By MADDY VITALE
The Ocean City High School cafeteria was transformed Saturday into a nature lover’s paradise where kids got to touch starfish, check out a cool armadillo named “Zelda” and watched as a ball python wrapped itself around a stick.
The Nature and Environmental Fun Day packed in all sorts of activities — from tips on composting, making crafts from recycled materials such as toilet rolls and cereal boxes, to planting seeds to one day sprout into shrubbery and trees, to plenty of giveaways from LED lights to power cords.
“This is a great event. The kids are having a blast,” said Rachel Tridente, of Ocean City, as she watched her children, Mia, 4, and 6-year-old son, C.J., make art out of recycled plastics. “The kids’ favorite part so far was the snake, not mine.”
Parents watched as their children gathered around a Cape May County Zoo employee who held Zelda, a 5-year-old armadillo. She told the audience that the armadillo was shy, could not see well but had a heightened sense of smell.
The zoo employee put the armadillo, which looks like a baby dinosaur, down in a tub with wood shavings and sprinkled insects in there for her to eat.
The armadillo seemed to awaken and moved quickly about the cage, nibbling on worms and bugs.
Across the room from the Cape May County Zoo table was a touch tank, courtesy of the Wetlands Institute of Stone Harbor. Employee Erin Rawls explained to a group of kids all of the marine life in the tub, which included an urchin, crabs, mussels, snails, clams, horseshoe crabs, small fish and a juvenile diamondback terrapin.
Kids were allowed to touch them, and Nathan Quinn, 11, of Chester Springs, Pa., even got to hold the starfish.
“It’s not too prickly,” he said with a laugh. “It’s cool.”
The Ocean City Environmental Commission sponsored its fourth annual Nature and Environmental Family Fun. Other sponsors of the event were the Ocean City Free Public Library and the Cape May County Park & Zoo.
Rick Bernardini, chairman of the Environmental Commission, gave special thanks to students in the Ocean City High School Student Environmental Association, (SEA), for working hard to make the event possible.
He said there was definitely something to please anyone of any age.
“We worked very hard this year to do a multi-age event,” Bernardini said. “There is something for everybody. I think this year, especially, was a very diverse offering. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center came this year and we have lot of unique demonstrations.”
Demonstrations included shellfish replenishment by ACT Engineers and the ways to protect the watershed by Americorp. The Marine Mammal Stranding Center was also on hand to answer questions.
SEA provided free seeds of plants that attract butterflies with seeds sourced from Ocean City’s Bayside Center Butterfly Garden, which were wrapped in origami packets.
“The high school kids really worked hard,” Bernardini said. “Madeline Heng, of SEA, really brought the kids together to help out on the event.”
Madeline helped Owen Hoffman, 8, of Ocean City, with his seedling.
“It’s been a great day. We had a lot of people come through today,” Madeline said.
Owen said he was having fun.
“I liked the snake best,” he said.
Owen’s mother, Kathy Hoffman, thought that the event was amazing.
“I think it is a wonderful event for our community,” Hoffman said. “It helps bring awareness about the environment, the earth, creatures, recycling, and respect for the planet.”
Caitlin Quirk, owner of Bowfish Kids, a children’s shop in Ocean City, and her fiance, Drew Lewis, were on hand to teach children about composting.
“The big thing is to educate people on how refuse can be diverted from our landfills in a very easy manner,” Quirk said of the composting lesson.
Sofia Tolson, 5, and her friend, 6-year-old Myra Foglio, both of Upper Township, had some fun getting their hands dirty, literally squishing dirt and worms in the composting buckets.
“Learning about composting has been a huge hit,” Sofia’s mother, Christina Tolson, said with a laugh.
Myra’s mother, Brianna Henry, laughed and said, “Myra will often bring the worms to show me.”
Among the many fun giveaways were books from the Ocean City Free Public Library. Head Children’s Librarian Taimi Kelley and Sue Fox had an array of fun giveaways from books, to pencils and bookmarks for children to take.
“All of the books have environmental themes,” Kelley noted. “We still have some books left. It has been a busy day.”
