Historic Rivers Chapter's Kiosk Project Goes Live!

Wednesday, November 16, marked the official ribbon cutting ceremony for the brand new Interpretive Center at Freedom Park in James City County. The new Interpretive Center is the location for the touch-screen electronic kiosk that Virginia Master Naturalist volunteers from the Historic Rivers Chapter helped to develop. Thirty-three VMN volunteers (including two from the Northern Neck and Peninsula Chapters) plus 16 other volunteers with partnering organizations contributed nearly 2000 hours of service on this project over the last year.

The idea for an educational exhibit that could make use of the amazing photographic talent that exists in the Historic Rivers Chapter had been brewing for years, but finally became a reality when the Superintendent of James City County Parks requested Master Naturalist help with providing information on plants and animals that might be present at Freedom Park. In the last year, the volunteers have provided information on 353 species of animals and plants, including 835 photos and 15 audio recordings. I had the opportunity to browse a beta version of the kiosk information, and it was truly a treasure trove of wonderful images and natural history tidbits. I encourage all Master Naturalists who might be traveling in the James City County region to stop by Freedom Park and spend some time at the kiosk.

In an example of how the kiosk will be used to enhance park visitors' experiences, Les Lawrence, a Historic Rivers Master Naturalist, wrote “I actually had the opportunity to use the kiosk in a demonstration. A man and his two children had just walked the trails and had seen a snake which they thought was a copperhead. It was only about a foot long, so it had to be a juvenile if it were truly a copperhead. I explained about a juvenile's tail and had the young boy (only about 10 but obviously very interested in "nature") find the pics of a copperhead on the kiosk. They agreed it had to be something else but couldn't identify it. Then the boy wanted to identify the caterpillar in one of "our" pictures - he found it was a luna moth. At least one young boy and his dad were impressed with the kiosk! (As was I.)”

Congratulations to the Historic Rivers Master Naturalists and all of the other collaborators who helped bring this project to fruition!