Like birds? Not doing anything over the next four days? I found an activity for you! Our friends at the Wesselman Nature Society’s are putting on their new event, the Ohio Valley Birding Festival.

The Ohio Valley Birding Festival includes four days of over 20 guided hikes, workshops, lectures, and classes, most of which are free. Activities are designed for birders and potential birders of all ages and skill levels. Guided hikes to Tri-State area birding hotspots—such as Howell Wetlands, Hovey Lake, Bluegrass Fish and Wildlife Area, and the Patoka River National Wildlife Refuge—will showcase a variety of native and migratory bird species. Various lectures and workshops include topics such as photographing birds, making gourd birdhouses, and providing backyard habitat for birds.

Saturday, May 3rd will include a special Family Day at Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve. This FREE full-day event is held from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is comprised of a live raptor show, a bird banding demonstration, several family hikes, and hands-on learning activities, crafts, and games for children related to birds and their environment.

The Wesselman Nature Society has partnered with the Evansville Audubon Society, Evansville’s Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Store, and John James Audubon State Park to host this event. A complete, detailed schedule of Ohio Valley Birding Festival activities is available on the Wesselman Nature Society’s website.

Civic’s Managing Artistic Director, Lynn Kinkade was looking for an opportunity to showcase the wealth of female talent residing in Evansville. He found the perfect recipe in Michelle Lowe’s dark comedy, The Smell of the Kill, which fittingly serves up the final course of Civic Theatre’s 2007-2008 main season.

Around a dozen local female actors turned out for auditions in mid-March looking to score one of three delicious roles in this fast paced rollick. When confronted with the plethora of talent at auditions, Kinkade was faced with a conundrum; “what am I going to do?” he found himself asking. But as the auditions progressed, things just started falling into place, and the show found its three stars, each of whom has appeared in Civic shows in the past.

The first role to be locked in was Molly, who will be played by Cindy Maples, a transplant from Carbondale who most recently appeared in Civic’s Moon Over Buffalo. Maples spends her days as an Office Manager of a local construction company. She says, “I’m the only woman in an office full of twenty-five men. I like telling men what to do”. This attitude should serve the show well since the three women hold the fates of their husbands in their cold little hands.

Court reporter Lara Culiver found the role of Debra ironically familiar. “I got home and realized, ‘she’s me!’” claims the actress. Smell of the Kill marks Culiver’s third Civic Theatre production, having made her debut in 1987’s Baby and appearing most recently in Lend Me a Tenor in 2005. Culiver has immersed herself into community theatre productions across the Tri-State, having appeared in over 30 productions in eight years with such organizations as the Reparatory People of Evansville, The Unicorn Players, and the Henderson Community Theatre to name a few.

Appearing as the driven and angry Nicky is Kris Zinn, a stay at home mom and substitute teacher that makes appearances at Scott Elementary and Oak Hill Middle Schools. Zinn was initially worried that she would not be able to participate in the show, as she had a previous commitment to attend a mission trip to a Native American Indian Reservation with Bluegrass United Methodist Church over Spring Break with her daughter, Haley. But Kinkade saw that Zinn had the chutzpah to tackle the role of Nicky, and made the exception to cast her knowing that the veteran actress would make up the lost time when she returned based on her prior work in such Civic shows as Marriage is Murder, The Last Case of Sherlock Holmes, and A Christmas Cactus.

All three women recognized the level of talent they were up against at auditions, and none of them thought they had a shot at actually making the show. Zinn and Culiver assumed that the other actress was a shoo-in for the role they ultimately scored and Maples went home to tell her husband “I’m never going to get a part (in that show). There were so many amazing women”.

In the end, it all came down to the chemistry the actors all shared together on stage. Looking at these three women, one could believe that they would be in the same circle of friends. And one also wonders: given the same circumstances that face the three women in the play, what would these three actors do with husbands they discovered were much less than wonderful?!

With spring here to rescue us from this year’s cold and icy winter, many of us are ready to bust through the doors and rediscover the outdoors! But where does one go in Evansville to find the sights and sounds of nature in its abundance? Here are a few suggestions.

Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve is an old-growth, lowland forest that is a crucial habitat for a wide variety of animal species, including mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds. A Nature Center on the western edge of the property offers hands on educational exhibits and a wildlife observation area. On-site programs are offered to school, civic, and scout groups throughout the year. No other city in the United States with a population exceeding 100,000 has within its corporate limits, a timber stand of such acreage and sylvan qualities.

Upcoming weekend activities at the Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve include a “Build a Bluebird House” workshop on April 5, 1PM at the Nature Center. Early April is the perfect time to place birdhouses in your backyard or neighborhood to attract Eastern Bluebirds as they search for nesting sites. Chickadees, wrens and tree swallows will also nest in these boxes. Call to register (812-479-0771, ext. 102), and bring a hammer to build your house. Cost of this workshop is $10 per person.

Several free programs are also available at the Nature Preserve in April. Don’t miss the Spring Bird Banding Workshop on April 20th from 12:30-2PM at the Nature Center. This hands-on class ties in with an ongoing project to catch, identify, band, and release birds from Wesselman Woods. This is a great opportunity to encounter early spring migratory birds; so bring a camera!
Later that day, a guided Wildflower Walk will leave from the Nature Center at 3PM. Join one of the Wesselman Nature Society’s naturalists for a relaxing and informative hike through Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve in search of early spring wildflowers.

If you can’t make it out to the woods for these first two activities, an Arbor Day Tree Hike is scheduled for the following weekend on Saturday, April 26, at 1PM. Learn to identify common trees in Evansville’s most diverse forest including some over 300 years old and over 130 feet tall! See first-hand how these trees are both important to wildlife habitat and essential for our everyday health.

While you are outside and enjoying the longer, warmer days, why not contribute to the sustainability of our resources by recycling? Attend the monthly Recycle Saturday (to be held this month at the Old Wal-Mart West on April 5 from 8am-Noon). Bring your cardboard, newspaper, magazines, catalogs, phone books, mixed paper, aluminum cans, metal food cans, glass containers, #1 & #2 plastic bottles, and household batteries. Revenues from the sale of these items are used to fund the Wesselman Nature Society’s community and educational programs. Call 479-0771, ext. 100 or 436-7800 for more information.

Finally, for go green in one of Evansville’s most biodiverse urban green spaces by celebrating Earth Day at Howell Wetlands! This is another free event offered by the Wesselman Nature Society. General event activities from 10 AM - 2PM include kids’ crafts and games, animal encounters, water bug fishing, water pollution solutions, scavenger hunts, and more. Hourly scheduled hikes and shows also begin as early as 8am, including a raptor show, wetland bird walk, Tree-ific tour, and Howell history hike. The annual Earth Day event at Howell Wetlands is a fun-filled experience for all ages. Call 812-499-2952 for more information.

There you have it, several reasons to leave the house, get outside, and rediscover the wildlife and wild places existing within our community. So long winter; hello spring!

Aaron Chenoweth is the Development Coordinator for the Wesselman Nature Society.