By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
As Kent and Carlene Creps watched park patrons take their first hike on the new West Wintergarden Prairie Trail on Friday, they knew they had made the right decision to preserve the land for future generations to explore.
“I’m 83 and I used to ride my horse through here 67 years ago,” Carlene said. “I just wanted it to stay wild.”
“Yup, that’s what we want,” Kent said.
Carlene’s ancestors settled on the Wintergarden Road land in 1897. The family farmed 90 acres there for more than a century.
“This was a dirt road when I was a kid,” she said.
The Creps – married for 64 years on Oct. 5, tried to farm the 20 acres located to the south of the front property of Wintergarden Park.
But according to Kent, the woodchucks ate the soybeans and the deer ate the corn.
“We gave up on that,” he said.
So the couple put the property in the Conservation Reserve Program. As part of that program, the acreage was planted with tall grasses and flowers in 2007. Recently, with the help of a grant, donated funds, and the assistance of the BG Parks and Recreation Foundation and the Black Swamp Conservancy – the prairie joined Wintergarden Park.
“I will do my best to take care of it – keep it pretty,” Cinda Stutzman, natural resources specialist with Bowling Green City Parks, said to the Creps after all the trail walkers had left.
“I hope all the young kids enjoy it. I did,” Carlene said, with tears in her eyes.
“Kids” of all ages are already enjoying the new prairie and its half-mile trail.
Joyce Kepke and her dog, Pepper, often walk in the city’s parks.
“Wintergarden Park is our favorite. She tells me when it’s time for our walks,” Kepke said as she and Pepper took their first stroll in the West Wintergarden Prairie on Friday.
“I like the fact that this trail is different in things that you see,” Kepke said.
Carol Norman, who walks frequently in Wintergarden Park with her son, enjoys the diverse areas where pollinators and tadpoles can be seen.
“It’s really pretty. I like it,” Norman said as she walked the new trail. “I’m going to add it to my walks.”
The new trail through the tallgrass habitat connects two wooded areas of the established preserve.
Access points to explore the West Wintergarden Prairie are located in the southwest corner of Wintergarden Woods and the northwest corner of Tucker Woods. Maps to assist with navigation are located at the information area of the Nature Center and at the trail access points.
Lee Meserve, who is a regular walker in Wintergarden Park, appreciates the additional acreage.
“It’s nice that this piece of land is going to be part of the preserve,” said Meserve, who spotted 26 deer on his Friday morning walk in the park. “I think that was a great move.”
Stutzman agreed.
“This is a monumental moment,” she said. “This is the last piece of property we can add to the preserve.”
Stutzman has big plans for the prairie – with the first goal being to plant new flowers, which will bring new insects, which will attract new birds.
“I’m all about diversity,” she said.
Chris Gajewicz, the city’s natural resources coordinator, recalled meeting Kent Creps years ago on the border between the parkland and Creps’ property.
“Kent was on the side of the fence and we got to talking,” Gajewicz said. “From that day on, I coveted your land.”
Gajewicz thanked Park and Recreation Director Kristin Otley for realizing the importance of nature as part of the city’s parks.
“We are truly blessed to have this right at our fingertips,” he said.
Mayor Mike Aspacher shared those feelings.
“We are really proud of our parks,” he said.
Aspacher noted the partners that came together to make the addition to Wintergarden Park possible. The Black Swamp Conservancy, Bowling Green Parks Foundation, the city and the Creps worked to add the new acreage to the park.
“There’s great value in partnerships,” he said.
As the mayor looked at those gathered Friday to be among the first trailblazers in the prairie, he noted the diversity.
“We have old people, young people, and some in between,” Aspacher said.
Enrique Gomezdelcampo, president of the Bowling Green Parks Foundation, thanked all who helped with the city’s share of the expense for the new acreage.
And Elizabeth Anderson, of the Black Swamp Conservancy, thanked the Creps family for having the foresight to leave a legacy where people can study nature, relax and recreate.
If not for that, “this land was destined to be lost to development forever,” Anderson said.
