A commemorative bench will be placed in the trail addition area next spring or early summer with a dedication ceremony. The dedication date will be announced in our spring newsletter and the Put-in-Bay Gazette. The following donors of $1,000 or more to the LEIC-BSC or the Park District will be named on the bench: Clean Ohio Conservation Fund, NatureWorks, Vacationland Aerie # 444 Inc., Fraternal Order of Eagles from Sandusky, First Energy Foundation, Thomas and Mary Katzenmeyer, Frost-Parker Foundation, and Randolph J. and Estelle M. Dorn Foundation.

All donors, members, and the public will be invited to the celebration. This is another two acres of wildflowers and woods for all to enjoy. Thanks to all who made this project possible.

Funds from a private donor and a Clean Ohio Conservation Fund grant in November 2007 allowed the Lake Erie Islands Chapter of the Black Swamp Conservancy to purchase three acres of woods adjacent to the Ladd Carr Wildlife Woods. The Jane Coates Wildflower Trail links the two properties. 

The Conservancy thanks land owners John and Debbie Woischke and Nettie La Plante for their cooperation and patience through the grant and acquisition process. Mrs. La Plante’s late husband, Harvey, always enjoyed the woods around their home and often enjoyed walking through them.  “We are so pleased the LEIC-BSC has purchased a portion of the woods so that it won’t be developed,” Mrs. LaPlante said. John Woischke also enjoys walking in the woods and is always puttering on his wooded property. He said he also is happy to see a portion kept as woods.     

The Trail area is wooded with a mix of Sugar Maple, Blue Ash, Basswood, Black Cherry, and Common Hackberry. Wildflowers like Dutchman’s Breeches, Jack in the Pulpit and Blue Phlox are present in the spring.  It is a great place to watch birds, enjoy wildlife, and walk in the woods.  Jane Coates, a well known former island artist, was well known for her love of the island and especially its wild areas.