The Friends of the Robert Moses State Park Nature Center

WE HAVE SUPPORT!!

The Friends of the Nature Center have been working hard and it has really begun to pay off! Since August 2011, Friends have secured the following funding and grants:

• $150,000 from the New York Power Authority to bring our Nature Center staff back to work, as well as a temporary work trailer near the trailhead.
• $15,000 from the Alcoa Foundation for our environmental education programs & winter recreation equipment.
• $5,000 from TJX for on and off-site programming.
• $3,000 from our local Alcoa in the form of an Action Grant.
• $5,900 from the St. Lawrence County Health Initiative to replace winter recreation equipment.

We have also been able to purchase a storage building to house our new winter recreation equipment. It is located near our work trailer, by the trailhead. This is where we will be renting snowshoes and cross-country ski sets from this winter. Rental rates are just $4 for a 2 hour rental (cash or check only). Please come to the work trailer and we will come out to take care of you! Adventures can be self-guided – all trails are marked and numbered. Terrain is gentle and rolling. Rentals available between 9:30am and 3pm daily.

We’ve been busy off-site at area schools, providing environmental education programs. Schools in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties received our program brochures explaining what we offer and how to schedule our now FREE programs. If you are an educator and would like one of our brochures, just give us a call at 315-705-5022.

GUIDED SNOWSHOE HIKES!

Sunday, January 8th: 1-2pm & 3-4pm

Sunday, January 15th, 22nd & 29th: 10-11am

Saturday, January 21st: 10-11am & 2-3pm

WINTER CARNIVAL STARTS!

Saturday, January 28th: 9:30-11am come learn to snowshoe, go on a guided hike and then kids can make a free snow candle! Fun, fun, fun! Please call to pre-register so we can make sure we have enough wax & bring old burned candles if you have any.

HALLOWEEN WOODS WALK

Friday, October 21st!

6:30-8pm

Join us for our annual Halloween Woods Walk, which put the “funny” back into Halloween! Special critters wait along the night trail to meet-n-greet visitors on this guided hike. Then, it’s back to the campfire for some hot cocoa. Free event, plus goody bags for the 1st 30 children.

FALL CLEAN-UP DAY

Saturday, October 15th

9am – 2pm

Rain or shine – come help us get the trails ready for winter recreation! Plus, if we have at least 10 Alcoa employees come volunteer 4 hours each, we’ll be eligiable for a $3000 Action Grant!!

COME CELEBRATE THE RE-BIRTH OF THE NATURE CENTER!!!

Saturday, September 17th from 1-3pm

At the trail head – 19 Robinson Bay Rd. Robert Moses State Park                    We’ll have special guests to thank, refreshments & snacks, activities for kids, guided hikes a Silent Auction & more!!

     

THE BIG NEWS!!!!

The Nature Center is back, up and running! It has been a long 7 months and a lot of work from some very devoted people, but thanks to the Friend’s board of directors and the NY Power Authority (NYPA), an agreement has been signed and the Nature Center has a strong future once again.

NYPA spokesperson Michael Saltzman was quoted by the Massena Courier Observer on August 4, 2011 as saying: “The Power Authority is committed to rebuilding the Nature Center at Robert Moses State Park, recognizing its importance for public recreational use and enjoyment.”

NYPA has agreed to support the Friends to manage the Nature Center and its staff. Mary Danboise returns as Executive Director and Linda Besio returns as a Recreation & Education Specialist. They will work from a small trailer by the trail head until the new center is completed, which will be between 1.5 and 2 years. Programs, which will start immediately, will be held on the trail and at off-site locations.

Campfire Cooking – August 2011

On March 2, 2010 a fire at the Robert Moses State Park did considerable damage to the building housing the Robert Moses State Park Nature Center. From that day on, the building was deemed unsuitable for occupancy and our trail system was closed for months.

Since then, much has happened:

NYPA immediately provided the Nature Center staff with temporary offices at their Visitors Center building. Thanks to NYPA we had a place to land while sorted out what to do after the fire. 

The 1000 Islands NYS Parks Office quickly adapted the Beach Building at Barnhart to house the Nature Center for the summer of 2010, and volunteers moved us in!  The Nature Center then offered a reduced schedule of summer programs from that site. 

Chuck’s Pet Center graciously offered to take in the majority of our live animals the day of the fire, and provided them with good care and a location at the St. Lawrence Centre Mall where they would still be accessible to children and others who visited them regularly, until we moved to the Beach Building.    

Nature Center staff are housing all live birds, the only animals the Pet Center could not accept. Unfortunately the summer location had no temperature regulation, making it unsuitable for birds.  

The Massena Knights of Columbus donated monthly space so that popular adult oil painting classes with Wilson Bickford could continue without interruption. 

The Massena Community Center provided free space April 2010 so that our annual gardening workshop with a speaker from Syracuse could go on as planned. 

Our Friends Group launched a Nature Center Recovery Fund Drive April 2010. To date, community members have contributed more than $10,000 to this effort, this includes almost $4000 raised at an Earth Day Fundraiser Brunch sponsored by Violi’s Restaurant in Massena.  

The Nature Center was the subject of a front page story when it was suggested that it be relocated to downtown Massena to help spark waterfront revitalization efforts. While we were happy to see that publicity, the Nature Center really does need to stay on RMSP lands due to the way it is funded and operates. 

The Friends Board has toured and evaluated several potential sites in RMSP for a new facility, and is providing input to NYPA to help them decide where our new location will be. We solicited input on-site and at community events during July. That information was shared as a Community Survey.

December 2010 NYS Parks laid off the Nature Center staff and ended all funding to the center. The community was shocked and the support was over whelming. The Friends board of directors and NYPA immediately began working on a plan to bring the staff and programs back to the public. We are thrilled to say that became a reality and now we can focus on the re-birth of the Nature Center!