MVV Jason Eckert Cox Arboretum Foundation

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good morning. This is Miami ValleyView. My name is Dave Alexander and
I am your host, and thisis a public service program all presented by
iHeartMedia, Dayton and this morning joiningme in studio is Jason Eckerton. He
is the president of the Cox ArboretumFoundation. Jason, thanks for joining us
this morning. Good morning, Thankyou, Dave. All right, so

(00:23):
it well, it's Mother's Day.So what kind of activities just because it
is Mother's Day, what kind ofactivities is going out there? What kind
of things can we do with momout of Cox Arboretum? You know,
is there a better, more attractiveplace in the entire region to take mom
than the Cox arboreta in I don'tthink there is. So take your mom,
take your wife out for an amazingtwo and a half mile hike this

(00:45):
weekend. Hey, some of theblooming flowers the take your kids or maybe
leave them at home or take themto the children's maize on our property.
We'd love to have mothers visit usthis Sunday. That's aweso. How big
is the property? So that's agreat question. So we are one and
ninety six acres. Wow, We'relocated off Springboro Pike sort of north of

(01:07):
the Dayton Mall area, the landbetween seven and forty one and Interstate seventy
five, and some of the betterknown attractions at Coxarboretam. It's a great
question. I Probably my favorite spotis the Tree Tower, which you can
get a great view of our metropark and the surrounding area from the top

(01:27):
of the tree Tower. Right.We also are known for the Mone Bridge,
a beautiful bridge crossing one of themany lakes and ponds at the metro
park. And then our newest featureis the Children's Play Area, which is
a nature play imagine playground and slidesand buildable nature products that you can engage

(01:51):
in. It's a great way forour children to learn about nature and to
get their hands dirty and a sayfriendly environment right at a metro park.
Yeah, I mean, it's it'sa fantastic idea and it's nice that you
guys are doing that because you know, these days it's it's hard pressed to
get your kids out of the houseand and get them out into nature.
And what better way to do itbut at Cox Arboretum. So I'm guessing

(02:14):
since we are now in May thatthings at Cox Arboretum and all the Five
Rivers metro parks for that matter,are going to be super busy. And
I'm going to guess you guys aregoing to have a lot going on.
We certainly do, and this iscertainly a prompt season, graduation season,
So we have a lot of familiesvisiting Cox Arboretum, taking taking photographs and
visiting the park. Also just celebratingevents. And you know, one of

(02:38):
our primary activities is in fact eventrentals. Yeah. Yeah, Now we're
a metro park, so anyone canvisit the park at any time. Sure,
we also do have available rentals forevents like weddings, parties, receptions,
and celebrations. So how do wehow would someone go at it if
they wanted to, let's say,rent an area of Cox Arboretum. Yeah,

(02:59):
I'm glad you asked that question.So we have both indoor and outdoor
facilities that can be rented, Soyou could have an outdoor wedding at Cocks
Arboretum, you could have many indoorcelebrations. To learn more about renting a
facility at Cox Arboretum, our listenerscan call nine three seven to seven eight

(03:21):
two six five seven or visit usonline at Coxarboretum Foundation dot org. Okay,
and is it? I mean,I'm assuming you guys probably get booked
up, especially for for wedding,for activities and bigger events, probably pretty
quickly. Saturdays are our busiest timefor rentalness. That makes sense, although

(03:43):
we do a lot of corporate events. So if you are a small business
looking for a place to get awayto have a staff retreat, maybe a
summer planning session. Sure, wehave a number of indoor facilities where you're
surrounded by nature. I love gettingout there and just doing work while also
looking around and seeing all of theplants and animals at the Arboretum. Yeah,
and you know, that's one ofthose things that you don't think of,

(04:06):
and that's that's that's a you know, obviously you're going to want to
get out there because it's such abeautiful area for wedding photos and the like.
But just the thought of having thatkind of small company retreat to go
out and plan and you know,and get together and mash minds, is
that what better place to do it. I'm sure you get a lot of

(04:27):
inspiration at the great nature setting thereat Cox Arboretum. We certainly do,
and We have facilities that can hostthe group as small as four or five
people or as large as one hundredand seventy five people. Wow, for
a corporate wedding or corporate advent,I should say now corporate wedding, although
I guess we could celebrate maybe amerger of two companies coming to there for
it. We could do that.The fifth third Conference Center, which is

(04:49):
in our main building at the Arboretum, can host meetings of up to one
hundred and seventy five people. Wow, that's incredible. What about outdoor like
wedding? Is that is that verypopular as well? It certainly is,
and I would say the majority ofthe weddings are outdoors. There is a
beautiful nature allay which we've worked onfor years and in terms of you know,

(05:09):
having this beautiful area of trees growingtogether with flowering shrubs and flowers all
around the area, that's a verypopular area for outdoor weddings. We also
have an area called the Great Lawn, which is a beautiful, wide open
area sort of behind our main building. Couples can also reserve for a wedding
function. That is awesome. Andthat once again, what was the website?

