Centre Daily Times Logo

Wings in the Park celebrates pollinators | Centre Daily Times

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Archives
    • Contact Us
    • Plus
    • eEdition
    • Newsletters
    • Subscribe
    • About Us
    • Local
    • Penn State
    • Sandusky Scandal
    • Communities
    • Crime
    • Business
    • Education
    • Politics
    • Public Records
    • State
    • Nation/World
    • Weird News
    • Sports
    • College
    • Golf
    • High School
    • MLB
    • Motorsports
    • NFL
    • NHL
    • Outdoors
    • Penn State
    • State College Spikes
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • PSU Sports
    • PSU Football
    • PSU Basketball
    • PSU Baseball
    • PSU Hockey
    • PSU Soccer
    • PSU Volleyball
    • PSU Wrestling
    • Nittany Lines Blog
  • Penn State Football
    • Living
    • Announcements
    • Family Pages
    • Eat, Play, Live
    • Home & Garden
    • Entertainment
    • Weekender
    • Comics
    • Games & Puzzles
    • Celebrities
    • Horoscopes
    • Movie News & Reviews
    • Music
    • TV
    • Opinion
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Submit a Letter
  • Obituaries

  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

Weekender

Wings in the Park celebrates pollinators

By Isabella Anderson For the CDT

    ORDER REPRINT →

July 16, 2015 05:05 PM

To envision summertime in Happy Valley is to envision an environment teeming with plant life, trees budding on street corners and flowers blooming in the arboretum. This image, although often considered the very essence of summer, fails to deliver the deserved recognition to those who truly deserve it: pollinators.

This recognition is exactly what the Wings in the Park pollinator event on July 18 aims to revive.

Wings in the Park was created in 2009 by the Penn State Master Gardeners in response to a severe decline in available pollinator habitat.

“The situation is having a direct impact on our food supply and a host of other environmental issues that directly impact the health of the planet. We needed a way to educate the public, not just about the problem, but how they can contribute to the solution by creating pollinator habitat in their own backyards,” said Doug Ford, a master gardener involved in the project.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Centre Daily Times

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

After seven years, and with the help of more than 50 master gardeners and volunteers, Wings in the Park has blossomed into a thriving community event.

This year’s event kicks off with a “Pollinator Parade,” where attendees are welcome to dress as their favorite pollinator. Following the parade are a number of pollinator-inspired activities including a scavenger hunt and obstacle course. Local organizations such as Penn State Center for Pollinator Research, Frost Entomological Museum, Pennsylvania Native Plant Society, Discovery Space Museum, Millbrook Marsh, Centre County Beekeepers Association and Clearwater Conservancy will provide hands-on activities for children and informative demonstrations for adults.

New to Wings in the Park this year, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center will host raptor shows at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

“Our mission is to connect people to the natural world by giving audiences a sense of how the interrelationships in nature work,” said Jon Kauffman, the assistant raptor center director at Shaver’s Creek. “This year with adding raptors, we want folks to walk away understanding that these pollinators are great for the sense of pollinating native flowers, but they also hold an importance of providing valuable high-protein food for nesting and migrating birds.”

It’s also the second year of the Save the Monarch Campaign, part of the partnership with Monarch Watch, a University of Kansas-based program that focuses on the protection of the monarch butterfly. In commemoration, Wings in the Park attendees will go home with butterfly milkweed plants.

“Since the milkweed plant is the only plant that monarchs will lay their eggs on and that the caterpillars will eat, it is critical that we encourage people to plant native milkweed available in Pennsylvania,” Ford said. “Native milkweed also supports an abundance and diversity of pollinators.”

Pam Ford, who co-founded Wings in the Park with “Butterfly Bob” Snetsinger, said that what she enjoys most about the event is the response from the community.

“Wings in the Park is the community coming together to celebrate life,” she said. “It not only represents the diversity of winged creatures in the habitat, but it represents the role we each need to play as stewards of the environment.”

  Comments  

Videos

Snow has covered roads across the county

Crews clear runways as snow causes delays at Pittsburgh airport

View More Video

Trending Stories

Here’s why Penn State wrestler Shakur Rasheed will ‘unfortunately’ be honored on Senior Day

February 19, 2019 05:44 PM

Penn State wrestling no longer the unanimous NWCA No. 1 after a big win for the Cowboys

February 19, 2019 06:44 PM

Centre County to be hit with another ‘wintry mix.’ Here’s what it could mean for your commute

February 19, 2019 12:26 PM

Former 5-star wide receiver George Campbell transfers to Penn State

February 20, 2019 02:53 PM

Here’s what’s closed Wednesday as Centre County gets hit with more winter weather

February 20, 2019 05:40 AM

things to do

Read Next

Nittany Valley Symphony to present family concert for all ages

Weekender

Nittany Valley Symphony to present family concert for all ages

By Kevin Briggs

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 20, 2019 02:17 PM

Nittany Valley Symphony will present its annual family concert Sunday at Bellefonte Area High School.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Centre Daily Times

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE WEEKENDER

Review: ‘Beautiful’ stands out with hit songs, message of female empowerment

Weekender

Review: ‘Beautiful’ stands out with hit songs, message of female empowerment

February 20, 2019 10:06 AM
Grammy Award winning Rickie Lee Jones to perform in State College

Weekender

Grammy Award winning Rickie Lee Jones to perform in State College

February 19, 2019 02:37 PM
Art, music meld in Fuse Productions’ ‘Sunday in the Park with George’

Entertainment

Art, music meld in Fuse Productions’ ‘Sunday in the Park with George’

February 13, 2019 03:31 PM
Tony Award-winning ‘Beautiful’ is coming to Penn State. You have several chances to see it

Weekender

Tony Award-winning ‘Beautiful’ is coming to Penn State. You have several chances to see it

February 13, 2019 10:21 AM
‘Another side’ of famed artist Rembrandt will be on display in central Pa.

Weekender

‘Another side’ of famed artist Rembrandt will be on display in central Pa.

February 07, 2019 08:48 AM
‘Me ... Jane’ tells story of young animal activist, encourages kids to dream big

Weekender

‘Me ... Jane’ tells story of young animal activist, encourages kids to dream big

February 06, 2019 01:24 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Centre Daily Times App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Place an Obituary
  • Today's Circulars
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story