Young visitors to the
Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife Center will have the
Ottawa County Community Foundation to thank for a significantly spruced-up children’s area.
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Courtesy of Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife CenterThanks to a grant from the Ottawa County Community Foundation, an area -- already home to a new tree-shaped bookshelf -- is being spruced up for young visitors.A Put-in-Bay-based nonprofit organization whose mission is “to promote conservation of and education about the flora, fauna and lands of the Lake Erie Islands ecosystem,” the Nature & Wildlife Center is one of several recent recipients of
a community grant from the foundation. The $1,800 in grant funds will be used to transform an area already home to a pond-like rug and books into something more, says Renee Fultz, its director since 2019 whose history with it stretches beyond that.
“It’s been a kid area, kinda, but we also had some bookshelves with a lot of field guides and more adult books in there,” Fultz says during a recent phone interview. “We noticed that a lot of kids and families spend a lot of time in there, and families will sit and read books, kids’ books, so we really wanted to upgrade it.”
A tree-shaped bookshelf already has found a home in the space, with an activity table and live displays – with gray treefrogs and spiders – to be added before the season ends in September, she says.
The Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife Center, located at 255 Meechen Road, is home to a significant amount of taxidermy thanks to its one-time private owner, Stanley Wulkowicz, who brought much of it from his days as a teacher in Alaska, Fultz says. Visitors also can check out European honeybees in an observation beehive, an indoor turtle pond, several snake tanks and an exhibit about the geology of the islands and how they were formed over millennia, among other educational opportunities.
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Courtesy of Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife CenterWatch the insects at work at this observation beehive at the Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife Center.
Plus, it offers several free programs, such as its
Wild Tuesdays.
While the center charges admission – $10 for a family or $4 for an adult and $3 for seniors and children 6 and older, with younger kids admitted for free – the nonprofit is not associated with the Put-in-Bay Township Park District (a common misconception, Fultz says) and receives no funding from taxes. As a result, grants such as this one are hugely important.
“As many organizations do, we struggle a little bit financially, so we do need extra things to make upgrades,” Fultz says. “We really rely on the grants.
“The Ottawa County Community Foundation – they’re just an absolutely fantastic organization,” she adds. “They support so many local nonprofits and do so much good for the region.”
Reach the Lake Erie Islands Nature & Wildlife Center at 419-285-3037 or [email protected].