4-H members bring trees alive

Kids in the Park: Club members attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the Ten Mile Trail at Pyramid State Park

Pinckneyville Press

Understanding nature just became easier, thanks to some young Perry County 4-H members. Pyramid State Park, the largest park in Illinois with 19,700 acres,has many native varieties of trees along Ten Mile Trail.

For weeks, the Kids in the Park 4-H Club met with Extension Master Gardeners and Rhonda Shubert, U of I Extension 4-H program coordinator, to research and identify trees along two miles of the path. They posted their findings and photos of 31 varieties to a website: plantsmap.com/organizations/pyramid-state-park.

Barcode plaques were attached to the trees; visitors can scan the codes with a smartphone and immediately learn more about the tree at a given location. “We hope to encourage others statewide to incorporate this interpretive trail project in their parks,” says Bill Million, Extension 4-H youth development specialist.

Two benches along the path were donated by Perry County Home and Community Education. Members of that group collected plastic bottle caps, which were recycled to make the benches.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held July 7. Funding for Kids in the Park, an environmental special interest 4-H club with 30 members, was provided by the Illinois 4-H Foundation.

BARCODE Visitors scan a bar code using a smartphone to read more about the native trees.