County Park Nature Center dedication: A new Nature Center at Porter County Sunset Hill Farm Park is near completion and will be host to Jr. Naturalist and Nature Detective programs this summer. The ribbon cutting was held Saturday morning. Pictured, left to right, are county council candidate Joe Casper (D), State Representative Duane Cheney (D), Park Board member Dick Maxey, State Representative Ralph Ayres (R), Jeff Larson, construction supervisor for Chesterton High School Vocational Education Building Trades, Dick Knutson, Park Superintendent Ed Melendez and Tim Cole, president of the Porter County Parks Foundation. For more information about the children’s nature programs, call 465-3641.

(Tribune photo by Margaret L. Willis)

By MARGARET L. WILLIS

The official ribbon-cutting for the new Porter County Park Nature Center was held Saturday morning, with many parks supporters, Porter County Parks Foundation members and others on hand.

Parks Foundation president Tim Cole presided over the event, thanking numerous people whose participation had made it possible.

“We can shake their hands, give them certificates and plaques, honor their names in the newspapers and board meetings,” he said, “but we can never repay the debt we owe them for the legacy of open space and recreation they have worked tirelessly to achieve.”

Parks are essential for human physical and mental health Cole said. “Each of us has a relationship with nature,” he said.

Parks, recreation, open space are all “necessary for our lives,” he added.

Cole specially mentioned Richard Knutson for his “considerable efforts” toward the completion of the Nature Center.

Damien Gabis was mentioned for his work on the Helen Dancy Memorial Meadows; Jack Kashak for is ongoing attention to the NIHPA Festival and other events at Sunset Hill Park; Bob Rhoda who has served on the Parks Foundation Board “with steadfast devotion,” and especially Ruth Jarnecke, who has “made possible some of the long overdue improvements” to Porter County Parks to make them “more accessible and functional for the people of Porter County.”

Special mention was made of Jeff Larson, Vocation Building Trades instructor at Chesterton High School. “Without him, we wouldn’t have this building,” Cole said.

State Representatives Duane Cheney and Ralph Ayres both attended and offered their support to the park.

“People need parks,” said Cheney, not just the basics of life. He commended the parks foundation members and park volunteers for “looking to the future.”

Ayres congratulated the many volunteers who’ve made possible the park system. “You’ve done a fantastic job.” He said he regrets there are no longer Build Indiana funds for such projects.

The trails at Sunset Hill are “wonderful” he added, but the county needs to look to other types of parks to serve all residents.

County Council candidate Joe Casper said the county needs to focus on preservation and expansion of parks. “Maintaining and funding of parks is important,” he said, adding good parks are a draw for a community’s growth.

He pledged, in response to a question from Foundation member Charlotte Read, to look into the idea of establishing a dedicated tax for the park department.

The new Nature Center will be furnished thanks to the Porter County Community Foundation and the Porter County Parks Foundation. A donation was made Saturday to the Parks Foundation, which plans to use the funds for furnishing the new Nature Center, where the Junior Naturalist and Nature Detective programs will be held.

The Jr. Naturalist, for ages 6 to 8, and Nature Detective, for ages 9-12, programs will be held in various sessions this summer at Sunset Hill Farm Park. Registration is still open for most sessions. For more information call 465-3641.

Posted 5/24/2004