June 2010 update

Welcome to the June Update

If you have anything to announce, please let me know at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net. The photo is from the Bioswale Cleanup at Wildwood Park and Marina held in May, 2010. Some items covered in this issue:
* July 6 picnic is coming up
* June 1 meeting recap
* June 4 Music of Nature and Nature of Music performance and lecture
* July 17 event at Euclid Beach

Congratulations to FOEC member Steve Albro about the Plain Dealer article about Steve's wonderful work at the Cleveland Sight Center (http://topics.cleveland.com/tag/steve%20albro/index.html).

Thank you to everyone who took fliers to distribute for the photography contest.

June 1 Meeting Recap

Our Tuesday, June 1 at 7:00 p.m. included a a presentation by Derek Schafer. Mr. Schafer is with the West Creek Land Trust Initiative.

Mr. Schafer is also the Conservation Project Manager for The West Creek Preservation Committee (http://www.westcreek.org/wcpc.html).

Jason Husher talked about urban farming. He has obtained grant money and taken vacant residential property in Cleveland and made it into an urban farm. http://www.localfoodcleveland.org/ has some related information.

Stephen Love talked about an Adopt A Beach program and July 17 event at Euclid Beach.

Save July 6 for our FOEC Picnic

Please plan to attend the FOEC picnic this Tuesday July 6^th. Come as early as 5:30. There will be plenty of food and refreshments, and some games. It is a potluck gathering, so bring along a small something to share. From 6:00 to 7:00 we’ll eat and then at 7:00 we’ll have a short monthly meeting. One of our meeting items will be the election of new officers.

The picnic will be in Euclid Creek Park at the Rear Quarry Reserved Picnic Area and Shelter House. From the Euclid Creek parkway road (across from the Ranger office) turn east and proceed down the hill on the Rear Quarry access road. Follow it through the gate and to the end and the shelter house.

Functions: Rear Quarry Reserved Picnic Area Features: Electricity Swings Water

Music of Nature and the Nature of Music

The Folk / Bluegrass band 'Timberwolves' with FOEC member Larry McFadden will be performing prior to the lecture The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music - http://www.cmnh.org/site/ClassesandPrograms/Lectures/ExplorerSeries.aspx - the Cleveland Museum of Natural History site gives more details -this Friday from 5:30 pm to 7:30pm - Fri, Jun 4, 2010, 7:30 pm Dr. Patricia Gray, Clinical Professor and Senior Research Scientist of BioMusic Part of the Explorer Series of Lectures

If we rely on artifacts alone, the evolutionary trail of music can take us back just 50,000 years. But there are other ways to study the roots of music-making and musical structures. By looking at other species and their abilities to perceive and manipulate patterns of sound and time, we may advance our understanding.

Dr. Patricia Gray of the Music Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro will discuss the deeper roots of human musicality. This program is in conjunction with the current exhibit Wild Music: The Sounds and Songs of Life. To purchase tickets for this lecture, please call (216) 231-4600, ext. 0, to speak with a Museum Operator. Or purchase your tickets at the front desk prior to the presentation.

July 17 Euclid Beach Event

July 17th the Euclid Beach Adopt-a-Beach team and Arts Collinwood are going to be having an all day event at Euclid Beach! (http://www.majesticmoinedmogul.com/adoptsignup/Form.php?id=52&visitdate=1) Please let jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net know if you can help at this event to represent FOEC.




Black-eyed susans are a great native and non-invasive choice.

May 26 2010 update

Welcome to the May 26 Update

If you have anything to announce, please let me know at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net.
The photo is from the Bioswale Cleanup at Wildwood Park and Marina held in May, 2010.

Some items covered in this issue:
* June 1 meeting of FOEC
* June 4 Music of Nature and Nature of Music performance and lecture
* June 17 event at Euclid Beach

June 1 Meeting
Please plan on attending our monthly meeting Tuesday, June 1 at 7:00 p.m. at the South Euclid Community Center. We will be treated to a presentation by Derek Schafer. Mr. Schafer is with the West Creek Land Trust Initiative. He will talk about this new organization's mission, but also specifically about how they can help us with preservation of wetlands in the Euclid Creek watershed, such as the Highland Hts property on Bishop Rd.

Mr. Schafer is also the Conservation Project Manager for The West Creek Preservation Committee (http://www.westcreek.org/wcpc.html).

The photo comes from http://www.westcreek.org/.

