NatureFest, now in its 5th year, is a fun, family-friendly celebration of the beauty and wonders of nature and wildlife. It’s all about creating meaningful connections with nature and each other. Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay (WOCB) is thrilled to be partnering with several local organizations – Neighborhood Creative Arts Center (NCAC), College of Southern Maryland (CSM), and Keep La Plata Beautiful (KLPB) – to bring this FREE event to our community.
How NatureFest Took Root……
NatureFest grew out of a shared passion for the natural world. In 2020, Georgia Bonney, director of NCAC, reached out to Marlene Smith, a University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener, to inquire about the types of programs the master gardeners could offer in partnership with NCAC. In March 2020, the two met with Master Gardener Coordinator, Luke Gustafson, to brainstorm ideas. But as luck would have it, COVID-19 would shut down the world as we knew it before any of their ideas were fully developed. But patience, planning, and perseverance paid off as Georgia and Marlene worked to bring the event to life, despite the COVID-19 shutdowns. They applied for grants, sought donations, and recruited volunteers to support the event. A year after their first meeting, the inaugural NatureFest was held on May 1, 2021, at Tilghman Lake Park in La Plata, just as COVID-19 restrictions were being lifted, and featured 10 exhibitors and just over 100 guests, paving the way for what would become an annual event.
“Naturefest grew out of an idea that was presented to me by one of the Master Gardeners in Charles County, Marlene Smith. She came forward with the idea that perhaps we could reach out to the community and do something with horticulture, helping people learn more about their gardens and what they could do in their own backyards since everybody was quarantined. As we talked about it and she had so many connections, we started to draw on other aspects of nature such as bird watching and beekeeping and animals. And so it just continued to sort of grow and blossom with time and people found out about what we were doing and they wanted to participate as well. And so it bloomed into this wonderful event that wouldn’t have been possible without the support of other organizations.” ~ Georgia Bonney
The first NatureFest “was such a great team effort and I’d actually never been part of it an event like this before; so often it had been just me and some other people working with the Neighborhood Creative Arts Center. But this is very inspiring to see so many fabulous organizations and businesses in Charles County come forth to support something like this.” ~ Georgia Bonney
“As the children left, it was such a joy to see them because they’d have their shopping bag absolutely chock full of kits and different things that they had collected to take home to work on, along with their very heavy grow pot that was full of soil and their various plants…. It was like a huge trick-or-treat experience except that they were going home with all kinds of things to help them understand and love nature more. We had incredible feedback from the whole event. The people who participated enjoyed the opportunity to engage with families. It’d been a long time since we’d had a lot of in-person experience because of covid and everybody was ready to learn. They were so primed for this event. You didn’t see anybody scrolling on their phone; their phone was only out to take pictures. The people who were there to contribute were happy to share their joy and what they do and their expertise. We got a wonderful series of positive comments through email, texts, and Facebook posts saying thank you so much for the variety of activities and for everything we were able to bring home. My children had an amazing experience. And in one email that I received that I particularly enjoyed was one from a new family that had just arrived in Charles County and the mother was so concerned. Her daughter’s an only child and she has some health issues.” ~ Georgia Bonney
How NatureFest Has Grown
Since its humble beginnings, NatureFest has become an annual event, growing exponentially each year. We’ve outgrown our previous venue at Tilghman Lake (which hosted over 400 people last year) and are thrilled to be moving the event to the College of Southern Maryland in La Plata. Thanks to the collaboration and partnerships between NCAC, CSM, WOCB, and KLPB, we’ve recruited over 40 organizations to join us in offering an incredible variety of hands-on activities, and we are expecting over 500 guests. This may be one of the biggest events of its kind on the CSM campus in La Plata. Visitors can expect the same interactive experiences at CSM that they enjoyed at Tilghman Lake Park, but on a larger scale.
Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay will be partnering with Nurture Natives for another one of our Bona Terra Community-Led Seedling Giveaways. To date, Wild Ones has held 9 Bona Terra Seedling Giveaways throughout the Southern Maryland region. We’ll also have our popular Plant Pong game, a children’s activity table, a children’s reading bench, and more.
Staff from the Wild Ones national office will be joining us to help spread the vision of native plants and natural landscapes thriving in every community. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet Wild Ones Executive Director, Jen Ainsworth, Education and Program Coordinator, Sara Ressing, and Development Director, Josh Nelson. They will be collecting video and photographs throughout the event to feature Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay’s activities and programs in next year’s Wild Ones Annual Meeting.
