2018 Number 1

Contact UsNature Center: 812.829.4344Email: info@friendsmccormickscreek.orgFaceboook: Facebook.com/FMCCSPWebsite: www.friendsmccormickscreek.org

PresidentDavid Gohndgohn@bluemarble.net

Vice PresidentDennis Goengoend@att.net

SecretaryJudy Mizefomcspsecretary@gmail.com

TreasurerBarbara Filtritreasurer@friendsmccormickscreek.org

Board Members

Park LiaisonSam ArthurSArthur@dnr.IN.gov

EditorCrystal Corpecrystallize6@hotmail.com

The mission of the Friends of McCormick’s Creek State Park is to develop and support projects and events that help preserve, restore, manage and interpret the natural and cultural heritage and recreational opportunities of McCormick’s Creek State Park.

Photo from The Friends of McCormicks Creek Facebook page

MISSION STATEMENT

CANYON COURIER Friends of McCormick’s Creek State Park

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Sadly, one of my biggest fears in life is being in small, tight places. Yes, Claustrophobia! Recently I drove to the park to take photos of McCormick’s Creek’s Wolf Cave. I had every intention of doing just that…photos from the outside looking in! I stopped by the Nature Center to talk with Naturalist Barbara Filtri before heading toward the cave. The next thing I know, I find my self being guided by Naturalist Barbara through the cave itself. I’m still not sure how she managed to convince me to follow her through the dark, body-hugging and chilly cave. However I have a sneaky suspicion over the years she has guided many faint-hearted people through the small cavern. She was expert at pointing out the nuances of the interior, thehistory of the cave and the roof full of spiders (another fear of mine)all in distraction of how constricted the walls of the cave were becoming. I admit it was a rush to overcome my fear of Wolf Cave. It opened my eyes to another magnificent wonder of one our oldest state parks! Crystal Corpe The cave was formed an underground river, which dissolved the limestone bedrock. This created winding passageways throughout the cave. The Litten Branch carved Wolf Cave.

Conquering the Cave!

Cave Particulars:

(Wolf Cave continued)

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Editor’s note: The following is a fun fictionalized account based on the Legend of Wolf Cave. As written by Mercer T. Suppiger, publication 812 (the magazine of Southern Indiana, Winter/Spring 2017 edition).

The natives don’t hunt ‘round here no more!Nancy Peden repeated the words inside her head as she entered the thick of the forest, walking home after trading goods with the nice men who had tied off their flatboats along the banks of the White River that evening. Those boatmen must’ve been short on supplies, Nancy thought. I can’t wait to show Jesse how much money we made today. Jesse was chopping wood in the cool morning fog the last time Nancy saw him. He had to stay at the farm to watch the sheep. Some of them had gone missing over the last couple of weeks.The natives don’t hunt ‘round here no more.A swollen sun hung low in the sky, sending deep orange rays through the hickory trees that swayed lazily as they whispered to each other. Nancy wished she were back at the springhouse, where a stream running under the floorboards kept milk and eggs cool even on humid summer days. As the voices of the boatmen vanished behind her, she suddenly couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. The natives don’t hunt ‘round here no more.That’s what her father had told her the year they settled this land back in 1816. She remembered because it was the same year people stopped calling this area the Indiana Territory. Now it was simply Indiana, and the native Miami tribe, who used to hunt deer and grouse along the river, hadn’t been seen in the area for years. At least I ain’t lost, she thought as she approached a cave she had seen a few times before as she walked to and from the river. Her footsteps slowed to a halt when a glint of light caught her eye, and a feeling of dread plunged into her chest as she stared into the mouth of the cave. Wolves!Light reflected off the beast’s snarling teeth. Slowly it emerged from the cave, with its head low to the ground. Suddenly there were two – three – five wolves outside the cave. Nancy thought she heard more, but she wasn’t going to stick around to find out. She sprang like a deer from where she stood, sprinting into the woods as the wolves barked behind her. She tore off her gloves and her white bonnet and tossed them at her pursuers. She didn’t look back to see if it had any effect. It was dark now, and Nancy ran toward the only light she could see; a faint glimmer of candlelight through the sycamores.

She screamed Jesse’s name as she burst into the clearing marking the edge of their farm. He was standing on the front porch steps with a lantern in one hand and a shotgun in the other. It was only then that Nancy noticed she didn’t hear the wolves anymore. She nearly knocked Jesse to the ground as she threw herself into his arms. “I think I know where our sheep have been disappearing to,” she said.

