It was a gorgeous morning for a nature walk, as the handful of wide-eyed children trekked on the Demarest trails for the first event of the spring season.
Director of the Closter Nature Center Marc Gussen guided the kids through winding leafy paths, while pointing out the many different animals and plants. Gussen feels it’s extremely vital to educate children about preserving the earth, but more specifically natural habitats.
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photo by kevin riley
Director of the Closter Nature Center, Marc Gussen, visits the Demarest Nature Center to educate kids about the importance of maintaining the earth and the many different habitats, creatures and plants.
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"My favorite part about the walk is hanging out with the kids," said Gussen. "It’s important to teach them about this at a young age so the message carries over when they get older, which is to respect nature."
From common skunk cabbages to a perching woodpecker, the kids were educated about the basics. The children also learned how to identify poison ivy and deer prints. Every time Gussen stopped to point out a certain animal or flower along the way the kids would circle around and intently listen.
"It was cool and we got to see bugs and other animals," said grade school student Kanako Ichikawa. "It was so much fun and I learned a lot."
Parents took their kids on the walk for several different reasons, but all thought it vital to start motivating the future of tomorrow about preserving the earth at an early age. Vincent Favaro brought his 3-year-old daughter, Julia, to get the information to her at an early age.
"She’s starting school soon and I thought it’d be nice to take her to the nature center to teach her about the responsibility about keeping the planet clean," said Vincent. "Living in a sort of metropolis suburb, it’s nice to know that right in your backyard there’s nature where you can get away and relax from the daily grind of work."
As the birds chirped and the light wind whistled through the trees, the trails seemed miles away from any form of development and civilization. On this Saturday morning at the Demarest Nature Center’s kickoff to spring and summer season, the weather provided the perfect scene for a getaway, a sanctuary.
"After a long winter it’s great for people to come out and get rid of some cabin fever," said Gussen. "The Demarest Nature Center is special because it’s varied in habitats, but any undeveloped land is precious and in Bergen County, it’s rare."
As the hour-long nature walk ended, the cleanup portion of the event began. Armed with red tongs and black garbage bags, the volunteers again walked the trails picking up cigarette butts, empty bottles and wrappers.
"Keeping the trails clean teaches the kids not to litter," said nature center trustee and councilman Raymond Cywinski, "Even research has shown that being around nature helps people recover quicker from sicknesses. If this center wasn’t here it would probably be paved with housing, which would add to the airborne pollutants."
It was also a day for family bonding for a righteous cause. The Lepree family of four worked as a team searching for garbage scattered along the trail.
"We spend a lot of time at the nature center and it only makes sense on a great day like this to come out and volunteer," said Nancy Lepree. "We learned so much and it’s absolutely vital to preserve land like this, with so much development and commercialization."
As the event ended, the parents and children left with a sense of newly acquired information about respecting natural environments, while also appreciating the soothing peacefulness of nature.
"Overall it was fun and I didn’t know that much about the nature and animals around where we live," said Kayo Ichikawa. "Marc [Gussen] is good at interacting with the children and getting them involved. We can’t wait till next year."
