QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER CANYON COURIER. Friends of McCormick s Creek State Park. building served then as the dressing rooms.

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1 QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER CANYON COURIER Friends of McCormick s Creek State Park Spring 2014 Board Members President Al Tinsley a.tinsley379@ comcast.net MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Friends of McCormick s Creek State Park, Inc. is to develop and support projects and events that help preserve, restore, manage and interpret the natural and cultural heritage and recreational opportunities of McCormick s Creek State Park. Note from Friends Member Jim Luetkemeier T building served then as the dressing rooms. The Luetkemeier family s love affair with McCormick s Creek State Park began almost 65 years ago when Oscar and Louise Luetkemeier and, later, their three sons of West Lafayette spent their vacations in the park. Every summer since then, some members of four generations of Luetkemeiers have gathered at McCormick s Creek to appreciate anew that the park s beauty is best experienced when shared with family. As we anticipate Spring in Indiana and Summer to follow, my memories are taken back to the original pool in the Park. To the right you see little Glenn and Jim Luetkemeier on the hill between Canyon Inn and the old pool (August 1953), where the Recreation Center concrete game area now resides. The current Recreation Center It s funny how you develop rituals for your activities. When we boys were growing up, the family would always arrive at the pool just in time to jump in after the conclusion of the 1:00 pm rest break. We would stay until swimmers were whistled out by the lifeguards for the 5:00 pm break. In those days the 50s and early 60s McCormick s Creek hosted many... cont. on pg. 3 Vice President David Gohn dgohn@ bluemarble.net Secretary Colleen Minnemeyer secretary@ friendsmccormickscreek.org Treasurer Barbara Filtri treasurer@ friendsmccormickscreek.org Newsletter Editors Colleen Minnemeyer Andrea Oeding Membership Coordinator John Harder harder97@compuserve.com

2 An Amphibian Outing Did you know you can find 22 species of Salamanders in the State of Indiana? If you are very good at it, that is: they spend most of their lives in hiding, except at the first hint of spring, when they come out to celebrate Nature s awakening. They quietly do so, unlike Frogs and Toads, which make their intentions known to the whole world. This year again, on March 22nd, we enlisted the help of members from the Hoosier Herpetological Society (HHS) to find some of these elusive creatures in the park and get to know them better. Jim Horton, current HHS president, introduced a captivated audience to the amphibian species found in the State thanks, Jim! He and other HHS members brought many live critters and great pictures to get us in the discovery mode. Then we all moved to the creek for some hike-and-seek, helped by Jim, Rick, Giuseppe, Mary, Erin and Laura. For many kids (and some adults as well) it was their first true herping trip. Quite sure it will not be their last. Later in the afternoon and after such a busy morning, many were too tired to try the Amphibian Triathlon. The courageous six who did had fun and won prizes. Next year we will do it in the morning, and make a full day of amphibian fun for everyone. After dinner we went to the campground pond. We would have found it without a map, so loud the Wood frogs and the Spring Peepers were calling! We detected many egg clusters of different species of frogs and salamanders, and the kids challenged each other in frog-catching. Spring peepers are so tiny, a treat to snatch one from the pond, but then take a picture and gently put it back, PLEASE! More pictures from the event can be seen on our Facebook page (FMCCSP) and also on the HHS Facebook page, accessible from their website, see below. If you liked the Amphibian Outing or by now are sorry you missed it, you can join the HHS on any of the field trips they organize throughout the year. For more info go to and happy herping! -Barbara (The Snake Lady) Meetings Please join us on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Nature Center at 6:00 pm for our monthly meeting. Enjoy pot-luck style snacks and great friendships. Hope to see you there! Newsletter Do you have a favorite story from your time spent at McCormick s Creek? Did you attend a Friends event and have some great photographs? We would love to include personal stories and pictures in our next newsletter. Please any photos or stories to info@friendsmccormickscreek.org.