Looking up in the cave, you will see higher chambers above you. The groundwater that formed the cave once flowed through those higher chambers. The flow moved down as the limestone eroded away.

Stalactites and stalagmites are built by deposits of dissolved limestone, when the water drips from the ceiling. If the water flows across a surface, then flowstones are formed. We can see many examples of flowstones in the cave.

The Twin Bridges are what is left of a much larger room of the Wolf Cave system, after the collapse of most of its ceiling. As you exit the cave, you will be looking at one of these bridges and standing in what used to be a room of the cave. You will see many rocks on the grounds which are remnants of the collapsed ceiling.

There is no definitive explanation for the naming of Wolf Cave. One belief is that wolves inhabited the cave. Wolves were native to Indiana (however they are no longer found in the state). Another legend is that the last wolf in Owen County was killed at the cave. Still another tale is connected to Nancy Peden, an early settler in the area. Read below!

~ Friends of McCormick’s Creek State Park ~

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Note from the editor...Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of working with many dedicated and zealous people involved with the Friends of McCormick’s Creek. Stephen Walter is one of these passionate-about-the-park individuals. He and his wife are corporate sponsors of the FOMCC and he has graciously written a few words on his memories both, past and present, about his favorite park.

My wife of 43 years, Monica, first visited McCormick’s Creek State Park as an 8-year old, in 1964. Back when the handball courts and the basketball area was part of the lodge swimming pool. We visited the park in July of 1983 with our 6 year old son in tow. I remember well the Nature Center, the recreation building and the wonderful trails from that first visit as a family.

We returned to the park the following year, enjoying the lodge and its amenities, meeting fine people, swimming and hiking. Our son, Phillip, earned his Junior Naturalist badge that year!

In 1986, my son and I suited up in camouflage outfits and did a “recon” to Wolf Cave. When we heard others on the trail, we would move sneakily off the path and into the trees, careful not to make a sound! Once at the cave, we shared an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) that I’d gotten at one of my USMC Reserve drills.Those ham slices tasted so good! Monica photographed us in front of the lodge…a photo that still adorns our entranceway.That evening we ate at Randall’s O.V. restaurant in Spencer. The food was good and we continued visiting the O.V. on our visits to the park until the restaurant closed its doors in 1992.

Family vacations occurred nearly every year as I never tired of the park’s beauty and history. A program I really enjoyed was how the CCC 589 helped greatly to develop the park.

In March of 1996, Monica and I began visiting as a couple. On that March visit, nearly 13 inches of snow had fallen the Tuesday before our arrival. The mounds of snow, mostly undisturbed, created beauty beyond description. Walking the circle at night let us see deer and we also hiked trail #9 for the first time discovering Peden Farm.

Christmas of the year 2000 found us at MCSP. Christmas day we hiked trail #2 oblivious to the temperature that was 13 degrees below zero! Just being at MCSP was sufficient warmth.

We attended the Centennial Events of June 2016. The only reason I would’ve have missed this celebration would have been due to a death in my family…namely mine! I really liked the s’mores from the Saturday campfire and the entertainment.

Monica and I have since become corporate sponsors of the Friends of McCormick’s Creek. We have contributed to the Fire Tower Restoration project…doing our small part to help ensure MCSP will live on. We now visit for a few days each July and attend the Fall-O-Ween (my favorite event) when we can.

If I were dying; I’d come to the park to take my last breath…in surroundings that have been so much of my adult life and that of my wife and son!

Deep thanks to the staff of the Inn, various Naturalists and the many wonderful people who have done so much to make our many visits enjoyable! ~Stephen Walter

~ Friends of McCormick’s Creek State Park ~

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A “Freezing” First Day HikeHats off to those 56 adults and children who braved the below zero temperature to attend the annual First Day Hike! It was apparent, approaching the gathering crowd, who were veterans of the first day hike and who were newbies...specifically me! Everyone seemed well layered in warm clothing and excited to test the elements on the short walk from the Canyon Inn to the falls. The path was icy and treacherous but our Naturalist hosts kept a sharp eye out for any missteps along the way. Once at the falls, camera enthusiasts went to work capturing the exquisite beauty of the ice sculptures created during the frigid weather.

Following are the photographs of the chosen winners...Congratulations!

Winter Postcard Winner: Kyle Hooker

~ Friends of McCormick’s Creek State Park ~

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Spirit of the Day Winner: Kathy Castelluccio Kid Focus Winner: Ethan H.

