July 2024
We thought we'd report on the first few weeks of summer nature programs Sierra Club members have presented on Wednesday mornings from June 5-July 31 to Sioux City's Sanford Center children at Agape Community Garden. So far, the kids had lots of fun planting flower seeds to frame the garden fence line; and they learned to thin or harvest herbs, lettuce, radishes, spinach, beets, carrots, peas, and beans - all grown inside raised beds dedicated to the kids! They've brushed up on recycling and what is litter, engaged in some exciting interactive birding tips, and are learning to journal all of their favorite finds of each session. July is set to offer even more outdoor intrigue! Stay tuned. At the end of July, we hope to enter a full report with pictures on our website.
August 2023
Agape Community Garden update:
Local Sierra Club volunteers have been hosting children from Sanford Center ages 6-10 at Agape Community Garden. It's been fun learning together to plant and tend veggies, and each week co-writing a story of the adventures found in the garden. They have learned about native plants and shrubs, mammals, birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians. We wrapped up the summer sessions on Thursday morning. The kids completed six weeks of exploration, and each received a Junior Naturalist badge donated by Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center.
Note: The garden is in need of volunteers of all skill levels to lend a helping hand either in the form of physical work or guidance in a few areas of need. (Master Gardeners can earn credits for hours of service.) If you'd like to try your hand volunteering, please respond to this email or text 712.986.6210. Michelle Bakke or I will get back to you.
June 2023
Agape Community Garden is officially open for business! Stop in at your leisure to meet friends for coffee, enjoy a picnic, or take a self guided exploration of the native plants and shrubs. Before you leave, feel free to choose a book from the free lending library. Your gently used books are always welcomed. The need is especially great for children's titles.
Most of the vegetables are now planted either by seed or in plant form, so your help in tidying up the veggie patches is ongoing. If you know a weed from a vegetable plant, and like to garden, you have an open invitation to work! It doesn't matter when you get the urge because there are tools on-site.There are two tool corrals inside the fence on each side of the gate. And, if any of your garden tools are gathering rust/dust, they will find use by others. All you'll need to do is drop them off.
We have resumed children's programs and are welcoming kids from Sioux City's Sanford Center for six consecutive weekly nature focused sessions.
July 2022
July 2, 1-3pm: Creepy Crawly Critters and My Patchwork Prairie kids program at Lewis and Clark State Park near Onawa, Iowa. Presented by Northwest Iowa Group of Sierra Club members, Andrea and Jeanne
July 11: "Love Bugs!" - Agape Community Garden was buzzing with excitement. Local Sierra Club member and expert educational naturalist, Andrea Porter, led our young gurests on a wild adventure! If they weren't appreciated before, by the end of the evening it was unanimous, we love bugs!
May 2022
During the month of May, local Sierra Club members hosted a free May basket make-n-take, along with three more Saturday morning programs at the Agape Community Garden in Sioux City, IA.
June 2022
June 25: Backyard Birds, presented at Agape Community Garden by local Sierra Club and Audubon member, Rex Rundquist. Looks interesting? Keep and eye on the EVENTS and MEETINGS tab because this excellant program will be repeated during the summer as more birds visit!
June 4-5: The Loess Hills Prairie Seminar offered us another opportunity to emphasize the habitat connections that exists on our prairie. Here kids were encouraged to learn by using their senses, then create a quilt of six of their favorite priaire occupants.
May 2022
Agape Community Garden Welcomes Everyone!
Stop in anytime to enjoy your neighborhood community space. The gate is closed but never locked. You can help plant and tend the vegetable garden. The veggies are free to anyone in the community once they’re ready to be picked. Chairs are onsite for you to enjoy your coffee or a meal with friends anytime. We’re creating a children’s corner which will be open during daylight hours. Kids will be able to plant their own garden and watch it grow!
Sierra Club members will be presenting nature programs throughout the summer. Here’s what’s happening in May and June: (All programs can easily be repeated upon request. Call/text 712.986.6210 or email nwiasierragroup@gmail.com)
May 1-8, all day- Check our bins for free May baskets ready for filling with your own flowers and special treats.
May 14, 1pm-Learn how to plant veggies in a small yard space. AND kids can plant their own bed in Agape!
May 21, 1pm-Introducing “Iowa Junior Naturalist Program” for ages 6-16
May 28, 10am-Introducing “Agape Adventures with Pippy, Winged-one, and Orn” - A story book with weekly installments. Each page will be blank on one side for kids to write their own story. Free binders. Suggested ages 3-12
During the month of May, local Sierra Club members hosted a free May basket make-n-take, along with three more Saturday morning programs at the Agape Community Garden in Sioux City, IA.
Are you ready to be amazed? Just click on the message below!
April, 2021
http://www.beyondabook.org/butterbike-blog-1/2017/12/11/the-watercolored-story-of-butterbike.
February 2020
In February 2020, we were honored to host two connecting outreach stations during a three day event known as My Life My Choices #MLMC event for Sioux City's 7th grade classes. This event was so much fun to plan and execute, but we couldn't have done it without the expert help from three dedicated nature lovers - Olivia Parks (on loan from Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, Andrea Porter (on loan from Monona County Conservation, and outdoor expert, Chuck Hopp! More than 1,300 Siouxland 7th graders flocked to Long Lines Family Rec Center for a 3-day community-driven event. “My Life, My Choices” is an opportunity for these young students to learn real-life situations through interactive stations and learn how they would make decisions in tough situations." Topics included healthy relationships, underage drinking, mental health It was the last indoor outreach event we've hosted due to COVID health risks.
