Date: Fri 18-Jul-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Kettletown-nature-Monachelli

Full Text:

Kettletown Nature Programs Are Back For The Summer

(with awesome photos)

BY SHANNON HICKS

SOUTHBURY - For the second summer in a row, Kettletown State Park in Southbury

is offering an interesting and varied series of programs for campers and the

public. Nature lovers of all ages are welcome to visit the park to take part

in any number of the 1997 Summer Interpretive Series programs, which continue

through the end of August. Each program lasts approximately one hour.

Lisa Monachelli has returned to the state park for her second summer as

Kettletown's park naturalist/interpreter. She is responsible for all of the

environmental education programs at Kettletown, and its sister park, Southford

Falls, located near the Oxford border. A seasonal position, one of the park

naturalist's first duties each summer - for the past two years, anyway - has

been to create the schedule of programs for the interpretive series.

Most of Connecticut's state parks present similar interpretive programs, Ms

Monachelli said recently. There are at least two different programs offered

each week at Kettletown. Programs range from historical and/or nature walks,

slide shows, hands-on workshops or informational programs on dealing with

summer's pesky mosquitoes. All are open to the public, not just campers.

While the Kettletown schedule was composed solely by Ms Monachelli, she does

not present every program. She handles most presentations, but there are a

number of guest speakers who visit the park, like the staff of Meig's Point at

Hammonasset in Madison, who will be bringing a hands-on presentation of live

snakes to the campground this Saturday night, or a "Wild Medicinal & Edible

Plants" session on July 26 with Sue Quincy of Flanders Nature Center in

Woodbury.

The only drawback to the programs at the state park is the fact everything has

to be done outdoors. Kettletown does not have any permanent facilities capable

of housing a group of people for such activities. Which means any rain at the

time of a scheduled program results in a wash-out.

"If it rains, we're out of business," Ms Monachelli said. "That's why it's a

little more challenging here than say Rocky Neck [in Niantic] or Hammonassett.

They have indoor facilities where they can [have classes or] set up permanent

exhibits.

"But so far this year it's been really good. I'm hoping if anything gets

rained out, at least it will be one of my programs, not when people are

traveling to present one."

The programs are open to all ages. There are no fees for the programs

themselves, but all visitors to Kettletown are charged a flat fee of $5 per

car. The fee allows visitors all-day access to the park, which includes a

fresh-water beach and picnic areas.

While the series is also open to the public, about 75 percent of the attendees

are campers, according to the naturalist.

"[With Kettletown also a campground], the priority is the campers," Ms

Monachelli explained. "But I'm trying to get more of the public to come.

Especially the people who live right around this area, I'm trying to get more

of the public to learn about this resource."

Ms Monachelli, 21, says she has always had a love of being outdoors, which

makes this position such a natural for her. She has a general background in

biology, did trailwork while an employee at the Ansonia Nature Center, and is

looking to pursue a permanent career dealing with the environment in one

aspect or another.

This fall Ms Monachelli will return to West Virginia's Wesleyan College for

her senior year. She plans to graduate with degrees in biology, economics and

English.

"It's diverse, I know, but it keeps life interesting," she said. Another perk

of the Kettletown job is that she continues to learn - either while preparing

her own programs to present or watching those of others - along with everyone

else.

Programs For Children

For Saturday mornings, Lisa Monachelli has designed a schedule of offerings

that cater to children of all ages. Offerings include programs where students

can learn how to draw some of the park's natural inhabitants, discovering what

lives on the forest floor and under fallen logs, making underwater viewers

from recycled materials, or the one held last weekend, called "Becoming a

Birder," where participants learned how to differentiate between birds by

their calls, size and colors.

Ms Monachelli breaks down what may initially seem like complicated subjects

for young children - such as learning bird calls - into easy-to-understand

categories. Last Saturday, for instance, before heading into the forest to

listen for and try to locate some of the birds that live at Kettletown, Ms

Monachelli and the children, and their parents, listened to tapes of bird

calls.

Before that, she had challenged each child to come up with a bird that started

with the same letter the childrens' names started with. It was a clever way to

bring birds immediately into the program, while allowing the children to

introduce themselves to each other.

The late-morning activity continued with the group looking at bird books and

glossy pictures of birds, with their teacher keeping the focus on birds most

likely to be found within the 648 acres of the park. Next was a short hike

along one segment of Kettletown's Hemlock Trail, with the group looking for

and listening for birds, and even finding a few nests.

Ms Monachelli also made a point of identifying some of the various trees found

in the park, so the group could learn which trees different birds prefer to

nest in. Binoculars were passed around so that nests and even a few of the

live examples who were participating by flying into the near area could be

seen more easily.

The group then returned to the beach area - where many of the Saturday morning

programs are held - to make a take-home bird mobile, which concluded the

program.

While programs generally last about an hour, Ms Monachelli says they can vary

depending on the interest level of a particular group.

"I like to keep my schedule flexible," she said Saturday morning, "so that if

kids are more interested in what we are doing, we can keep going." A nature

walk the previous weekend, for example, ran nearly 90 minutes because the

children continued to ask questions and remained very interested in learning

more.

An Alternate Location

A few programs are also being offered at Southford Falls State Park this year,

which is also located in Southbury, on Route 188. While the majority of the

programs are at Kettletown, Saturday, August 2 has been designated as

Southford Falls Day, with five programs scheduled at the smaller park.

Beginning at 10 am that morning, programs will include a scenic hike to a fire

tower. At noon, "What Lives in Papermill Pond?" will help participants

discover what lives in the park's pond.

A 45-minute historical walk will start the afternoon's programs. The walk's

narrative will cover the industrial history of the Southford Falls area. A

60-minute "Papermaking" class at 2:30 will have students making paper the same

way it was done "years ago," and a 4 pm program called "What Nature Tells

You," will conclude the programs.

"I threw in a few programs at Southford Falls this year to see how it goes,"

Ms Monachelli explained last week.

"Kettletown is the primary location because again, that's where the campers

are, but I am looking to see where I can schedule programs that attract the

maximum campers and guests.

"The emphasis will definitely be kept in Kettletown, though we don't want to

neglect Southford, because it's also so beautiful."