Over the past several weeks, our resident environmental educator, Ramona DeGeorgio-Venegas, has been stationed at Discovery Grove, welcoming guests into the Art Park, sharing her wealth of knowledge, and inviting visitors to create something of their own.
Prior to her retirement, Ramona was an outdoor recreation planner with the USDA Forest Service, where she worked with natural resources, trails and interpretation.
Ramona has served with the Peace Corps in three environmental education assignments to Chile, Peru and Guyana. Ramona also volunteered with the residential environmental education camp at Acadia National Park in Maine. She substitute teaches in Manistee County, and speaks fluent Spanish.
We were so lucky to have Ramona with us. Her personable spirit made each and every park visitor feel comfortable and welcome, and her great wealth of knowledge about the natural environment that is home to the park was a really special resource for those who dropped in for the workshops.
Below, Ramona shares some of the journals she kept of the experience. If you missed the workshops this year, make sure to follow our Facebook page and sign up for our email updates so you always know what’s happening at Michigan Legacy Art Park.
July 14: Thirteen visitors, from as far away as Durham, NC and Texas and as near as Onekama came to Discovery Cove Friday morning. The cool, overcast pending rainy weather didn’t keep them away. Some did the scavenger hunt and others colored word rocks to add to the word-rock garden.
July 15: Twenty-seven Art Park visitors did activities or learned about programs at Discovery Grove. Creating and painting word rocks and the scavenger hunt were the most popular, but 2 beautiful bird nest batting pine cone mobiles were also constructed. Three messages to trees were posted on the tree’s belts.
August 11-12: The weather improved and saw lots of hikers on the trails and young artists at Discovery Grove last weekend. Visitors came from as far as North Carolina and as near as Kingsley. Many new word rocks were painted and added to the poetry garden.