There were twenty or more activity stops. The above graph depicts the answer to the survey question "What do you remember most?". We can't wait to get back out there again!
Chuck Hopp hosts Sierra Club outreach table # 2 during My Life / My Choices #ML/MC
Olivia Parks hosts Sierra Club outreach table # 1 during My Life / My Choices in #ML/MC
April 2020
Dear members and friends,
Although we will not schedule face-to-face gatherings until further notice, we're committed to remain interactive in other ways.
We ask you to join our virtual community at facebook.com/groups/NWIASierraCommunity/ . Add your voice to the conversations about all things related to nature, environmental protection, and social justice. Here we can share information and opinions, discuss issues, and collaborate on improving the world we all share. If you like sharing photos and strories as you explore the outdoors, we've reserved a place for yours!
Please continue to visit our website and our Facebook page, and never hesitate to reach out to us directly. Our aim is to keep everyone safe, happy, and healthy. We will let you know as soon as possible when we will be able to resume our normal activities.We hope to see you soon, at least virtually!
2019
September 15: "My Patchwork Prairie". After Sierra Club member, Andrea Porter, and our guests sat down to learn about the original animals of our Loess Hills Prairie, they created their own prairie quilt to hang at home and help them remember this discovery!
September 13: The Agape Community Garden again set the stage for bringing nature to the city with "Backyard Birds" program. Sierra Club member, Rex Rundquist wowed the visitors with his specil stories and his very special e-bird bird sounds app!!! Rootbeer floats are always welcomed, too!
August 21: "What Pollinators Want?": (Pics and stories soon.) The Agape Community Garden Native Plants Interpretive Garden sectionis is loaded with pollinators!!!! Sierra Club members had fun with interactive learning.
2018
We then turned our focus to "brother fox", and by paying close attention to Chuck's instructions, everyone also learned some important skills, such as "fox-walking". As you'll see, during a special game we played, Boys & Girls Clubs of Siouxland staff member, Catie demonstrated her newly found skill by successfully picking up a set of keys before being detected by the winner of the previous round of the game:)
Thanks, Boys & Girls Clubs of Siouxland, for giving us this opportunity to hang out with some really great kids! The posters were donated by Iowa Living Roadways Trust Fund-Iowa DOT.
(Check out a video of the game on https://www.facebook.com/NorthwestIowaSierraClub/?fref=ts
Thursday, July 27: "Love Bugs"! Well, some participants started out a little cold on the subject but warmed up to the tiny critters as we learned more about how they fit into our lives.
LaunchPad Children's Museum, Sioux City, kindly offered this fun outreach opportunity to us. The posters were donated by Iowa Living Roadways Trust Fund-Iowa DOT.
Thanks!
Note: Check out https://www.facebook.com/NorthwestIowaSierraClub/ to find two great video stories from participants of this event. of this program.
On Wednesday, July 18, the Northwest Iowa Group of Sierra Club Urban Family Outreach team presented two sessions of the first of a two-part "Why Clean Water" interactive educational program to the "8s" and the "9s" at Girls, Inc. in Sioux City. We also want to thank the City of Sioux City for donating the "Storm Water" activity books!
On Friday, July 20, the Northwest Iowa Group of Sierra Club Urban Family Outreach team presented a "Why Clean Water" interactive educational program at the Boys and Girls Club of Sioux City. We also want to thank the City of Sioux City for donating the "Storm Water" activity books!
2018
Strong Women of the Four Directions and Sierra Club united once again to pick up the trash on Perry Creek Trail.
A few years ago the two groups co-adopted the portion of the path from 6th to 11th Streets, and the families and friends of our two groups typically enjoy three cleanups each year!
2017
On Tuesday, July 25, our newest Sierra Club member, Emily Anderson, used some of her AmeriCorps volunteer skills as Sierra Club teamed with the Boys and Girls Club of Sioux City during 'Shark Week". The activities were presented to be fun while educating the kids about the impact of litter and chemicals on Perry Creek eventually leading to the Missouri River. In reflection, She stated she "convinced at least three kids that water's cool and worth taking care of."
Wish we had room for all the pictures we took when we hosted the Neighborhood Nature Fair as part of our May 23, "4th Tuesdays" program. Pollinators and native host and nectar plants were all the craze that evening! Valerie Flanagan even tattooed insects on arms, faces, and hands of excited kids. On August 2, we're taking the show on the road to the Boys and Girls Club of Sioux City!!
We are also working on a project to bring public awareness of how families can protect storm water runoff from polluting the streams and Missouri River habitat. Would you like your family members to become involved? Call or email us.
2014-2016
During our first NW IA Sierra Group hosted "4th Tuesdays" meeting, held in Spring of 2014, we developed a team of volunteers who are interested in sharing the love of nature and caring for our environment with families in the inner city area of Sioux City. We named ourselves the Urban Family Outreach team.
We formed a partnership with The Strong Women of the Four Directions and the Boys Club of Sioux City and plan to reach out to other groups. Our efforts have focussed on the Perry Creek Path because of its proximity to the two groups' meeting places and because of its diversity of wildlife. Here are a few pictures taken over several months depicting some of our fun collaborations. Visit us on Facebook for the complete album and details or if you'd like to join in on the fun!