3 Note From Friends Member Jim Luetkemeier Continued group camps. The group camps seemed to be restricted to one hour of swimming time per afternoon. Most were complete with their time by 4:00 pm, so we boys particularly looked forward to that last hour when we hoped the pool would be nearly empty! This is the time we would do our diving. I believe all three of us made our first jumping descents into a swimming pool (see example below holding the nose, not cool!) as well as first dives into that pool. It was an occasion to be celebrated when each of us made that first dive off the high board! In fact, from that point on, it was a requirement to make one dive from the high board each year! and we were all forced to abandon the baby pool option. At some point, Oscar s two sisters and their families joined his family in vacationing for the week. Below you see the bathing beauties, Louise and her two sister-inlaws (circa 1960). Take a look at the deck space behind them. I recall it was very limited, so you threw your towel down where ever you could find a bit of space. Often, sun bathers got cold splashes from young cannonballers jumping in from the side of the pool! And, my, was that water ever cold! The folklore (and maybe it was true) was that the pool was fed by a deep underground spring. I recall our fingers used to shrivel up because, once in, we boys got out only when the rest breaks were called. Even then, we would proceed over to the baby pool a separate pool for little ones located where the basketball court now stands in the Recreation Center to play with our little brother. Thus, we could continue to be in the water, even during breaks! This worked until our little brother got embarrassingly old A final story about the old pool involves the dressing rooms. Two things made me want to minimize my time in the dressing room! First, the floors were covered with wooden slats to minimize the chances of slipping. Well, as the wooden planks aged, strange plant life began to thrive! Second, before entering the pool, there was a little cut out area you were supposed to walk through (I think to sanitize your feet). The only problem was that invariably, that water had pretty nasty scum on it. We used to spread our legs wide and step along the edges so that we didn t walk through the water. Strange, our actions obviate the intent of the non-slipping wooden slats and the sanitizing foot bath! For many years now, McCormick s Creek has enjoyed the Olympic sized pool adjacent to the Nature Center and the smaller pool cut into the hill between Canyon Inn and the Recreations Center, but I ll always remember the old pool for many afternoons of fun. -JL

4 Trail Talk: Shooting Stars For about a month each spring (usually mid-april to mid-may), the limestone ledges above the creek are showered with shooting stars of the wildflower variety, Dodecatheon meadia. Just walk Trail 7 along the canyon rim across from Wolf Cave parking lot to find Shooting Stars growing in large numbers on the rocky bedrock, their favorite habitat. Five yellow stamens at the tip of the flower make up the "star" and five strongly backward pointing petals make up the "streak". You can almost imagine it streaking across the sky and becoming frozen as a flower before it hits the ground. Bumblebees are the main pollinators of Shooting Stars. They rapidly buzz their wings while holding onto the flower, vibrating the anthers and releasing pollen. This process, called buzz pollination, provides pollen for the bees and crosspollinates the plant. There are several meteor showers to look for this spring/summer. Meteors start out as meteoroid's, a small rocky or metallic body traveling through space. When a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it heats up from atmospheric friction and produces a streak of light, a phenomenon called a meteor or "shooting star". Check out earthsky.org for more information on 2014 meteor showers. The Perseid's meteor shower dazzles us around August 10-13, often producing meteors per hour! -AO References: Wampler, Maryrose and Fred. Wildflowers of Indiana Homoya, Michael. Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests Shooting Star, Trail 7 more than just trash When it was suggested that the Friends should adopt the stretch of HWY 46 that runs in front of MCSP, the idea was first met with some criticism: Will we have enough volunteers? Shouldn t we keep our focus on issues inside the Park? These were all valid concerns. However, the advocates for the idea pressed on and we are now the proud owners of fluorescent orange vests, large black trash bags, and a shiny new road sign that bears the Friends name. I think it s beautiful. Yes, the entrance to the park is more beautiful without the unsightly trash, but I think it goes well beyond that. I see a group of hard working individuals that are collaborating to make our community better. McCormick s Creek State Park brings hundreds of thousands of people to Owen County every year, and we re showing by example that we not only care about our park, but our surrounding area as well. Let s hope that our actions can be inspiration to others to help make Owen County shine. There have now been two organized trash pick-up days with the most recent being Saturday, April 26th. The volunteers cleared enough trash to fill the back of a one ton truck, and all from the north side of the road. Way to go volunteers! -CM

