Blog

By Laura Roberts

Oglebay Institute’s Schrader Environmental Education Center has come a long way since my days in the 1980s as a nature camper at its former iteration, the A.B. Brooks Nature Center, but its mission remains the same: environmental education.

It’s a unique local resource for adults and schoolchildren alike, and the staff offer a variety of weekend programs for the nature-loving family. We are that nature-loving family, but sometimes we forget this, especially when we get comfortable in our world of electronics. Outdoor play has been shown to reduce stress levels in children, improving everything from academic performance to physical health. Nature wards off anxiety, depression, and obesity.

Today’s children spend, on average, only 30 minutes outside and more than seven hours in front of a screen. With this in mind, my husband and I recently decided that it was time to take the tablets away and get our guys back outside, and I’m not going to lie, they didn’t like it at first. Their imaginations were stunted, and several weeks passed before they could readily entertain themselves by digging a hole or climbing a tree. But they did recover from tablet fever, and I’ve enlisted the Schrader Center to help keep the love of nature roaring within them.

On Saturday, October 24th, I took Andy and Ben to “Mythbusting Nature: Outrageously Awesome Owls”, and it didn’t disappoint.

Mr. Ken Dague, who has just returned from living and working in Australia, led the event, which was attended by both locals and out-of-towners. He’s a patient teacher. While the other children sat in their chairs and answered questions with the eager raise of a hand, mine rolled around on the floor, engaged but full of weekend energy. Ken, however, kept their focus as he taught them about the four owls of the Ohio Valley: the Barn, Screech, Barred, and Great-Horned owls. We practiced owl calls and talked about the birds’ silent flight. The boys were eager to learn what makes owls so unique, but the highlight, for them, was dissecting the owl pellets, or, as Ben shouted at the top of his lungs, “OWL BARF!”

Ken taught us that owls vomit up the indigestible contents of their meals. In little kid terms, this means an opportunity to paw through bird yak and uncover mouse skulls, vole shoulders, and rat jaws. No worries, parents, it’s sanitized and educational, and I got pretty darn excited myself when I uncovered a tiny pelvic bone. Andy proudly brought his skeletal findings home, and Ben spent the following week perfecting his ear-piercing barn owl screech.

Robin Lee, one of the educators at Schrader, visited Ben and Andy’s school the following week, and took the time to email me. “Ben was so excited to share with me about the owls,” she said, and invited us to the next Schrader event, the Nature Scavenger Hunt. These hunts are free and open to the public, and Oglebay Institute hosts them monthly. The November theme was all about birds, owls included. Another great way to spend a Saturday out of doors.

The scavenger hunt sent us out onto the trails with a list of items to find and a collection bag. First on the list? Find a berry. Then, find something red. Then, something yellow. Find a thorn. Listen for a bird. Fall down theatrically in a mud puddle. Drop a rock on your foot. Rip your pants. Trip your brother.

My boys did it all, and I let them walk a hundred feet ahead of me, so they could take their time and open their eyes to nature’s offerings without a maternal hand directing their focus. We hiked to the waterfall and to Camp Russell. We did yoga on a fallen log and found a woolly bear caterpillar who would someday grow up to be a tiger moth.

Ben gave it a kiss.

Back at Schrader, we drank hot chocolate and opened our collection bag to examine our treasures.

“Mommy,” Ben said, as we pulled out a red sweet gum leaf. “I found this where Andy climbed the hill and I set off that landslide, and we smelled that awesome hemlock tree. Remember?”

Andy looked up from the thorn branch he was poking. “That was great.
Can we come back next week and do it again?”

The next Nature Scavenger Hunt at the Schrader Center will be held Saturday, December 5, from 12pm to 4pm. Oglebay Institute’s Schrader Environmental Education Center is located in Oglebay Resort.

*Please do not encourage your children to put their mouths on caterpillars, as some can sting or cause an allergic reaction.

