Hal Brown, pictured at the W. W. Knight Nature Preserve, won the National Association of Interpretation Region 4 Outstanding Interpretive Volunteer Award.
Marie Thomas-Baird | Sentinel-Tribune
Even before Harold “Hal” Brown retired 10 years ago, he was training to be an interpretive guide.
He became an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist and began presenting educational programs as a volunteer naturalist for the Wood County Park District.
This fall, Brown was honored with the National Association of Interpretation Region 4 Outstanding Interpretive Volunteer Award.
“I’m just doing what I enjoy doing and that gave me a feeling of accomplishment,” he said about the award.
After working at the Sentinel-Tribune for more than four decades, Brown was ready to spend time outdoors.
“I knew I wanted to be outdoors (after) being inside all those decades,” he said. “I enjoy nature and being outdoors and it’s been a good way to keep busy.”
Brown, a native of Bowling Green, said he enjoys talking to people and sharing information.
“I enjoy it,” he said about being an interpretive guide. “It gets me outside and involved with people.”
Brown has led school field trips, conducted wildlife monitoring programs, and presented programs on his experiences as a staff member at the Yellowstone Forever Institute.
He spent the summers of 2015 and 2016 volunteering at the national park.
He explained he had been visiting Yellowstone on vacation before he retired and was impressed with the people who worked for and volunteered at the Lamar Buffalo Ranch, which is where he stayed for field seminars.
“This would be a great place to spend the summer,” he recalled thinking.
He was paid $14 a day but got room and board “and you’re in the most beautiful part of Yellowstone Park.”
The location of the ranch allows for sightings of wolves, bears, moose, elks and a lot of buffalo, he said.
He worked with programs that included hiking and tracking and wildlife artistry. When he wasn’t in programming, he was helping operate the ranch including cleaning the bunk houses and the common kitchen.
The training stopped when COVID hit and he hasn’t had a chance to go back, although this spring was a possibility, he said.
“I haven’t given up going back there and spending another summer,” he said.
Brown said he thinks his experience at Yellowstone helped him get “hired” as a volunteer with the park district.
“During these programs, he has showed excellent knowledge, poise, patience and good humor in leaving participants with a positive experience relating to the topic at hand, be it the wilds of Yellowstone or a wetland in a suburban city,” wrote Jim Witter, program manager for the park district in his letter of recommendation.
The National Association of Interpretation offers certifications at different levels and to become a Certified Interpretive Guide in 2014, Brown finished 32 hours of education.
“It’s training to help people who work in parks, museums, and historical sites,” he said.
He has occasionally helped at Wintergarden/St. John’s Nature Preserve but said he really enjoys spending time at the nursery at the Reuthinger Preserve in Perrysburg Township.
“I spend a lot of time in the greenhouse, especially in January, February and March when you can’t get your hand in the dirt outside because it’s frozen.”
He keeps a garden with native plants in the yard at his home in Bowling Green.
The native plants, which he admitted he didn’t know a lot about, came from the Reuthinger greenhouse.
Brown helps edit the Wood County Genealogy Society newsletter and is a former member of the Wood County Historical Center board.
