wahoo

Story Walk, a partnership between the Wahoo Public Library, the Lower Platte North Natural Resources District and the Lake Wanahoo NRD Recreation Area, will kick off on Thursday, Aug. 18 with a grand opening at 6:30 p.m. at Lake Wanahoo.

“We have been wanting to do something like this for a couple of years now, said Carrie Trutna, Youth Services coordinator for the Wahoo Public Library. “We just hadn’t found the perfect place to put it until now.”

A StoryWalk is an outdoor walking area that follows along a children’s book. The concept came out of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier, Vermont. Since its inception, StoryWalks have been started in all 50 states and 13 countries.

Officials with Wahoo Public Library approached the Lower Platte North NRD with the proposal to start a StoryWalk at Lake Wanahoo last September.

Sydney Abbott, education coordinator for the Lower Platte North NRD, said the organization was eager to be a part of an idea that would connect people with the outdoors and reading.

“We decided it would be a great opportunity to bring something new to the recreation area,” said Abbott.

A grant was available from the Nebraska Library Commission to fund the project, but there was not much time to get a proposal put together. Trutna met with Abbott, NRD General Manager Eric Gottschalk and Bret Schomer, supervisor at Lake Wanahoo, to start planning and in less than a year, they were ready for the grand opening.

The Story Walk will be located on a part of the trail that winds around the lake.

“It’s a perfect little loop on that very northwest part (of the trail),” Abbott said. “You follow the loop all the way around and you can read the story.”

Trutna said the NRD staff found the perfect spot for the Story Walk, one that follows along a path with views of the lake and local wildflowers.

“A StoryWalk promotes literacy, health, and an appreciation for nature. Along with promoting nature, science, and reading, we wanted to see family bonding and exercise in a beautiful setting outdoors,” said Trutna.

Schomer and his team installed 20…