The Butler County Conservation Board is offering families a chance to unwind and get outdoors this holiday season, hosting two special programs aimed at keeping kids active while school is out. With the nature center open on select days around Christmas and New Year’s, staff hope to provide a welcoming break from the winter routine—complete with live animals, hands-on activities and guided hikes designed to help families enjoy the fresh air during a typically hectic time.
During a recent appearance on the Outdoors in North Iowa program on KLMJ, Butler County Conservation Naturalist Annette Wittrock said they have two programs planned during the holidays, the first on December 21st, the winter solstice.
“That means is it’s the shortest day of the year and the longest period of darkness for us in Iowa. So we wanted to celebrate the coming of longer days with a hike and a movie afternoon. So I’m going to lead a hike on the south side of Here Woods Park, which is going to start at one o’clock by the nature center. And we’re just going to go out, take a walk on the trails for a while. And then after that hike, we’re going to come back to the classroom, warm up with a little hot cocoa and watch a movie. We’ll provide the cocoa, of course, and it’s free.”
The other event is January 1st as the board will host a New Year’s day hike on the north side of Heery Woods Park at 1:00 p.m. This event is also free with no registration required. Wittrock says visitors can also look forward to a new display debuting for the holiday season.
“If you’ve not heard our great news, we did reach our first fundraising goal for new displays. So this week, McCullough Creative, which is the company that we’ve been working with for our exhibits and production, they came in and put up the backgrounds for a couple of our displays. And next week they plan to come back and install a giant tree that the kids can climb up into and get into an eagle nest that overlooks the entire exhibit room. I got to help design this display plan and I really cannot wait to see all of this stuff in place.”
Wittrock says more information on the displays will be available later this month. For more information on holiday events with the Butler County Conservation Board, you can visit their Facebook page or mycountyparks.com.
