Faces, arms and legs smeared with mud, they rose out of the tall grass like tribesmen on a hunt.
”Aaaaaaaaah!” yelled one of the wildmen lunging after the giggling 12-year-old dashing by. ”You`re mine!”
Not just your run of the mill game of tag, this was Wildmen In The Alders-tag with an environmental twist.
It was just one of the many activities this group of 12- to 14-year-olds took part in during the McHenry County Conservation District`s Immersions program at Glacial Park in Ringwood.
The mud came from an earlier exercise in camouflage and scent masking, handy when you want to ”become a part of your environment,” something this group of kids did with gusto.
An intense 12-hour day camp of sorts, the program offers an ecological slant designed to promote environmental awareness and a love for the Earth. Hiking, games, hands-on activities in the form of bug hunts, plant
identification, animal tracking and informal question-answer sessions along the way, not to mention an excursion into Nippersink Creek, were all part of a plan designed to not only entertain, but educate. At day`s end, the group would apply what they learned to create a recipe for a healthy planet.
Beginning at 8:30 a.m., the teens hiked through prairie, wandered through woodlands and picked their way over paths less traveled in the 3,500-acre park. Kath Beall, MCCD`s educational program coordinator, kept up a constant chatter and challenged her charges with queries and nature tidbits along the way.
”What`s this junk?” she said grabbing a buckthorn branch. Pointing to some multiflora rose, she asked, ”Who can tell me what this garbage is?”
Moving on to an oak woodland, she paused to instigate a discussion on wildfire.
”Once they understand the dynamics of the wet and dry communities, then they can begin to understand what it`s going to take to save these
environments,” said Greg Hultman, interpretive naturalist for the district.
