SUNY Oswego's Rice Creek Field Station will host a Pollinator Party from 11 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, featuring hands-on nature activities, live acoustic music and recreational opportunities like guided nature walks and self-guided trail walking. 

The celebration connects with SUNY Oswego's designation as a Bee Campus for its programs and efforts to support pollinators.

Part of the university's Family and Friends Weekend Oct. 17 to 19, the event will have shuttles available to transport students and their family and friends to Rice Creek. Parking is available at the field station, but it is limited, so use of the shuttles is encouraged.

Activities with start times include:

  • Guided Plant-Pollinator Nature Walk: 11 a.m.
  • Live acoustic music courtesy of Rose and the Amateurs: noon to 2 p.m.
  • Guided Pollinator Mindfulness Walk: 1 p.m.

Ongoing activities will include:

  • Sample pollinator-produced food and drinks, in partnership with Green Planet Grocery
  • Creating a wooden pro-pollinator yard sign
  • Getting crafty by making pollinator magnets, origami bookmarks, and upcycled bee hotels
  • Exploring with a pollinator photo scavenger hunt or self-guided nature walks
  • Browsing and purchasing locally-grown native plants that support pollinators, from Butterfly Effect nursery
  • Viewing and purchasing local crafts and goods at a pop-up market, featuring local and sustainably grown cut flowers (Henrietta's Homestead), honey and beeswax products (local beekeepers), and sustainable goods made by SUNY Oswego students
  • Learning about pollinators, habitat gardening, food forests, and beekeeping at organization tables hosted by Habitat Gardening in CNY (a Wild Ones Chapter), Atlantic States Legal Foundation and local beekeepers
  • Celebrating SUNY Oswego's milestones and programs supporting plants and pollinators with tables (including interactive activities) from Bee Campus USA, the SeedShare seed library and the 30-year Rice Creek butterfly survey
  • Diving into pollinator diversity and evolution with a Dinosaurs and Pollinators table and displays of insect diversity from Rice Creek's collections
  • Picking up a new pollinator or habitat gardening book with the river's end bookstore

Parking and transportation

Since parking is limited at Rice Creek, SUNY Oswego students and their families and friends are encouraged to use the free van shuttles provided to attend the event, which will run continuously from 11 am to 3 pm, leaving from the Marano Campus Center bus stop to Rice Creek and back. Guests will be dropped off right in front of the field station building. The final return shuttle from Rice Creek will be at 2:45 pm.

For non-SUNY Oswego attendees, parking is available near the Rice Creek building and along one side of the driveway.

Accessibility

Rice Creek Field Station and its surrounding sidewalks and pavilion are ADA accessible. Certain activities, like guided walks, are not ADA or ABA accessible. For questions about accessibility, or to seek accommodations, please contact Rice Creek at rcfs@oswego.edu in advance of the event.