Community Update

The Friends of the Lawrence Nature Center, together with Sustainable Lawrence and the Lawrence Township Environmental Resources & Sustainability Green Advisory Committee, are celebrating the 11th annual “Mother Nature Festival” at the Lawrence Nature Center, 481 Drexel Avenue, Lawrence Township, NJ, 08648, on Saturday, May 10th, 2014, from 11 am to 4 pm - Rain or Shine.

During the Mother Nature Festival celebration the Lawrence Nature Center will be recognizing the Dutko brothers, Zack and Josh, who built the first bird feeder platform, and Travis, who has worked cleaning the trails.  They have all been helping in different projects from the time the community was talking about creating a Nature Center. Michael Baicker will also be honored for building turtle nesting boxes, while he was president of S. A. V. E.


In April 24th, 2004, the Lawrence Nature Center officially opened with the
1st Earth Day Celebration. By this time the Friends of the Lawrence Nature Center had been meeting for years.

This year’s Mother Nature Festival is designed to teach the community about experiencing nature and conservation.

* This year the Wildlife animal show will be presented by the Philadelphia Zoo on wheels at 2:00 pm in the afternoon. 

* Lindsay Blanton from AmeriCorps DRBC will tell us about the importance of having or making a Rain Barrel. Lindsay’s colleague Patrick Froehlich, the WMA Watershed Ambassador, will explain the importance of having healthy rivers and drinkable water. Eric Tengi, AmeriCorps from the Watershed, will explain how Rain gardens are important and how simple they are to maintain.

*Suzanne Luciano from the Italian Bees will have a presentation on “The Buzz
about Honey and Honeybees!”

* Ed Frankel will have a presentation on sharks and their importance in our Ecosystem.

* Sonja Michaluk, a 6th grader at Princeton Friends School, will have a table and will explain in her power point presentation “How we impact our environment.”

* The Shade Tree Commission will have a table and will have a presentation. Also they will give out tree seedlings during the festival.

There will be over 20 environmental groups having presentations on nature and sustainable practices. Here are just a few of these groups: 4-H Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County, New Jersey Think Outside the Box, The Greater Eldridge Park Neighborhood Association [GEPNA], S.A. V.E., Mercer County Soil Conservation, Solar Man, Girls Scout of America, Rainbows
and Giggles, the Children’s corner, NJ Mycological Association, Organic Material Recycling, and many more.

In addition, the Outdoor Art Team will be at the festival to create another one of their fantastic works of art.

 Special thanks to Notre Dame High School in Lawrence for allowing the attendees to park in their lot to alleviate the parking at the Center and congestion on nearby streets.

The Lawrence Nature Center is an excellent place to bring the family, and your
friends. Help us to celebrate Mother Earth. This year Food and beverages will be available for one of the local restaurants.  Music will be performed by Eli the Hawk with his Americana Music …“replenish your senses”.

Also you can stroll through the meadow, visit the butterfly garden [work in
progress], the Native Plant Garden in the front of house, the Rain Garden on the south-west side of the house, the Beehives, the Chimney Swift Bird station, and much more.

The Lawrence Nature Center is located in Lawrence Twp., NJ. Hundreds of years ago the Lenni Lenape Indians lived along the Shabakunk Creed. By 1776 European settlers had replaced the Indians and the woods had become a part of Mahlon Stacy’s tract.  This area was then farmed until 1970 but later reverted to woodlands. In 1998 the Township bought the 37 acre tract of the Drexel Woods for open space for passive recreation.


In 1941 Carl and Lucille Rinck owned a 9 acre parcel adjoining the Drexel Woods. They built their home with recycled brick from the Trenton Pottery, where Carl worked. They planted lots of exotic trees. After Carl’s death Lucille continued to welcome the neighborhood children to her meadow and taught them about the numerous birds that live in the vicinity. Lucille died in her 90s without an heir and the township bought the property in 1998.

In 2002 the township set aside funds to develop the house into a Nature Center. The Recreation Department and the Friends of the Lawrence Nature Center are grateful to the Public Works Department, which did much of the work, contributing to the architectural renovations. Today the nature center is run mainly by volunteers.