Bluebirds will bring back past employee

McHenry says she has no ill will toward the district.
& lt;a href=mailto:hill@vindy.com & gt;By IAN HILL & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
CANFIELD -- Patricia McHenry stands to the side and slides open the wall of the wooden birdhouse next to the Mill Creek MetroParks bike path.
Suddenly, with a quick beating of its wings, a female Eastern Bluebird flashes out of the birdhouse and into the nearby woods, its bright blue tail plainly visible against the trees.
"When you open them, you have to be careful. The female could fly at you," says McHenry, of Boardman.
Inside the birdhouse, McHenry finds five blue eggs in a grass-and-hay nest. She explained that bluebirds once nested in hollow trees and wooden fence posts in the area, but as the trees and fences disappeared, so did the bluebirds.
McHenry, who formerly worked with Mill Creek MetroParks, regularly checks on the seven bluebird houses along the bike path, removing sparrows' nests and recording the status of eggs as a volunteer for the Ohio Bluebird Society.
"They're not endangered, but we don't want them to be endangered. There's so many people who love them," she said.
Earned an award
That type of commitment to nature recently earned McHenry an award from the Environmental Education Council of Ohio as an outstanding environmental educator. The EECO is a nonprofit organization concerned about the environment.
"She deserves these type of accolades," said Susan Dicken, Mill Creek MetroParks executive director. "She's always been very willing to work, very committed, very dedicated.
"When she does something, she puts herself into it," Dicken said.
Park Naturalist Ray Novotny, who worked with McHenry for 15 years and nominated her for the award, also praised McHenry for her dedication.
"I was in awe of her commitment, her work ethic," he said.
McHenry, a Youngstown native, said she was excited to receive the award at an EECO conference last month. She noted that she first became interested in nature when she was 10 and her parents purchased land for a cabin on Pymatuning Lake.
"I was inspired by the surroundings there," she said. "All I knew at that point in my life was I wanted to do something with nature."
Volunteered at Mill Creek
After graduating from Hiram College with a degree in biology, McHenry began volunteering at Mill Creek Park, where she helped direct programs on wild edible plants. That led her to a part-time position as an assistant naturalist with the parks in 1988.
"I just kind of got my foot in the door and made it known that I wanted to be there," she said.
McHenry said one of her first duties was to dress in period costume for an event at Lanterman's Mill. She worked part time until 1994, when she was hired full time as the park district's assistant manager of interpretive services.
Her responsibilities included designing and conducting environmental education programs for children as well as conducting park workshops and special events.
Last fall, park officials restructured their staff and told McHenry they wanted her to work part time again. She turned them down and left the park district to work as a free-lance environmental educator, conducting programs for schools and community groups.
McHenry stressed that she has no ill will toward park officials and that she continues to visit the park often.
"I went out with my head held high," McHenry said. "I still enjoy the park, and I'm not going to leave my bluebirds."
& lt;a href=mailto:hill@vindy.com & gt;hill@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;