By: Brian DeWeese, Nature Center Committee Chair
Presented at the Prairie Oaks Chapter meeting 1-15-26
I spoke with Stephanie Keith a couple of weeks ago and she shared a Nature Center history report with me. It contained a lot of interesting information like what was originally planted and different issues they had in the beginning. An example is the invasive Bermuda grass and attempts to remove it.
The thing that really caught my eye was that the Nature Center broke ground November 2016. We are fast approaching its 10 year anniversary. Think about the past 10 years of legacy of engaging and educating the people of Erath County and beyond. The wealth of opportunity to express who we are. What kind of effect does it have on people that pass by. What is it?
It was late 2023, before we moved to Stephenville and while our house was being built, that I first discovered the Bosque River Trail. I decided to try it out and take a run on it one day. I came around the corner after coming out from under Washington Street bridge and there was this open field with a few trees and an area of blooming plants and tall grasses. I wasn’t sure what it was, maybe a neighborhood garden or someone’s property. I didn’t know for sure. I did see the sign saying “Texas Master Naturalist Project”, but had no idea what or who a Texas Master Naturalist was.
I was one of those people just passing by.
I told my wife, Sherry, about it and the next time we came to Stephenville we explored the Nature Center, still not knowing really what it was. We were looking for native plant ideas for our new home and here was a treasure trove of ideas.
The legacy of the Nature Center of engaging and educating the public continues today. That legacy has been passed on to us. Not only to maintain what we have, but to improve upon. To create our own legacy.
Last year a signage committee was started and Stephanie is the committee chair. That committee has worked through a lot of exciting plans and ideas for the Nature Center. Hopefully this year we will be able to implement them or some of them. The idea is to help guide people through the Nature Center as well as identifying plants. Again, to engage and educate the public. We also want to identify who we are and this Nature Center is a reflection of that.
Signs are greatly important and that is how we will engage and educate, but we also have to have a great product for the sign to point to.
I remember as a kid traveling across the country with my parents and seeing old sequential signs along the road. It was one sign per sentence. Something like, “My head is bald. My chin is not.” Then the last sign said “Burma Shave”. The last sign was the product and all the other signs pointed to the product. Today we see 215 miles to the next Buc-ee’s. A bronze statue of a beaver awaits you. And more flavors of beef jerky than you can shake a stick at.
The plants themselves being the product need to be worthy of the signs pointing to them. Maintaining the Nature Center is crucial to our message and does reflect who we are. This can be good or bad. I want the good.
I want to continue the legacy of the Nature Center to a new phase of its life. Not just signage but organization, flow, and an awesome product. Which means I need your help. We can’t rely on just a few people to do this. We need people rotating and helping. More people to be able to say, “Look what we did!”
This will take time, but we already have an early start. I’ve decided to have twice a month work days. I hope this will do two things, one, provide volunteers an option. You decide which day you can come and help. Two, to lessen the work in the hotter months. If we can work more hours during cooler seasons and get ahead on the invasive plants, this will help reduce the hours working in the heat. We will focus on Seasons, for starters, cleaning up old growth during winter.
I also want to provide clear guidance on work that needs to be done on the work days. Such as having work zones, identifying invasive plants that need removal and having at least one of the Nature Center Committee members there to provide guidance.
Please join us. Help us make the Nature Center engaging, educational and reflecting who we are. Embrace the legacy we’ve inherited and leave a new legacy for future generations.
Check the calendar on the Prairie Oaks website for work days and time. However if you want to work any day contact me at 817-713-8647.