Secret Knox County natural treasure unveiled

One of Knox County’s best kept secrets was celebrated Saturday.

Ackerman Nature Preserve, a 55-acre property with a 22-acre wetland at the edge of Fredericktown, was officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony with a large crowd in attendance.

The preserve on Salem Avenue Extension was given by John and Lori Ackerman to the Fredericktown Recreation District in 2012. During the COVID pandemic, it became a hot spot for bird watchers, as more than 160 varieties of birds have been spotted there. Three years ago, a group of local birders and naturists got together and decided to showcase the natural wonder.

“When it was given as a gift, it was just allowed to develop naturally for a number of years,” said committee member Kim Rose. “When you walk through the woods, you’ll see that the trees are basically untouched and absolutely gorgeous. During the COVID period, bird watching became a very good way for families to spend time away from others but with each other. And it was during this time that the secrets of Ackerman began to appear.”

Thanks to some generous donations and grants from the state, the plan became much more than the committee ever dreamed. In all, more than $600,000 has been raised for the project. The preserve now includes a mile-long walking path around the wetland, bird blinds, a windmill, pollinator garden, and a walking bridge across part of the wetland, as well as a pavilion and tables for visitors to use.

Several Eagle Scout projects, as well as in-kind donations of labor and materials, have helped create this into a wonderful place for people and their families to check out the wildlife. Visitors have come from Columbus and Cleveland, and as far as Maine and Washington state, to see the preserve.

“On behalf of the board, I can’t tell you how grateful we are to have something like this for the community to be able to enjoy,” said Fredericktown Recreation District Parks Director Jim Blanchard. “This was a spot that we really wanted to do some development and this went so far beyond any of our wildest dreams.”

One of those instrumental in the creation of the preserve, retired educator Pam Rose, was honored for her many hours of work on the project, as the new pavilion was named the Pam Rose Educational Pavilion.

“In your guidance and leadership through this project, as well as your background in education, we thought it would be appropriate to officially name this pavilion the Pam Rose Educational Pavilion,” Blanchard said in presenting the honor. “Pam has been here, almost every day, and sometimes even well into the evening. A lot of the vision that came here on this project in general have come from a lot of Pam’s vision. She was very instrumental in being able to hand something like this over to the community.”

Saturday’s ceremony included proclamations from State Senator Andrew Brenner and State Representative Troy Balderson, as well as a ribbon cutting with the Knox County Chamber of Commerce.

“I’m just in awe of all the work that has gone into this. Thank you all for being here to celebrate the ribbon cutting of this tremendous, tremendous place. We know that this has taken a lot of effort and many years to come to fruition,” said Jill McCartney, executive director of the chamber.