McCormick’s Creek State Park is home for me. When I was a kid, my family rented a cabin for a week every summer.  There was a central bathhouse with toilets and showers and each cabin had its own place to cook outside and an ice box. Someone came around every day selling blocks of ice to cool the ice boxes. Every day we followed the naturalist on a hike, then cooked lunch and went swimming in the hotel pool. Sometimes we attended programs in the evenings and sometimes people just played cards. This was just wonderful and I loved everything about it (except the occasional bat in the cabin), especially the fossils in rocks by the creek.
     When I grew old enough, I became a naturalist myself, and spent two or three summers leading hikes and other activities.  I still loved it. Now, many years later, on the rare times when I return to the Midwest, I try very hard to stop for a too-short visit to the Park, on the way to wherever I am going. My grandson, who sometimes comes with me, is now fascinated with the fossils in the rocks by the creek.
     It has been a pleasure to be a member of Friends of McCormick’s Creek. It keeps me connected, from Connecticut. I send my thanks to all the local Friends, who can actually do things at the park, for all their hard work.