Jason Husher also plans to talk about urban farming. He has obtained grant money and taken vacant residential property in Cleveland and made it into an urban farm.
Stephen Love will talk about an Adopt A Beach program and July 17 event at Euclid Beach.

Music of Nature and the Nature of Music

The Folk / Bluegrass band 'Timberwolves' with FOEC member Larry McFadden will be performing prior to the lecture The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music this Friday from 5:30 pm to 7:30pm - Fri, Jun 4, 2010, 7:30 pm

Dr. Patricia Gray, Clinical Professor and Senior Research Scientist of BioMusic
Part of the Explorer Series of Lectures

If we rely on artifacts alone, the evolutionary trail of music can take us back just 50,000 years. But there are other ways to study the roots of music-making and musical structures. By looking at other species and their abilities to perceive and manipulate patterns of sound and time, we may advance our understanding.

Dr. Patricia Gray of the Music Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro will discuss the deeper roots of human musicality. This program is in conjunction with the current exhibit Wild Music: The Sounds and Songs of Life.

To purchase tickets for this lecture, please call (216) 231-4600, ext. 0, to speak with a Museum Operator. Or purchase your tickets at the front desk prior to the presentation.

From Stephen Love, To Friends of Euclid Creek

I just wanted to let you know that on July 17th the Euclid Beach Adopt-a-Beach team and Arts Collinwood are going to be having an all day event at Euclid Beach! (http://www.majesticmoinedmogul.com/adoptsignup/Form.php?id=52&visitdate=1) So far, our initial agenda looks something like this:

11am-3-4pm: The Adopt-a-Beach Cleanup will begin at 11am and the sand sculpture contest will begin at 12pm that day. There will hopefully be a number of organizations present with informational tables on the beach during both events. It is likely that the sand sculpture judging will begin around 230 pm or 3 pm that day. Adopt-a-Beach team members will also be conducting a beach and park assessment survey for beach goers and event attendees for part of the time.

3-4pm-6pm: Both events will be followed by a cookout up top either in the pavilion or surrounding picnic tables. We are hoping to use the cookout as one way to raise money for our trash/recycle bin project by charging nominal amounts for refreshments.
Following the cookout we will likely have some arts and crafts events, storytelling and musical entertainment possibly on a portable stage. It is likely that everything will wrap up around 6pm.

Photography Contest

Click Photography Contest Details or contact Larry McFadden at 531-7144 or jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net.

This is a big, beautiful watershed from the headwater stream in your back yard to the Lake Erie shore. Help celebrate Euclid Creek by sharing your best shots of life in the watershed. The Friends of Euclid Creek invite you to share your vision of life around our watershed. We hope to:

• highlight the beauty of the creek as it flows through the ten watershed communities
  
• showcase the culture and historical sites of the watershed
  
• encourage otehrs to enjoy this wonderful natural resource

More about The Wild Ones

Thank you to past FOEC president Barb Holtz for her May 2010 presentation on weed control.

In her presentation Barb mentioned The Wild Ones http://www.for-wild.org/ advocating for native plants in natural landscapes.

The image of the purple coneflower, a good native choice for Ohio landscapes, comes from The Wild Ones.

List of Current Officers

President - Fran Hogg
Vice-President - Frank Skala
Secretary - Larry McFadden
Treasurer - Ken Messenger-Rapport

Six Directors
Steve Albro
Gary Bloom
Mike Ceralo
Lou Drasler
Kathy Schafer
Carolyn Sugiuchi

Contest details

Welcome to the update on the photography contest

Photos must be taken in the Euclid Creek Watershed
Entry deadline October 5th 2011
Award Reception November 2nd

2010 photo criteria for e-mail entry:
. Jpeg or .Jpg format
· No larger than 2mb
. Submitted to friendsofeuclidcreek@gmail.com

Finalist will be required to submit a high-resolution file.
· Minimum of 300 dpi @ 5” x 7”
· Original may be as large as 8” x 10” @ 300 dpi

Enter our 2010 FOEC photography contest. Deadline for submissions is October 5, 2010.

• All photos submitted will become part of a permanent collection and will not be returned.
• Photographers may be asked for permission to use their photos to promote the mission of FOEC.
• Entries must be emailed. Mail entries not accepted.
• Entries must be taken within the Euclid Creek watershed.
• For more information call Larry McFadden at 531-7144 or jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net.

This is a big, beautiful watershed from the headwater stream in your back yard to the Lake Erie shore. Help celebrate Euclid Creek by sharing your best shots of life in the watershed.

