DaytonDailyNews.com

DAYTON — We all have reason to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the Miami Valley's greatest treasures.

In 1957, thanks to the generosity of Marie Aull, the Aullwood Audubon Center was officially dedicated as one of the first of its kind in the Midwest. Mrs. Aull and her husband, John, took great pleasure from growing wildflowers along the woodland borders and stream of their 150-acre wooded weekend farm.

Over the past five decades, through an ever-increasing number of classes, special programs and events, the wildlife sanctuary has provided our community with a natural environment conducive to wonderment.

"Dreams have always been part of Aullwood," said Mrs. Aull, who died in 2002 and whose ashes were scattered near the 500-year-old sycamore tree in her beloved Aullwood Garden. "I hope we will always instill in children knowledge and love of nature, so that their sense of wonder will never cease. ... We all need to find something to wonder about in nature."

With the help of staff members and volunteers, all of us have a place where we can find that sense of wonder.

We asked Charity Krueger, who is marking her 25th year as executive director, to share some of the sights and sounds of Aullwood:

Beautiful big trees

Prairie wildflowers covered with butterflies

Soft wool of a baby lamb

Bluegills dancing under my feet at bluegill pond

Rubbing a draft horse's nose

Smell of maple sap simmering

Inspiration from talented naturalists and volunteers

Spotting a deer, fox, raccoon or skunk

Walking through towering prairie grasses

The beautiful cacophony of bird songs

Spiral flying dance of a woodcock at sunset

Children wading in Wiles Creek, building a beaver dam

Draft horse-pulled wagon rides

Smell of fresh hay in the bank barn

Walking with a peaceful feeling that all is right in the natural world

Apple butter simmering in cooper kettles at Apple Fest

Children holding a frog, snake or seeing a red-tailed hawk for the first time.

If you have a special memory of Aullwood, you're invited to share it as part of the 50th anniversary celebration. A selection of those memories will be published in the organization's newsletter, and all will be placed in a time capsule to be dedicated on Nov. 2 and reopened in 2027. Send your memories to Charity Krueger via e-mail if possible: ckrueger@audubon.org. Or mail to Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm, 1000 Aullwood Road, Dayton, Ohio 45414. Tell how Aullwood has influenced your life. Be creative — consider a poem, drawing, painting or photograph.

How to go

WHAT: Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm's 50th Anniversary Lecture Series featuring nationally known authors and actors with environmental messages that reflect Marie Aull's conservation ethic.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. March 17, April 10 and April 21. March 17: Music of the Birds, with musician/naturalists Bill Thompson III and Julie Zickefoose features digital bird and nature images set to live music — acoustic guitar, pennywhistle, flute. Thompson is the editor of Bird Watcher's Digest and Bird Watching for Dummies.

April 10: A Sense of Wonder: A Play Based on the Life and Works of Rachel Carson. This one-woman show features actress Kaiulani Lee in the role of Carson, who fought to defend the natural world.

April 21: "Birds and the Undiscovered World." Kenn Kaufman — field editor for Audubon and author of Lives of North American Birds, the Peterson Field Guide to Advanced Birding and Kingbird Highway — will draw on the adventures of his life to talk about the unknown realms of nature, the potential for discovery and the power of personal observation to rekindle our sense of wonder.

WHERE: 1000 Aullwood Road, Butler Twp.

ADMISSION: $9 and $7 for members. Series tickets are $25 or $18 for members.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT AULLWOOD EVENTS: Go to http://aullwood.center.audubon.org, or call (937) 890-7360.

Photos for this article
	We all have reason to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the Miami Valley's greatest treasures. In 1957, thanks to the generosity of Marie Aull, the Aullwood Audubon Center was officially dedicated as one of the first of its kind in the Midwest.