Community Corner

Winding Trails Honored for 'Save Walton Pond' Project

Given 2010 Eleanor P. Eells Award for Program Excellence by the American Camp Association

Winding Trails Recreation Center Director Scott Brown knows the organization’s investment into preserving Walton Pond will pay off – for the animals who live there and also for the children who visit and learn. But as a little icing on the cake, Winding Trails was awarded the 2010 Eleanor P. Eells Award for Program Excellence by the American Camp Association.

The award was accepted by Brown, Education Coordinator Mark Dale and Camp Director Keith Garbart at the ACA’s National Conference.

As part of the “Save Walton Pond Wildlife Restoration Project,” Winding Trails enlisted the help of hundreds of campers to relocate 17,519 aquatic animals, allowing each child to have a hand in saving fish, turtles, frogs and the endangered Eastern Pond mussels.

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“Education programming is central to our mission of instilling a love for the outdoors, conservation of the environment, and leadership and life skills,” Brown said. “Walton Pond is home to our summer camp program, nature and educational programs at Winding Trails, so it only made sense to incorporate experiential learning into the pond restoration effort.”

The campers, Winding Trails staff and volunteer families marked, recorded and relocated each animal, creating one of the most comprehensive studies of a mature pond in the country, Brown said.

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During the collection phase, campers learned about pond ecology, species identification and characteristics. Campers learned how to safely hold animals, take measurements, and record data.

Walton Pond is an 8-acre body of water created by Avon Old Farms students about 75 years ago. For the past few decades it has been filling with sediment and had lost 40 percent of its original water capacity when the project began in September 2010. The project is scheduled to be complete by April. It will then take three years for the pond’s ecosystem to be restored and the animals to fully transition back to their home, Brown said.

Fundraising for the Save Walton Project is ongoing. Winding Trails hopes to raise $300,000 additional funds through to break the Guinness book record for the tallest sandcastle. Visit www.jarrettscastle.com for more information.

For more information on the Walton Pond Project, please contact Scott Brown scott@windingtrails.org or visit www.windingtrails.org.


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