About the Martinsville-Henry County Community Nature Initiative

With the support of The Harvest Foundation of the Piedmont, Virginia Museum of Natural History and its partners, Dr. Denny Casey and Tamara Poles developed a new nature and outdoor initiative entitled the Martinsville Henry County Community Nature Initiative (MHC CNI). The CNI will serve as a clearinghouse for environmental information, use nature as a way to stimulate learning, develop opportunities for quality family time in the outdoors, and position VMNH as a leader in environmental education. CNI will serve as a means to provide hands-on, real-world opportunities for children, educators, and families to increase appreciation for nature and as an effective means to better understand and address community environmental issues.

Click the above CNI logo for official website and to access your Earth Week Passport!

Earth Week 2010 Highlights

Friday, May 7, 2010

Earth Day Festival




This year’s Earth Day Festival yield over 795 participants!! With activities such as a live interactive band, a craft station, facepainting, a moon bounce, an inflatable slide, live animals, a bubble station, and other activities hosted by almost a dozen exhibitors!
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Earth Day at VMNH

Above picture is of Astronaut Patrick G. Forrester who was our Keynote speaker of the day.

Earth Day at VMNH was an amazing event! We had presenters from the US Army Corps of Engineers, Master Gardeners, Dan River Basin Association, and a Master Naturalist. This event was a conference style event for classes that registered.

We also had a very special guest speaker Astronaut Patrick G. Forrester who gave a presentation that was OUT OF THIS WORLD!

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Earth Week 2010 Highlights

No Light Night Hike
This event had over a dozen people exploring the Gravely Nature Preserve at night without ANY flashlights!! Everyone had a wonderful time and their guide said they were an excellent group!

Friends of Philpott Environmental Expo
This event had exhibitors from all around Martinsville, Henry County, and neighboring counties. There were over 400 participants at this very fun event!! Wonderful job Friends of Philpott!!

Black Bears of Virginia
This was a great presentation given by Danny Martin USACE. This outdoor educational presentation was a hit with the families that attended to see in real time bears jumping from tree to tree. An amazing presentation followed by a great outdoor movie about bears in nature. This event kept our audience of over 20 people on the edge of their seats.

Earth Day Earth Craft
This crafty event had over a dozen kids making beautiful deer deterrent wind chimes! They came in all colors and designs. The kids had more paint on them than their crafts, this is how we know they had a great time :)





Hike and Craft April 21 (Philpott Dam) and the Natural Art April 22 (Frank Wilson Park)
Over a dozen people gathered for these events to develop creative crafts out of the natural objects that they found on a hike. Perfect days for both activities! Great job!

Screen on the Green
This event went very well. We had over 80 people in attendance! From 7:00 to 8:00 the participants went on a nature hike, identified and made animal tracks, created nature crafts, got their faces painted, and played with bubbles. Then as soon as 8:00 hit we watched the Lorax!

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