Kerry Wood Nature Centre
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Edgar Allardyce
"Kerry" Wood came to Red
Deer in 1918 as a youngster from New York. He spent his free
moments wandering through the sanctuary, looking at and learning from
the wildlife he encountered. His interminable questions were
answered by friendly librarians, by the native people he met in his
wanderings and by friends in the Alberta Natural History Society.
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In his mid-teens, Kerry Wood decided to
stay in Red Deer and make his own way as a writer while his parents
moved to British Columbia. His first winter was a lean one,
depending upon fish he could catch in the river, animals he could snare,
edible wild plants and gifts from friends. The hardships of that
winter, his experiences as a scout and scout leader and his many years
as the volunteer warden for the Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary provided Kerry
Wood with the stories that he set on paper. During his career,
Kerry Wood wrote 6,200 short stories, 8,000 articles, 9,000 newspaper
columns and hundreds of television and radio programs.
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In 1986 a Nature Centre named after Kerry
Wood was opened in the Gaetz Lake Sanctuary. Constructed with
funds by the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund as part of the Urban Parks
Program, The Kerry Wood Nature Centre is a park and federal migratory bird
sanctuary that offers an extensive program of natural history interpretation, major special events, school,
youth group and public programs, daycamps and even sleepovers!
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The Waskasoo Park Interpretive Program operates the city- and district-wide interpretive and environmental education program. This includes managing the Kerry Wood Nature Centre, Historic Fort
Normandeau, Gaetz Lakes Sanctuary and the Allen Bungalow - an Alberta Registered Historic Resource.
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The Nature Centre is is located at 6300 - 45 Avenue in Red Deer. For
more information on the Nature Centre and its programs you can reach
them by phone (403)346-2010, fax 403 347-2550, or online through its website
or via email at kwnc@telusplanet.net.
The Kerry Wood Nature Centre is open year-round, closing only on
Christmas day.
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Kerry Wood is still a writer, conservationist and an educator.
Although he and his wife Marjorie are now retired, his stories live on
in 24 books and numerous children's readers. In 1990, Kerry Wood
was honoured with the Order of Canada presented to him at the Kerry Wood
Nature Centre in Red Deer.