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The Central Texas Master Naturalist Newsletter December 2017

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The Central Texas Master Naturalist Newsletter December 2017 The Tracker The Central Texas Master Naturalist Newsletter December 2017 Mother Neff State Park Association Inside This Issue Chautauqua Fundraiser President’s Pen 3 -Rene Berkhoudt Mother Neff Chautauqua 1 The Mother Neff State Park Salado Sirena Fest 5 Association held its annual Chautauqua fundraiser this year Macroinvertebrates 7 on November 4th. You may well Autumn Youth Hikes 8 ask what the word ‘Chautauqua’ means. October Awards 9 The first Chautauqua, the New Holiday Cheer 11 York Chautauqua Assembly, was organized in 1874 at a campsite Scaling Down Nature 12 on the shores of Chautauqua Interesting Tidbits 13 Lake in New York State. Chautauqua lent its name to an adult education movement in the Calendar at a Glance United States that was highly popular in the late 19th and early December 5, hours due. 20th centuries. The Chautauqua was culture and entertainment for December 9, Mammoths in the the whole community, with speakers, teachers, musicians, entertainers, Moonlight— Mammoth National preachers, and specialists of the day. Former U.S. President Theodore Monument — Waco Roosevelt was quoted as saying that Chautauqua is "the most American December 12, 6:30 pm, 8th thing in America". The Chautauqua began to decline as a public forum Annual CTMN Holiday Party— in the 1920s in part due to the introduction of radio broadcasting. Zoe Rascoe’s House December 16, Winter Solstice — Chapter Motto Cave Without a Name—Boerne Earth Day, Continued on page 14... Every Day The Mother Neff State Park Association Chautauqua was a celebration of autumn and of all the wonderful things this beautiful park has to offer and featured a variety of activities, demonstrations and displays from diverse groups; such as the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th U.S. Calvary, the Heart of Texas Weavers, the Leon River Dutch Oven Society, and our own Central Texas Master Naturalist Chapter. Even Smokey the Bear turned out for the event. Guided hikes were conducted to explore the Wash Pond, Tonkawa Cave and Civilian Conservation Corps Rock Tower. Events also included a scavenger hunt, children’s crafts and games and a tea party. All proceeds from the fundraiser were contributed directly to the state park association. Park Superintendent Melissa Chadwick said those funds will be redistributed and help assist the park directly. Like many other state parks within TPWD, a Friends Group like the Mother Neff State Park Association works on behalf of the park to assist with daily programs, special events, fundraising and public education and serves as an important link between the park and local communities. The partnerships between the park and the volunteer support organization provide a mechanism to utilize the skills, contacts and resources of private citizens and businesses to enhance our state parks and to provide services that may not otherwise be available. 2 President’s Pen - Rene Berkhoudt Looking back at the last year there were many notable events and activities that have transpired. Our premiere recruiting event to attract new Chapter members is always the February Temple Home and Garden Show. This proved to be true this year as well. We had tremendous Chapter support in staffing both our CTMN booth and the new Kid Zone. As she does very year, Zoe Rascoe was instrumental in ensuring the success of the Home and Garden Show from our Chapter perspective; and continues to be a great Chapter ambassador in representing the face of our organization as our initial point of contact with potential students and future Chapter members. Most significantly, our Chapter had another successful spring training cycle this year. The mentor program worked very well this year and helped to ensure that our new 2017 trainees were successfully acclimated to the Texas Master Naturalist program. We have several members of our 2017 class who have been very active in volunteer events, citizen science and environmental education in our communities. Our April field trip to the Gault Geology Class with Dr. Ray Kozusko Archeological Site was a great success, and because it occurred during our training cycle, it provided a unique opportunity for our new students and our certified CTMN members to go out on -site together. The Burleson Prairie Walk provided a similar bonding experience for students and long standing Chapter members alike. Both events helped to stimulate interest in the areas of Clovis culture and the flora and fauna of our native prairies respectively and contributed to a better understanding and appreciation of the training class curriculum. Burleson Prairie Walk Chapter members participated in various Clovis Culture Atlatl Throwing Stick environmental education activities throughout the spring, summer and fall. One of the highlights