Meet Bonnie and Skip at Blendon Woods

Bonnie and Skip Decker
Metro Parks Volunteers at Blendon Woods

Bonnie and Skip Decker are talking with Communications Coordinator, Virginia Gordon

Volunteering at Metro Parks

BONNIE

We have been volunteer naturalists at Blendon Woods Metro Park since March 2009. Scheduling our volunteer time is easy. We do noon to 3pm every Thursday.

SKIP

We work at the nature center, greeting visitors, answering their nature questions, talking to them about the park and about the exhibits in the nature center. We take turns to have a break from the nature center and head out onto the nearby trails. Usually we get to interact with more visitors on the trails.

BONNIE

I particularly like it when we get school groups in the nature center. A couple of weeks ago there was an amusing moment that I very much enjoyed. A teacher was telling kids in the school group that they couldn’t do that, they couldn’t touch things. I was in the process of bringing out our animal pelts, which I always do when school groups arrive, and I called out, “You can touch these!” We have lots of pelts, which include a fox, mink, skunk, and rabbit. Kids love touching the furs. Many of them can’t believe these used to belong to real animals. It always leads to interesting discussions with the kids. I also get to introduce them to our ambassador animals. We have box turtles, a map turtle, tree frogs, a salamander, a black rat snake, and some intriguing insects, such as a praying mantis. At one time we also had several walking stick insects, which really fascinated most kids.

WORKING TOGETHER

BONNIE

Skip and I met when we were students at Miami University in Oxford. I was studying elementary and special ed education and I always wanted to become a teacher. We were at Miami from 1970 to 1974. I’m from Columbus. I grew up on the west side and went to West High School in the Hilltop area, west of downtown. After graduating from Miami I came back to Columbus and worked for a year in Columbus City Schools, in special ed. Skip and I got married in June 1975. Soon after, Skip got a job in Lima, Ohio, which is about 90 miles northwest of Columbus. We moved to Lima and I worked in the public school system there. I worked for 12 years in special ed, another 12 years teaching 4th grade, and eight years teaching 1st grade, through to my retirement in 2008.

SKIP

We retired at the same time. I come from Tipp City, which is a small town of about 10,000 inhabitants, in southern Miami County. It used to be known as Tippecanoe but it changed its name in 1938, as there was another Tippecanoe in Ohio, in Harrison County. My mom named me Earl after my grandfather, but it wasn’t long before she came to think the name sounded old-fashioned and outdated, so she began calling me Skip. The name Skip has stuck ever since. I studied psychology and sociology at Miami University, but the career prospects from a degree in these disciplines weren’t great. After graduating, I took a federal civil service test and was contacted by Lima Social Security, who were impressed by my test score. They offered me a job and I worked my entire career there as a social security claims rep. As an interesting aside, two other psychology graduates from Miami were recruited to positions at Lima Social Security at the same time.

BONNIE

Miami University has many wonderful traditions, including Miami Mergers, which recognizes students who met at the university and then got married. They send us a special Miami Mergers Valentine Card every year. We have three kids, and they all went to college in central Ohio and stayed here. That’s why we chose to relocate to central Ohio after we retired, to be close to our kids. We moved to Westerville. Blendon Woods became our local park and we visited it regularly.

SKIP

We both had a deep interest in nature. When I was a child, my grandmother used to take me to the woods and would enlighten me about the forest ecology. She had a great knowledge of botany. Thanks to her teaching and encouragement I’ve always felt at home in the woods. When we moved to Westerville, we fell in love with Blendon Woods and we both wanted to volunteer. Sarah Dalton was the head naturalist at Blendon Woods back then, but our volunteer interview was conducted by another park naturalist, Bruce Simpson. Bruce’s main interest was birding and he taught us so much about birdwatching and how to get the most out of it. On our very first day as volunteers he simply had us go out to Thoreau Lake and count the ducks. He became our birdwatching mentor over the years. After that first volunteer session, we went out and bought ourselves our own binoculars.

BONNIE

I had never realized just how many different species of ducks there were and how many you could see at the park’s Thoreau Lake. We definitely caught the birdwatching bug, thanks to Bruce’s help. Growing up on the west side of Columbus, I was familiar with the largest Metro Park, Battelle Darby Creek. I went to programs there and on various family visits. As a family, we often went on camping vacations to state or national parks, with my parents, myself and my two younger brothers. We went to most of the state parks in Ohio, and to national parks in California and Colorado.

SKIP

A birder at Blendon Woods talked to us about the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area up on Lake Erie. It’s a wonderful place for birdwatching any time of year, but for two or three weeks in May, during spring migration, it’s one of the great birdwatching sites in the world.