Categories - photos taken within the Euclid Creek watershed - color or black/white for each category - $100 grand prize

• Plants and animals
• Recreation
• Cultural and historical sites
• Age 17 and under any of the above subjects

The Friends of Euclid Creek invite you to share your vision of life around our watershed. We hope to:

• highlight the beauty of the creek as it flows through the ten watershed communities
• showcase the culture and historical sites of the watershed
• encourage others to enjoy this wonderful natural resource

The image comes from the Wild Ones http://www.for-wild.org/ which is a group that encourages use of native plants and natural landscapes. Please contact Barb Holtz or jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net for more details.

May 2010 update

Welcome to the May 2010 update

If you have anything to add for this or a future update, please let me know at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net. Some of the items covered in this update include:

* More about our meetings
* FOEC photography contest details

We are extending deepest sympathy to Fran Hogg whose mother recently passed away.

Thanks go to Susan Petrone and Miering Borcherds for their support of the FOEC web site.

Coreopsis is a good native choice for sunny locations. This image comes from ohioprarienurseries.com.

More about our meetings

Our May meeting featured presentations from FOEC members. Stay tuned for details about our upcoming meetings throughout the coming months.

*Ken Messenger-Rapport - getting grant for Bishop Road property, oil and gas drilling developments

*Lou Drasler - what's in the water

* Ron Peura - urban forestry

* Barb Holtz - weed laws

The image of the purple coneflower comes from the Wild Ones page at http://www.for-wild.org/download/graycone.jpg with the Wild Ones being a group that encourages us to select plants and seeds from local or regional sources.

Enter our 2010 FOEC photography contest

Deadline for submissions is October 5, 2010.

All photos submitted will become part of a permanent collection and will not be returned. Photographers may be asked for permission to use their photos to promote the mission of FOEC. Entries must be emailed. Entries must be taken within the Euclid Creek watershed. Mailed entries not accepted.

News of note

Saturday, May 8 10am to 4pm - Cleveland Div. of Water will mark National Drinking Water Week with an open house at two of its purification plants. Call 216-664-2444 ext. 5802 or visit http://www.clevelandwater.com/ to RSVP.

Save Wed. May 12 for the Rain Barrel Workshop at Greenwood Farms 6:30-8pm in Richmond Heights.

Contact Claire Posius for Euclid Creek watershed spring 2010 meetings that including rain barrel workshops. Contact Claire at 216-524-6580 x16 or cposius@cuyahogaswcd.org.

Please visit regularly Claire Posius' Soil and Water Conservation enewsletter at http://www.cuyahogaswcd.org/EuclidCreekFiles/enewsletter.htm Thank you Claire!

Black-eyed susans are a good native choice for natural landscapes.

April 2010 update

Welcome to the April 2010 update

If you have content for this update, please let me know at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net.Some of the items covered in this update include:

* More about our meetings
* FOEC photography contest details
* Ask a naturalist

Thanks go to Susan Petrone and Miering Borcherds for their support of the FOEC web site.

We are now on Facebook.

More about our April and May meetings

Our April meeting featured a viewing of Nicotine Bees. This documentary explains about the decline of bee populations. Between 2005 and 2006 bee colonies in dozens of countries declined sharply. Evidence shows that new seed chemical coatings are deadly to bees and responsible for the decline. The Sierra Club is urging the EPA to ban the use of these chemicals to allow for more study. Farmers used these nicotinyl insecticides (also called neonicotinoids) for years to stop insect infestation. Now agribusiness acquired patents to coat their seeds with these neonicotinoids, and “neonics” that enter the plant are present in pollen.

"Imagine a world without bees no stings, no pesky picnic invasions, no irritating buzzing around your summer sodas. And, of course, no apples, cherries, peaches, almonds, raspberries or maybe even hold on to your spoon Haagen-Dazs ice cream. We need bees, especially the honey bee, possibly for our very survival and we're losing them." Crain's.

Our May 7 meeting features presentations from FOEC members. The Community Room at South Euclid City Hall at 349 South Green Road is at the top of the stairs on the right. Entrance is through the back door (Police entrance). If anyone needs to use the elevator, ask for its use through the Police Department.

• Ken Rapport-Messenger - getting grant for Bishop Road property, oil and gas drilling developments
  
• Lou Drasler - what's in the water
• Jane Goodman - connected watershed, areas of concern
• Ron Peura - urban forestry
• Barb Holtz - weed laws
  

Enter our 2010 FOEC photography contest

Stay tuned for additional details and contact jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net for more information. Here are the categories:

* Color - watershed plants and animals
* Color - watershed recreation and family activities
* Color - watershed cultural sites and historic buildings
* Black and white - any of the above subjects
* Seventeen and under - any of the categories above

$100 best of show cash prize
$25 best of categories prize
Entry limit is three photos per category.
Deadline for submissions is October 5, 2010.

