An Enchanted Evening in Nature
by Martin Hagne Executive Director

Born on a not too unusual Valley November day in 1984, the Valley Nature Center in Weslaco started a journey of growth, changes, successes, pitfalls, dreams, slowdowns, friendships, and, well, you get the picture. A long list of happenings that accompany all non-profit organizations over time. The VNC, as we call it, has come a long way. This November we celebrate our 25th Anniversary! Many hard working individuals have brought the VNC to where it is today, and without those before us it would never have succeeded. Today we stand at the brink of a new state of the art educational nature center building with interpretive exhibits that will, once built, awe visitors. And we will celebrate our 25th in various ways this fall and winter. But how did we get here?

The land that now makes up the VNC and Gibson City Park served as a pasture for the MacWorther family in the late 1920's. In the early 1930’s, in the wake of the Great Depression, families sought work and refuge in the Rio Grande Valley, and soon thereafter winter travel became a popular trend. The land was donated by J.J. Gibson and William Henry Hoge to the City of Weslaco, and the Lions Club adopted the project in 1934 and Gibson Park was developed. It opened in 1936 as a “recreational park and RV camp site,” with the current VNC building housing the meeting and recreation hall. The main building is today’s VNC headquarters. It contains its administrative offices, nature book and gift shop, meeting room, exhibit hall, and nature reference library.

In 1945 the “Weslaco Trailer Park” was relocated away from the area, and Gibson Park (named for the previous landowner who served as a City Commissioner from 1928 to 1942, and Wartime Mayor from 1943 to 1944) was designated to remain a public recreational park and children’s play area. The brushy land to the east, now VNC's nature park, was preserved thanks to the Valley’s first radio station tower owned by KRGV. No housing could be built because of the tower and guy wires. In the mid 1970’s the six acre space was converted into a city petting zoo known as the Weslaco Nature Park. This was completed largely due to Cecil Massey, the City Manager from 1963 to 1975. Funding for the petting zoo was supplied by Texas Parks & Wildlife, but in the late 1970’s the petting zoo was closed and the park sat empty for some years.

The History of the Valley Nature Center begins shortly thereafter. In 1984, a committee was formed by members of the Frontera Audubon Society to organize an educational nature facility to serve the entire Rio Grande Valley. The committee was “Chaired” by Dr. Pauline James. The first President of the guiding board of the VNC was Richard Lehman, and the first Director was Cyndy Chapman. In November of 1984, the Valley Nature Center received its certificate of incorporation from the State of Texas and became a 501(c) 3 non-profit environmental education organization. Within two years the center was an independent organization. Board members were elected, and by-laws, policies, and programs were adopted. On July 1, 1987, the Valley Nature Center opened to the public.

The land was, and continues to be, leased to the VNC by the City of Weslaco. The nature park, located adjacent to that same old building, consists of six acres of recreated Mid-delta Thorn Forest, a biotic community of the Tamaulipan Mezquital Ecoregion. Features of the park include small ponds, about one mile of nature trails, wildlife feeding stations, and both butterfly and cactus gardens. These attributes, combined with the park’s extensive native plant cover, make it a haven for area wildlife.

Today the VNC serves over 16,000 students each year, hosts 10,000 nature visitors, and reaches a total of some 65,000 people annually through programs and partnerships. The center serves the entire Rio Grande Valley community, and each year brings refined programs and opportunities for visitors to become one with nature. In today’s society when our children spend an average of six hours behind an electronic device every day, we need to strive for time outdoors for kids to develop their intellectual and motor skills, social interaction, and a bit of good old-fashioned exercise through fun play.

The VNC is moving forward and, as the oldest, and only, non-profit facility in the Valley that dedicates its full mission to environmental education, we are excited about a bright future. In the next year the VNC will be building a new Nature Center facility to house a state-of-the-art interpretive exhibit hall, classrooms, meeting facilities, nature store, and operations. It will be a LEED's certified green building. We hope you will take part in our excitement!

Recent additions and accomplishments include totally refurbished nature trails, along with new benches, trail signs and location maps, and educational wayside interpretive signage. The native plant nursery has been overhauled with new benches. The center's exhibit hall has seen the addition of $35,000 worth of awesome educational and hands-on displays, as well as live animals, offering fun for all ages.

November 7, 2009

Today we invite you to celebrate 25 successful years of bringing nature to anyone with an open mind and soul. Our mission still brings joy and education to children and adults alike! Won’t you join us in making this an enchanted evening remembered by everyone? To celebrate our 25th Anniversary and to bring support for the new facility, we offer a wonderful evening of music, food, spirits, and enchanted trail walks in the nature park, complete with creatures of the night! We will celebrate many events all in one night.

The evening at the VNC will include delicious food, guitar music softly in the background, some light moments of history, the Frances Till Junior Naturalist Award, our refurbished trails grand opening, enchanted wine and cheese torch-lit walks with nature stations, and a nature themed silent and live auction! It will be a delightful evening with much fun.

We would love for you to consider a 25th Anniversary Sponsorship, and attending THE event of the year. Your participation will bring the evening that specialness that we are all looking forward to! This is an opportunity to bring nature to our children, or better yet, bring them to nature! We hope we can count on your support. You can call the VNC at 956-969-2475 and talk to Martin or Cindy for further information, sponsorship forms, or tickets to attend.