Four Winds celebrated 20 years of community-based natural science education last month! Friends old and new gathered at Silver Lake State Park in Barnard, VT to enjoy the beautiful location and perfect weather.
Teams of two played corn hole while children experimented with loose parts and created giant bubbles. Families followed a story walk around the lawn, which attracted other guests visiting the park, interested to hear what our party was celebrating. One woman, a retired science teacher from New York, remarked how she wished she had had the Four Winds Nature Program in her school when she was teaching.
Cofounder and Executive Director Lisa Purcell shared words of gratitude and invited everyone to raise their hands in affirmation of nature-loving statements, such as, “Raise your hand if you’ve ever stopped on the side of the road to gather goldenrod galls.” Naturally, the majority of hands went up in response to each statement.
The puppet show was epic, with incredible writing and acting by Four Winds cofounder Deb Parrella and Business Manager Marie Johnson. The many Four Winds puppet friends had lots to say about our organization’s long, storied history. One little partygoer was especially inspired to put on his own show afterwards – a future Nature Program volunteer in the making!
The cupcakes, from The Flour Girl Bakeshop in West Rupert, VT were delicious and exquisitely decorated. Every guest received raffle tickets and entered to win 15 prizes donated by local artists and businesses. The tickets were drawn with the help of a crew of kids, who definitely didn’t peek when selecting 😉
We enjoyed celebrating with those who were able to join us! We’re so grateful for all your support of Four Winds, and we look forward to many more years of exploring our wonderful natural world together.
It was a wonderful celebration for a wonderful organization. I was so happy to be there.