All photos submitted will become part of a permanent collection and will not be returned. Photographers may be asked for permission to use their photos to promote the mission of FOEC.
Entries must be emailed.
Entries must be taken within the Euclid Creek watershed.
Mailed entries not accepted.

All emailed entires must include:
* category and title
* name and address of contestant (city, state, zip)
* day phone, evening phone
* where photo was taken
* when photo was taken

Ask a Naturalist

Thank you again to naturalist Barb Holtz for these answers.

Question: For a shade garden, what are your thoughts on using day lillies, hostas, and bleeding heart? What are your top 2-3 choices for growing in a well-drained area?

Answer: There are many wonderful native shade-loving plants. When it comes to lilies, I would discourage planting lily of the valley and day lilies. They can be invasive. Hostas are fine. I personally think the typical hosta is kind of boring. Bleeding heart is a beautiful plant. A cousin to bleeding heart that makes a great groundcover is squirrel corn.

My top three choices for shade would be columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), violets (many colors), and Solomon's seal (Polygonatum biflorum). There are so many others but I pick these three for a variety on flower color and plant shape. Wild geranium is also a great choice.

The image of the native Christmas fern comes from http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/ which states that ferns have been part of Ohio landscapes for millions of years, predating both dinosaurs and flowering plants. The Christmas fern is found in nearly every Ohio county and is a welcome sign year round.

Celebrate Earth Day in April

More about wildlife in the watershed and Ohio

The red fox image comes from Ohio.gov. The red fox has been spotted at the Dike 14 Nature Preserve. The Nov. 22, 2009, issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer explained that mink appear at the Dike 14 location. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/ provides the image.

It won't be long before we see scenes, such as a yellow butterfly attracted to dusty goldenrod.

March 2010 update

Welcome to the March 2010 update

If you have content for this update, please let me know at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net. Some of the items covered in this update include:

* More about our meetings
* 2010 FOEC photography contest announced
* Ask a naturalist - about ferns and ground covers
* More on Adopt-a-BeachTM

More about our March and other meetings
Our March meeting featured James Kastelic, former Deputy Director of Community Planning for the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. He is now a planner for Cleveland Metroparks. His talk covered the Environmental Education Collaborative and plans for the opening of the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve at Dike 14.

The April meeting features the Nicotine Bees documentary from the Sierra Club and is to be at the South Euclid Community Room.

2010 FOEC photography contest features five categories
Please stay tuned for additional details and contact jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net for more information. Here are the categories:
* Color - watershed plants and animals
* Color - watershed recreation and family activities
* Color - watershed cultural sites and historic buildings
* Black and white - any of the above subjects
* Seventeen and under - any of the categories above

$100 best of show cash prize
$25 best of categories prize
Entry limit is three photos per category.
Deadline for submissions is October 5, 2010.
All photos submitted will become part of a permanent collection and will not be returned. Photographers may be asked for permission to use their photos to promote the mission of FOEC.
Entries must be emailed.
Entries must be taken within the Euclid Creek watershed.
Mailed entries not accepted.

All emailed entires must include:
* category and title
* name and address of contestant (city, state, zip)
* day phone, evening phone
* where photo was taken
* when photo was taken

Upcoming meetings and events
New England aster is a good choice for rain gardens in a sunny location. The image comes from http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/

Save Friday, April 16 for the Beachwood Green Dream Event with a Euclid Creek Watershed Program and FOEC booth - Beachwood Community Center from 1-7pm.

Save Wed. May 12 for the Rain Barrel Workshop at Greenwood Farms 6:30-8pm in Richmond Heights. Contact Claire Posius for Euclid Creek watershed winter/spring 2010 meetings that including rain barrel workshops. Contact Claire at 216-524-6580 x16 or cposius@cuyahogaswcd.org.

Use a rain barrel to recycle rain water for backyard or garden watering while saving energy by not running a spigot.

Please visit regularly Claire Posius' Soil and Water Conservation enewsletter at http://www.cuyahogaswcd.org/EuclidCreekFiles/enewsletter.htm

Thank you Claire! Please send comments and contibutions to Claire at
http://mrd.mail.yahoo.com/compose?To=cposius%40cuyahogaswcd.org

Adopt-a-BeachTM Update

Thank you to Mary K. Evans for providing this information.

