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Membership

To become a member, please fill out and submit this printable membership form. You may also become a member using EFT or payroll deduction by calling our Development Office at 814-863-8790.

Your Membership Dollars Support:

• upkeep of the resident birds of prey in the Raptor Center
• internships for aspiring environmental educators and naturalists
• enhancement of hiking and skiing trails
• expansion of public recreation and interpretive programs
• repair and maintenance of the museum and exhibits
• care and feeding of the animals

As a Member, You Receive:

• our twice-annual newsletter Shavings
• e-mail updates on new and seasonal programs
• special programs and workshops for members
• discounts and an early registration period for our Summer Camps (NOTE: Early registration is for memberships current as of the end of the December before camp. New memberships after January 1 may register for camp on or after February 15, and can register early the following year.)
• reduced fees on other workshops and programs
• discounts on purchases from the bookstore and gift shop at Shaver's Creek
• discounts on memberships and bookstore purchases at more than 100 other nature centers in Pennsylvania and across North America (See the list below. Shaver's Creek is a member of ANCA, the Association of Nature Center Administrators.)
• reduced fees for renting our facilities
• invitation to our members' breakfast on Sunday morning of our Maple Harvest Festival
• satisfaction that comes from expressing a personal environmental ethic

Annual Membership Fee—Suggested Levels

Why I am a Member
by Jim Campbell

Dear Friends and Members of Shaver's Creek,

As a friend or member of the Shaver's Creek Environmental Center, I am sure you know well what a wonderful resource the center is for the citizens of our community and all Pennsylvanians. I have been a Shaver's Creek member for many years, and I am writing this letter to encourage you to become a member or renew your membership and support for the center.

Our family's membership reached a new pinnacle of value and meaning this year when my wife, Ellen, and I took our only grandchild to Shaver's Creek. Alexander was fascinated by the turtles, the snakes, the owls, and the raptors. A walk on the boardwalk had never before held such delight! Since he is a resident of North Carolina, we don't see him as much as we would like, but we are already planning our visit to Shaver's Creek next summer. It is simply magical when seen through the eyes of a grandchild!

Shaver's Creek truly is a magical place, and, with many stories like this one serving as examples, we know that the center is doing remarkably well.  With your support, our festivals—the Maple Harvest Fest in March and the Children’s Halloween Trail in October—have seen exceptional growth in attendance. More than 2,500 combined guests and volunteers participated in the 2007–2008 season alone. It would be a difficult assignment to pinpoint which audience gets the most out of the center: is it the college student getting first-hand experience in sharing the natural world with children, the five-year-old child tapping a maple tree for the first time, or the community volunteer guiding a group of families from station to station along a magical trail?

The year-round benefits provided by your local nature center continue beyond each festival, as you know. Our summer camps for youth, our weekend programming in the Raptor Center, the Kids Corner programming each fall and spring for parents and their pre-schoolers, and our Earth-Day-is-everyday philosophy that crafts our operations here at Shaver's Creek—all continue to operate because of your financial support for our mission. Sustaining this wonderful community- and state-wide resource is dependent to a great extent on your investment in Shaver's Creek through membership participation.

We are maintaining four levels of giving for our membership:

• The Basic Membership remains at $35. We had such great success at this level last year, adding over 100 new members, that we believe that this will continue to be our most popular membership level. Benefits include: Shavings newsletter two times a year plus periodic electronic updates, camp discounts and early registration, gift shop discounts, a members-only breakfast at Maple Harvest Festival, and membership privileges at over 100 other nature centers (see the complete list on our Web site).
• For just $10 a month, a member can support all of our quality programs and receive all the same benefits as the basic membership plus receive recognition in Shavings.*
• In fact, a member can support the center all year long for $365, which is just $1 per day. Members at this level receive all the above listed benefits and are invited to the Director's Appreciation Dinner held here at the center each autumn. 
• Membership in the Aerie, or high nesting home of eagles, allows members at the $1,000 level to participate in personalized programs developed for them by the staff of Shaver's Creek.

* If you work for Penn State, consider using payroll deduction to pay for your annual membership, making support for Shaver’s Creek easy. If you are not a Penn State employee, you can use Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) to make contributions to Shaver's Creek all year round. To use EFT or payroll deduction, call our Development Office at 814-863-8790.

If you become a member using the printable form on our site, we can reduce the amount of paper mail we send. We believe in practicing what we teach, and wise use of our paper resources is high on our list of teachable moments! If your membership is current, it does not expire until Earth Day (April 21). Ensure your member benefits for all our quality programs this coming spring, such as discounts for camps, the members-only breakfast at the Maple Harvest Festival, and discounts on our new merchandise (the binoculars are here!) in our gift shop.

We also know and appreciate the fact that you support us because you believe in our mission. We cannot accomplish that mission of harmony between humans and the natural world without you. We hope you will consider joining us or renewing your membership in your nature center.

