If you have lived in Placer County and had kids in local school during the past 30 years, they have probably been to Placer Nature Center on a field trip! Placer Nature Center has been serving the Sierra Foothills community in environmental education and nature connection for three decades, as a space for creating future leaders and nature lovers. Students from all over the county come to discover the secrets of local wildlife habitat, the lifestyle of Native Americans, and how special our environment is with all the life that exists within it. During the summer teen counselors develop skills to promote learning during our wild and fun summer camps. Year round families can come watch fawns grow and coyotes play, while gaining awareness of how essential humanity’s role is in sustaining the environment.
Now PNC is ready to celebrate and invites the community to join them at 3700 Christian Valley Rd Auburn CA. On Saturday October 22 they will be having a celebration with workshops, games, raffles, displays, trail hikes and prizes. The free event will run from 10am to 2pm, and will offer diversion for the whole family, with activities for all ages. There will be a food truck on site as well as drinks and snacks from the Briar Patch Food Co-op. Bring your Jack-o’-Lantern or paint one onsite and enter it into a contest to be judged and win prizes, or play their scavenger hunt – find all the right answers and see what you can win!
Placer Nature Center’s 30th Anniversary Event is an opportunity to meet the founders, staff, board members and volunteers who have kept the center running, as well as the neighbors and businesses who support it. “It’s very important for us to recognize the involvement of so many people throughout PNC’s history,” says PNC Program Director Kira Greene. “We wouldn’t be here today without the generosity of our community members. We also acknowledge that our Center is on the land of native people, the Nisenan and Southern Maidu. It is important that we continue to teach about them, their history and their continued presence here.” Members of the Sierra Native Alliance will be representing their group at the event. SNA is an Auburn-based nonprofit that works to support Native culture and empower Native youth and families.
Other local businesses and nonprofits will be participating in the event, providing information, education and entertainment (and live animals)! Among them will be Chuck Kritzon of Willow Deer Education. Chuck will be sharing his crafts, demonstrating his skill in the ancestral arts, and teaching visitors with hands-on exercises. His focus is on working with stone, bone, and natural fibers to create functional and ornamental objects.
PNC has been working with Chuck to offer programs for youth and adults this fall. The outdoor workshops are presented to re-introduce the public to the natural world via shared human heritage, through arts education, ancient skills training and traditional environmental knowledge. Interested parties can find out more about these classes or sign up on the Center’s website, www.placernaturecenter.org.
Placer Nature Center looks forward to meeting new members of the community and local nature-lovers while celebrating 30 successful years of providing environmental education to the Sierra Foothills.