As you all know, 2006 marked our tenth year of programs here on the shores of Statehouse Lake. We kicked off our special year with an evening of personal reflections at our may Nibbles 'n' Knowledge volunteer appreciation party, followed it with our July 15th Decade of Discovery Dinner and Derby; after that we had our August 13th Decade of Discovery Family Appreciation Day. We tried to offer something for everyone and it seemed to work - all those events were very well attended.

If you've not already, you will soon receive your Winter Program Guide. As we move beyond anniversary celebration mode and into our 11th year, I am confident you will be impressed by the quality, variety and diversity of our programs. Continuing a tradition that began in 1996, The Center offers program participants of all ages the opportunity to develop and enhance skills in outdoor recreation, and improve their knowledge of local flora, fauna and ecology. More importantly, all programs are presented within the context that the better we understand this special environment we call the northwoods, the more likely we are to embrace our shared responsibility to look after it.

What's more we do it in a fun, engaging, hands-on manner. We do it by sharing; by working together; through our belief in community; and our belief that learning is a life-long undertaking.

So whether you made it to our Decade of Discovery Dinner & Derby or one of the many other events offered this past summer and fall, please know that your interest and presence is helping us further our mission. Thanks for being part of our success!

I hope to see you at one of our forthcoming winter programs.

In this issue we are delighted to introduce you to another member of the Discovery Center team - Jason Ihlenfeldt. Unfortunately we must also say farewell to him!

A native of Green Bay, Jason is a 2006 graduate of Northland College where he majored in Environmental Education, with a special emphasis on the connections between spirituality and nature.

When offered the position back in spring, Jason was, in his own words "...thrilled to have the opportunity to stay up north - I felt a real calling to be here in the northwoods".

Jason's primary responsibilities included development and delivery of our Traveling Naturalist Program (TNP) and was a big part of our Tuesday Adventure Club (AC) for 5th-8th graders. He was also a regular instructor on our EE team, where along with Sarah, Zach and Heather, he delivered programs to area middle schoolers. Every task we set for him he tackled with enthusiasm. Typical of his work ethic was the excellent job he did running our October Spook Walk, a very demanding task he completed with his usual grace and aplomb!

Any of you who had the pleasure of meeting Jason will agree with me with I am sure, that he is a quality young man. We were certainly lucky to have him in our employ for the past six months - and the Conserve School is blessed to have him join their staff in the new year.

On behalf of all our members, volunteers and staff, and from the many program participants whose lives you touched: Thank-you Jason for your many contributions. As we say in the old country - "ya done good, mate!"

Watch for next month's issue when we will introduce you to our Executive Director, Kim Harron.

Need to do a little last minute gift shopping? Don't forget we have a nice little collection of goodies for sale in the Discovery Center Office. Bird books, note cards by Terry Daulton and Sara Muender, framed Sara Muender prints, T and polo shirts, books by local authors John Bates, Mary Burns, Buckshot Anderson, and photographer Jeff Richter.

And another gift idea - how about a Discovery Center gift certificate? Your loved one can use the voucher any time they like to enroll in the class or program of their choice.

>>> HOLIDAY SPECIAL <<< Our "Decade" mugs were selling for $10 each. But if you'd like a permanent souvenir of our special 10th year, act now and you can buy a set of four (4) mugs for just $35.00

So... whether you are looking for holiday gifts, new year gifts, birthday gifts or any other occasion - please keep the Discovery Center in mind. The gift recipient will know you care for our wonderful northwoods, and you will be supporting our continuing efforts. Everyone wins!

We'd like to offer a brief response to questions we recently received from parents of a couple of EE program participants. The questions related to dissection of owl pellets as part of an EE Birding unit.

No, Owl Pellets do not come from the bird's nether regions, but are regurgitated from the Owl's other end in a motion not unlike a cat spitting up a fur ball. Basically, the pellet is a tight mass of undigestible foods - particularly feathers and bones.

The educational value of the pellet dissection activity is of course that students get to see first hand just what makes up an owl's diet, at the same time providing great insight into predator-prey relationships. Students sometime find whole mouse and other small rodent skulls and other exciting surprises.

Now to the reassurance part - all pellets are wrapped in foil and baked to sterilize them prior to distribution to the students. And while the bottles are out of shot in the photo above, pump-packs of anti- bacterial hand-soap are liberally provided - all program participants are directed to make use of that product at the end of the activity.

Whoever said "there ain't no cure for the wintertime blues" obviously never took a look at a Discovery Center Winter program guide. If you've not received yours yet, it should arrive in your mail box any day now. In the meantime, the entire winter program is available at our website. To view it, simply click on the link below

Please join us for "Marvel in Manitowish" - five days of fun and games (December 26 - December 30) for the entire family. See the program guide for full details.

From all of us here at the Discovery Center, we'd like to wish you and yours the very best for the holidays and new year. However you spend the days ahead, may they be safe; may they be blessed; and may they be connected - to family, to friends and to nature.

email: bruce@discoverycenter.net

phone: 715 543 2085

web: http://www.discoverycenter.net