Upcoming Ohio Alliance for the Great Lakes Happenings- Adopt-a-BeachTM

Adopt-A-Beach™ Training and Get Together!

Keeping our beaches clean and healthy takes caring people in our communities working together. To thank current adopters and to welcome new adopters, we invite you to attend our annual training. The training will include a review of the Adopt-a-Beach™ data collection forms and protocol, including a discussion of some recent changes. This is your opportunity to ensure that you are collecting data in a standardized method. Come to one of our training sessions listed and meet others that share your zeal for the Great Lakes.

New and returning Adopt-a-Beach™ teams can choose a training date that’s convenient for your schedule and location. Refreshments and a light snack will be served.

To R.S.V.P. contact April Mather at 216-630-8140, or amather@greatlakes.org.

• Thursday March 18th from 6-8 pm, Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, 28728 Wolf Rd., Bay Village, OH 44140
• Wednesday April 7th from 6-8 pm at the Arts Collinwood Community Center 15605 Waterloo Road, Cleveland, OH 44110. Enter through the cafe and go to the back for the community center.
• For those of you not located near a training site, on-line training materials are available at www.greatlakes.org/adoptabeach

For a list of beach visits open to the public visit: http://www.greatlakes.org/Page.aspx?pid=970

What is Adopt-a-BeachTM?

Adopt-a-Beach™ is the Alliance for the Great Lakes’ largest volunteer program and is present on 4 of the 5 Great Lakes. More than 7,000 volunteers including schools, businesses, individuals and families participate in the program. Teams catalogue and remove litter, and also complete a beach health assessment form that includes science based observation of beach conditions and water testing. Information collected by teams is entered into our online database system and can be used for education about conditions at their beach, shared with local beach authorities, and used to identify areas where volunteers can make improvements of beach conditions. For more information, go to: www.greatlakes.org/adoptabeach

Ask a naturalist - about ferns and ground covers

Here are some more answers from FOEC member Barb Holtz. Barb is manager/naturalist at Look About Lodge with Cleveland Metroparks where she began her interest in native plants in home landscapes. She is also the president and founder of Western Reserve Wild Ones, a chapter of the the national Wild Ones. Barb also does consulting from Ohio Prarie Nursery of Hiram, Ohio. Barb has a BA in biology and art from Wittenberg University and an MS in biology from UNC-Charlotte.

Question:
What is your opinion of using ferns in our home landscapes and which would you recommend?

Answer:
I LOVE using ferns in my home landscape. I think they are often overlooked as a possibility for a ground cover, foundation screen or graceful addition to other plantings. My favorite ferns include: wood ferns (Dryopteris); esp. marginal wood fern (semi-evergreen), Christmas fern (Polystichum; semi-evergreen), maidenhair fern (Adiantum; soft look, graceful appearance), ostrich fern (Matteuccia; big-makes a statement). If you have a wet area you'd like to fill, try sensitive fern (Onoclea).

Question:
As a groundcover, what is your opinion of using wild ginger?

Answer:
Wild ginger would makes a great groundcover but it is a spring wildflower. You cannot expect it to look wonderful over the course of an entire summer and into fall. There are many native plants to consider as ground covers but they are not vinca or English ivy. Vinca and ivy are tenacious, fast growing and evergreen. While this has made our "I want it now" form of landscaping easier, they are INVASIVE! For me, this trumps all of their other attributes. Don't plant them. What you plant in your yard does not stay in your yard. Instead, plant a variety of native groundcovers that will change with the seasons.

Possibilities include: violets, foamflower, ferns, wild ginger, wild geranium, bunchberry, Virginia bluebells, blue iris, Jacob's ladder, mayapple, native pachysandra/wild spurge, woodland sedge.


The image of the native Christmas fern comes from http://www.dnr.state.oh.us which states that ferns have been part of Ohio landscapes for millions of years, predating both dinosaurs and flowering plants. The Christmas fern is found in nearly every Ohio county and is a welcome sign year round.

More about wildlife in the watershed and Ohio
The red fox image comes from Ohio.gov. The red fox has been spotted at the Dike 14 Nature Preserve. The Nov. 22, 2009, issue of the Cleveland Plain Dealer explained that mink appear at the Dike 14 location. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/ provides the image.



