2013 Xeriscape Tours of Pueblo and Pueblo West

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Plan to attend the 2013 Xeriscape Tours of Pueblo and Pueblo West and see some beautiful water-wise gardens. These free tours are a great chance to learn, be inspired or just have a fun outing with your friends and family. You are free to visit any and all of the gardens at your own leisure on the set date and time. There is no set order, so see as much or as little as you want. Master Gardeners will be at each garden to answer questions.

The Pueblo Xeriscape tour will be on Saturday, June 1st from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

The Pueblo West Xeriscape tour will be on Sunday June 2nd from 9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Maps for the tours are available at most local garden nurseries, the Pueblo City and County Libraries or online at the Pueblo County extension office website here pueblo.colostate.edu/hor/hort

MPEC serves Earth Studies healthy breakfasts and they love it!

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Whew…we are rocking this week at MPEC. Sixty+ Corwin students, teachers, & parents spent the night on Monday, another 60 from Corwin on Tuesday night, around 50 from Sunset Elementary tonight, then around 50 from Bessemer Academy tomorrow night. That’s a whole lot of eggs to crack, lettuce to wash, homemade pizza to bake, hikes to the Fire Tower, s’mores around the evening campfire…all part of our amazing Earth Studies program.  These students learn so much about science and the bioregion and the spending the night gives them a chance to learn about how to make their own beds and be stewards of the Lodge.

This is our morning kitchen set up for serving students. MPEC is proud of serving organic milk, healthy cereals without high fructose corn syrups, and whole-grain bagels. We also offer them scrambled eggs, a meat side and pure orange juice. Many of the students tell us that normally they only eat cereal for breakfast, so our philosophy of giving children a full learning experience is evidenced by them appreciating the meals we serve them

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Swedish Mountain Room is most popular for a cozy night’s stay!

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If you have come to spend the night at the newly renovated Horseshoe Lodge West Wing then you may have stayed in our most popular Swedish Mountain Room. Donated by sisters Holly Hanson of Pueblo and Greta Maura of Longmont, they designed a room that reflected the love they have for their Swedish grandmother and their beloved mother Diane Hanson whom many in the area remember fondly. This room has a lovely queen bed and private gas fireplace along with a spacious bathroom. Everything is appointed in blues and browns with special attention to luxurious bedding to make a special night’s stay even more special.

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Holly, Diane and Greta 1988

Swedish Mountain Room

 

 

 

 

 

Plus these generous donors upgraded the room with an extra fireplace chair for hearth gazing and Holly wrote a note to us, “Many thanks MPEC staff for their generational thinking!  Enjoying, protecting and learning about Nature and our environment are near and dear to our hearts.  We are sending a new chair and ottoman for the Swedish Mountain Room, a piece you could really get comfortable in!  We support your effort in preserving and protecting the precious Beulah Valley, as well as educating and sharing the wonder of nature with ALL.  This room is dedicated our mother, Diane Hanson and our grandmothers; they knew all about making someone feel welcomed. With gratitude for your sustaining efforts! Holly Hanson and Greta Hanson Maurer “chair swedish

 

 

 

Tuesday Evening Nature Talk: Wet Mountain Rehab 5pm

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bear Plan to come out to the Horseshoe Lodge Tuesday Evening April 16th at 5pm for this interesting evening of stories by the nice folks in Wetmore who run the wildlife rehab. They have tales of baby bears that lost their moms, and baby deer that was recused during spring storms. MPEC is happy to highlight the Wildlife Rehab Center as we support non profits doing important work in our community and this is surely one of them.

Home School in the Park: MPEC’s newest program

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One of our newest programs here at the Mountain Park Environmental Center is Home School in the Park. Home School in the Park is an experiential science program, based on our Earth Studies program and tailored for home school students, grades 3rd through 6th. When I first began working here at MPEC, I was a Ranger teaching in our Earth Studies Program. Immediately I loved the program and was able to witness the benefits of bringing children into nature to teach them about their planet. Since I was raised in a family that home schooled, I began to think about how home school children would enjoy and greatly profit from a program such as this. I began to envision setting up a program for home school families where MPEC could use its resources and knowledgeable staff to form Earth Studies day sessions specifically for home schooled children.

Although it can be challenging to start a new program, our first session of Home School in the Park successfully took place this past February with 12 children in attendance. The focus of the session was mammals and tracking. Our second session was just as successful, with 14 home schooled children of all ages coming to MPEC to learn about birds and orienteering. The kids, as well as parents, have learned so much and enjoyed the experience tremendously, continuing to help spread the word about this new program. As our third home school day session approaches, I am excited to see our program grow, as currently there are 17 children signed up to attend. These children are growing and flourishing from these learning experiences that take place in Pueblo Mountain Park, the ideal outdoor classroom.

