Harrisburg Inner City Outings

Trip Report - June 27th, 2009-06-27

Kingdom Embassy Group

 

We started at Ft. Hunter, where 13 children, 2 agency adults, 3 certified leaders (Kris Kyler, Gary LaBelle, Eric Spaar), and 3 ICO volunteers met to take part in the 3rd Annual Great River Adventure. A wonderful surprise was HICO's Jane and Will Webster, who were our pod leaders, along with HICO's Judd Pittman and Tanya Dierolf. Our mission was to educate everyone about Harrisburg’s most obvious environmental jewel, the Susquehanna River. So many people live near it, but know so little about, and have never been close to it.

 

 

We did canoe instruction before heading downriver. We stopped at station no 1. where the Nature Conservancy and PA Game Commission taught about the biology of the river, including furs of mink, beaver, otter, and muskrat.

 

Our instructors were very good and kept everyone interested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along the way to the next stop, we passed an island that is protected for the Egrets, Night Herons, and Cormorants. Jane taught us about what we were going to see flying around us.

 

 

On station no. 2 Brook Lenker taught us about wild plants that can be eaten and how to cook them.

 

 

 

 

He had prepared Stinging Nettle Soup, and, everyone loved it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Station no. 3 brought us to Pat and Tony Reilly who let us use their snorkeling equipment, their child size kayak, and taught us more paddle strokes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Station no. 4 taught us about how the Harvey Taylor Bridge was built.

 

 

We ended up at City Island, where we were greeted with folk music, hot dogs on the grill, root beer on tap, and football games.  It was a great day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HICO - Math and Science Academy Group - May 2009

In May, Harrisburg Math Science Academy students went to Pinchot Park for a canoe outing.  We started the day with a review of paddling strokes and safety information.  With lots of teamwork, we carried the canoes to the water and launched the fleet of 9 boats.  Our destination for the morning paddle was Beaver Creek, a small stream that comes into one corner of the lake.  The many twists and turns of the narrow stream gave us lots of practice steering the boats and took us through a garden of blooming wildflowers where many different birds called from the trees. 

We returned to shore for lunch and after lunch had the choice of more paddling or a trail walk.  The walkers discovered more wildflowers blooming along the trail, while some of the students who chose to paddle learned about taking the wind into account on open water.  Other paddlers found a quiet cove, where they used nets to explore the aquatic vegetation for tadpoles and insect larvae. 

HICO - Math and Science Academy Group - April 2009

Judd Pittman said...
Wetlands Festival at Wildwood Lake was a great culminating event for EARTH WEEK. Students for Sustainable Communities club had the opportunity to develop a Green Living stand at the festival. Students took the time to develop brochures providing information about green / safe cleaning products, and places within the community homeowners can find grant money to green their home. I was impressed with the poise and communication skills of the MSA students who were involved in the presentations. I believe that anytime students are presenting important information it has the opportunity to greatly change the community.

Micaela Zawadski said...
My experience at wildwood lake festival was awesome. I was a presenter along with MaLaysia Mitchell. I was really surprised that many people used homemade cleaning, but there were people who were really interested in the products that we can make at home using things it lemon juice, olive oil, and vinegar. These experience made me a better student because know I  had experience that well be with me forever and I can use it in my life know and when I’m older. Green your home stand well help the community because the more we teach the community about the products and how it helping the earth, I think many people well use the cleaning products.

 

 

 

 

Harrisburg Inner City Outings

Trip Report - April 18th, 2009-04-19

Kingdom Embassy Group

 

 

 

Meeting on City Island, 9 youth and 3 adults, and 2 HICO Certified Leaders gathered. The purpose was to celebrate Earth Day, by leaving the cars at home, and learning about using bicycles for pollution-less transportation, and to work the garden on the Greenbelt.

Several participants brought their own bicycles, and the rest were rented from Susquehanna Outfitters, located on City Island.

 

 

 

Certified Leader Eric Spaar started the day out by having everyone sit on the lawn, to be close to the Earth.

 

We learned that the world was created to be in balance, and that the things mankind does can cause things to go out of balance. Within our own lives, we too, have to be balanced. If we spend too much time indoors, our lives get unbalanced, so we are spending time outdoors.

If we spend too much time taking from the Earth, and not giving back, only reaping but not sowing, we are out of balance. The bicycles were the metaphor for keeping balance.

If we are too much to one side, we fall down and get hurt.

The same with our lives and with the Earth. We have to stay centered.

 

After that, we took off along the greenbelt bike pathway, that no cars can go on, that few even knew about. We passed many interesting things along the way, including large waves at the river dam chute, plants and flowers showing off their new growth, cool and clear Spring Creek, and the vegetable garden of the Vietnamese.  Many different animals were seen, up close.  And, the best part, we got to the 5-Senses Garden, just outside the Harrisburg Mall, without using our cars.

 

 

 

 

There, Shirley, the garden caretaker, met us with her wisdom and years of working the soil. She is a living example of keeping lives in balance, she has the energy of a 30-year old woman, and she is actually 90 years old.

She taught us many things, not just about gardening.

We worked the soil, in the place she told us, 'was yours, it belongs to you.'

 

 

Hot pizza was delivered for lunch, and after all that sunshine, bike riding, and gardening, we ate up.

We drank only water all day, and though we should have brought more, the kids did great.

Shirley complimented the kids several times.

 

 

Brock   Tay Tay   Aaron   Paris   Terius   take care of Mother Earth

 

 

She had us walk the labyrinth, a meditative trail of flat stones, that later she told us was laid by prisoners.

She invited Kingdom Embassy back to pray, meditate, and commune with God, and if we let her know, she won't allow any lawnmowers during that time.

 

Pastor Anthony talked and prayed about some things, and

we did a group huddle, on the count of 3 we yelled 'balance'!

 

Shirley had us learn unity, by all of us working together to lift the iron gate back to it's balanced position.

 

We succeeded after two tries, we achieved BALANCE!

 

 

We got wet in clear pools of Spring Creek, relaxed, and than, though nobody wanted to leave, we rode back to Harrisburg and City Island.

 

See you soon!

 

Eric