THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408180247
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NAGS HEAD LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
MANY YEARS AGO the only way my sisters and I could really immerse ourselves in the sand dunes of Jockey's Ridge was to climb to the top and roll all the way down. Again and again and again.
That's still a popular pastime here, but thank goodness park officials have devised a lot of other ways for people to enjoy the famous 110-foot landmark without bringing home buckets of sand in your shorts.
This summer there are 12 interpretive programs, many designed just for children, to introduce park lovers to the Saraha-like dunes and the creatures who call them home.
``Every program ends up full or overfull,'' said park secretary Heather Hunt. ``And we give up to four a day.''
Park programs begin at 9 a.m. except Sundays, with a dune hike on Mondays, the popular ``Seine the Sound'' on Tuesdays and Thursdays, ``Nature Photo'' on Wednesdays and ``Especially for Kids'' on Fridays. Saturdays feature another kids-only show called ``Kids Nature Craft.''
Other mid-morning or afternoon ventures include a kite workshop, snakes lecture, video feature and wild weather discussion.
Evenings are capped by the ``Sunset on the Ridge,'' which moves up a half-hour from its usual 7:30 p.m. beginning Monday. It is not uncommon for a ranger to describe the history and nature of the East Coast's tallest natural sand dune to an audience of 200.
Thursdays include a special treat, an evening of star gazing at 9 from an observation deck. Bring binoculars if you have them.
Sunday programs begin at 11 a.m., with the video presentation at the tiny park museum.
All programs are free, though donations are accepted for the kite workshop. Preregistration is required for some with limited attendance.
The nature programs have been gaining popularity since the first few were introduced about five years ago. More than 500,000 annually visit the museum, hike a 1.5-mile trail, hang glide or scale the sand hills, which extend to the Roanoke Sound.
Children's nature programs also are becoming a bigger draw each year.
``I know for a fact they're a lot of fun,'' said Reada Evans, a seasonal park ranger who has a biology degree from Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts.
``All these activities are designed to really educate these kids about where they are, in a fun way,'' she said after concluding a one-hour ``Especially for Kids'' program for ages 5 through 12.
The 12 youngsters who listened to Evans' and Ranger Dave McDaniel's lectures and activities on birds, animals, plants and nature would agree.
Part of the Friday morning program includes a search for animal tracks.
``What kind of animal might leave a solid line behind him in the sand?'' McDaniel asked the crowd of kids and their parents.
Silence.
``I'll give you a hint,'' Evans said. ``he's draggin' something.''
``A dragonfly?'' a child responded, taking Evans' cue phonetically. No, the rangers said, it's a lizard.
The children nodded and headed up the trail to examine more footprints, live oaks and insects.
Heather Romich, 12, and her 8-year-old sister, Julie, were there to earn a Dune Ranger Patch, the newest park program.
Children, usually ages 8 to 12, participate in three nature programs and complete a questionnaire on museum exhibits. Each also must take the 1.5-mile self-guided tour.
``They really enjoy nature,'' the girls' mother, Kathy, said.
The Romiches learned about Jockey's Ridge from one of father Terry Romich's coworkers back home in Pennsylvania. The girls were in a similar ranger program at a state park closer to their Green Lane community. ``They basically learn about nature and how to preserve it,'' Terry said.
``It's becoming more and more apparent that education is the way to save a lot of things, to teach these kids that the sand is important and about all the life that is in the dunes,'' Evans, a Plymouth, N.C., native, said.
If the future of Jockey's Ridge lies in its younger visitors, then its distinction as the third most popular of North Carolina's 34 state parks can be attributed, in part, to the woman who helped save it from destruction.
In 1973, developers planned to level the huge hills, but Carolista Baum decided otherwise and plopped herself in front of the bulldozers, refusing to budge. Others became involved and in 1975 the state park was formed. The original 152 acres soon was joined by another 114 acquired from the Nature Conservancy.
Today, the entrance road from U.S. 158 leading into the 414-acre range is called Carolista after its savior. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Michelle Daniels, 8, of Raleigh, and Jordan Grove, 11, of York, Pa.,
look for tadpoles in a rain-swollen slough at Jockey's Ridge State
Park.
JOCKEY'S RIDGE
Where: Entrance to the state park is in Nags Head at milepost 12
on U.S. 158.
Hours: through August are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. It closes an hour
earlier in September. The ridge area closes 15 minutes prior to park
closing.
Favorite program: The most popular is probably ``Sunset on the
Ridge'' each evening. Today it is held at 7:30 p.m., but it will
move up to 7 p.m. beginning Monday. A ranger will describe the
legends and lore surrounding the sand dunes before guests watch the
sun move below the horizon.
Favorite kids' program: The ``Seine the Sound'' is always a big
crowd-pleaser. Children help drag an 18-foot-long seine net across
a section of the Roanoke Sound and then investigate the catch, which
usually includes crabs, shrimp and other creatures. Everything gets
thrown back in by the program's end.
Admission: Free.
For more information: Call 441-7132 about regular programs and
special park activities.
by CNB