July 30, 2009, East Jordan - 

The Young Friends of the Jordan River has completed the 2009 Summer Nature Program.  It involved 15 students, grades 4 to 8, for six sessions.  Each session focused on a different area of nature found in the Jordan River Valley. 

John Thompson, the program instructor, said, “The students loved learning about the Jordan River and the valley that serves as the watershed.”   He added, “Some students got so excited that they asked to attend sessions that they hadn’t signed up for.”  He went on to say that he was pleased with the response of the students to the program.

The highlight of the program according to most of the kids was rafting trip down the Jordan River in big rubber rafts provided by the Jordan Valley Outfitters. Fourth grader, Joshua Ziebarth said “It was fun.”  despite the fact that he took an unexpected swim in the river when his raft ran into a low hanging tree. He was all smiles about the experience. Kyle Russell thought it was even cooler that Mrs. Moran was dumped off the back of the raft, trying to keep a branch from sweeping her and Emma Ziebarth out of the boat. Emma stayed dry but Mrs. Moran was drenched.  All of the kids worked hard to paddle the big blue rafts down the river, with Johnny Bennett refusing to take a break even after 2 hours of paddling. 

Thompson also explained that “nature” put on a show for the students.  During the session Mighty, Mighty Birds, one of the Bald Eagles who are nesting at the mouth of the Jordan put on a display of its hunting abilities.  Jerry Aydlott who came to share his knowledge about birds with the students suggested  a walk to the marina to see the aquatic birds and their young.  As we were looking out onto the south arm of Lake Charlevoix, the kids saw the adult eagle swoop down to the water and catch a large fish in its talons.  It flew right over our group as it returned to the nest to feed the two baby eagles.  Back at the Watershed Center, the students were able to use a telescope to watch the adults feed the fish to their young.  Thompson said, “I was so stunned that I forgot to take a picture of it.”  Luckily Jan Korthase managed to capture a photograph of the eagle in flight with the fish in its talons.  

Sixth grader, Mariah Vermillion loved everything about the program and often was the first to arrive to help set up the displays.  She really enjoyed learning the names of the wild flowers that were blooming along the nature trail and the river bank.  The had great fun finding and identifying wild flowers in the scavenger hunt activity. 

Eli Korthase said, “I really liked the plants and the critters.” The group captured and observed some interesting spiders, dragonflies and a frog.  His brother, Evan Korthase was excited to see the big fish at the National Fish Hatchery on the Jordan River.  Evan added, “I love fishing, lets do that next year!”  Joshua Ziebarth was impressed when he got to see a tiny fish under the microscope and could see the heart beating, the skeleton and organs.

Kara Dunson, fifth grader, said, “I loved going to Deadman’s Hill and hearing the story of how it got its name.”  The other students were in awe of the view they saw from the hill of the entire Jordan River Valley.

Savanah Drew summarized the program by saying, “I benefited from this experience and it was very educational.  I never realized that birds can be identified just by their listening to their calls.”

Mr. Thompson added, “Many thanks to Margaret Moran and the Friends of the Jordan and the Charlevoix Community Foundation for making this program possible.”  He added, “Plans are in the works to make this an annual program for the kids in our community.”