5 Recent Events First Day Hike The first of the year was relatively warm and perfect for a hike! Barbara Filtri led a group of 37 people down trail 3 to the Falls. McCormick s Creek hosts a first day hike as part of a national initiative to promote State Parks and a healthy, active lifestyle. Along with the hike, the annual photo contest drew quite a few participants. See below for some of the photos taken. Mark your calendars for next year! Wildflower Weekend A beautiful park throughout the year, McCormick s Creek really shows off during peak spring wildflower season. On any trail in the park throughout April and May, hikers walk among a wide variety of spring ephemerals, blooming for a few days to a month at a time while the ground is just starting to warm and before the trees fill out with leaves. These flowers were the highlight of the annual Owen County Wildflower Weekend, hosted by McCormick s Creek Nature Center on April 12-13, 2014 when experts in the field help identify and share interesting facts about these early bloomers. Trilliums, Dutchman s Breeches, Trout Lilies, Bloodroot, and Hepatica were just a few of the species seen. Mag 7 5K Road Race A total of 166 runners and walkers participated in the Mag 7 5K road race on April 19th. A new course record was set by Peter Wegener who has won the male division now for the fourth year in a row! It was inspiring to see both individuals and whole families running/walking this year. People even got into the Easter spirit by donning bunny ears. Thank you, volunteers for helping the race run smoothly! Spring 2014 Upcoming Events National Trails Day Saturday, June 7, :00 pm, Nature Center Celebrate National Tails day by coming to the Nature Center to create your own walking stick. $5 per person, pre registration required. Then head out and enjoy one of MCSP s many beautiful trails! Arts in the Park Saturday, June 14, :00 am, Nature Center Parking Lot Expect wonderful artisans, up-beat music, and fun for the whole family at the 9th annual Arts in the Park Festival. Volunteers needed. Contact Andrea Oeding for details oedingandrea@gmail.com. Winter It s finally gone, hurray! Saturday Summer Concert Series Every 3rd Saturday of the month 7:00 pm, Park Amphitheater Sponsored by the Canyon Inn May 17, Coot Crabtree & Friends June 21, Johnny Nevada & The Rockets July 19, The Roosters August 16, Bloomington Community Band September 20, TBD Visit to find the updated list of musicians. Wild About Wildlife Saturday, August 2, 2014 A wild day indeed: we welcome Wild Care, Inc. of Bloomington for the 14th year in a row. Hawks, groundhogs, and geese are some of the critters you ll get to see up close and personal. Stay on the lookout for program details. BBQ and Blues Saturday, September 6, :00 am, Nature Center Parking Lot The food is red hot and the music is blue. Join us for the 6th annual BBQ and Blues festival. Friends volunteers are always needed at this event. Contact Sam Arthur for details sarthur@dnr.in.gov.

6 other news New Meeting Style Next Friends Meetings: Tuesday May 13, 2014 Tuesday June 10, 2014 Tuesday July 8, 2014 To those of you who haven t been to a meeting in a while (and also to those who have), we urge you to come out to McCormick s Creek on the second Tuesday of each month. Our meetings are now just a little more fun. We will start out each meeting with the usual potluck/pitch-in style dinner and discuss current events, issues, and projects but will follow with a guest speaker or activity. The business side of the Friends group such as budgets and expense reports will be discussed at a separate meeting of the Board members. The time and place of the Board meetings will be announced via so that any Friends member who is interested is welcome to attend. The minutes of the Board meeting will also be posted on the Friends of MCSP website for anyone to view. We hope to see you, Friends, for some friendly fellowship and fantastic flavorful food! -CM Membership Dues Thank you to those who have renewed your membership for We are also very appreciative to those who gave above and beyond their regular membership dues! New Members& & Welcome new members!! Dave and Joni Colyer Emily Frazier Meredith and Kathleen Hull Earl Nichols and Sandra Wood Randy Rhine Jan Stieglitz CANYON COURIER Friends of McCormick s Creek State Park PO Box 483, Spencer, IN We re still going green! If you would like to receive this newsletter via in full-color, please info@friendsmccormicks creek.org. Thank you for your cooperation.