Svea Jones, Features Editor
Welty Environmental Center is an organization ten minutes from campus at 1201 W Big Hill Rd, Beloit, WI. This environmental organization, known for its full moon hikes and educational camps/classes, brings a lovely opportunity for people of all ages to get out in nature. The organization’s mission is to provide leadership in environmental education by equitably engaging the residents of the local and surrounding area with activities that foster an appreciation of nature and promote environmental stewardship. The center is where children and adults can gain hands-on encounters with nature’s biological, physical, and chemical elements. It challenges its users to relate the natural, social sciences, and humanities concepts to environmental, ecological, and related social concerns. Their programs stimulate interest in local, regional, and global environmental issues.
The center is named after Carl Welty, a well-known ornithologist. Welty enrolled in Wisconsin’s Beloit College’s biology department in 1934. A few years later, he decided to conduct his research and write a book to be a more up-to-date biology text on birds. After going through several revisions under the title “Life of Birds,” it became the country’s most widely used college ornithology textbook. Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on May 30, 1901, Welty was the sixth child of Joel and Dina Lehmann Welty.
Every month, The Welty Center does a full moon hike, where you are guided through a completely dark path through their property and explore the breathtaking scenery, catching the attention of the moon’s light. The most recent outing for the moon hike was February 25, when adults, families, and a handful of Beloit College students got to experience the full snow moon. This first snow moon of the year was relatively small compared to past years but was extremely illuminated on its own and accompanied by the rock river’s beauty to complement it. Throughout the hike, the bird eccentric Dave Bendlin called out for barred owls living on the plot. At the beginning of the tour, we were informed about native birds of the area through an informative CD played on a CD player that sat in the center of the room, hikers circulating it in the red-illuminated classroom in the Welty building pre-hike.
Once we set out for our hike, we were told to acclimate our eyes to the velvety night before we took our designated path. Stopping every once in a while for Dave to call out to the owls. Not being able to see Dave but hearing him call as he crept further into the woods to catch the attention of the owls was a fascinating thing to experience. However, those owls didn’t heed our call until we were done for the night and ready to trek back up from whence we came, which wrapped up the evening well.
Overall, I’ve noticed from past attendance compared to now, that the moon hike has adapted because of certain changes in the past few months. The respective routine of this moon hike has taken shape and has adapted itself.
The route, the addition of birdcalling, and the attendance made it all worth it. The Welty Center switched from moon hike sign-ups being $15 for adults and $5 for children to everyone being able to sign up and participate with no charge.
The free hike has bridged the gap for residents to take part in a relaxing outing in nature that they wouldn’t have the funds to experience otherwise. Making it something I recommend all ages take part in.
Featured Image Credit: Welty Environmental Center
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