A piece of Wethersfield: Eleanor Buck Wolf Nature Center

By Ajla Ahmetovic

A staple in the Wethersfield community has been the Eleanor Buck Wolf Nature Center. A learning and education center that puts its focus on the environment and animals. A closer look into this small but impactful part of the community is taken in a written interview with the Director of the Nature Center, Patrick Telman.

When asked how long the Nature Center has been running for Telman wrote, “As a stand alone nature center, since 2005. Previously the "nature center" was just a room in the Community Center”.

That statement alone shows the incremental growth of the Nature Center. Starting as just a room to becoming its own independent center with a purpose to educate.

How has the community had an impact on the Nature Center was another question to which Telman wrote; “The Nature Center exists because members of the community had an idea to create one. They did all the fundraising and got it started when it was in the Community Center and are the reason it was able to move to the facility on Prospect St. Members of the community also make up the "Friends of the Nature Center Committee" and support it today”.

impact on the Nature Center because it is them who facilitated the whole idea of beginning an educational “hub” for the community to learn about the world’s vast environment and animal life.

When asked what events the Nature Center holds to bring the community together, Telman wrote; “We hold Summer Camps, Preschool programs, School Vacation Camps, Birthday Party Rentals, Meeting Rentals, a variety of Workshops and informational sessions as well as Eleanor Buck Wolf Day”.

The variety of activities the Nature Center has created over the years have added to their popularity and are what gets the people excited to integrate together all in this one part of the community.

The topic of community service hours at the Nature Center and how it helps people get more rooted into their community came into question to which Telman answered; “As we are a community run organization, any volunteer work people do through the Nature Center gives people ownership into the facility. Which is the same for any volunteer work. You care about things more if you have personal involvement”.

Telman believes that by participating or volunteering at the Nature Center, anyone can grow a sense of care for their community, which is why he strongly urges volunteering at the Center if anyone wants to gain a deeper connection to their community.

As for what the future of the Nature Center is, Telman wrote; “Hopefully someday a new building where we can house more species, an outdoor portion where we can have domestic farm animals”.

It is evident both Telman and all people of the Nature Center see an even more thriving development for the place they love and respect. Their main goal is to educate and supply the learning needs of the community, and with the achievable goals for the future they have planned; their goals are sure to be sustained.