Tracey Stuller, a biology professor at CSM and WOCB member, has been working to bring together a great mix of CSM departments, student groups, and community partners for this year’s event. “It’s CSM’s first time teaming up with NatureFest, and the timing couldn’t have worked out better. As the event started to outgrow its old space, CSM was looking for new ways to connect with the community and support its Bee Campus and Bird Campus efforts—so joining forces just made sense. A big thanks goes to our amazing co-chair organizations—La Plata Neighborhood Creative Arts Center, Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay, and Keep La Plata Beautiful—for their guidance, energy, and teamwork in pulling this all together. As CSM President Dr. Yolanda Wilson often says, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.‘ That spirit of collaboration is really what this event is all about.” ~ Tracey Stuller
The CSM seed library, the Seed Box, led by CSM Library Assistant and WOCB member Madelyn Kaba, will be bringing a “Seed Library Pop-Up” to NatureFest, where there will be a limited selection of the seeds they carry in their permanent location.
Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay Membership Chair Lynne Wheeler will be assisting with exhibits about the Town of La Plata Keep La Plata Beautiful Bird City and Bee City programs, the College of Southern Maryland Bird Campus and Bee Campus programs, as well as sharing information about this year’s World Migratory Bird Day theme “Shared Spaces: Creating Bird-Friendly Cities and Communities’. Lynne is also the Vice-President of the Port Tobacco River Conservancy and will assist with their display about water monitoring and the importance of pumping out septic tanks.
The students of the Natural Resources Management class at Forrest Career and Technology Center in Leonardtown, led by WOCB member Dorothy Birch, will be on hand sharing their capstone projects on Oyster Reefs, A Healthy Bay & BOB. They will also be bringing a variety of native animals, providing information about the animals and facilitating interaction with them. Come meet Pim (a corn snake, pictured), Diablo (a California king snake), Mimi (a Florida king snake), Walter and Roxie (Eastern box turtles), Oreo and Boots (Bunnies), Phoebe (a spotted salamander), Philippa (a marbled salamander), and Tarry the Tarantula. More photos here
Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay Chapter member Jessalyn Mehrkam, the Earth Liaison, will be hosting several native plant meet-and-greet and foraging strolls. Jessalyn will stroll about a mapped-out nature space to meet and greet with our surrounding plants, whether they are indigenous, invasive, and/or edible, in a beginner’s level nature walk.
Jaimie Devlin of EcoBay Landscaping, also a WOCB member, will be on hand with sustainable landscaping information, an interactive pollinator game, and native plants for sale.
You won’t want to miss the presentation by Sam Droege of the USGS Bee Lab; Sam will talk about native plants for home gardens to benefit native bees.
The Xerces Society for Invertebrat Conservation will be onsite with a display of Xerces educational materials, including brochures, handouts for gardening and conservation advice, and books published by Xerces, along with bee specimens to examine, and other educational materials about pollinators and other invertebrate species and habitats. There will also be materials for coloring (masks, bookmarks), quizzes with prizes, children’s activity books, and insect models for learning life cycles.
You won’t want to miss the Chesapeake Mermaid on her 15th Anniversary tour as she brings her enchanting show to NatureFest 2025, captivating audiences with tales from the bay and introducing them to her fascinating wildlife companions. She will be sharing the story of “The Last Bivalvian.” Immerse yourself in her interactive story time, and make the most of VIP sessions offering memorable photo opportunities. Your adventure includes storytelling, movement, song, bay creature sign language, and delightful encounters with the mermaid’s wildlife friends.
But wait… there’s more! From telescopes and oysters to electric vehicles, seed planting, and nature-based art, we’ll also have free animal and bird shows, and so much more. Food will be available onsite for purchase. Be sure to leave room for farm fresh ice cream from the Salted Scoop ice cream truck.
As we prepare for more than 500 attendees this year, Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay President Marlene Smith is proud to be a founder and collaborator of this annual event, watching its growth from year to year. We invite you to watch the recordings of past NatureFest events, created by WOCB Vice President, Bill Smith, who will be onsite again this year to capture the magic of NatureFest.
NatureFest 2021: https://youtu.be/EZeJmqn26Vs?si=dLF4FGOZLedtL6Hd
NatureFest 2022: https://youtu.be/-udvQmo3xvY?si=ZJ02p4IVuhhyorHj
NatureFest 2023: https://youtu.be/Zu3qEyARK-Q?si=-F3LcxunSZ5PWv64
