Volume 5 No. 3 – September 1, 1932
All material courtesy of the National Park Service.These publications can also be found at http://npshistory.com/
Nature Notes is produced by the National Park Service. © 1932.
The Community House
By D. S. Libbey
The cover design shows the Community House at Crater Lake National Park. Many of you will recall the programs of song, music, informative talks and moving pictures. Our hosts, Rangers Ray Henderson and George F. Barron, are to be congratulated upon the very commendable character of the programs. This season the Community House programs began July 12. The excessive snow in the campgrounds prevented overnight campers until approximately that date and the last program of the current season was held on the night of September 16.
The purpose of the nightly programs is to enable each visitor to learn of the many features of the park. Below appears a copy of a letter written by a visitor of the past season concerning his stay at Crater Lake.
“My wife and I, with our boys, have visited thirteen of your national parks, several national monuments, and many state parks, — always with the idea of delving into their concealed recesses as well as obvious points of interest, to enjoy them to the utmost.
“So we strolled with Ranger Naturalist Constance up Garfield Peak and learned the names of your plants and flowers, and got a bird’s eye view of the terrain we planned to explore.
“We went several times to Sinnott Memorial to hear the story of the building up of the mountain, its destruction and the creation of beautiful Crater Lake from Mr. Count and Mr. Clark, — always fascinating and never in the same language, but always consistent, without poll-parrot repetition.
“We visited the Pinnacles on Wheeler Creek, recalling Bryce Canyon, yet distinctive. Saw the declining rays on the Sun Notch when Kerr was in shadow.
“On the way, leaving the park, we crawled through the ice caves of Llao’s Hallway, and got samples of rocks that float. Swam in the Rogue River at Natural Bridge.
“A deep impression will last of the splendid manner in which members of the Naturalist Staff aroused such understanding interest in the minds of the group at the Community House gatherings. Without scorn for our lack of knowledge concerning intricate scientific problems and without speaking in a condescending manner the lectures were delivered.
“Such is the way myself and family came to know and appreciate Crater Lake. We enjoyed our stay on the Rim; we must come back in the future to love it all again.”
Yours sincerely,
(Sgd.) a 1932 VISITOR