Flintstones Are Coming- APF 2023 Rock Art Event
Decorative rocks and outdoor art are current trends in movies, tv shows, and landscape magazines. Locally, art in the park is a popular draw for families to “get out” to the park and hike the forest and prairie trails.
Anderson Park Friends, Inc. (APF) is announcing the 2nd annual Rock Art Walk event for June 3, 2023. The event will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Anderson Farm County Park, 914 Union Road, Oregon, WI. This year’s moto is “Yabba Dabba Doo” taken from the classic Flintstones TV show.
The theme of “Bedrock and the Flintstones” is connected to rocks and the characters from the famous TV show. The June 3rd event will feature a large Dino Photo Board developed by Renee Martell, a local artist. Visitors can place their face in Dino’s face opening and take their picture.
The event’s purpose is to motivate families to hike the park’s trails to find the rocks and fairy doors. Roe Parker, APF President, said, “The 2022 event was so popular we received a lot of encouragement to make it an annual event. Our 2023 plan is to sponsor the event and leave the rocks in the park until Halloween. We have a variety of trails, so we’re anticipating families coming back a second and third time to find all the rocks and fairy doors.”
The art objects will include 70 painted rocks painted by local artists and high school students. Twenty-five rocks are being painted by students in Michael Derrick’s painting class at Oregon High School. 35 rocks from last year’s event will also be displayed.
Check out the students in action:
Eleven local artists-Ken Anderson, Melani Barnidge, Michael Derrick, Rachel Faust, Jacky Graves, Ryan Hauge, Marte Haggerty, Gwen Maitzen, Kim Marie, Ruth Phillips, and Adrienne Stahl-painted the remaining rocks of animals or plants that grow in the park. Mary Hilgendorf, artist, designed the publicity posters and fliers going out to the elementary students in the district.
The 35 rocks displayed in 2022 featured the letters of the alphabet along with other nature themes. This year’s rock art will focus on wildflowers that grow in the forest and prairie. Rocks are an aid to help hikers identify native and prairie plants.
All 70 rocks and 20 fairy doors will be on display in the Arthur Sholts Memorial Forest and Prairie. Anderson Park Friends is known throughout the county for the fairy door exhibit they started in 2022.
Oregon Public Library Exhibit
The Oregon Public Library is hosting a Flintstone’s exhibit for library patrons to call attention to the event. Ken Anderson, local artist, painted nine of the Flintstone characters and created a wood bowl with cherry wood harvested from the park. Anderson also contributed a “hand-crafted wooden toy replica” of the Flintmobile made from his own walnut wood. Gwen Maitzen, a local artist, contributed a cartoon character to the exhibit. All Flintstone characters and the Flintmobile will be on display at the June 3rd event.”
Book and Story Walk
Another June 3rd activity at the event is a “book and story walk” sponsored by the Oregon Public Library. The book is entitled, “A to Z Animal Picnic.” The book was written and illustrated by Kim Marie, a Cross Plains' resident.
Donated door prizes will be available. A signed copy of “A to Z Animal Picnic” will be one of the door prizes. Other door prizes include 10 painted rocks (not a part of the outdoor exhibit) and a hand-turned covered wooden bowl using cherry wood from the park. The bowl was donated by Wendy La Schum, Artist and APF member,
Partners & Sponsors
APF is leading a wide-ranging group of community organizations and businesses to sponsor the event. Organizations donating time and/or “door prize” products are the Oregon High School Art Department, Oregon Public Library, Thysse Printing, Culver’s, and Hy-Vee. Parker said, “Thysse Printing has been our biggest donor this and last year. They donated the printing costs for the fliers, posters, and checklists. We appreciate the support of this community minded business.” Culvers and Hy-Vee are donating refreshments for the event. APF business members Arbor Systems, Inc., Firefly Coffeehouse, Alpha Graphics-Middleton, and New Earth Biochar are also supporting the event through their memberships.
For more information, contact Jann Kalscheur, Event Coordinator, 608-220-8716.
Roe Parker, President, Anderson Park Friends, Inc. at 608-835-3580/608-354-5283 (cell) or [email protected].
Anderson Park Friends on Facebook
Dane County Parks, https://lwrd.countyofdane.com/about/contact-us, Joleen Stinson, Director (608) 422-0657, [email protected]
Check our calendar and/or Facebook page for more details on these fun events.
