Photo club field trip to Oak Openings

The Van Wert Area Photography Club’s monthly meeting is Thursday, April 14, at 7 p.m. at 114 S. Race St.   Part of the club’s business agenda will be a vote on amendments to the bylaws that will list new responsibilities concerning sending tax and activity reports to the federal and state governments and what officers will be designated to carry them out.

On another note, vice president Randy Shellenbarger is going to set up a few things for our meeting.  It’s a surprise, so you’ll just have to attend to find out what’s going to happen!

Coming up this Saturday, April 16, the Grand Lake Photography Club is planning a photo event at Oak Openings, near Toledo. The park’s website states:  “Pioneers trudging through a dense swamp called this area ‘Oak Openings.’ Most of the preserve is an oak savanna ecosystem, characterized by alternating wetlands and vegetated dunes. The Nature Conservancy once named the sandy region one of the 200 Last Great Places on Earth.

“Prickly pear cactus, wild lupine and sand cherry bloom atop dry, hot sand dunes just yards away from orchids growing in low, wet swales. There are more than 50 miles of trails in Oak Openings Preserve. Stands of isolated pine and spruce planted by the WPA during the Great Depression are still visible.

“Oak Openings is a birder’s paradise. It is the nesting place of bluebirds, indigo buntings, whippoorwills, Lark sparrows and many other species, as well as an excellent location to see migrating songbirds in the spring.”

Anyone from the Van Wert club wishing to go should be at McDonald’s north by 8 a.m. next Saturday where transportation details will be worked out before leaving.