of the year were the University of Mary Hardin Baylor student service dates at the Miller Springs Nature Center in Belton. The University of Mary Hardin Baylor was one of the strongest supporters of our Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) Community Outdoor Outreach Program (CO-OP) grant this year. Students turned out to assist in area clean-up, trails maintenance, and habitat restoration efforts on the nature center which represents a unique resource to the community that had been maintained for many years by the Miller Springs Alliance, a partner non-profit group to our Chapter that held a lease on the area. 3 2017 Spring and Fall UMHB Service Dates - Miller Springs Nature Center After supporting the nature center for 24 years, the Miller Springs Alliance surrendered their lease in August 2017, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made the decision to close the area as a result, rather than expend any agency resources to keep it open—although that may change in time. In addition to grant work completed at the nature center, Chapter members also visited various schools with our newly acquired discovery trunks to promote environmental education. Most of our student contacts in support of our TPWD CO-OP grant were actually attained in the classroom, although we also took younger students on nature hikes at both the Miller Springs Nature Center and Mother Neff State Park during the calendar year. Mary Ann Everett—Tarver Elementary School Shirley Watts —Cavasos Elementary School Among many other activities, Chapter members also participated in Science Night at Venable Village Elementary School and the Bell County Environmental Safety Day this summer. Fall brought Moth Night at Mother Neff State Park and the Mother Neff State Park Association November Fund Raiser. Both events were strongly supported by the Chapter, and the 18th Annual Texas Master Naturalist Meeting in Corpus Christi rounded out a busy fall schedule. With the Holiday Season now in full swing, I look back on the last calendar year with a great sense of achievement on behalf of the Chapter and the promise of more great things to come in the New Year. 4 Salado Sirena Festival By Rene Berkhoudt CTMN Chapter members attended the inaugural Sirena Fest and Mermaid Parade in Salado on October 7th. The purpose of the festival was to celebrate the artistic creativity that the town inspires and honor the story of Sirena, Salado’s legendary mermaid. This year’s Sirena Festival included vendors, live music, crafts for kids, therapy ponies from Variety’s Peaceable Kingdom, performers with Circus Picnic from Austin, rock climbing walls and our very own CTMN Discovery Trunks. Inaugural Salado Sirena Festival Mary Ann Everett was our group leader for the event, and was joined at the festival by Ronna Olivarez, Kathy Cantu, and Krystal Trammell. The first annual Salado Sirena Festival was just one more example of the Central Texas Master Naturalist Chapter’s commitment to ensure the future health and viability of our local communities by promoting responsible natural resource management and environmental education. Ronna Olivarez at the Sirena Festival 5 The Legend of the Salado Mermaid According to local legend, a beautiful Native American maiden named Sirena was beguiled by a magical catfish into assuming mermaid form to capture an unrequited love and became trapped as a mermaid forever. Sirena wished to marry a handsome young warrior of her tribe, who did not return her feelings. She poured out her heart’s desire by the river’s edge one day and a magical catfish overheard her. He promised to help her if she would agree to become a mermaid on each full moon for a year and spend the evening swimming with him. However, if a human were ever to see her in her transformed state, she would remain a mermaid forever. As the story is told, the catfish secretly wished this would happen so Sirena could stay with him. Sirena agreed and soon won the heart of her desire and was wedded. On each full moon Sirena would transform herself into a mermaid and swim together with the catfish as promised. On the very last full moon of the year, Sirena was caught up by a fishhook (some maintain the fishhook was planted there by the scheming catfish) and climbed onto a ledge near a spring to remove it, and while doing so, her human husband saw her in the moonlight, and she was transformed into a mermaid forever more. She leapt into the river and spent the remainder of her days there longing for her lost love (in the company of the delighted and unapologetic catfish). The spring there is said to flow from her tears. Sirena the Salado Mermaid and the Magical Catfish: life-sized bronze by Salado artist Troy Kelley 6 Macroinvertebrates in Captivity By Richard McCarthy Macroinvertebrates in Captivity The above photo shows my friend, Giant Water Bug (Lethoserus americanus). I had netted two at the Waco Wetlands on September 16th, of this year.
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