Kiwanis members fix up Nature Playce at Hidden Oaks
ature Playce, the outdoor play area at the Hidden Oaks Nature Center, is a lot nicer, thanks to the efforts of the Kiwanis Club of Annandale.
About 25 members of the volunteer service organization spent several hours this morning repairing the fence and doing other work. They replaced more than 120 rotting fence rails, fixed the gate, restored the trails, added mulch, removed rotten wood and chopped it for campfires, added sand donated by the Annandale Home Depot to the sand boxes, and put a fence around the “poison ivy tree.”
All the poison ivy has been cleared out of Nature Playce, except for one small area, which is used as a teaching tool so kids can learn what to look out for.
The group also donated buckets and sand toys plus $2,000 for a water feature and education programs. Members of Annandale High School’s Key Club also participated, along with students from Bailey’s and Pinecrest elementary schools. (The kids in the photo are Hyeeun, Jason, and Tristan).
Nature Playce (7701 Royce St., Annandale) was developed a couple of years ago as an Eagle Scout project. “It’s a safe place for kids to build a fort or break sticks, or do whatever they want outdoors,” says Gavin Dock, president of the Annandale Kiwanis Club. The play area was designed to counter “nature deficit disorder,” the term coined by author Richard Louv, who believes children should more spend time outside exploring nature instead of indoors playing videogames and watching TV.