Ranger Dave’s Colorado Trail Concert Friday April 5th at 7pm

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You are invited to an inspiring evening of slides and songs offered by MPEC’s Director Dave Van Manen as he shares this 486 mile trek from Denver to Durango.In 2010 and 2011,  Ranger Dave completed his Colorado Trail “Backpack for Nature Education.” The program will feature the history of the trail, a slide show of the trip, stories of the trip and live music. Sponsored by the Colorado Mountain Club the show begins at 7pm at Ascension Episcipol Church, 18th and Grand in Pueblo.

Watch some fun videos of Dave’s trail experience

Where is Ranger Dave on the Colorado Trail?

What did Ranger Dave eat on the Colorado Trail?

Read his hike blog here  http://www.rangerdavehikes.blogspot.com/

 

Nature Gift Shop at MPEC says ” stop by”

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51SBERB5ECL._SL500_AA300_We are proud of our little Nature Gift Shop at the Horseshoe Lodge and hope you’ll stop by and check out the unique and fun items. We carry a selection of both new and used books on topics related to Nature Education including the best tracking and field guides.  We are especially proud to offer Plants of Pueblo Mountain Park written by MPEC’s director/founder Dave Van Manen and which will teach you the local plants and trees in our bioregion. Complete with beautiful photos and clear descriptions, you can grow your ability to identify flowers you see in and around the Beulah area.

Our t shirts make fun gifts and most are 100% and organic materials.  We carry the best hats for taking a hike including our wide brimmed sun hats to protect your face from Colorado’s strong rays. Plus we now offer the spring line of Buff headbands which are a big seller.  And we must mention that we have many handmade items by local artisans including paper art peace cranes by Cyndi Hart, window snowflakes by Ina Bernard, handmade soaps by Louise of Trinidad, hand poured candles from Zenamoon.com and more.  If you need a gift please remember us and yes we can ship for you if you want to shop at a distance. Your purchases help us do the work we do with students at MPEC so thanks for remembering us.   soap compressed bookstorekarin2012

John Broome Grew Up in Beulah!

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Hi Friends at MPECjohn broome

I want to let you all know what a joy it was staying with you at the Horseshoe Lodge. The Swedish Mountain room is so special. The restored fireplace made the room  cozy and all the Swedish highlights made me feel  like I was royalty.  I appreciate your efforts at water conservation.  The composting toilet, auto-off sink faucets and shower were convenient and helped me enjoy being light on Beulah’s water supply.

I was particularly delighted by the breakfast selections.   I’ve led many workshops of various sized in my career and if I ever  need a facility for one, I will not hesitate to have it hosted at the Horseshoe Lodge.

Thanks again for the great service you are doing for our environment; for our next generation; and for the community of Beulah.  You’ve transformed an eyesore into a gem.  I hope everyone in the region will consider attending MPEC events and stay at the Horseshoe Lodge.

Best Wishes For Continued Success,

Jon B. Broome, MBA Instructor of Management/Marketing

Oregon State University

 

Let the tracking begin!

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Here at the Mountain Park Environmental Center, we have just begun our 4th Earth Studies session with 5th graders from District 60 schools. This session is all about mammals and tracking, and is one of the most popular with the staff as well as the students. We teach the children about mammals that are common up here at Pueblo Mountain Park including bear, bobcat and fox; having them study the skulls, skins and prints of each one. This generates much enthusiasm from the group as they examine the teeth of each skull and the paws and claws of each track. Then each 5th grader gets to learn the basics of tracking before going out into the forest and looking for animal sign themselves. Once out in the park, every animal track and pile of scat hold new interest for the students as they search the ground, excitedly letting everyone know when they can identify a track with their new skills. They get to follow animal trails, look for deer beds, see the carcasses from an animal’s recent kill, and hopefully see some of the mammals that they just learned about out in their natural habitat.

 

Some other important topics that are taught and opened to discussion are food chains, extinction, extirpation and restoration of a species (specifically talking about the wolf in Colorado). Discussions like these are vital to children learning about their planet and becoming aware of the important environmental issues that are taking place all around them. This also helps to fulfill MPEC’s goal of instilling understanding and respect for the natural world into its citizens.

Enjoying the snow…. Finally!

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Finally there is snow in the Mountain Park and our 5th grade Earth Studies students, as well as the rangers, are thrilled with the change of weather. The children are so excited when they get to the park and realize that they will get to spend most of the day
out in the snow. And what better way for them to learn about the different types of trees our park is home to than putting on snow boots and hiking out to see the trees decorated with a dusting of snow. The rangers share the excitement with the 5th graders as they lead them through a winter wonderland, stopping to make an occasional snow angel or snowman along the way. The children chiming a chorus of “this is the best Beulah day ever!” and “when do we get to come back?”. Everyone has been enjoying themselves at MPEC these last few days, and we are all eager for more fresh snow in the coming winter months!