Weekly Activities and a Weekend Special

Join the Allegany State Park naturalist staff for a week of fun educational programs. Add a special sports event, the Willow Creek Triathalon, on Saturday Aug. 1st to complete the week. Here is a link to the activity schedule. July 25th Sched More information about the triathalon on the Program Flyers page.

Coming in August

The 4th Annual Willow Creek Triathalon –Saturday, August 1, 209  The Triathalon begins at Quaker Beach in Allegany State Park, NY.  .   The event includes a 300 yard swim, 15 mile bike ride and, three mile run.  Google Willow Creek Trithalon for details and entry forms

Third Annual Full moon Beach Party — Friday, August 14th, 2009  The beach party starts at 6:00 p.m. at Red House Beach in Allegany State Park.   The Cattaraugus County Arts Council co-sponsors this annual event.  Special this year is the auction of Adirondack chairs painted by Arts Council members and volunteers.  To see photos of the chairs and place a bid online visit www.myartscouncil.net and click on adk chair.  Even better, come to the beach party and enjoy the music and fun!

Old Friends and New Faces

Three new members join Adele Wellman, Ryan Droney, and Heidi Tschopp on the recreation and museum staffs this season.  Katie Santangelo and Jeff Clerc will be conducting nature walks and orienteering programs.  Join Jeff and Katie at Science Lake, Monday at 1:00 PM, for the Pond & Stream Safari.

Lorraine Milbrandt will join Virginia Deacon at the Quaker Store Museum.  Lorraine lived in Quaker for many years and will have  many stories about living and working in the park.

Click the link for a pdf version of the entire week’s activity schedule.  July 13 sched

Upcoming Events

Spring 2009 is here and we are here after a long cold winter of inactivity.  Upcoming events include the Allegany Adventure Run on May 9th, ASP Geobash IV the 15th thru the 17th, the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage, May 29, 30, & 31, and the Raccoon Rally, June 27th & 28th.  More information is available online at the organizers’ websites:

For the Allegany Adventure Run and the Raccoon Rally www.heartrateup.com

For ASP Geobash IV  www.aspgeobash.com and www.geocaching.com

For the Allegany Nature Pilgrimage  www.allegany-nature-pilgrimage.org

Questions of the Week

Attend the programs designated with a double ?? to find the answers

Do you know your trees?

What’s at the end of your hook?

Is this the highest point in the park?

What is a snot otter?

What died here a long time ago?

Where is the racetrack?

Where am I?

How do I find out where to go for the answers?  Pick up an Activity Schedule at the rental desk.

A Busy Week Expected at A.S.P.

The weeks before and after July 4th are prime vacation time.  So far it has been a little cool, and many people have gone to nature programs instead of the beach.  Some highlights of the coming week are as follows:

Monday–The weekly Nature Center Series will focus on Pfieffer Nature Center in nearby Portville, N.Y.  The rustic lodge and old-growth forests attract many visitors. A Pfieffer naturalist will talk about some of the lesser known features of this fabulous place.

Tuesday–The Environmental Series Movie will be Planet Earth.  You can catch it at 9:00 p.m. at Quaker Amphitheater.

Wednesday–Allegany State Park Naturalist, Kim Dean will talk about porcupines and fishers for this week’s Wildlife Series program. Kim’s talk will be held at Quaker Amphitheater beginning at 1:00 p.m.

Thursday–Butterflies are flying at Allegany State Park. Join Adele Wellman and Abbie Briggs to catch and identify a few of them. Meet them at 1:00 p.m. on France Brook Road, at the second bridge.

Friday–Heidi Tschopp, a volunteer wildlife rehabber and one-day-a-week park naturalist, will talk about ospreys.  Have you seen those big nests?  The young ospreys will fledge soon.  Join Heidi by the osprey platform near Cain Hollow.

Saturday–Abbie Briggs will take you hunting for ferns and mushrooms.  Join her at the Osgood trail parking area.  The naturalists were talking about a big beautiful fungus they found in that area this week.

Sunday–have you stopped in at the Old Quaker Store Museum?  There are a few new things to see, and a chat with Mercy or Virginia is always interesting.

Summer 2008 has arrived.

June 22nd was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year.  It is also the day the sun sets furthest to the northwest.  This week begins the regularly scheduled summer nature walks at Allegany State Park.  Programming takes place throughout the day and evening, six days a week.