Oregon Arbor Day
Arbor Day, April 28th, is a day to recognize the importance of trees.
APF’s sponsorship of Arbor Day was a success as 60 sixth graders from Rome Corners Intermediate school participated in the event. Students rotated between 5 stations to learn how to plant and grow trees. Most students eagerly lined up to learn how to climb a tree in with “ropes, a saddle, and pulleys. This station is always a “crowd pleaser.” Tools like chain saws and hand tools used by arborists were demonstrated. Arbor Systems and Dane County Parks co-sponsored the event.
Our thanks go out to Jeff Olson, owner of Arbor Systems, and his great staff. Dane County Parks Arborists Dave Haag and Adam Alves were co-instructors.
Anderson Park Friends volunteers sponsor the event each year with the Oregon School District as a part of its environmental education program.
2023 Food Pantry Garden
We plant, we grow, we feed!
Now is the time to volunteer for the upcoming 2023 garden. Volunteers are needed. We accmodate groups as well as infividuals. To volunteer, go to our
in 2022, the APF Food Pantry Garden grew over 3,000 pounds of fresh produce to the Oregon, Belleville, and Badger Prairie Needs Network (Verona) pantries. Key points are as follows:'
- - APF and Rooted (partner) installed a $22,000 irrigation system for our 23 1/4 acre plots
- - APF donated over 150 squash to the Oregon Food Pantry for 2022 Thanksgiving baskets.
- - Less than perfect vegetables went to Little John's Kitchen for further processing-prepared meals that went to low-income families.
- - St. Maria Goretti's 8th graders helped plant the garden in May 2022.
- - Oregon High School School Girls' Cross County Team provided valuable support by working in the garden during July and August.
- - APF added a "2nd growing season" that started August 1, 2022.
- - On some days, we were harvesting hundreds of pounds of produce.
Fairies Are Back!
The fairies have come back to Anderson Farm County Park! They are sitting outside their doors, just waiting for you to come visit with them.
Come out to the park and enjoy the Woodland Fairy Trail filled with 14 fairy doors. Search, spot ‘em, and connect with the fairies to conjure up some magic.
What is a Fairy Door?
Fairy doors are little doors (art objects). Many are colorful and include small, detailed objects.
Why Fairy Doors at the Park?
It creates an opportunity to engage the whole family ((and kids of all ages) in some exercise. Recent research points out that walking and group activities have been shown to improve stress resilience and lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
Background
Anderson Farm County Park was established in 2014 and is a passive recreation park in the Dane County Parks system. The park is approximately 310 acres and is a mix of woodland, prairies, and agricultural fields. Other features include rain and pollinator gardens as well as a bluebird trail.
The park is located at:
- Forest & Prairie Parking: 914 Union Road
- Dog Park Parking: 804 Union Road
Oregon, WI 53575
Anderson Farm County Park was established in 2014 and is located just south of the Village of Oregon. The park is approximately 310 acres of woodland, agricultural fields, and restored prairies. The park offers a network of woodland hiking trails through the Arthur Sholts Memorial Woods, a 36 acre off-leash dog park (including a 2.5 acre small dog area) with limestone trails through restored prairie, and community garden plots. A central paved bike trail connects the Dog Park with the Memorial Woods and the Village of Oregon. Hiking trails border agricultural fields throughout the park.
The park is named after the Lyman F. Anderson Family farmstead that was founded at the site in 1886. Lyman F. Anderson, who passed away in 2005, was a former County Board Supervisor and also served in the Wisconsin State Legislature.
For more photos of this park, visit our Flickr album.
A 35-acre dog park is accessible (with a permit) from 804 Union Road. The dog park includes areas for large and small dogs. An electrical charging station and a vault toilet are available. An additional features include a 7,000 native plant drainage basin and a 10 tree community orchard.
Anderson Park Friends, Inc. is an award winning 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization working with the Dane County Parks Division to develop, protect, preserve, and enhance beautiful Anderson Farm County Park. The park is in Phase 1 of the master plan. Our organization is comprised of over 210 members living in Oregon, Brooklyn, and the surrounding townships-Towns of Oregon, Rutland, and Dunn.
The development of the park has a Master Plan. Click here to read the Master Plan.
Join Us!
For more information:
Roe Parker, President
1560 Partridge Hill Drive
Oregon, WI 53575
608-835-3580
[email protected]