A Day in the Life of a Site: Cedar Bog
Posted June 20, 2024

Ever wonder what it takes to run an Ohio History Connection site? Our amazing site staff members work hard to maintain the physical site, create programming, provide customer service and more! Take a peek behind the scenes at Cedar Bog Nature Preserve to see what a typical day is like for the staff.

 

 

 

Cedar Bog is surprisingly... not a bog! We are a fen. Our volunteers love to point this out before visitors walk on the boardwalk.

Wooden boardwalk going through a forested area
A group of people sitting around a plastic table working on crafts.

 

 

 

 

Here, one of our volunteers, Anna Camper, is helping create crafts for our Earth Day event! Anna helps design our display boards in the education room.

 

 

 

 

One of our board members and loyal volunteer, Cheryl Erwin, leads a group tour on the boardwalk. This group came to see a few of our native orchid species!

A group of people standing on a wooden boardwalk in a forseted area listening to a person give a tour.
Old newspaper article with a picture of volunteers at Cedar Bog. The text says, " Twelve members of a 25-member group constructing a wooden walkway through Cedar Bog in Champaign Country rest from their tedious task of construction through the swampy area. The young people are part of the Cedar Bog action group working with the Ohio Youth Commision. The volunteers were advised by Fred Lewton, a caretaker and naturalist of the Ohio Historical Society and Dorn Davids, chief naturalist of the Ohio Historical Society. The board walk is being constructed so that visitors to the bog will not trample the foliage. The youthful volunteers, who battled hungry mosquitos Saturday morning came from Springfield, Urbana and Columbus, according to Mr. Lewton.

 

 

 

 

At Cedar Bog, we've relied on volunteers since the 70s! Here is a newspaper article describing how the first boardwalk was built.

 

 

 

 

One of our research groups received permission to complete core sampling in our sedge meadow areas. How old do you think the "bog" really is?

Three individuals standing in a meadow holding an auger and core sample they just removed.
A group of children sitting at plastic tables out side.

 

 

 

 

We also host school groups! We had a group of 113 6th graders from Graham Local Schools visit us recently and we were able to show them a few snake species that can be found at Cedar Bog.

 

 

 

 

Our building volunteer, Connie Flanly, is showing off our collection of Charlie Harper items at our gift shop located inside the nature center.

A woman standing in front of a wall containing postcards, cards, puzzles, and other Charlie Harper items.

We "hop"e you get the chance to visit Cedar Bog!

Learn more about Cedar Bog Nature Preserve by visiting yourself!  Click here for up-to-date days and hours of operation, as well as the phone number and address.

Ohio History Connection members enjoy free general admission to Cedar Bog, as well as our 50+ other historic sites and museums. Visit ohiohistory.org/join to become a member!

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