To celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, the Kreher Preserve and Nature Center is bringing the Auburn youth a festive treat with their first leprechaun hunt.
The lively holiday of Irish descent is known to be represented by a fellow of small size with orange hair and a bright green suit: the leprechaun.
According to National Geographic’s website, “Leprechauns are actually one reason you’re supposed to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day—or risk getting pinched! The tradition is tied to folklore that says wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns, which like to pinch anyone they can see.”
The Kreher Preserve and Nature Center, KPNC, is a non-profit organization and outreach facility of the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment here at Auburn that offers education and leisure resources for the Lee County area.
The KPNC’s 120 acres of preserved native forest comprises six miles of hiking and running trails, a nature playground, a vegetable garden, a butterfly garden and wildflower meadows.
Teacher and naturalist Haleigh Thornton is the coordinator of the KPNC’s leprechaun hunt and teaches children of ages mostly from zero to five through the Nurtured in Nature program.
“As a mother of two little ones myself, I cannot be more grateful for this program as well as the other amazing resources the KPNC offers,” Thornton said.
The Kreher Preserve and Nature Center will host the leprechaun hunt from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 18. The 0.6-mile hike is held for children of ages that can walk to 12 years old. This is the first hunt that the KPNC has hosted but will be the first of many.
“I designed the hike to show off some of the many family-friendly features we offer on a daily basis; you’d be surprised how many people don’t realize we have a beautiful waterfall,” Thornton said.
The trail hunt provides the young participants a sneak peek of what the Nurtured in Nature program feels like, allowing them to use their imagination and originality while also exercising.
Thornton shared that one of the main reasons she created this hike is because she wants people to feel the sense of home and belonging that she feels working with the KPNC.
During the hike, children will go on a journey full of crafts, creativity, and spying for clues. The children will bring their “leprechaun lookers” they designed through the flora and fauna of the wildflower field and swing by the waterfall, a step closer to finding the leprechauns.
At the finale of the Saint Patrick’s Day festivities, the children will find the leprechauns past the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and get to create their own rainbows.
The children will find the leprechauns in the KPNC fairy garden that’s available year-round to all visitors. The participants will then be able to take pictures with the leprechauns and receive a gift from them.
Thornton shared that the hike has been beyond fun to create and a joy to see come to life. She also said that her favorite part of coordinating this event has been “adding a little magic to an already magical place.”
Thornton’s excitement for this upcoming event is clear as she uses this opportunity to let the youth of Auburn explore their preserve.
“After all, nature is the best medicine,” Thornton said.
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