On May 7, the walk on the wild side club of Damascus had its first meeting at Barb and Ken Leslie’s Farm.
Members introduced themselves and played “Hunt & Find a Tree.”
Blindfolded members were taken to a tree and had to use other senses to remember where the tree was located. For some, this was harder to do than for others.
Members, in groups of five, then played the “Lily Pad Walk” game. Members had their ankles tied together to make a circle.
There were hula-hoops on the ground that represented lily pads and the ground represented toxic water. The goal was to cross the path of hula-hoops without stepping out of the boundaries. If a member stepped out, they had to restart and carry the member. This was so much fun! Members learned the importance of team work and effective communication.
Then, Jack Benham pointed out a few holes in a white birch tree that were done by a yellow-bellied sapsucker. This was really cool as the holes looked like a pattern.
Members elected Ian Gorman as president, Jordan Burns as vice-president, Garrit Pastink as secretary, Darla Walsh as club photographer and Kelsey Lennox as press reporter.
On May 28, they had their second meeting at Jack Benham’s shop. The club members decided to call themselves the “4-H Trail Mix’s” club. The club members did some stretching exercises and then went on a nature walk in Damascus. Jack Benham talked about a lot of different types of trees such as the silver maple, oak, apple, ash, Kentucky coffee, bur oak, red pine, tamarack, eastern hemlock and a lot of others.
They also talked about a few different types of bushes and one of my favourite ones was the lilac bush because it smelled so nice and sweet.
We ended the meeting with the 4-H motto and enjoyed some cookies and juice.
The walk on the wild side will be meeting again on July 2 from 7 to 9 and on Aug. 9 (time to be confirmed at a later date). Email Janice Walsh for more details at bigdaddywalsh2@aol.com.
