Squam Lakes Natural Science Center Opens Early This Year

An otter at SLNSC

Good news for nature lovers:  The Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness, NH will be open to the public a little earlier than usual this season.   The organization recently announced that next week, Monday, April 26^th through Friday, April 30^th, The Gephart Exhibit Trail will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with the last trail admission at 2:00 p.m.

Christine Cherry, Marketing Manager at the Center, says that they decided to open early this year because the mild winter made for cooperative weather this spring.  “The trail is clear and ready to go!” she says.  Also, the Center wanted to be able to accommodate some of the local schools’ April vacations next week so that families can enjoy the trail together.

The Science Center’s regular hours of 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. will resume on their usual start date of May 1^st, which is New Hampshire Day, when visitors pay only $3 admission with proof of NH residency.

According to their website, “The mission of Squam Lakes Natural Science Center (SLNSC) is to advance understanding of ecology by exploring New Hampshire’s natural world.  Through spectacular live animal exhibits, natural science education programs, and lake cruises, the Science Center has educated and enlightened visitors for more than forty years about the importance of our natural world.”

The Center gained national accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) in September of 2006, and now holds the distinction of being the only AZA-accredited institution in northern New England.

Enjoy the beauty of early spring!  For further information about the Science Center, call 603-968-7194 or visit www.nhnature.org.

Rubber duckies take a wild ride into the bay

by Sarah Schmid, Meredith News

July 08, 2009
MEREDITH — Nearly 4,000 rubber duckies tumbled down the Mill Falls waterfall and into Meredith Bay at the 18th annual Meredith Lions Club Rubber Ducrubber duckies take a ridekie Race, racing with an extra boost from the accumulate rainfall.

Every year, the running of the rubber duckies draws crowds to watch the little yellow birds tumble down the waterfall and into Meredith Bay – some for the spectacle, and others in the hope that their duck would be the one to enter the bay first. That honor – and a $1,000 grand prize – went to Adrienne Stevens of North Sandwich, with Rubber Duckie #2026.

What most of the crowd doesn’t see, however, is the work that goes into getting the ducks from the top of the falls into the bay. The annual July 4 rubber duck migration is a little more complex than simply dumping the ducks at the top, and hoping they all make their way to the bottom.

Weeks prior to the event, members of the Meredith Lions Club readied for the race by encouraging visitors and residents to adopt a rubber duckie. Proceeds from the adoption of the 3,983 rubber duckies will benefit 15 local organizations – the first $1,000, according to Lions Secretary Marie Valliere, always goes to David’s House in Lancaster. Other organizations, including the Meredith Senior Center and New Hampshire Sight and Hearing Foundation, will also benefit from the race donations.

On the morning of July 4, the Lions Club set up a tent in Hesky Park to hand out last-minute adoptions and to sell rubber duckie paraphernalia – race-themed T-shirts, rubber duckies, quacker noisemakers, and the popular duck “paddlers” – paper cutouts of ducks stapled to a paint stirrer, on which spectators could write the number of their adopted duck.

“People will be cheering them on with their paddlers on paint stirrers,” said Valliere. “We got them in a donation from Aubuchon. When it’s hot, you can use them as a fan.”

Four-year-old Mary Riley, a duck adopter, waved her paddler proudly.

“Look at mine, mine says ‘Go Ducky!’” Riley said, pointing to her paddler. Her two brothers also waved paddlers for their adopted ducks.

Young volunteer John Folsom dutifully donned a duck costume, walking around Hesky Park and waving at cars on Route 3, trying to pique people’s interest. Young Lion volunteers traded shifts in the costume all day long.

Across the highway, work of a different sort was going on. Lions Club members and volunteers were busy lining the bottom of the falls and the channel to the bay with wire netting, designed by Lion Sal Branante. This would keep rubber duckies on the right path, and prevent them from being pushed away from the main flow of water. Once the ducks were down the falls, the wire would guide them, pushed by the current, under bridges and under Route 3, and into Meredith Bay.

In Meredith Bay, they would pass under the footbridge, loaded with spectators, and into the newly-designed baffle, where Valliere and Mary Yaeger would be waiting for them. With a newly-redesigned baffle, Valliere said that the new design would help them cope with the strong current pushing the ducks into the bay.

“We have a good baffle now,” said Valliere. “Last year was fast, and this year will be fast. We watched the duck races in Keene, and got the idea from them, to redo the baffle to make it easier on us when the race is fast.”

The baffle ended in a bundle of Funoodles, allowing Valliere to see exactly which duck was first into the bay. Cash prizes were awarded for the adopters of the first five rubber ducks, and prizes were available for the next 22.

Up at the top of the falls, however, preparations were still going on to ready the ducks for their journey. Just below the Waukewan Dam, where the water surfaces before heading under the Inn at Mill Falls and down the waterfall, volunteers worked to lower in chicken-wire frames by rope and position them – not an easy task with the volume of water generated by the recent rains. These frames would prevent the ducks from getting caught in a corner and not going down the falls.

“The water is going real fast because of the rain,” said Lion Joseph LaFrance. “In two minutes or less, they’ll be down and in the bay. We do this every year – it’s our biggest fundraiser.”

Lion Joseph LaFrance and his daughter, Kara, helped Kim Kortz lower chicken-wire frames above the spillway, preventing the ducks from moving forward. Once complete, plastic bins full of rubber duckies were emptied into the “holding tank,” pressed against the wire barrier.

Once the go-ahead had been given at 4 p.m. sharp, Bramante and Joseph and Kara LaFrance lifted the gates, letting thousands of rubber duckies splash down the falls in an explosion of yellow. Watching spectators cheered the beginning of the short migration down the falls and into Meredith Bay.

Two minutes later, the ducks were in the waiting hands of Valliere and Yaeger, who scooped up the winners and gave them to the judges. The remaining rubber duckies were netted and hauled into two waiting canoes, to be floated back to land, dried, and prepared for 2010.

The crowd surrounded the Lions tent, waiting to hear the winners. The situation was made a bit more urgent by a threatening thunderstorm, which chased away much of the crowd and soaked those who remained.

Cash prizes for the first five winners were donated by area businesses. Celeste Lovett of Moultonboro won fifth place for $100, and Jack Powers of Meredith won fourth place for $200. “Trustey,” of Wenham, Mass., won $350 in third place. Second place went to Megan Wayland of Reading, Mass.