By Lea Kahn
The memories of two long-time supporters of the Lawrence Nature Center, both of whom died within the past six months, were honored Saturday afternoon at the township-owned nature preserve’s eighth annual nature festival.
A bridge that crosses a small stream on the nature preserve was dedicated in honor of Lawrence Beaber, who died in December 2010, and a small bench was dedicated in honor of Ralph Copleman, who died a few weeks later in January.
Mr. Copleman, who helped to found Sustainable Lawrence and who served as its first executive director, “absolutely adored” the Lawrence Nature Center, said Carol Nicholas, who serves on the nature center’s board of trustees.
”I feel Ralph is still here with us,” Ms. Nicholas said at the dedication ceremony.
Tahirih Smith, who assumed the post of Sustainable Lawrence’s executive director, said Mr. Copleman sought to make Lawrence a more sustainable community and to promote sustainable living. He was an avid bicyclist and worked to promote the creation of bicycle paths, she said.
”He wanted to improve not just Lawrence Township, but everything we touch,” Ms. Smith said. “We would like to dedicate this bench in the meadow so people can enjoy the sounds of the birds, and the bees that will soon be here, and the flowers in the meadow. When you walk on the trail and sit on the bench, hopefully you will be able to enjoy the nature that we have preserved.”
Joyce Copleman thanked Sustainable Lawrence and the Lawrence Nature Center for thinking about her late husband and honoring him in this “wonderful, wonderful way.” She said he would “really” have appreciated it.
”Ralph lived his life for Sustainable Lawrence and he enjoyed every minute of it,” Ms. Copleman said. “It’s nice of you to think and remember him. I want to thank my friends and Ralph’s friends and the organization (Sustainable Lawrence), who are carrying his memory with you.”
Then, Ms. Copleman sat down on the bench, next to longtime family friend and neighbor Matthew Cahill.
Mr. Beaber, who also supported the Lawrence Nature Center, was honored with a plaque that will be placed on a bridge that crosses a small creek on one of the paths that wends its way through the woods. He was a frequent visitor to the nature center.
Jerry and Heid D’Ascoli, who were friendly with Mr. Beaber, recalled that he liked to walk in the woods at the nature center. He would walk whether it was raining, snowing or sunny, Mr. D’Ascoli said.
”Larry was a really wonderful, wonderful person,” Mr. D’Ascoli said. “He would be really proud and really humbled to get a plaque (in his honor on the bridge).”
Ms. D’Ascoli described Mr. Beaber as “a man for all seasons.” He maintained a perennials flower garden, spoke fluent German “his German was better than mine and I am a German language teacher” and could discuss any number of topics, she said.
Mr. Beaber’s widow, Pat Beaber, recalled that her husband walked the trails of the Lawrence Nature Center almost daily. When he would return home, he would give her a “nature report” he saw a woodchuck, he heard an owl and watched the bats fly, she said.
”To tell you the truth, I think he would be a little embarrassed (about the plaque),” Ms. Beaber said. “I want to thank you for your help (in preserving the Lawrence Nature Center). It really is a little oasis. You can watch birds and other animals. It takes a lot of volunteers make it possible.”
In between the dedications to Mr. Beaber and Mr. Copleman, visitors to the Lawrence Nature Center’s Mother Nature Festival enjoyed guided nature hikes, a wildlife show, a tour of the meadow and exhibits set up by groups as diverse as Advanced Solar Products to the Garden Gate Garden Club, the Greater Eldridge Park Neighborhood Association (GEPNA) and Students Against Violating the Earth (SAVE).
GEPNA volunteers helped children make miniature kites, using light-weight wooden frames and strips of plastic from plastic bags. SAVE, which is a group of Lawrence High School students, helped visitors make “window art” by taking dried flowers and pressing them between two sheets of plastic.
At the Lawrence Nature Center’s booth, children reached inside the “mystery box” and described what they felt. They also sniffed cinnamon, chili powder and lilac flowers to test their sense of smell, and used small pieces of paper to make Mother’s Day cards to illustrate their sense of sight.
Six-year-old Stevie Lacasse, who lives on Titus Avenue, reached inside the mystery box and tried to describe what he felt. He told volunteer Linda Townsend that it felt like a shell “a seashell.”
”No, it lives in the woods,” Ms. Townsend gently said. She prodded him to think again, noting that the animal lives in the woods.
”A turtle,” Stevie said, very pleased with himself for figuring out that the shell belonged to a turtle.
Stevie’s mother, Sandy Lacasse, said she had never visited the Lawrence Nature Center. She said she “kept meaning to come here” but never took the time to do so, as Stevie tickled her under the chin with a peacock feather.
The wildlife show, which featured animals that have made their home at the Mercer County Wildlife Center, was one of the most popular events. Diane Nickerson, who is a naturalist at the wildlife center, explained that it is a rehabilitation center for animals who are injured or who may have been separated from their mother.
The wildlife center acts like a hospital, working to heal the animals and getting them ready to be released back into nature, Ms. Nickerson said. About 2,500 wild animals pass through the center’s doors every year.
But sometimes an animal cannot be released back into the wild, and those are the ones that are kept at the Mercer County Wildlife Center, Ms. Nickerson said. She brought along a few of those animals a possum, a Great Horned owl, a red tailed hawk and a falcon to show the children and their parents.
Meanwhile, Lyle Rawlings of Advanced Solar Products better known as “Solar Man” explained his solar home in East Amwell Township. He brought along a solar panel and attempted to explain how it works to the children, but the sun would not cooperate and hid behind a cloud.
”Close your eyes and concentrate (on making the sun come out),” Mr. Rawling said.
And then it rained.

