Happy 2011 to you! I am looking forward to a year of growth for the Ney Nature Center. Consider joining me.
We will jump-start the year by organizing a new Finance Committee and repurposing the Programs Committee. Both committees would benefit from your involvement.

Finance Committee
Treasurer Josh Reinitz is leading the effort for the Finance Committee. The New Year brings us to the halfway point of our fiscal year when we begin our budgeting process for 2011-2012. Budgeting is one of my favorite things at the NNC! Why? It generates prospective projects and goals, and helps us plan what we are going to accomplish in the next fiscal year. It paints a picture! Other tasks to be assigned to the Finance Committee include reviewing, revising, adding and implementing policies related to finances along with making possible recommendations to the Board on financial matters, like fundraisers and special projects. We are really in need of volunteers with a financial background or interest. If you would like to know more about this opportunity for involvement please let us know! The support given to our organization with your talent and time gives NEEF the potential to grow. If this isn’t a great time to get involved, when is?

Programs Committee
President Dick Peterson and Vice-President Earl Gransee are leading the repurposing of the Programs Committee. This committee has been the workhorse of all field trips and general public programs over the past several years. The Board has begun the process of transitioning this committee into a steering committee for programming. This committee will begin by evaluating current programs, reviewing what is already being done at the Ney Nature Center and at other nearby centers, and creating a vision/mission/goal for our programs. This is particularly exciting to me! It is a chance to build our programs into a unique, sought-after set of learning experiences that can be our shining star.

Volunteer Opportunities
Perhaps you’d like to participate on one of these two committees and commit to a few months of committee meetings? Other committees (and the Board) always need volunteers also. The Ney Nature Center strives to make volunteering a rewarding experience as well as rewarding for every student, hiker, snowshoer, walker, birder, geochacher, photographer, sledder, and participant at the NNC. There is work to be done – some short-term, some long-term. We have volunteer possibilities to fit many different interests and time constraints. These include small projects around the office and building to be done on a short-term basis.

Spring is around the corner (we hope!) – the time when we are busy with field trips. Volunteer opportunities for one-day sessions include help with chaperoning, assisting program leaders, answering phones in the office or checking the restrooms periodically. We need and can use extra hands! Remember that the NNC is working with the RSVP Program (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) and encourages those of you who are already working with the program to consider volunteering some time at our site.

Our park is a gem. The Ney family knew this when Ruby bequeathed the land and Don completed projects like the pond restoration. Our Board, volunteers, and Don Reak of the Le Sueur County Parks Department have worked hard to continue the vision of the Ney family. Now it is time for our programs to benefit from our gem of a park by connecting our park’s landscape to the lessons we want to teach. We would like to see a well-rounded group of individuals providing us with insight. Please join us! I invite you to contact me for more information about volunteering at the NNC. Let’s discuss the possibilities.

We look forward to great things in 2011.

I am pleased to introduce to you the newest member of our Board of Directors, Cheyenne Yates. In accordance with our mission, she joins us in the operation of the Ney Nature Center. Cheyenne, a high school senior, began volunteering at the NNC during the summer of 2009 and helped with every day-camp held that summer. When day-camp was over she organized an environmental group at her Belle Plaine High School. This group, (TREES -Totally Rad Extraordinary Environmental Students) has been instrumental in implementing a composting program within their high school lunch period. They visit the NNC for special events, volunteer opportunities, and environmental education programs. Cheyenne has continued to volunteer on various projects and committees at the NNC and we are very pleased to have her unique thought-provoking insight that she brings to our Board meetings.

On the flip side, I would like to thank Jim Wartman for the time he has spent with the Board of Directors and volunteering here at the NNC. Jim has stepped off of the Board but I know we will continue to see him here at the NNC, as he has a great passion for the outdoors, education, and the NNC. Jim has led many buckthorn-removal volunteer days with MNCS students, shared his love of the prairie by guiding hikes, and teaching during our day-camps and local expert sessions on topics such as morel mushrooms. Thank You, Jim!

You can help us meet our mission like Cheyenne, Jim and the rest of our Board and Volunteers. We are always happy to have more help with projects, teaching, site development, committees, cleaning, wood cutting, special events and the Board of Directors. The list goes on and on!

After a great winter of snowshoeing, skiing, sledding and other winter activities here at the Ney Nature Center I was amazed at how fast both nature and I can switch gears to spring. It felt like an overnight transition.

