Skip to content
Life
Link copied to clipboard

Out of the city, into the woods

Urban Blazers acquaints youngsters with nature's joys.

Hiking a trail in Fairmount Park are members of Urban Blazers, which introduces inner-city children to the outdoors. "By the end of the first trip," says the founder, "they're hooked."
Hiking a trail in Fairmount Park are members of Urban Blazers, which introduces inner-city children to the outdoors. "By the end of the first trip," says the founder, "they're hooked."Read moreRON TARVER / Staff Photographer

Nagewa Robertson hopped from one shaky rock to another, trying to keep her feet out of the swiftly moving creek water.

Nagewa, 13, was used to the streets of North Philadelphia but not the woods of nearby Fairmount Park.

"Look, it's a baby chipmunk," Nagewa said as she walked through the park with 13 other youths from the Hank Gathers Recreation Center at 25th and Diamond Streets.

"I know it was a chipmunk. I just saw it run that way," she said excitedly.

The group walked from the center to the park entrance at 33d Street. As they moved from concrete to grass, they began to see wildlife, plants, and streams that they had never seen before.

"It's not like we're taking them to a different continent, just 10 minutes from home," said David Reuter, 35, founder of the nonprofit Urban Blazers, which arranged for the group's visit to the park.

The nonprofit has made it possible for nearly 3,000 Philadelphia young people to experience nature over the last five years.

"The typical youth does not have access to many things that people in the suburbs have and take for granted," Reuter said. Reuter, who works for a private equity firm in Philadelphia, founded Urban Blazers in 2005 after realizing that much of his own character development and life skills could be traced to experiences in the outdoors.

"By the end of the first trip, they're hooked. That's the unique thing about the program," Reuter said.

Eric Dolaway, Urban Blazers' executive director, recalls the first meeting with Reuter. They were at a party and Reuter was describing his idea for Urban Blazers. "I thought he was insane," said Dolaway, 30, who has since become the group's only full-time staffer. "He said he wanted to take kids hiking, whitewater rafting, and rock climbing. I wasn't sure if they were going to like it. Once they started, the kids loved it, though."

Urban Blazers partners with a variety of local groups throughout the year, including Philadelphia recreation programs, schools, and homeless shelters.

The organizations share in the cost of a trip, whether it's walking through Fairmount Park, skiing in the Poconos, or camping overnight there.

Urban Blazers' funding comes from individual donations and corporations. The group collected close to $75,000 from donors in 2009, according to Reuter.

"We're not just walking in the woods from point A to point B," said Reuter. Urban Blazers encourages the youngsters to care for the environment and teaches them about nature as they see it.

"I've seen kids that come with long sleeves and tape around their ankles because they're told there are bugs," Reuter said of the "outdoor myths" that make kids reluctant to take part in outdoor activities. "They have a fear of the unknown."

"They need to climb a tree - that is what is going to make them love trees," Dolaway said.

During the hike with the group from the Gathers rec center, Dolaway served as a teacher. "That's poison ivy," he said, pointing. "When you look at the branches that have nothing at the end of them, that means they're weak, so don't climb on that one," he told the young tree climbers.

During the 21/2-hour hike, Dolaway paused whenever he sensed a teachable moment. "What makes frogs poisonous is if you eat a whole bunch of them," he said while holding a toad he had found.

A few steps ahead, he paused to pick up a clover leaf. "You can eat this," he said as he put the leaf in his mouth.

Nagewa stood back as she watched the other kids pick clovers and eat them. She hesitantly placed one in her mouth. "It tastes like lemon," said Nagewa, the only female on the trip.

Carleton Walls, 12, wasn't thrilled about going on the hike, grumbling that he'd "rather stay inside or have a water fight."

Not surprisingly, he declined to taste the clover leaf. "I'm not just going to pick something up and put it in my mouth," he said.

"But Eric knows what he's doing," said Kristin Lacey, 34, one of the 50 volunteers who work with Urban Blazers. "He's trying to show you there are things in nature you can eat."

Most of her charges had never been on a hike before, so Lacey knew she had to help them along, slowly.

"They usually come around," she said after watching two boys drain water out of their sneakers. "We also warn them that they're going to get their socks wet."

Toward the end of the hike, Hanif Islan, 11, declared the experience a success. "That was a walk!" exclaimed a tired Hanif. "I never saw a baby toad before."

He had walked through a large park with family members in Maryland but never in Philadelphia. "I might just have to show my friends this park," he said.

Nagewa, exhausted, trailed the rest of the group by the end of the trip. "It was kind of fun," she said, soon after tasting honeysuckle for the first time. "I may do it again."