lake, Ind., has posed the question, “How does Merry Lea affect the water quality of the headwaters of the Elkhart River, and what could Merry Lea do to better protect these headwaters?” Students will spend the bulk of the course seeking answers.

On an orientation hike on Merry Lea’s property, Dr. Dave Ostergren, who teaches an environmental policy course in the SSR, challenged the students to consider what policies had shaped the landscape they hiked through and what bodies made those policies.

The SSR culminates in an environmental problem-solving project that challenges students to address a local environmental problem.

“We began planning for the SSR in 1999,” Luke Gascho, Merry Lea’s executive director, told the SSR students on their first day at Merry Lea. That year, when the current SSR students were in second or third grade, Merry Lea staff resolved to develop innovative undergraduate programs on site that would immerse students in the landscapes they are studying. The long process included construction of Rieth Village, a platinum-rated LEED® facility where the students now live.

- By Jennifer Schrock

Participants alternate between illustrated lectures, critiques and shooting outdoors amidst Merry Lea’s rich diversity of ecosystems. The center is particularly known for its wetlands.

“Through my images, I try to show people that the environment is worth protecting for future generations,” Dornberg explains. McAfee concurs. He has been involved with the Little River Wetland Project in Fort Wayne, Ind., and the Environmental Education Association of Indiana, and has led numerous birding trips.

Dornberg’s favorite subjects in nature are macro shots of insects and all forms of water: ice, snowflakes and of course liquid. McAfee, an avid birder, favors birds. He has been published in magazines such as Birds & Blooms and Birder’s World.

For a schedule and registration form, call 260-799-5869 or see http://merrylea.goshen.edu/news-events/events/nature-photography-workshop. The registration fee of $250 includes instruction and meals from Thursday evening October 11 through Saturday evening, October 13. The registration deadline is October 1.

Shared meals are an important part of the Autumn Hope Conference. Many of the vegetables used are grown on site by Merry Lea’s agroecology program.

WOLF LAKE, Ind. — How do people of faith understand their relationship to their land, and how do they live on it? This is the focus of a Autumn Hope Conference at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College on Sept. 28-30.

“Learning from Long Traditions” is the theme of the 2012 weekend conference. This annual faith-based event is a blend of outdoor hikes, input from guest speakers, reflection and worship. Dr. Luke Gascho, Merry Lea’s executive director, will serve as moderator for the event.

“Understanding the ‘long traditions’ of our neighbors is critical to our being able to live sustainably on this planet in the future,” Gascho says. He sees careful listening as a form of the Christian call to love one’s neighbors.

The group, Medicine Woman Singers will share traditional Miami rhythms and songs during the Learning from Long Traditions conference.

Guest speakers representing several cultural groups will reflect on the people/land relationship. Dani Tippmann, Arcola, Ind., is a member of the Miami Nation of Indiana as well as the director of the Whitley County Historical Museum. Tippmann will take participants to an area of Merry Lea’s property where Miami people were known to congregate. She will also lead a night hike featuring Miami star stories and demonstrate uses of traditional Miami corn.

In addition, the group, Medicine Woman Singers will share Miami rhythms and songs. The group takes its name from the traditional drum used, which is called a medicine woman. Jerry Anders, Lagro, Ind., who organizes the group, describes their music as a labor of love. “It’s never ‘just a gig’ for them,” Tippmann comments.

A plot of Miami corn, planted at Merry Lea by Tippmann, braved the summer’s drought. The variety was all but lost when the Miami were relocated to Oklahoma, but has recently been recovered through an ear preserved as a mantlepiece decoration. Before European settlement, the Miami raised hundreds of acres of corn across Northern Indiana and used it as the basis of their economy.

Dr. Wilma Bailey, a professor of Hebrew and Aramaic scripture at Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis, Ind., will offer an ancient Israelite perspective on the people/land relationship, which has been preserved in scriptures such as the story of Adam, Eve and a serpent in Genesis 3. Bailey points out that many readers overlook the text’s attention to land resources and how they are to be divided between animals and humans.

Dr. Laura Yoder, who teaches in the Sustainability and Environmental Education Department at Merry Lea, lived in Asia for over 10 years. Yoder will show photographs of sacred groves she visited and help participants grasp a worldview where certain places are believed to be inhabited by deities. Beliefs such as these function as environmental protection in some parts of the world.

Participants will also reflect on their own “long traditions” regarding land care, and have an opportunity to share stories from their families or religious or cultural heritage.

A schedule and registration form for Learning from Long Traditions is available at http://merrylea.goshen.edu/news-events/events/autumn-hope-conferenceor by calling 260-799-5869. The weekend registration fee of $115 includes all events and five meals. Lodging is on your own.

Runners make their way between patches of woodland, wetland and prairie during the race. The course provides a fine sampling of the ecological diversity that Merry Lea’s 1,189 acres are known for.

Small prizes are awarded for the best male and female times and the fastest runner under 14. A prize is also awarded for the most unusual nature sighting while running. Runners should arrive by 8 a.m. and be prepared for mud, depending on the weather. Light snacks and drinks are provided after the run.

The registration fee is $15. Runners may register online at http://merrylea.goshen.edu/. Please register by Friday, May 4 if you want a T-shirt. Questions? Call 260-799-5869.

The Turtle Trot is part of Merry Lea’s NatureFest, a family-friendly outdoor experience featuring hikes, nature activities, food and music following the run. Turtle Trot runners can buy lunch for an additional $5. See http://merrylea.goshen.edu/news-events/events/naturefest for a NatureFest schedule and other details.

Editors: For more information about this release or to arrange an interview, contact Jennifer Schrock at (260) 799-5869 or jenniferhs@goshen.edu.

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Merry Lea was created with the assistance of the Nature Conservancy and the generosity of Lee A. and Mary Jane Rieth. The 1,189-acre nature preserve is located in central Noble County, midway between Fort Wayne and Goshen, south of Wolf Lake.

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S. News & World Report‘s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.