Winter Postcard Runner-Up: Spencer VarnerSpirit of the Day Runner-Up: Gina Williams

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According to the North American Bluebird Society, Inc., over the past sixty years, land has been cleared for housing developments, shopping malls, highways, and cropland. With modernization the supply of natural cavities that bluebirds and other native cavity nesters could use has been greatly reduced. This has contributed substantially to the lack of suitable nesting areas for the bluebird. Many old trees providing nesting sites have been replaced with metal posts.

Early each spring, a team of active and dedicated Friends members head out to Concord Field in McCormick's Creek to clean the current thirty-six bluebird boxes and get them ready for the years' cavity nesting neighbors.

During the rest of the spring and summer, this team divides up to go out once a week to monitor the bluebird nesting boxes, collect data, and hope to hear or see the beautiful Eastern Bluebird.

Friends of McCormick’s Creek State Park Gear Up For Bluebird Monitoring

Eastern Bluebird Facts• Bluebird eggs are pale blue most of the time. Occasionally a bird will lay a white one.• Nests are made of grass, pine needles, fur, and twigs.• Bluebirds are family oriented birds.• Bluebirds have faced competition with invasive sparrows and starlings for nesting spaces.• Bluebirds can reach speeds up to 17 miles per hour in flight.• Bluebirds are only found, and are native to North America.• Bluebirds are not strong enough to make holes inside of trees to build their nests. They will often take up abandoned nest cavities of other birds, such as woodpeckers.• Bluebirds will eat shelled sunflower chips, but otherwise they rarely eat commercial birdseed.• Bluebirds love to bathe and play in heated backyard birdbaths during the winter.• Bluebirds are considered harbingers of spring, and have been featured prominently in many popular songs and books, notably the songs "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" from the Wizard of Oz, and the Maurice Maeterlinck fairy tale "The Blue Bird," about the Bluebird of Happiness.

Vicki Basman’s association with McCormick’s Creek State Park has been an indispensable part of its success.At the Friends of McCormick’s Creek December Christmas Party, she was honored for her passion and dedication throughout her career with the MCP and all the parks throughout Indiana. Below is her account of her journey from the beginning of her career to her recent retirement. A Career Path Well LovedIn looking back on my career with Indiana’s state parks, I have so manygood memories and experiences it is hard to know where to start in telling the story. Some of you who are reading this have been with me from day one on this journey; others may not know me at all. So here is a little recap to help us get to know one another a little better!

I started working as a seasonal park interpreter the summer of 1992 under the full time interpreter Maryanne Newsome-Brighton. I had great fun that summer and felt that I had really found my calling and a niche career path that was not only enjoyable but very rewarding.

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I learned the basics of how to be an interpreter at my first training session and was wowed at the other interpreters’ devotion, helpful spirit and sense of community. That sense of community was further enhanced by their encouragement to get involved in our professional organization, The National Association for Interpretation (NAI). Two years later I found myself at my first NAI conference and the desire to be a professional interpreter and be part of this wonderful “family” of interpreters really took hold.

Marquita Manley soon took the reins as the full time interpreter at the park. Marquita and I had many memorable summers together. Working with so many other seasonal interpreters throughout the years, many of whom we are still in touch with today. I can honestly say that McCormick’s Creek fostered some wonderful new interpreters who have come and gone…many are still in the field while others have gone on to different career paths. My NAI involvement only strengthened through the years as I served as the treasurer on the local level and then as the National Board treasurer for 6 years. Marquita and I attended numerous conferences together, one of the most memorable being one held in Marquette, Michigan where we were challenged by a blizzard on our drive home…I thought we might never make it back to good old southern Indiana. While working at the park, I also got involved with the preservation of the park’s iconic CCC structures and eventually began working as a Historic Rehab Specialist helping to oversee the process of historic preservation for all the state parks in southern Indiana. This job was a whole new learning curve and I was happy to help, although my real love was still firmly rooted in interpretation. For seven years I worked as the rehab specialist (also part time), however I continued to stay involved with the NAI and all the Indiana interpreters. Also, during that time, Dwight Brooks (Park Property Manager) had the foresight to start a Friends group and we teamed up to get the ball rolling on that. It wasn’t hard to find community leaders who were willing to help us begin on the path of writing by-laws, a mission statement and all the other “behind the scenes” work that needed to be done. McCormick’s Creek Friends group was one of the first to be formed in our state park system and the credit really has to go to Dwight for his vision and determination to do what is best for the park.

