Butterfly Garden Opens at Wilson Park

J. Frank Wilson Park now has a Butterfly Garden! With help from the Martinsville-Henry County Master Gardeners, Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville Leisure Services, and volunteers, the Butterfly Garden was put in place Saturday, June 13th. Lynn Berry organized the program to inform and educate individuals about the benefits of butterfly gardening while we all worked to plant the flowers.

Studio 107 and Piedmont Arts Association will be providing stepping stones for the garden in the near future.

Thanks to Stephanie Ernst, Lynn Regan, Jo Carter, Besty Pace, Barbara Shrader, Lynn Berry, Ronnie & Susan Henderson, and Gary, Susanm and Brianna Cody for volunteering!

Story and photos provided by Gary Cody

Edited by Jennifer Doss

Busy Saturday on the Smith River

Intermediate Class participants (L-R): Eric Juday of ACA, Gary Cody of Martinsville Leisure Services, Karen Giles, Linda Drage, Ruth Morgan, and Sam Morgan. Not pictured: Jennifer Doss of DRBA and Bonnie Martin.

There was a frenzy of activity today in Ridgeway, as two events converged on the Smith River.

First was an ACA Intermediate Kayak Class hosted by the Dan River Basin Association (DRBA), Henry County Parks & Recreation, and Martinsville Leisure Services. Under the direction of ACA instructor, Eric Juday, five paddlers learned various skills such as reading the river, ferrying, eddy turns, and river safety. Eric is shown at left demonstating how using knee and thigh braces gives the paddler more control of the kayak.

Soon after the kayaking class got on the river, additional boaters arrived- more than 30 of them for DRBA's 1st Saturday Outing. As the kayak class practiced their emergency throw-rope techniques they watched the parade of happy boaters float by.

There was plenty of room and water for everyone to enjoy their day on the Smith River! DRBA's first Saturday Outings are free and open to the public. To see details about the next outing visit http://www.danriver.org/.

Another round of Kayak Classes will be offered in June 2009. To register, contact 276-634-2545.

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