|
|
Feature article
|
 |
|
 |
Warriors’ Path greets spring with festival of activities
By Brad Lifford
Marty Silver is hoping for good weather for the Warriors’ Path Spring Nature Festival, but history tells him not to bank on it.
Rain or shine, though, Silver will relish one of the park’s best events each year, and he knows that there are many who share a like mind when it comes to the Warriors’ Path Spring Nature Festival, which will be held Friday through Sunday.
“Almost every year it’s rained; last year we only got a little sprinkle,” said Silver the head naturalist at Warriors’ Path. “But it’s the kind of thing where if you the love the outdoors, the weather’s not going to matter to you. You want to be out there whether it’s raining or not.”
The park schedules a wide range of programs and activities during its Spring Nature Festival with all offered for free — and held rain or shine.
If you’ve got an interest not only what in Warriors’ Path looks like now but also what the area looked like in ancient times, spending some time with Bob Whittemore, a veteran of the festival, would be a wise move.
Whittemore, a geologist with General Shale, will lead with ETSU geologist Ingrid Luffman a seminar on the geology of the park, followed by a walk to see first-hand the formations and landscape features that show a changing land. The two will start their seminar at 3 a.m., Saturday at the recreation building; their walk starts at 4 p.m. at the pool parking lot.
Whittemore said the visible sedimentary rocks tell an interesting story about Warriors’ Path.
“From what you see, if you go back about 600 million years, there are sedimentary rocks there that tell you it was a marine environment,” Whittemore said. “It was a sea. It was a sea that was shallow enough for sunlight to penetrate and allow organisms to grow.”
Whittemore, who calls himself a “rock accumulator,” will bring a few of his more interesting rock samples to share with seminar participants.
“I’ll bring such things as rocks that glow in the dark,” Whittemore said, “and certain types of marble, rocks that light up under pressure. The seminar’s very hands-on oriented.”
Following is a schedule for the Spring Nature Festival. For detailed information about events, call Warriors’ Path at 239-8531 or 239-6786.
Warriors’ Path is on the Internet at state.tn.us/environment/parks/parks/WarriorsPath/
Friday, April 15
7 p.m. — Animal tracking and signs
8 p.m. — Night Habitats Walk
Saturday
Saturday, April 16
7:30 a.m. — Birdlife Seminar
8:30 a.m. — Bird Walk
9:30 a.m. — Nature Photography Seminar
10:30 a.m. — Spring Scenic Walk
11:30 a.m. — Plants & Pollinators Seminar
12:30 p.m. — Plants & Pollinators Walk
1 p.m. — Stream Ecology Seminar
1:30 p.m. — Creek Walk
3 p.m. — Geology Seminar
4 p.m. — Geology Walk
5 p.m. — Trees and Wildflowers Seminar
6 p.m. — Tree & Plant Life Walk
7 p.m. — Sunset Walk
8:30 p.m. — Spring Night Skies
Sunday, April 17
9:30 a.m. — Worship Service and Concert
10:30 a.m. — Spring Landscapes Walk
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