Finally, in 2006, the Chief of Interpretation position opened up and several interpreters suggested I apply. After much thought about the lifestyle change it would bring and how it might impact me and my family, I did apply and began that new career path in October of 2006.

One of the most rewarding things about being the Chief was the opportunity to travel to all of the Indiana’s state parks and see the diversity and the beauty of our state. From the rolling sand dunes meeting the cold waters of Lake Michigan to the ever flowing Ohio River in the south, we are blessed to call this state our home and have such a variety of places that make up Indiana. Our state park system is truly one of the best in the country and I felt honored to represent it at conferences, speaking engagements, workshops and to all the young new interpreters who came to our interpretive training each year. As I watched them learn throughout interpreter’s training, I could look back on my many years with the park system knowing that they too would become part of a family of people who are inspired to work for our parks and who might catch the bug to always be an interpreter, telling the stories of our parks and the plants, animals and other people who call these places home. For me, those new interpreters taking over the reins have been another rewarding thing to watch. I feel we have trained and fostered a wonderful new generation of talented individuals who will take care of our parks for many years to come.

And what a whirlwind it has been…my career flew by in the blink of an eye and here I am yet adjusting to a new path: retirement! I will always feel blessed that I landed where I did, with all the experiences I have been able to have. It also feels good to reconnect with the Friends group, meet the new folks who are keeping the flame alive and still work to make “our park” the best it can be. It’s been a great journey!Vicki Basman

(A Career Path Well Loved)

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Events ~ Happenings ~ Meetings ~ Updates July 28 - Wild About Wildlife

September 8 - BBQ & Blues Festival

September 30 - Trail Run and Walk

October 26 - 27 - Fall-o-Ween Festival

April 6 –7 - Amphibian Outing (previously postponed)

April 14-15 - Wildflower Weekend

April 21 - Earth Day/Adopt-a-Highway clean-up

April 28 - 5K Walk/Run

June 2 - National Trails Day

June 9 - Arts in the Park Festival

We Are Saving The Fire Tower...Final Steps!

All donors of $10.00 or more will have their names listed on a permanent plaque to be placed near the Fire Tower when the project is completed.

For complete details and information on other events please visit our facebook page and website

JanuaryA Presentation on Owl behavior and calls by Barbara Filtri. FebruaryGuest speaker, Andrea Oeding gave a presentation and Powerpoint on Bluebirds and the effort of parksupporters to increase populations.

MarchThe featured program was on Salamanders given by Naturalist Barbara Filtri.

FOMCC Meeting NotesFriends Meeting highlights

Funds at the time of printing have reached $90,711.00

This will be the Friend’s biggest endeavor to date...restoration of our historical Fire Tower.

We are close to completing our fundraising for renovating and reopening the park's historic Fire Tower! Will you help us complete this long awaited dream and count down the “Final Steps”to $20,000? Your donation will help make the last portion of the Fire Tower Rehabilitation project a reality. To date, over 500 people have donated to this “Final Steps” effort. (please visit our website for a complete list of supporters).

Thank you to all our supporters!

Events ~ Happenings ~ Meetings ~ Updates

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Centennial Cabin Excitement is building as we prepare to begin a long awaited project…the fire tower.Conversely, we are near completion of the much anticipated Centennial Cabin. The construction crew is working on the finishing touches of the exterior and interior. The final undertaking will be the ordering of furniture to complete the cabin’s cozy interior. We are hoping to pinpoint a date in May for an official ribbon cutting ceremony! Below are a handful of photos documenting the progress throughout the project starting last fall.

Both projects are and have been a labor of love from the Friends, supporters and construction teams involved.

P.0. Box 483, Spencer, IN 47460

If you would like to receive thisnewsletter via email in full-color,please email:infor@friendsmccormickscreek.org

We’re

GOING GREEN

CANYON COURIER Friends of McCormick’s Creek State Park

General MeetingsPlease join us on the 2nd Tuesday of eachmonth at the Nature Center 6pm for ourmonthly meeting. Enjoy a pot-luck styledinner, snacks and fellowship. Monthlyspecial guest speaker or activities are planned.We hope to see you there!

Board MeetingsBoard meetings are open to all members. These meetings are held at the Canyon Inn, in the lobby, at 6pm every 1st Thursday ofthe month.

It’s now easier to donate to the Friends of McCormmick’s Creek through Amazon!Go to smile.amazon.com/ch/35-2004784

FOMC will receive a donation proportional to your qualifiying purchases!