HOW WE SEE IT: Supporters Of ONSC Save The Day

Congratulations to Ken Ewing, founder of the Ozark Natural Science Center, and the organization’s supporters for raising nearly $1 million in less than six months to ensure its future.

The science center, founded in 1992, is located in Madison County’s Bear Hollow Natural Area and consists of a lodge, a classroom building and dorms surrounded by 500 acres of Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission land. It is a truly beautiful location among the rolling hills and forests.

The center provides educational opportunities for people in all walks of life, but its signature program is a two-day, one-night environmental educational program for school children. Elementary students from several local school districts get to spend time hiking through the woods and learning about the flora and fauna of the region in an up-close and personal way. So far, more than 45,000 kids have had the opportunity to experience science and nature together.

Last February, it was all in doubt. The science center’s Board of Directors announced the suspension of the overnight program and its summer camps due to financial trouble. Ewing and other supporters rallied to the cause and launched its Growing Forward campaign, designed to raise enough money to keep the center going for another 20 years. Last week, the group said they were nearing the goal of $1 million, and now have plans to go farther with the campaign, in hopes of reducing the cost to the school districts for the overnight programs.

The money will also upgrade technology infrastructure at the center so that it can reach students who are unable to attend programs on site.

This unique organization adds to the educational experience for the region’s children and is one of the many institutions that improves the quality of life in Northwest Arkansas.

THINK ABOUT DRINKING WATER

People in the United States are prone to take clean and abundant drinking water for granted. All most of us have to do to get potable water is turn the knob on the kitchen faucet and there it is.

Admit it: You rarely even consider where that water comes from, or what it takes to make it safely drinkable, or how it even gets to your house. We need reminders that it’s not magic.

The Beaver Lake Watershed Alliance and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are trying to help with that with the installation of 36 signs around the impoundment reminding boaters and swimmers from where our drinking water comes.

Beaver Lake is the primary source of potable water for more than 400,000 residents of Northwest Arkansas. That’s one-seventh of the state’s entire population. The signs, installed at recreational access points on the lake, indicate the importance of keeping the lake as clean as possible.

While many people may realize intellectually that Beaver Lake is a water source, they probably don’t think much about it while they’re swimming in the lake or guiding their boats around its coves. If these signs make the lake’s users a bit more conscientious about taking care of it, then they’re worth the effort.

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