In Your Words: Sharon Kreamer

From Day Camper to Lifelong Nature Enthusiast 

As I walked along the Silver Springs Trail at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary this past summer, taking in the sights and sounds around me, vivid memories came back from my time as a day camper more than 50 years ago. An eager-eyed 7-year-old in 1968, I would run down the trail, stopping at every turn to see what new creature or plant awaited me. It was here that I made my initial connection with the natural world around me and learned to care about and for the other organisms we share this planet with. The excitement and wonder of learning about aquatic and marine creatures, plants and their unique adaptations, butterflies, and of course birds enthralled me, and I was hungry to learn more.  

I returned to the Wellfleet Bay nature camp for many years, committed to this special place and its wild inhabitants. Betty Andersen, the camp director at the time, saw my enthusiasm and passion and asked me to volunteer as a junior counselor when I entered middle school. With her help, I created activities about butterflies and salt marsh plants. Once I was old enough, I became a full-fledged counselor, anxious for school to end in June so I could be at camp.  

My involvement with the day camp culminated with being the assistant director for a summer during college. There is no doubt that my journey at Wellfleet Bay was my primary influence in researching glasswort, a salt marsh plant, for my Master of Science degree and becoming a high school science teacher. I created many hands-on activities for my students based on the educational opportunities I experienced at Wellfleet Bay. 

After completing a 37-year teaching career, I knew in my heart that I wanted to give back to Wellfleet Bay. For the last two years I have been a front desk volunteer and a volunteer naturalist, and I monitor local horseshoe crab populations with my husband (whom I met at a horseshoe crab conference at Wellfleet Bay back in 2005!). There is great fulfillment in engaging with visitors, hopefully planting seeds of connection that will lead others to a lifetime of caring and commitment to the natural world around them. 

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