If you're having trouble viewing this email, you can see it online.
Claytor Nature Center
Summer Newsletter - 2023
Bedford Bulletin: Grant Improves Safety at Claytor Nature Center
Claytor Nature Center has received its first ever grant from the Bedford Community Health Foundation.
“It was so nice to feel a part of the community,” commented Jennifer Wills, Claytor’s director.
Wills said the grant will enable them to improve safety at the Center. The grant enabled Wills to buy an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and two large first aid kits. Thank you BCHF!!
Chelsea Harlan lives in Bedford County. Her recent book, "Bright Shade" was awarded the 2022 APR/Honickman First Book Prize, selected by Jericho Brown. Harlan credits the Claytor Nature Center in the book, and is the daughter of the always-amazing Maggy Liell.
The Field Academy visited Claytor for the first time. About the Field Academy. Students are highschool age and come from all over the country. This cohort included students from California, Montana, Colorado, New York, Washington, DC, Roanoke, to name a few.
The group stayed in the EcoLodge for three days, learned from Dr. Laura Henry-Stone about environmental justice, climate justice and the heat mapping project she did with Dr. Karin Warren from Randolph College. The campers also heard from Dr. John Styrsky about the milkweed adaptation research he and students are doing at Claytor.
Claytor Nature Center Announces Membership Program & Entry Fee
We announced this month our new membership program, “Claytor Community.”
And you should join!
Members will receive free admission to the Center, significant discounts on programming and facility rentals, and invitations to member-only events. Some member levels also receive a waived photoshoot reservation fee and social media recognition. Corporate members will receive exclusive social media and website spotlighting to showcase their commitment to the Center’s mission and the environment.
Also this month: the Center’s new entry fee took effect July 1st. In order to keep up with rising costs, we have implemented this low-cost, honor system entry fee of $10 per car. University of Lynchburg students are free, alumni, those over 65, and veterans just $5. Guests can avoid the fee by becoming a member! Contact Beck at 540-871-9001 to become a member. You can also visit for free by checking out a pass at a Bedford County library. We will be expanding the library program to Campbell County and Lynchburg City libraries in the near future.
If you or your family cannot afford a membership or entry fee, we hope that other guests will support you by purchasing memberships that we can give away to families that do not have the means to buy their own membership. We also ask that you contact us at claytor@lynchburg.edu to discuss your circumstances.
Visitors to the University of Lynchburg’s Claytor Nature Center will soon have access to digital maps of the property’s hiking trails, thanks to Maggie Kicklighter ’24 and a $1,200 grant from the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges.
Kicklighter, a Westover Honors Fellow and environmental sciences and sustainability major from Lynchburg, Virginia, had been looking for an opportunity to use what she learned last fall in Dr. Dave Perault’s Introduction to GIS class.
“I really enjoyed it,” Kicklighter said of the class, which gives students an introduction to global information systems, or GIS. “I wanted to do more with the skills I had learned and get experience working on actual projects, instead of practice problems and lab assignments.”
Virginia A&E came out for United Way's Day of Caring! The group cleared brush, cleaned all of the windows at the education building, and so much more! Thank you Virginia A&E!!
Brian and Ruth have done an amazing job with the Discovery Garden located next to the pavilion. The garden is protected from deer with large fencing and features a wide variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers!
Friends of the Blue Ridge, Peaks of Otter chapter, have been very busy in Otter Space. Otter Space is our children’s natural play area with tables for resting and snacking, a tunnel for the kids to slide through, fairy garden, stump circle, dig pit and more. The area is fenced in and has a small stream running through it. Friends have been keeping the grasses at a reasonable level, clearing invasive species, and developing a plan for a pavilion, more tables, art table, mud kitchen and more! Keep an eye on Otter Space and the great things coming.
If you or your group would like to volunteer or get involved in other ways, contact staff at 540-871-9001 or by email: stanley_b2@lynchburg.edu
