NABC staff and volunteersOnce a year the NABC concentrates on having fun and showing folks that it's not all about bears. The entire staff, office, sales associates and maintenance all pull together to make a Halloween event fun for families. It's an opportunity for folks who may not have been to the NABC to realize we have a lot to offer families. We are an educational facility for all ages. This year we are utilizing the Hope Learning Center and other areas of our the expansion for our Halloween event. The Hope Learning Center is going to be a multimedia classroom that can be configured for a variety of activities. Learning about bears and other wildlife will be the primary use via presentations, lectures, movies and Q and A sessions. But today it will be the games area for our Halloween event. Other parts of the new addition will be a little more scary.
Halloween decorationsHow does an event like this happen? Only with the generous help from our on-site volunteers. Can you pick out the volunteers in these pictures?.
What volunteer opportunities are there on-site at the NABC?
Halloween funThere are plenty!
Local volunteers help beautify the nature trail and flowerbeds around the NABC, pitch in to help with special events like the annual Lilypad picnic, assist with a variety of outdoor maintenance and indoor administrative tasks, or work with visitor groups.
In addition, a large number of volunteers come to the NABC each summer season as part of the Bear Educator Team, devoted to educating the public about black bear behavior and providing hands-on care for Ted, Honey, Lucky and Holly.
Can YOU help? YES! It's so easy.
Halloween gamesVisit our volunteer web page at http://www.bear.org/website/volunteer.html to view some of our open volunteer positions and if you haven't done so already, submit an application. If there are no positions listed of interest to you right now, fill out an application anyway. We constantly review our database to find just the right people for upcoming projects and teams.
We are looking for every type of skill. Also, if you have an idea for a new volunteer opportunity that could be helpful in supporting our educational mission, let our Volunteer Coordinators Terry and Myra know at
Ted moving strawWe hope to welcome you aboard soon as a new volunteer.
The bear care staff put a bale of straw in Honey's window den and Ted's chalet. Ted must think it is a little too early so he proceeded to move about half of it onto his porch. Honey is thinking maybe the timing is right. She left the straw inside the den so far. Time will tell.
Honey in window den
Sidenote - Lynn asked us to make mention of an old blog that tells the story behind the DNR actions better than any reporter has. It is at http://wherethebearwalks.blogspot.com/ 2014/03/the-minnesota-dnr-declares-war-against.html.
We hope he is having a good time with family and friends as well as his forest adventure with 10-year-old granddaughter Veronica.
Thank you for your support.
Judy Thon, Director of Education, North American Bear Center
All photos taken today unless otherwise noted.