Page 3

Volume 3, Issue 1         

Text Box: ENH Turns 25!!! (continued from page 1.)

Lafayette and Martinez School Districts also signed on, and suddenly ENH was conducting 17 weeks of outdoor education.  It was also at that time, on a lark, a somewhat clueless individual named Don Kleinfelder became an intern naturalist, a move that would change his life. 

The next year Canyon Middle School of Castro Valley joined, and ENH was up to 21 weeks.  By 1984, ENH was running a strong summer camp program and was still expanding its outdoor education program.  In addition, Mark Nolan approached Laura and Gary with the idea of running a small program at the Pigeon Point Youth Hostel and lighthouse.  With $500 of seed money, Mark started Pigeon Point Environmental Education Program (PPEEP), which has since flourished and now serves over 1,000 students and generates over $125,000 annually.

By 1987 demand for the ENH outdoor education program was so great that when the Redwood Glen Baptist Camp (also in Loma Mar) became available, ENH used the site to simultaneously run outdoor education and develop a private school called the Hal Stein Academy.  So in eight years a pipe dream begun by a 22 and a 25 year old became a large and very successful summer camp and three separate outdoor education programs that covered four different sites. 

Unfortunately, while the on the exterior the program was growing rapidly (without advertising!), much of the burgeoning infrastructure remained on the shoulders of Laura

Every spring and fall school children from around California journey to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel to participate in the Pigeon Point Environmental Education Program. The program is a fantastic introduction to hostelling for both children and parents alike. The program introduces the participants to an alternative and inexpensive overnight accommodation that emphasizes sharing amongst people of all walks of life. The 52-bed international hostel has male or female dormitory bunk-bed rooms and 4 private couples room for 2-3 people. The hostel also has a few family rooms.

Each house has two bathrooms, a living room and kitchen so hostellers are encouraged to bring their own food and make their own meals. Sharing recipes amongst international travelers is a wonderful way to have a cross-cultural experience and can be toped off by sharing a meal next to the wood stove in our historic Fog Signal Building.  Before checking out of the hostel, hostellers are encouraged to clean up after themselves and to help out with a cleaning chore before adventuring out for the day.

Spring is California Gray Whale Migration and fantastic viewing of these majestic marine mammals is the best at Pigeon Point. Lighthouse. Docents share history stories on weekends. Nearby daytime activates include a walk through Pescadero Marsh, one of the last California coastal marshes left undeveloped. Butano State Park has an amazing redwood forest and miles of hiking trails. Pebble Beach lets children and adults alike rummage through the millions of beach pebbles in a beautiful beach cove.  Walk atop sand dunes at Gazo’s or Pescadero Beaches or venture out to Año Nuevo State Reserve to view Northern Elephant Seals.      

      -Jeff Parry, Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel Manager
Text Box: Get Away to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel Text Box: For more information about overnight accommodations at the Pigeon Point Hostel, contact them at: (650) 879-0633, or by email: pplhostel@norcalhostels.org. Visit their web site at www.norcalhostels.org. Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel is located at 210 Pigeon Point Road at Highway 1, near Pescadero, CA.

 
Youth Hostels InternationalYouth Hostels International

and Gary.  Then in the late spring of 1987, Gary made the decision to leave ENH, and the program was left in the sole hands of Laura. 

The load was too much.  Laura Tucker, carrying the load of the program by herself at the ripe old age of 31 (and STILL holding), conferred with the ENH Board and decided to cut their losses by phasing out the Redwood Glen site (including the Hal Stein Academy) and summer camp, consolidating ENH on the Loma Mar site, and maintaining PPEEP as it was.  In the interim, Mark Nolan acted as program co-director for Loma Mar for the fall while Laura served as the other co-director and completed the restructuring of ENH.  During this time, ENH took on a more professional tone, establishing distinct roles including that of Executive Director (held by Laura).  By the end of 1991, ENH was on solid ground and Laura decided it was time for her to explore some new horizons.  Eventually she accepted a position with the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Mark Nolan stepped into the Executive Director role and continued the solidification of the organization and improvements in staff housing.  Chief among these improvements was the creation of year-round Program Director housing.  This house allowed Mark to hire a Program Director with a family, one Don Kleinfelder to be precise, and thus added substantial stability to the position.  In the fall of 1996, Mark left ENH to become Director of Outdoor and Environmental Education for San Mateo County Office of Education, and Don assumed the role of Executive Director.

(Next issue: the forming of Sempervirens Outdoor School and the rebirth of ENH Summer Camp)