INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Environmental Learning Center hosted an inaugural WinterGreen NightLights evening adventure Thursday evening, celebrating the beauty of the 64-acre campus at sundown, lit specially for the holiday season with twinkling lights all along the lush verdant trails.
WinterGreen NightLights continues from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14. Entry is $5 per person; free for children under 12 and ELC members.
Thursday’s brisk breeze off the Indian River Lagoon was a welcomed reprieve from the sweltering temperatures earlier in the week, giving the event a more seasonal feel and, more importantly, kept the mosquitoes away.
Sponsored by Ray and Beth Smith, and George and Sandy Kahle, the evening featured numerous activities to capture the attention of young and older, including a Geocaching treasure hunt.
“It’s a treasure hunt where you use a GPS unit to find hidden treasure,” said ELC board member Carl Miller. “This is popular worldwide. It’s relatively new for the ELC, but it’s a great way to get the kids outside – get them off the couch and away from the videogames.”
Children and fun-loving adults were intrigued with the compass-like GPS navigated devices as they navigated the walkways and trails playing the high-tech game of hide and seek. As with other educationally engaging ELC activities, many of the treasures were holiday ornaments constructed with recycled materials.
Holiday-hatted volunteers manned arts and crafts stations in the Upland Room, urging children to make their own recycled ornaments – candy-cane shells for the little ones, and colorful wreaths out of strips of recycled cereal boxes for the older kids.
“They’re right out of Better Homes and Gardens,” said head “elf” Jan Garrison.
“She’s the volunteer queen,” said Stacy Thompson of Garrison. “This place is her passion.”
“I just came to the ELC two weeks ago, and Jan put me to work,” said Vero newcomer Suezette Minch.
A few of the younger children weren’t quite sure what to make of the ho-ho-hokey Florida Santa greeting visitors at the Entry Pavilion, decked out in a red Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, red shorts and socks and sandals, but the candy canes he gave out helped sweeten the deal.
“This is an actual book that’s been dismantled and laminated,” said ELC Naturalist Rosemary Badger of the StoryWalk Project, conceptualized by Vermont-based Anne Ferguson. “The idea is to get families to enjoy a storybook and also to get out and enjoy nature together.”
Pages of the book, “All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go,” are mounted on frames along the mangrove-lined trail and will remain up through February when another book will be displayed through the spring.
The more adventurous took advantage of canoe trips, which had quite a few takers despite occasional gusts threatening to – tippy canoe.
“Think about it – there’s probably not another place in the United States where you can go out on a lit mangrove trail at Christmas,” said volunteer Cindy Wade as she helped paddlers in and out of the boats.
“It was fabulous; it was a mangrove jungle,” said artist Cathy Ferrell, as she and husband Tuck disembarked. “It felt very remote; peaceful. It was beautiful with the Christmas lights.”
The always fascinating Discovery Station was a hubbub of activity, as children from area schools passed the time with their friends and parents before performing in the Lagoon Room. They also took advantage of the cookie decorating station, making masterpieces with icing and sprinkles.
The concept came out of the Education Committee,” said former ELC board chairman Eileen Connelly. “The kids were coming out here on their trips and really love it. We wanted to do something to get them back out here with their parents. This is our first attempt – so far so good.”