Teaneck—It was a glorious May day, perfect for a nature walk. Families from the community as well as seasoned hikers joined lone dog walkers for a trip to see and hear the sounds of springtime up close, right in our back yards in southern Teaneck.
The Teaneck Creek Conservancy, hosting a spring event to celebrate Earth Day in the Teaneck Creek Park, offered complimentary kosher snacks, wood-carving demonstrations, a self-guided scavenger hunt and “Close Encounters with Birds of Prey,” a live raptor show provided by the Delaware Valley Raptor Center.
A 46-acre nature park, the Teaneck Creek Conservancy is part of Bergen County’s Overpeck Park. Once a staging ground for the construction of the intersection of Routes 80 and 95, the land had been an unofficial dumpsite for nearly half a century. In 2006, after what organizers described as “hundreds of hours of community meetings and thousands of hours of sweat equity,” the Teaneck Creek Park emerged with over 1.3 miles of groomed trails, an outdoor classroom and numerous ecological art exhibits. It’s an ideal local place to go birding, because the site is flyover territory for migrating birds, and offers a haven for them throughout the year.
“The land is owned by the county as part of Overpeck Park, and is the only canopy forest experience at Overpeck,” said Adam Strobel, the Teaneck Creek Conservancy’s president. While the time he spends with the conservancy is voluntary, Stobel is also director of the division of open spaces in the county’s department of planning and economic development.
“It’s a jewel, tucked away off Teaneck Road and Degraw Avenue,” he told JLBC. “People always say to me, ‘I didn’t know this was here,’” Strobel said. Strobel explained that the Teaneck Creek Park is part of a unique partnership with the Bergen County Parks Department and many volunteers from the numerous organizations and groups that are involved with the Teaneck Creek Conservancy. For example, on Wednesdays, a volunteer group known as the Weed Warriors works to maintain the paths and pull invasive species, while the Parks Department keeps up the mowing along the trails, he said.
“It’s a benefit not only to the county but to the park users. There’s an investment of time that our people have in the area,” he said. “The Bergen County Audubon Society is one of our biggest partners. We also work with the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and Holy Name Hospital,” he said.
Throughout the year, the conservancy is host to events like Bat-Stock, an evening event to study bats and other night wildlife, as well as Butterflies and Birding for Beginners, which brings new people, young and old, into the park each year.
One of the highlights of the walk inside the conservancy is discovering the Turtle Peace Labyrinth, an interactive art exhibition begun in 2003 and completed in 2004, by Ariana Burgess of Camino de Paz. The artist, with many volunteers, moved hundreds of dumped pieces of heavy highway concrete, known here as “New Jersey Rubblestone,” painted them a rust color and built a maze-like winding path that can be used to walk and meditate. The labyrinth carries a spirit of playfulness, and boasts a kind of healing and renewal that the conservancy has dedicated itself to. “Come walk the labyrinth for yourself,” conservancy volunteers said.
Holy Name Hospital, just three blocks from the park’s entrance on Fycke Lane, is a strong partner for the conservancy. “Holy Name uses the Teaneck Creek Park’s outdoor classroom and other parts of the park as part of our stress management series of programs,” said Linda Lohsen, director of Holy Name’s Center for Healthy Living. In fact, part of the series includes a Labyrinth Walk, which will occur on Monday, May 19 (rain date May 21) at 5:30 pm. The group will meet at 20 Puffin Way, and the event is free. Call 877-465-9626 and prompt 5 to register. The group also will be offering “Principles of Stress Reduction” on Monday, June 9th. Use the same information as above to register.
Another art installation of particular interest to children is sculptor Anthony Santella’s carvings in wood of local animals into the trunks of fallen trees. At the Earth Day event, Santella offered demonstrations of carving with traditional hand tools. Several of his carvings—a turtle, a turkey and a rabbit, are displayed inside the park. The carvings are left untreated and allowed to naturally weather, ultimately decay and return to the soil over the course of decades. Children enjoy the opportunity to touch and feel the animal sculptures.
An open butterfly garden also exists inside the park, with native plants designed to attract butterflies. While the garden was open at the Earth Day event, the butterflies are not expected to come until it’s warmer, generally by late May or early June, said a conservancy board member.
“We try to provide a different kind of thing. A new element for people to enjoy,” said Strobel. In terms of the Eco-Art exhibits, Strobel shared that one of the installations, the Five Pipes Project, is another attempt at turning reclaimed materials into art. “There were five large water or drainage pipes that were placed there when Route 95 was being constructed in the 1960s. Instead of trying to remove them, it was turned into an art project, representing five different eras,” he said. A muralist, Eduardo Alexander Rabe, was brought in to lead the work, which was done by children and volunteers. The colorful pipes are big enough for an adult to stand inside, and children enjoy running through them and listening to the echos their voices make inside the pipes.
The Earth Day event at the Teaneck Creek Conservancy was co-sponsored by Bergen County, the Puffin Foundation, Whole Foods, PSE&G and Holy Name Medical Center. The park is kid-friendly and stroller-friendly. For more information or to visit the park, visit http://www.teaneckcreek.org.
By Elizabeth Kratz