The Jan. 7, 2010 issue of The Plain Dealer states that Northern cardinals brighten up the cold winter scene in Northeast Ohio and expanded their range northward over the past century. http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/ shows this image of the official bird of Ohio.


Spring Starts March 20
It won't be long before we see scenes, such as a yellow butterfly attracted to dusty goldenrod.

February 2010 update

Welcome to the February 2010 update
If you have content for this update, please let me know at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net.

Some of the items covered in this update include:
* More about our meetings
* Adopt-A-BeachTM update
* Columbine is more shade loving and a good choice for rain gardens - the image comes from http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/

More about our February and March meetings
Thank you to all who made our February meeting happen. Our March meeting starts at 7pm at the South Euclid Community Center and features James Kastelic, former Deputy Director of Community Planning for the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. He is now a planner for Cleveland Metroparks. His talk is about the Environmental Education Collaborative and plans for the opening of the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve at Dike 14.

Stay tuned for more details about our April and May meetings. The May meeting is to be at the Community Room at South Euclid City Hall . The room is at the top of the stairs on the right. Entrance is through the back door (Police entrance). If anyone needs to use the elevator, ask for its use through the Police Department.

Upcoming meetings and events
New England aster is a good choice for rain gardens and more sun loving. The image comes from http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/

Save Friday, April 16 for the Beachwood Green Dream Event with a Euclid Creek Watershed Program and FOEC booth - Beachwood Community Center from 1-7pm.

Save Wed. May 12 for the Rain Barrel Workshop at Greenwood Farms 6:30-8pm in Richmond Heights. Contact Claire Posius for Euclid Creek watershed winter/spring 2010 meetings that including rain barrel workshops. Contact Claire at 216-524-6580 x16 or cposius@cuyahogaswcd.org. Use a rain barrel to recycle rain water for backyard or garden watering while saving energy by not running a spigot.

Adopt-A-BeachTM Update

Thank you to Mary K. Evans for providing this information.

Upcoming Ohio Alliance for the Great Lakes Happenings announces Adopt-A-Beach™ Training and Get Together

Keeping our beaches clean and healthy takes caring people in our communities working together. To thank current adopters and to welcome new adopters, we invite you to attend our annual training. The training will include a review of the Adopt-a-Beach™ data collection forms and protocol, including a discussion of some recent changes. This is your opportunity to ensure that you are collecting data in a standardized method. Come to one of our training sessions listed and meet others that share your zeal for the Great Lakes. New and returning Adopt-a-Beach™ teams can choose a training date that’s convenient for your schedule and location. Refreshments and a light snack will be served. To R.S.V.P. contact April Mather at 216-630-8140, or amather@greatlakes.org.

* Thursday March 18th from 6-8 pm, Lake Erie Nature and Science Center, 28728 Wolf Rd., Bay Village, OH 44140

* Wednesday April 7th from 6-8 pm at the Arts Collinwood Community Center 15605 Waterloo Road, Cleveland, OH 44110. Enter through the cafe and go to the back for the community center.

For those of you not located near a training site, on-line training materials are available at www.greatlakes.org/adoptabeach

For a list of beach visits open to the public visit: http://www.greatlakes.org/Page.aspx?pid=970

Adopt-a-Beach™ is the Alliance for the Great Lakes’ largest volunteer program and is present on 4 of the 5 Great Lakes. More than 7,000 volunteers including schools, businesses, individuals and families participate in the program. Teams catalogue and remove litter, and also complete a beach health assessment form that includes science based observation of beach conditions and water testing. Information collected by teams is entered into our online database system and can be used for education about conditions at their beach, shared with local beach authorities, and used to identify areas where volunteers can make improvements of beach conditions. For more information, go to: www.greatlakes.org/adoptabeach


With it being February, look out for ground hogs (image from wikipedia).

Ask a naturalist - what rain garden plants do deer not like?
Thank you to naturalist Barb Holtz for answering our questions. Please let me know at jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net if you have a question for Barb.

Question:
What rain garden plants do deer not like?

Answer:
I would answer this question the same way I answered the more general "what plants don't deer like" question. I think if deer are hungry enough they'll eat just about anything.

Question:
New England aster, columbine, and Ohio goldenrod appear in the rain garden brochure we got at the last FOEC meeting as native plants. What do you think of these three?

Answer:
They are beautiful plants. I have them all in my yard and all are left alone by the deer.


New England aster is purple and tall. Ohio goldenrod is yellow and a medium height. The aster and goldenrod are more sun loving.

Columbine is more of a shade plant. The native one is red with some yellow and is short.