In the News
August 5, 2009
Exploring Cranston Gets Back To Basics
Cranston Herald
Exploring Cranston sounds like a great way for newcomers to learn the ropes, but nine local families found their backyard had a lot to offer that even they didn’t know about.
On July 18 the group participated in the first Exploring Cranston program, which took place behind Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet. They discovered the beauty and nature of the Pawtuxet River with free activities such as learning to paddle a canoe, fishing and a scavenger hunt where children and their families could hike and photograph the trees and plants they could identify on the Pawtuxet River loop trail.
Cranston resident and school committee member Steve Stycos said the Exploring Cranston program came to be after he took a community workshop by Rhode Island State Parks.
He started the nature adventure by giving the families a quick course in poison ivy and what you should do if you get it on your skin. He said the plant has three leaves and is shiny but does not always look the same. He warned that the further you go in the woods, the less poison ivy there is on the surrounding trees. If participants were unlucky enough to encounter it, though, Stycos advised them to wash the affected skin immediately. Read more...
June 10, 2009
Discover Where the Wild Things Are
Cranston Style
Shuffling between shopping plazas and crouching between cul-de-sacs are forests, rivers and a bay. You might be living next door to one. Steven Stycos and a band of volunteers are offering three events this summer to reveal the secrets of these hidden places. The program, called ExploreCranston, includes a range of activities such as fishing, photography and sailing.
"I had been thinking about doing more outdoor education programs for children with Friends of the Pawtuxet," said Stycos. "I went to a workshop at URI this spring where the state parks chief Steve Wright described the state program Parks Pursuit and a smaller effort by the West Greenwich Land Trust." Read more...