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Groundbreaking Ceremonies September 5th, 2008
On September 5th, after 4 years of fundraising efforts and design work ,Twelve Hills will mark the beginning of construction of its trailhead entrance with a day of groundbreaking ceremonies. The project will be the only major, permanent structure located at the Nature Center. TBG Partners, Texas's largest landscape architectural/land planning firm, is providing pro-bono services for design and construction documentation of the nature center. The trailhead entrance will provide open-air gathering and learning space for students from nearby schools, scout troops, early childhood and community programs. |
Dawn to Dusk Groundbreaking Ceremonies:
6:50 a.m.
Dawn Native American ceremony of new beginnings and healing led by The Bear Claw Singers
10:30 a.m.
Elected Officials/Board Members turn the soil and Site Blessing
3:45 p.m.
Children’s time to bring their trowels to turn the earth
7:45 p.m.
Dusk All Seekers of Peace come together for a twilight sitting in silence concluding with flute song
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Meadows Foundation matching grant secured
Twelve Hills Nature Center has fully met a $69,000 challenge grant from the Meadows Foundation and has secured the funding needed for construction of the front entrance and trailhead.
The Meadows challenge grant, awarded in November 2006, provided a dollar-for-dollar match for donations made by September 1, 2007 to the front entrance campaign, up to $69,000.
We would like to thank more than 100 individuals and small businesses who helped the us reach this milestone, as well as the following major donors to the front entrance/trailhead:
TBG Partners Full Landscape Architectural Services
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Full Landscape Architectural Services ) |
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The Hoblitzelle Foundation
The George and Fay Young Foundation
The Unrestricted Fund of the Dallas Foundation
The Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable and Educational Trust
The Hillcrest Foundation, founded by Mrs. W. W. Caruth, Sr.
The Harold Simmons Foundation
Ralph B. Rogers Foundation
The Gay and Lesbian Fund for Dallas
The Eugene McDermott Foundation
Anonymous Oak Cliff Family
The North Oak Cliff Greenspace Committee
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$40,000
$25,000
$20,000
$20,000
$20,000
$10,000
$8,000
$5,958
$5,000
$5,000
$2,500
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Volunteer Spotlight
The Twelve Hills Nature Center salutes Susan Schott.
Since the idea was born for Twelve Hills seven long years ago, Susan and her son Cary have worked tirelessly to make the dream a reality. Here are just a few of the projects Susan has done over the years:
- Walked the neighborhoods to gather petition signatures
- Helped organize clean ups of the property even before we were “official”
- Attended countless meetings with community and city officials
- Set up a database to help us track friends and donors
- Stepped in to coordinate and supervise the Nature Leaders Environmental After-School program
- Coordinated EarthWeek activities for both Rosemont campuses for the past three years
A confirmed “night owl”, when most of us are sleeping, Susan can be found laminating signage for Twelve Hills, entering data, or doing research to make certain the Nature Leader students have accurate information. Thank you, Cary for sharing your mom’s time. Most especially THANK YOU Susan!
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Bird Watching at Twelve Hills
Many of the birds migrating north for the summer pass through Dallas during late April and early May. Get out to Twelve Hills to look for resident and migrant birds in their beautiful spring plumage. For best results start out early - that’s when birds are most active and you have a chance for some interesting sightings.
Use the helpful Bird List (large file) to identify and register your sightings.
Media Matters
Twelve
Hills in The Dallas Morning News
It may be hard to imagine a nature preserve
in an old developed sector such as North Oak Cliff. But that's exactly
where the Twelve Hills Nature Center is, behind Rosemont Elementary School
at 719 N. Montclair Ave. Read the article...
Little love left on the prairie
Read a recent Dallas Morning
News column on the state of prairies in North Texas. While you're
at it, check out a couple of interesting sites: Fort
Worth Prairie Park and Great Plains
Restoration Council to see how others are working to preserve our
prairie heritage.
Twelve Hills on KERA
12 Hills Development satisfies Oak Cliff neighbors by Catherine Cuellar,
KERA 90.1
Read
the transcript, or listen
now...
Twelve Hills in The
News
"Teamwork tranforms eyesore into an asset" - Check out the feature
article from the Dallas Morning News.
Read the article...
Kids in nature
We’ve got this all wrong. Kids stay inside too much. They remain
in structured programs too long. Some local camps and national researchers
look to rediscover the genius of kids in nature.
Read more...
>Read
our mail - to learn about current activities
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Twelve Hills Nature Center is an urban preserve located in the Oak Cliff
neighborhood of Dallas. It serves as an outdoor classroom and passive
recreational area. It seeks to educate both adults and children about
environmental stewardship and community-building through the grassroots
creation and maintenance of a native Texas blackland prairie, and small
wetland. 
