Full Moon Night Walk at Snyder Park on April 27th, 2013
Over 30 people gathered together at dusk on Saturday, April 27th to go on a one-hour Full Moon Night Walk at Snyder Park in Fort Lauderdale.
Mom’s and Dad’s and their children were part of the group that walked together on a guided tour exploring the park at night. Early arrivals saw dozens of turtles swim towards them in the park lake. Later on, the group had two raccoons walking alongside them as they went about their tour in the near darkness.
The 93 acre Snyder Park, close to the center of Fort Lauderdale and just north of the airport, gives people a rare opportunity to observe nature so close to city life. The Night Walk will be offered again in the Fall.
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Going Green On Citrix Earth Day on April 25th, 2013
Citrix and Kids Ecology Corps Celebrate Earth Day!
Citrix and Kids Ecology Corps Celebrated Earth Day at the Citrix Office Complex in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday April 25th.
Jo Moskowitz 
and her Citrix team combined that event with their annual “Take Your Kids to Work Day” event for children 8 and 18.
Over three hundred and fifty school kids took advantage of the opportunity to help celebrate Earth Day. Most of them stopped by the Kids Ecology Corps outdoor booth manned by Master Gardener Art Constantino, staff member Aaron Bethencourt and volunteer Bruce Starr.
Both parent employees and their children learned about plants that support butterfly life and about the new Butterfly Program at Snyder Park starting on Saturday, May 11th .
Well over one hundred and fifty bio-degradable recycled newspaper planters were taken home to be set in a sunny place in their own backyard. Each parent and child who came by the booth was given the small planter with a Beach Verbena cutting, a plant that Butterfly’s are especially attracted to as a nectar providing food source.
Art Constantino with parents, students and a member of the Coast Guard
Kids and their parents were directed to the Kids Ecology Corp room inside the Citrix office where they
had a great time using their imagination creating recycled newspaper hats using recycled decorative ornaments and supplies gathered by Kids Ecology Corp CEO Joan Starr, Board President Sally Oken and KEC Educator and Curriculum Specialist Lisa Combs. Sally and Lisa coordinated the two hour effort of the kids making hundreds of fantastic original ornamental hats.
Two huge tables were filled with all kinds of recycled decorations: ribbons, helium balloons, wrapping paper and an unlimited supply of found objects.
Incredible results! The room was packed with children and their parents as they created fabulous hats!
Everyone had a lot of fun at The Citrix Earth Day.
Kids Ecology Corps CEO Joan Starr and Jo Moskowitz
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Earth Day April 20th at Snyder Park
Over 20 volunteers celebrated Earth Day 2013 at Snyder Park in Fort Lauderdale.
Officials from the Parks Department applauded the work done by boys and girls as young as 10 years old as they cleared an area over run by exotic plants and bushes and planted young trees.
Volunteers were told how important their efforts were in restoring Snyder Park, making it a better habitat for birds and butterfly’s and more enjoyable for people too.
CEO, Joan Starr, of Kids Ecology Corp, proudly acknowledged the progress made in revitalizing Snyder Park and thanked the volunteers for their hard work.
KEC’s Master Gardener Art Constantino tutored the volunteers on how to plant the new trees and encouraged them to start their own home gardens.
St. Patrick’s Day Celebration in Fort Lauderdale on March 9th, 2013
On Saturday, March 9th, Kids Ecology Corps volunteers Bruce, Lorin and 9 year old Kenia Starr were amongst the thousands of people celebrating this great Irish tradition. Hundreds of people stopped by the booth and learned about Kids Ecology Corps activities and projects they can do together as a family.
Showcased at the booth Kids Ecology Corps reef clean-up, preservation and educational hands on activities coming soon. Coral reef coloring books and educational reef preservation brochures were handed out.
Some of the children shared their previous experiences snorkeling in the waters off our Florida shores.