We go up there for about three days every year, with our binoculars, of course. I love to take my camera with me too. I call it the Garden of Eden for bird watchers. The shrubbery is so low and the birds get so close to you. We also visit Mohican State Park in the Mansfield area during spring and fall migration. Birdwatching is a wonderful excuse for being in the woods. As well as Blendon Woods, which is great for birding, we like to go out with our binoculars, and me with my camera, to Blacklick Woods, Sharon Woods, Highbanks and Clear Creek.

BONNIE

In addition to our weekly Thursday afternoon slot, we volunteer for some weekend events too, especially the Winter Hike and the Blendon Butterfly Weekend. Back in Sarah’s day, the focus was almost exclusively on monarch butterflies, as monarch butterflies were her passion. We still raise monarch butterflies at Blendon Woods, but this species is definitely, and so sadly, in a period of decline.

SKIP

When Sarah was here, we would sometimes help to feed the monarchs. We were taught how to hold them gently by the wing, and then use a paper clip to very gently unfold the butterfly’s proboscis so they could use it to drink fruit juice. When butterflies emerge from the chrysalis their proboscis, which is their tightly coiled mouth part, isn’t fully developed. The act of uncurling and curling the monarch’s proboscis using the paper clip actually helps them. People were more concerned by the act of holding them by the wing, so very great care has to be taken doing that.

BONNIE

As naturalists have left or retired, other naturalists have taken their place, often with their own or very different focus or special interest. We always learn new things from them. For example, Craig Biegler has moved here to Blendon Woods and has taught us so much about insects and how vital they are for our ecosystems. And our current head naturalist, Stephanie West, is a fount of knowledge and is always so encouraging.

SKIP

Oh she is. Stephanie is just so enthusiastic all the time. We love the camaraderie of working with the park naturalists, as well as the ranger and maintenance staff too.

My favorite Metro Parks story that includes a positive or memorable visitor interaction

THE OWL THAT NEVER WAS

SKIP

I have a good ability to mimic the calls of certain owl species, and one day I made use of it to play a bit of a good-natured prank that led to a very memorable visitor interaction. Andrea Krava was our head naturalist at the time, and Andrea had led a 6th grade school group hike. I heard them coming back and I started making screech owl calls, which I’m particularly good at. I was sitting by a creek off the trail, and I heard Andrea ask the kids to be quiet and listen for the screech owl. She said screech owls were so rarely seen at the park at that particular time of year. I carried on making the calls until Andrea and the school group came closer and saw me. I had a big grin and I revealed myself to be the screech owl. The kids loved it and all thought it was really funny. I had a good chat with them about owls. Andrea told me she thought she had heard a real owl, but I don’t think she loved it quite as much as much as the kids did!

Traveling – places we’ve been, places we’d love to go

BONNIE

Our daughter Jenny lived in San Jose, California for about nine years. Her husband worked for Apple. We went out to visit them frequently and had lots of wonderful trips to see the great sights out there. San Francisco was nearby and also Point Reyes, which has marvelous beaches. We also visited the California wine country, the nearby Napa and Sonoma valleys.

SKIP

Point Reyes was also great for birdwatching. There are miles of beaches to enjoy. It has a lighthouse from where you can watch for whales, which we saw on one of our trips. Redwood National Park is also close to San Jose and we went there too. My favorite place in California, though, is Big Sur, which is about a hundred miles south of San Jose. It’s a much more rugged coastline.

BONNIE

On one of our California trips, back in 2015, we took a week-long trip to Hawaii with Jenny and her husband. We flew to Maui and then took a shorter flight of about 200 miles to our final destination, Kauai, known as the ‘Garden Isle.’ Kauai is mostly rain forest and full of spectacular scenery. From the back deck of the condo where we stayed we could see seven waterfalls.. Jenny has been back in Columbus the past six years, so our California trips are done now.

SKIP

We went to the Outer Banks a lot when the kids were growing up. We’d also take lots of camping trips with the kids. We used to have a pop-up camper and would go to camp grounds of lots of state parks in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and West Virginia. Later, after the kids were grown, we used to own a Miata Sports car. Bonnie and I had some fantastic driving trips in it. In the early 2000s we drove down Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway, along the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which connects Shenandoah National Park with the Smoky Mountains National Park. The scenery was breathtaking. Every few hundred miles we’d stop and spend a night at a lodge and continue our drive the next day.

BONNIE

Our daughter-in-law’s family owns a vacation home in South Portland, Maine, in the famous Casco Bay. Its been in their family for more than a hundred years. We’ve been there three times now and it has spectacular scenery and lots of nesting seabirds, shorebirds and wading birds. Places we haven’t been to, but that I’d love to visit both for the scenery and the birdwatching are Alaska and Costa Rica.

