The Moorestown Department of Parks and Recreation is participating in the ongoing Strawbridge Lake restoration.
By: Amy Filippone
Dept. of Parks & Recreation
Now is the time to enjoy the falling leaves, cool breezes and magical Autumnal light. If you should look up you might spot a series of Red and White spotted birdhouses. These birdhouses were made as a part of the Strawbridge Lake ongoing restoration program. According to Chet Dawson, who heads up the “Adopt a Lake Front” effort, there have been more than 100 volunteers from Moorestown donating their time and effort removing dead vines and trimming back to buffer and improve viewscape.
This past Spring 2017, the team approached Theresa Miller, Director of the Moorestown Parks and Recreation Department, along with Sophia Geiger the Art Instructor of the Recreation Department’s Saturday Arts and Crafts Classes. They decided to have the children enrolled in Geiger’s class to create these adorable smirf-like birdhouses in a whimsical toad stool mushroom pattern.
“We chose to paint these birdhouses in a similar recognizable pattern that way they could be easily seen and identified as Parks and Rec made,” Geiger said. “Even though they all appear similar, each birdhouse is unique and slightly different. But most importantly, they are all lovingly painted and donated by a child.”
The children hope that these birdhouses become a safe and comfortable home for our resident birds as well as add color and fairytale whimsy to Strawbridge Park for years to come. There are a total of 22 . Can you find them all?
Sophia Geiger has been teaching for the Moorestown Parks and Recreation Department for more than 10 years. Her classes run throughout the school year as well as the Parks and Rec’s Summer Camps and the week long Summer Art Camp. Saturday Arts and Crafts Classes Fall Session II now open for enrollment.
Starting in January 2018 the Winter Curriculum will focus on the Islands of Polynesia, tracing “Moana’s Family Roots.” We will cover the culture, traditions and make an artifact from the Islands of Fiji, Raratonga, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Hawaii and New Zealand. For further information call (856)914–3093 or register online at www.moorestownrec.com
