To say that this summer was busy would be an understatement. I am incredibly proud of our staff, volunteers, and board members, for the tremendous work that we accomplished this summer. Aside from the general busyness that summer brings with our extended hours at the Nature Center, we hosted more programs than any other summer. In the month of June alone, we presented more than 40 individual programs! Not only did our programming skyrocket, but our Wildlife Watch volunteer program reached a whopping 2,600+ people just in our spring season (5/17-6/30)! To put that in perspective, our previous annual outreach for Wildlife Watch averaged between 700-800 impacts total. While our drop-in visitation at the Nature Center is still reduced from what we recorded at the Warming Hut on Evergreen Lake, our new location continually exceeds our former capabilities and has propelled our outreach even more than was initially anticipated. It has been amazing to witness the growth our small organization has achieved this year, and I cannot wait to see how we continue to broaden our impact.

In celebration of the end of a crazy couple of months, our staff took a much-deserved outing to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on Sunday, August 18. We carpooled early Sunday morning and spent the day exploring exhibits, feeding giraffes, and talking with keepers about the daily habits of their African Penguins. It was a wonderful way to bond as a staff and congratulate each other on the truly remarkable accomplishments this summer. We have a short reprieve for the month of September before we launch of after-school programs in October. I hope you will continue spreading the word and joining us for the exciting new programs we have planned.