By Laura Jackson Roberts

Shopping local is a big deal in Wheeling. We take pride in our entrepreneurs and artisans, and for the next six weeks, Oglebay Institute is offering a chance to support them with the Holiday Art Show and Sale, sponsored by United Bank. Until December 31, both the Stifel Fine Arts Center and the Schrader Environmental Education Center will host this unique holiday event for those looking for an alternative to traditional retail shopping.

I admit that I was under the impression the show would feature mainly wreaths, cookie-scented candles, and stockings shaped like rubenesque reindeer. When I visited opening night at both the Stifel and Schrader Centers, I was instead surprised to see a variety of high-quality arts and crafts including jewelry, paintings, photography, ceramics, and food. You will indeed find beautiful Christmas pieces, but most tables showcase the kind of crafts you might see at the Oglebay Institute Artists’ and Gourmet Market at Oglebayfest, and I recognized several of the artisans’ work from the fall festival. I also recognized the unmistakable baked goods of Whisk by Avenue Eats, who catered both events and provided me with me yet another opportunity to indulge myself at an OI event.

At Stifel I got into immediate trouble at Andrea Cowan’s table, where I was joyfully overwhelmed by the variety of scarves and warm headbands in every color. My blogging responsibilities played second fiddle to a snatching up a beautifully knit pink headband before the crowds arrived. DW & Co. Designs crafts bracelets with Greek and Italian leathers, and I was happy to recognize Sketches by Anne (Foreman); she does pet portraits and recently painted my German Shepherd. She offers both prints and note cards.

Sue Smith’s beautiful bird paintings looked quite at home at the Schrader Center next to Lippencott Alpaca’s woolly display (alpaca long johns, anyone?), and I found it difficult to choose between Family Roots Farm’s maple syrup and the ramp dressing by Appalachian Mountain Specialty Foods. So I didn’t. I bought both.

Dozens of artisans are participating this year. “Different artists and merchandise are featured at each location,” Oglebay Institute Director of Marketing Misty Klug said. “The selection is fantastic. The atmosphere is relaxed and festive, and holiday shopping dollars spent at the show stay in our local economy. Loyal attendees come ready to buy each year, knowing they can find one-of-a-kind gifts for everyone on their list. The ‘Buy Local’ concept is expanding to more than just meats and produce. People seem eager to support this philosophy in other aspects of their shopping, which is certainly good news for our local artisans.”

Stifel Director Rick Morgan informed me that the event is juried this year. “The idea was to try to keep it so that we didn’t have a similar product. We have a little bit more variety in the vendors this year.” He also mentioned that out-of-towners staying at Oglebay will enjoy the convenience of the Schrader Center’s shopping experience without having to leave the park.

November 28 is Small Business Saturday, a day devoted to supporting your community by shopping here in town. Small business owners are the ones who greet you at the door, and help you find what we’re looking for. They’re the ones who wrap your gifts and tell you to enjoy your day. You see them in the grocery store, and in church, and in the pickup line at school. I love our town, because these people recognize my face and ask me about my kids. Small businesses open early and close late, and do it again the next day, because Wheeling is home, and they want it to thrive.

Some of us go crazy for Christmas, while others are a bit reserved about the commercialization of the holidays. I think there’s a fine line between finding our holiday spirit and trampling it with retail madness. For me, Christmas is a time to reflect upon my family and our traditions, and as a sixth-generation Wheeling resident, it means so much to me to participate in a true local experience, where shoppers treat each other with kindness. These artists add such life to our culture here, and I’m so happy to support them as they do me, and each other.

We’re all in this together, Wheeling. ‘Tis the season.

On Small Business Saturday, November 28, shoppers can visit the Holiday
Art Show and Sale from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Stifel Fine Arts Center, 1330 National Road, and 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. at the Schrader Environmental Education Center in Oglebay Resort. The Oglebay Institute Holiday Art Show & Sale continues through December 31, 2015. Admission is free.