Thank you,

Jim Campbell              
Shaver's Creek Member since 1995

Association of Nature Center Administrators (ANCA)
Member Centers

Alabama
Louise Kreher Forest Ecology Preserve (Auburn)

Alaska
Friends of Eagle River Nature Center (Eagle River)

Arkansas
Delta Rivers Nature Center (Pine Bluff)
Ozark Natural Science Center (Huntsville)

California
Environmental Nature Center (Newport Beach)

Colorado
Durango Nature Studies (Durango)
Friends of Dinosaur Ridge (Morrison)
Lookout Mountain Nature Center (Golden)

Connecticut
Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center (Ansonia)
Denison Pequotseopos Nature Center, Inc. (Mystic)
Earthplace (Westport)
New Canaan Nature Center (New Canaan)

Delaware
Delaware Nature Society (Hockessin)

Florida
Gumbo Limbo Nature Center (Boca Raton)
Morningside Nature Center (Gainesville)

Georgia
Chattahoochee Nature Center (Roswell)
Elachee Nature Science Center (Gainesville)
Sandy Creek Nature Center (Athens)

Illinois
Douglas-Hart Nature Center (Mattoon)
Forest Park Nature Center (Peoria Heights)
Forest Preserve District of DuPage County (Wheaton)
Macon County Conservation District (Decatur)
Pilcher Park Nature Center (Joliet)
Severson Dells Education Foundation (Rockford)
Sugar Grove nature Center (McLean)

Indiana
Cope Environmental Center (Centerville)
Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center (Chesterton)
Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve (Evansville)

Iowa
Hitchcock Nature Center (Honey Creek)
Indian Creek Nature Center (Cedar Rapids)

Kansas
Dillon Nature Center (Hutchinson)

Kentucky
Buckley Wildlife Sanctuary (Frankfort)
Louisville Nature Center (Louisville)

Maryland
Irvine Nature Center (Stevenson)
Marshy Point Nature Center (Baltimore)
Piney Run Park and Nature Center (Sykesville)

Michigan
Chippewa Nature Center (Midland)
Degraaf Nature Center ((Holland)
Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve (Rochester)
Fernwood Nature Center and Botanic Garden (Niles)
Harris Nature Center (Okemos)
Kalamazoo Nature Center (Kalamazoo)
Lloyd A. Stage Nature Center (Troy)
Outdoor Discovery Center (Holland)
Pierce Cedar Creek Institute (Hastings)
Seven Ponds Nature Center (Dryden)
Stubnitz Environmental Education Center (Adrian)
University of Michigan—Dearborn Center (Dearborn)
Whitehouse Nature Center (Albion)

Minnesota
Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center (Hastings)
River Bend Nature Center (Fairbault)

Mississippi
Clinton Community Nature Center (Clinton)

Missouri
Shaw Nature Reserve (Gray Summit)

Nebraska
Fontenelle Nature Association (Bellevue)
Pioneers Park Nature Center (Lincoln)

New Hampshire
Beaver Brook Association (Hollis)
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center (Holderness)

New Jersey
Tenafly Nature Center Association (Tenafly)

New York
Beaver Lake Nature Center (Baldwinsville)
Buffalo Audubon Society (North Java)
Centers for Nature Education (Marcellus)
Greenburgh Nature Center (Scarsdale)
Helmer Nature Center (Rochester)
Jamestown Audubon Society, Inc. (Jamestown)
Mohonk Preserve, Inc. (New Paltz)
Pfeiffer Nature Center (Portville)
Rye Nature Center (Rye)
Tanglewood Nature Center and Museum (Elmira)
Teatown Lake Reservation (Ossining)

North Carolina
Carolina Raptor Center (Charlotte)

Ohio
Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm (Dayton)
Brukner Nature Center (Troy)
Cincinnati Nature Center (Milford)
Glen Helen Ecology Institute (Yellow Springs)
Gorman Heritage Farm (Cincinnati)
Lake Metroparks (Kirtland Hills)
Marianist Environmental Education Center (Dayton)
Mohican School in the Out-of-Doors, Inc. (Butler)
Nature Center at Shaker Lakes (Shaker Heights)
Shepherd’s Corner (Blacklick)
The Dawes Arboretum (Newark)
The Wilderness Center, Inc. (Wilmot)

Pennsylvania
Asbury Woods Nature Center (Erie)
Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh)
Briar Bush Nature Center (Abington)
Carbon County Environmental Education Center (Summit Hill)
Lancaster County Environmental Center (Lancaster)
McKeever Environmental Learning Center (Sandy Lake)
Paul F-Brandwein Institute (Dingmans Ferry)
Riverbend Environmental Education Center (Gladwyne)
Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education (Philadelphia)
Silver Lake Nature Center (Bristol)
Tyler Arboretum (Media)
Wildwood Lake Sanctuary (Harrisburg)

South Carolina
Audubon Center at the Francis Beidler Forest (Harleyville)

South Dakota
The Outdoor Campus (Pierre)

Tennessee
Bristol Tennessee Leisure Services (Bristol)
Ijams nature Center (Knoxville)
Warner Park Nature Center (Nashville)

Texas
Armand Bayou Nature Center (Houston)
Austin Nature and Science Center (Austin)
Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge (Fort Worth)
Houston Arboretum and Nature Center (Houston)
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (Austin)
River Bend Nature Works (Wichita Falls)
Sibley Nature Center (Midland)
Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve (Austin)
Wildcat Bluff Nature Center (Amarillo)

Utah
Ogden Nature Center (Ogden)
Stokes Nature Center (Logan)

Virginia
Boxerwood Education Association (Lexington)
Reston Association (Reston)

Wisconsin
Beaver Creek Reserve (Fall Creek)
Fallen Timbers Environmental Center (Seymour)
Gordon Bubolz Nature Preserve (Appleton)
Ledge View Nature Center (Chilton)
Riveredge Nature Center (Newburg)
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center (Milwaukee)
Treehaven Environmental Learning Center (Tomahawk)

Canada
Kerry Wood Nature Center (Red Deer, Alberta)
North Vancouver Outdoor School (Brackendale, British Columbia)

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