Beaver Creek group seeks volunteers

The center has a new collection of antique eggs.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
ST. CLAIR -- The Beaver Creek Wildlife Education Center Volunteers Association wants you.
The association hopes to gain about 20 more dedicated volunteers to help show adults and children there is more to life than electronics and video games.
The center is on Echo Dell Road in St. Clair Township in what had been the ranger's home at Beaver Creek State Park.
The center holds the largest collection of preserved animals for viewing by the public in Columbiana County, and one of the largest in the state of Ohio, said Kathy Cattrell, a biology instructor in the Crestview School District and a volunteer.
There were 6,737 visitors to the center and participants in center presentations in 2006. During that year, 54 volunteers provided 2,650 hours of service.
That's compared with 3,184 visitors in 2005. The park itself in 2005 had more than 282,000 visitors.
The increase in visitors has been attributed to school outings to the park. Cattrell often uses the park as a classroom to teach pupils valuable life lessons.
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The center organized in September 2002 and became a nonprofit group in 2003.
James Kerr, the curator at the wildlife center and a retired Beaver Schools instructor, said there are about 20 active association members, and he'd like to see that number doubled.
"We're not looking at 300 people," he said.
Finding the site
The center has added new signs on state Routes 7 and 11 to help direct visitors to the site. Previously, the only indication of the center's location was a flag being posted outside the center, which was easy for motorists to miss.
The volunteers may conduct tours, talk about the animals, helping maintain the building, tending flower gardens, caring for the animals at the center, writing grants and fundraising.
An exhibit of stuffed animals has been rearranged for greater effect. Kerr said all the animals have been prepared by a professional taxidermist.
"We also have a new bird egg display," Cattrell said.
The eggs come from 153 species of birds, Kerr added.
The eggs were collected by a relative of Kathy and Davis Lewis' of Lisbon and date to the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Long ago, the eggs had been preserved by piercing the shell and blowing out the contents. Volunteers at the center made nests for the display.
The center will have an open house from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and from 1 to 4 p.m. May 6.
The center is regularly open for free tours during those hours from May 1 through Labor Day. School and community groups also can schedule tours throughout the year. The center is open on weekends after Labor Day as weather permits.
wilkinson@vindy.com