SKIP

I’d like to visit Europe again. I went there as a student as Miami University has a satellite campus in Luxembourg. I studied there for a time in my sophomore year and made trips to England, France, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Fun facts about us and our family

1. Our 50th Anniversary!

BONNIE

It was our 50th wedding anniversary in June this year. Our kids rented a cabin in the Hocking Hills and we had a wonderful weekend away, together with our three kids and seven grandkids. We had a great hike to Ash Cave and enjoyed spectacular scenery the whole weekend. Our kids did the cooking and did us proud. Our eldest son, Jamie, was born in 1979. He went to OSU and works as a civil engineer. He lives in Worthington with his wife and four of our grandkids. Rehn, whose name derives from a family last name, is aged 17 and she’s a senior in high school. Reese is 15, she’s a sophomore, and Mara, aged 13, is in middle school. After three girls, Jamie and his wife then had a son, Gavin, now aged 10.

Our second child, Jeff, was born in 1983. He went to Capital University in Columbus and now works in IT, working almost exclusively from home. Jeff’s wife had been told it would be difficult for her to have kids, they had their own little miracle this year and their daughter Blake joined the family. She’s now 7 months old.

Our daughter Jenny was born in 1987 and went to OSU. She works as a speech therapist in Columbus. She and her husband have two sons, Jackson, age 11, and Judah, age nine.

2. I coached all our kids in youth soccer!

SKIP

All three of our kids were into sports and they all played soccer. I coached them all when they played for local club teams. We’d take them to tournaments and they had a lot of success. We took Jamie to a soccer tournament in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Jenny to a tournament in Indianapolis. Jeff’s club team qualified for a national soccer three-on-three tournament, which was held in Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle.

BONNIE

That was quite a trip. The tournament was held over Christmas and it was snowing when we left Ohio. It was great weather in Florida though. A lot of people were there to watch the tournament.

3. Pets!

BONNIE

When we lived in Lima, a cat adopted us. We called him Socks, because he had four white feet. He liked to be outside and loved to hunt. He would often bring us trophies from his successful hunts of mice. We had a problem when we decided to move to Westerville. Our Condo doesn’t allow outdoor cats and we couldn’t bear the thought of Socks being locked indoors all the time. Fortunately, our house inspector who handled the sale of our house in Lima fell in love with Socks and agreed to give him a good home. We can’t have pets of our own, but we do a lot of babysitting for our ‘granddogs!’ All three of our kids have dogs of their own and we sit for them at their homes as needed. We love animals, and even sit for neighbor’s dogs when they need us. There was a time when Skip was allergic to cats and dogs, but he seems to have lost the allergy.

My favorite food and dessert

BONNIE

I developed a gluten intolerance a few years ago and I have had to change my diet. I used to love a good hamburger, but I can’t eat the buns now. When we go out to eat, I usually take the safest course and order a salad. I saw my doctor recently, who told me that Donatos now makes a gluten-free pizza, so that is something I will definitely try. I have found a few solutions at home. I make apple crisp and pumpkin pie using almond flour, and I honestly enjoy it and can’t detect any difference to regular flour. But Skip can tell a difference. He won’t eat them.

SKIP

My tastes are fairly simple. I really like a steak meal or a spaghetti dish. For dessert, there’s nothing better, for me, than a good vanilla ice cream. I sometimes add root beer to make a classic root beer float.

Our favorite entertainment

SKIP

I love watching classic TV series such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Bosch, and Narcos. Those are my favorites.

BONNIE

I prefer more romantic movies, although I’d rather read than watch TV. I try to make time to read for at least an hour or two every evening. My favorite author is Danielle Steel. I love her romance novels and I’ve read them all, which is more than 180 books!

SKIP

We like to watch sports on TV, particularly the Columbus Crew soccer, major golf tournaments, and, of course, football. We love to watch the Buckeyes, the Browns and the Bengals, the teams we grew up watching. I wanted another creative hobby and I decided on painting. I use acrylic paint as it is easier to use. Because I do nature photography I have focused on using my photos as subjects for my paintings. Most of my paintings have been of birds, but I have also painted buildings such as the Blendon Woods Nature Center and the houses of family members. My other hobbies include hiking, biking, genealogy, harmonica playing and gardening.

What Blendon Woods Naturalist Stephanie West says about Bonnie and Skip

“Bonnie and Skip, or “Team Thursday,” are one of our most reliable, consistent Nature Center teams. Not only are they incredibly knowledgeable about the parks, and great with the visitors, it’s simply a pleasure to know I will get to see them every Thursday!”