DELAFIELD, Wis. — Volunteers at the Hausmann Nature Center in Waukesha County take great pride in making sure the public can appreciate the beauty of the Kettle Moraine State Forest at Lapham Peak.
One of those volunteers is Eva Guzik.
On Friday, she cleared an area to make room to plant more flowers in the butterfly garden. She spends countless hours volunteering in the garden.
“Enough flowers to leave the beauty of spring and early summer later on to keep them intact so they will not overwhelm the rest of the population,” said Guzik.
She said after retiring from her job three years ago, she wanted to give back to her community. For her, that meant sharing her love of gardening and her love of nature.
“I want to bring in more youth and young children and give wonderful opportunities for the older people, and that’s what inspired me. And the garden was suffering, and I wanted to give the breath of freshness and space and the butterfly more flowers and for the pollinators to rejuvenate themselves, and that’s what inspired me,” said Guzik.
Melissa Jarecki is the Vice President of the Friends of Lapham Peak. The organization helps keep the Hausmann Nature Center operating.
She said the center has multiple displays to show how the area came to be and the animals that call the region home.
“A lot of places that you go, museums and stuff, will say ‘don’t touch, don’t touch’ and we say, yes. We call it two finger touching most of the time but they can actually feel what a turtle shell feels,” said Jarecki.
From teaching others about nature to helping remove invasive species, Jarecki said they are always looking for volunteers.
“It’s always been volunteers that staff it, that help do the programming so that we have educational programming each weekend that we are open, two weekends a month from April to October,” said Jarecki.
Guzik said they have seen a lot more people visit to check out the birds and pollinators. Her favorite part is seeing the visitors who are inspired by the garden.
“We also educate them about the importance and the quality of life which brings pollinators and birds and that gives some kind of reassurance that after I am gone the children, the next generation will carry on so this is a very important job, " said Guzik. "We are a part of nature, so it gives a big warm feeling that I participated in a wonderful job."
Guzik said she is happy to continue working in the garden. She loves giving people a space to relax and take in the beauty of their world.
The next time that the Hausmann Nature Center will be open is September 2-4.
For more information on volunteer opportunities, click here.