With the coming of spring, an efficient committee including Board members and I have been busy planning and organizing NEEF’s 3rd Annual Spring Fling! Look for the flyer with all the details and the registration form elsewhere in this issue. Along with determining a date and location, deciding on an outstanding menu by Chef George Kuckaka and finding a great guest speaker, self-professed “Certified Bird Nerd,” Al Batt, I would like to highlight a few points of interest related to this event.

During their March Board meeting, NEEF established a “Capital Improvement Fund.” With the creation of this fund we hope to cultivate donations designated specifically to capital improvement, and proceeds from our Spring Fling will benefit this fund. Help us finance this fund by attending our 3rd Annual Spring Fling or making a cash donation designated to the Capital Improvement Fund.

The Ney Nature Center has seen an increase in programs, field trips, open hours, staff, membership and park users over the last few years, as well as the development of our “site” or the physical park itself. Setting aside donations and funds raised at the Spring Fling in a Capital Improvement Fund is another developmental step in our growth as a non-profit organization and nature center.

Thank you for your fiscal support as well as volunteering your time. It is vital to our existence and growth as an organization.

What we do know is who are to be our fearless leaders for 2010. At our December Board of Directors meeting we elected 2010 officers. Dick Peterson and Earl Gransee having agreed to continue in their positions of President and Vice-president and were elected into those positions unanimously. Josh Reinitz was nominated and elected as Treasurer as Fred Keup leaves the Board having fulfilled his term. Reta Lind was reelected as secretary and Karl Keup has volunteered to fill in for her on occasion.

These are all very important positions within our organization and I look forward to working – or in some cases continuing to work – with these very dedicated volunteers! Without volunteers in these positions this organization would not function, meet goals or survive to make the Ney Nature Center what it is today and what it will be tomorrow. Thank You!

Beginning in January, I am also pleased to welcome Brigid Tuck onto our Board as a newly elected Director. Brigid was nominated and elected at the Annual Meeting in November. Brigid has served on the Communications Committee, written articles for our newsletter and helped with the Annual Spring Fling. Welcome to the Board, Brigid!

I collect information to answer these questions in a couple of ways. One is membership; we track the number of members for our organization and continuously invite people to become a member of the Ney Nature Center. Membership to the Ney Nature Center has advantages for both the member and the organization. Members receive discounts to programs and building use. Membership creates communication advantages, this newsletter for instance is mailed directly to members before it is handed or set out for others. The number of members we have helps us gauge whether we are meeting the needs of the park users or program participants. Do you value our trail system enough to support it thorough membership? That is a question that the board asks. Through your membership our Board of Directors, which meet monthly to steer the direction of programs and park development, represents you.

A second way I collect information is counting participants. Keeping track of registrations, keeping count in my head as I greet people during open houses, and tallying the names in the guestbook after each event. Our fieldtrip program charges a $1.00 fee for each student attending so a count of participants in those programs is always accurate.

As a Le Sueur County Park this facility is open to everyone and we extend invitations to everyone. One thing I cannot do is track the number of people who come and enjoy the park, using the trails or picnicking. I recognize vehicles that are regularly parked in the lots, not knowing to whom they belong. All the Board members have reported the experience of running into an acquaintance somewhere and their conversation about the Ney Nature Center. They relay a recent visit or seeing an article in the newspaper about a recent event. They express their interest or appreciation for their experience at the park. I can speak for myself and I think the other Board members would agree that we enjoy these moments of recognition as being associated with the Ney Nature Center and the great things happening here. We take pride in the work we do to move the Ney Nature Center forward with trail development, enhanced interpretive programs, promotions and publications and ever changing program topics and events.

With all this said, I would like to personally invite one and all, members and nonmembers, frequent visitors and those who have never visited to join us at our 1st annual Fall Festival on October 17th. Besides all the fun we will have with games, tours, programs, demonstrations and food, this event gives us a chance to socialize with others who love the Ney Nature Center as much as we do. You can show your appreciation of the Ney Nature Center by renewing your membership or joining as a member for 2010. Provide feedback on the work we have done throughout the year and the work we plan to do in the future. Weigh in on decisions that are currently being discussed by the Board of Directors. Above all come and have fun, bring your family, friends, neighbors and enjoy the Ney Nature Center! I am looking forward to meeting the owners of those cars I recognize!