Hudson pictured here said,“In 2012, I was involved in a beach clean-up program for the reef in the Keys. We collected 7 bags full of trash off the reef. When we were there camping, we found a pelican with a Sabeche rig hooked in its wing and we got it out and released it!”
At 12 noon, the St. Patty’s Day Parade went by. We saw The Budweiser Clydesdale Horses, Fort Lauderdale firetrucks and representatives of many businesses and companies in Broward County.
Everyone shared their excitement about coming to Kids Ecology Corp programs all around Broward County that will help keep the environment and nature clean and alive for many years to come.
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Volunteer Day at Snyder on February, 23, 2013
On February 9th, 16 volunteers from “Hands on Broward” came to Snyder Park. Aaron, Art and I were all more than surprised to see how much more shrubbery we were able to removed from the plants and trees in the circle to the east of the park office, especially after we thought we got most all of it two weeks earlier.
These are just some of the roots we removed that appears to not only be covering up the trees and shrubs, but strangling them. Several more bags of weeds were removed. When you come to visit the 93 acres at Snyder Park in Fort Lauderdale, you will now see healthy looking trees, bushed and newly planted trees and plants.We also spent time in the shade plant area to the west of the park. Much of the weeds growing in the shade area where removed by the volunteers. While there, they saw hundreds of young, new plants ready to be replanted around the park.
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Volunteer Day at Snyder Park on January 26, 2013
Kids Ecology Corps and Snyder Park welcomes the new year with a new slate of Hands on Broward volunteer workdays.
On Saturday January 26th, sixteen volunteers from Hands On Broward came to the park. Art, Aaron, Bruce and the group tackled a new area. If anyone has been to Snyder Park, there is a circular drive where people turn their cars around to either venture further into the park or leave towards the exit road. That fairly small area has many trees, bushes and plants that have been overtaken by exotic types of weeds and bushes that can easily cover the original native trees and bushes. If left alone, any area where they are allowed to grow will soon make the area appear like overgrown thickly covered unrecognizable bush.
Our group that day filled well over ten large garbage bags of weeks and bushes. As you can see from the photo below, we all had our hands filled first locating and pulling the weeds, and then loading them into bags and finally on to wheel barrels.
We never would have thought that an area so relatively small compared to the rest of the park, would take so much work by so many to remove so much. We want to thank the people who came out that day! They made a huge difference in the area so close to the entrance to the park!
The circle is now a clear, clean and free of weeds and exotic plants.
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Citrix Volunteer Day at Snyder Park on December, 2013
Well over a dozen volunteers from Citrix gathered at Snyder Park in December to end the year in a very positive way! Dozens of trees were planted at The Citrix Park.
This group made excellent progress towards filling the Citrix Park area with new trees and bushes. To begin the process, men and women alike worked used large pick forks and shovels to transfer the mulch just outside the entrance to the park, over to the central area inside the park where the bushes and trees were to be planted.
Master Gardener Art Constantino instructed the group on every aspect of the process of planting including how and where to dig the wholes, the size of the holes to be dug and how to remove the plant from the planter without damaging or hurting the roots. Proper watering before the putting the plant into the ground was explained as well.
It was not long before the group started seeing the benefits of their work. One plant and bush after another was added to Citrix Park.
By this time, all the bushes and planters were in ground. The mulch was added to cover and protect the foliage. The Citrix group worked hard and made a lot of progress. Time could be taken from the the hard work at hand to check in with friends and family.
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Kids Ecology Corps at Snyder Park
Presents
Oct. 13, Oct. 27, Nov. 3, Nov. 17. 2012
Weather permitting, activities will take place outdoors (and move indoors if there is rain). Your service to the park experience will include a guided nature walk. It is best to wear long pants, socks and shoes, and a long-sleeved shirt. Bug spray and sunscreen are recommended. Water will be provided. A donation of unused gardening gloves of any size to support the restoration project at Snyder would be wonderful!
http://www.handsonbroward.org/HOC__Volunteer_Opportunity_Details_Page?id=a0CA000000KjPWnMAN