Family Fun at Retzer Nature Center Earth Week Celebration

Hundreds of families turned out on a gorgeous spring day Saturday for the Earth Week Finale at the Retzer Nature Center in Waukesha.

The celebration of Earth Week wrapped up Saturday with a big Earth Week Finale at the Rezter Nature Center.  Patch editors were on hand to take photos of children of all ages hanging out with the Waukesha County Recycling Raccoon as part of the festivities. Parents were given printed photos as a souvenir of the event. Any families who had their photos taken but did not pick them up Saturday should stop by the front desk of Retzer to get their pictures.

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Earth Week 2013 Finale at Retzer Nature Center

Come celebrate Earth Day at Retzer Nature and get your picture taken with the recycling raccoon!

Earth Week is going out with a bang at Retzer Nature Center and Patch will be there to help capture those Kodak moments.  This is the 21st year of Earth Day celebrations at Retzer, lead naturalist Larry Kascht said, and before that, the park celebrated Aldo Leopold. "He was a Wisconsin naturalist who has really been kind of a father figure, or the spokesman for the environmental movement," Kascht said. "But in 1992, we decided we better ‘get with it’ and do something as an Earth Week activity." So for the last two decades, Retzer has celebrated conservation and the environment with a slew of events focused on increasing awareness and appreciation of the environment.  "What were trying to do is give people and families a good experience of …

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Earth Week 2013: Celebrate With Retzer Nature Center in Waukesha

Earth Week finale event on Saturday, April 27, will be full of fun and activity at the Retzer Nature Center in Waukesha.

While Earth Day is Monday, the Waukesha County Parks System is celebrating all week long. Earth Week at the Retzer Nature Center is full of fun, family friendly activities teaching parents and their kids about the environment, recycling techniques and gardening tips. But for Ginny Bocek, parks program specialist, the Earth Day finale makes the week that much more enjoyable. “It is a great family fun day to get outside, to get active and to learn about one’s surroundings,” Bocek said. Bocek’s brought her children to the Earth Week finale event in the past, she said, and it’s a treat to watch the children exploring the environment with the hands-on activities. "It is just amazing to see it through the eyes of your children,” Bocek said. …

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Star Gaze or Owl Prowl at Retzer Nature Center's Wild Winter Night

Enjoy guided winter night hikes throughout the evening, free use of snowshoes and an informal sing-along by a warm campfire with s’mores and hot cocoa Saturday.

PHOTOS: Apple Harvest Preparations in Full Swing

The Apple Harvest Festival is being held Saturday at the Retzer Nature Center just west of Waukesha.

Volunteers and workers are busy getting the Retzer Nature Center ready for the Apple Harvest Festival. Hundreds of pies have been baked, the apples have been dipped in caramel and decorated and the scarecrows align the pathways. The Apple Harvest Festival is being held at the center, S14w28167 Madison St., Waukesha, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The weather’s not expected to be a sunny day that we’ve experienced for most of the summer. With a 60 percent chance of precipitation, showers are expected between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. with a high of 57 degrees. It’s the perfect chance to wear the rain boots and open the umbrellas.

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No Explosive Found at Retzer Nature Center

Waukesha County Sheriff's Department and Milwaukee Police Department called to investigate a device that looked like a potential pipe bomb.

A device that resembled a pipe bomb found in an outdoor garbage can at the Retzer Nature Center had no explosive materials, according to Waukesha County Sheriff’s Detective Steve Pederson. Bomb technicians from the Milwaukee Police Department were called to the nature center Tuesday after an employee saw the device. People on a field trip and employees at the nature center were evacuated from the area as authorities handled the situation, according to Pederson. It is unknown where the pipe came from or why it was placed in the garbage, Pederson said. “These types of things, we err on the side of caution,” Pederson explained. The Retzer Nature Center is re-opened and employees have returned to the center after the eventful morning and …

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Snow's Here - Let's Hit the Parks!

Waukesha County Parks are ready to provide trails for skiing, hills for sledding and trails around the county for snowmobiling.

The Waukesha County Park System has over 25 miles of groomed and tracked cross-country ski trails, sledding hills, as well as snowshoeing and winter hiking trails. According to a release from Ginny Bocek, Parks Program Specialist, the county will be monitoring the snow conditions regularly in order to make sure  the grooming process is started as soon as possible after or during our first snowfall. Once they have established packed and tracked trails, they will update the website. Cross-country ski trails: Menomonee Park, Menomonee Falls;  Minooka Park, Waukesha; and Nashotah Park, Nashotah.   Snowshoeing or winter hiking: Fox River Park, Waukesha; Muskego Park, Muskego; and Retzer Nature Center, Waukesha. In addition, snowshoe rentals are…

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Denise Konkol

8:59 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012

Thanks Michelle...your last name is beyond ironic! We're going to run another story later on other area and statewide links, so I'll include this one as well. Can't wait for next winter when the Park Arthur hill will be ready.   more ›

PHOTOS: Apple Harvest Festival at Retzer Nature Center

Fall kicks off with wagon rides and apple-eating at Waukesha County park.

Families gathered Saturday afternoon as the community celebrated the start of fall during the 25th annual Apple Harvest Festival at Retzer Nature Center. The family-friendly event featured music, tours, crafts, demonstrations, hayrides and food. About 50 varieties of apples were for sale at the event in the apple market and the event was expected to draw more than 4,000 people.

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Bringing in Fall with an Apple Harvest Festival

Retzer Nature Center to host the 25th annual Apple Harvest Festival on Saturday.

The Apple Harvest Festival started 25 years ago “as an outreach to the public—a way to bring people to Retzer, to see the lands and trails, and to see the new Visitor Center (built in 1986)," according to Larry Kascht, Retzer Nature Center supervisor. "It was a way to connect Retzer with a specific event that was good for families and that had a connection with the local land history,” Kascht said. More than 40 different varieties of apples will be making a crisp presence as the community celebrates the start of fall during the 25th annual Apple Harvest Festival at Retzer Nature Center. The festival takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and costs $5 per carload. All of the apples are from local orchards and one variety, the Heirloom Apple, …

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