(05:30):
So they can go check out moreinformation. Absolutely so. Our website
is Coxarboretum Foundation dot org. Andso not only are there, you can
go out and rent some you know, an area of Cox Arboretum for whatever
it might be. Might just mightbe a birthday party for that matter.
Yes, where you're having, youknow, a small family gathering or like
you said, all four people,which I think is incredible. But not

(05:54):
only that, but you guys canhave all kinds of events spring through fall.
So I would talk about events intwo categories. So there are weekly
events that are put on by ourpartners with Five Rivers metro Parks. We
are a unique public private partnership wherewe Cox Arboretum is indeed a metro park

(06:15):
through Five Rivers. Our foundation plansevents that are four foundation members as we
are that private part of the publicpartnership that helps drive the activities at Cox
Arboretum. Yeah, so so youguys are you know, that private partner.
But I'm going to guess that youknow, you we gotta it's not
all not Volunteers are going out thereto help keep Cox Arboretum look as great

(06:40):
as it does. So it doesneed to be funded, and I'm going
to guess, so, how dopeople help out and fund all of the
activities that are happening at Cox Arboretum. Yeah, thanks for asking that question.
So you can volunteer at Cox ArboretaMetro Park. In fact, when
you walk around and see people whoare planting balls, shoring for the property,
caring or the trails, it's acombination of volunteers and our amazing staff

(07:03):
colleagues to work with five rivers metroparks. Primarily, we raise funds in
two ways, and the first ismemberships. Okay, well, we currently
have just under two hundred paid memberswho support the arboretam and our foundation,
and memberships start as reasonably as fortydollars for an annual members Oh wow,

(07:25):
and there are lots of benefits.We have a seasonal newsletter. Our members
can visit over three hundred gardens andoar boretoms around the country for free or
reduced rate access. My family andI just went to Florida for spring break
and visited two separate arboretums had anadmissions fee, but through our membership with

(07:45):
Cocks Arboretum, we were able tovisit for free, which was an awesome
kind of a break from Mickey mouse, if I'm being honest, vacation to
Florida, and that's just for fortybucks. So the memberships begin at forty
dollars and go all the way upto one thousand or more on an annual
basis. So a lot of differentbenefits are So if you know, there's
a lot of great things to doaround the Miami Valley, five rivers,

(08:09):
metro parks, Cox Arbury number oneof them. So if you're looking to
help be a membership, you obviouslyif you're heading on vacation somewhere else and
you have an opportunity to go toany other Arborey and not any other arbery
but over three hundred and I meanthat's that's incredible. So definitely the benefits
of becoming a member. What otherways can can folks help? So we

(08:31):
also have other ways to give withour foundation. So there is a memorial
program where you can have a tributeeither a tree or a bench that oh
yeah, name after a loved oneor quite commonly people who who pass their
loved ones, if they knew theyspend time at at Cox Arboreya, sure
might give a memorial or a tributein honor of a loved one there.

(08:54):
Yeah, and I've seen that especiallyyou see a bench or maybe a tree
in loving memory of and it's usuallyat a spot where they really liked,
which I think is really kind ofcool. Yeah, it is really nice.
So what else? What else candoes the Cox Arboretum Foundation? What
kind of other kind of benefits doyou guys bring to the party? I'm

(09:16):
glad you've asked so. Over thelast ten years, our foundation has given
over three million dollars to the metroPark to Metric Park, and we've supported
a lot of the projects, programsand areas that our visitors enjoy. Sure
those would include the construction in theopening of the barber Cock Center for Sustainable
Horticulture, where we raise a lotof plants from seed, and then those

(09:41):
support not only our Arboretam but alsoother metro parks throughout the region. We've
paid for a lot of upkeep,including the rebuilding and the staining of the
tree tower. We also fund education, so school groups that come out to
learn about nature at the Arboretum,some of them will come out and do
bolt planting as a kind of anature activity during the spring. We also

(10:05):
helped five rivers with the Decoding Naturemovie series that you may have seen a
series of movies about the creation ofthe metroparks throughout the Dayton region. We
did a lot of upkeep, soflooring, lighting, roofing. Metro parks
are funded through the generous citizens ofthe n Valley, including through the Levee.

(10:26):
However, metro parks need additional supportand we provide that funding on an
annual basis. Somebody's got to changethe light bulbs, Jason, you know
what I mean. Well, itdoesn't me, colleagues, not you change
the light bulb, but you knowit's there's a reason why it is such
a gorgeous place is because it's upkept really really well. And that is

(10:48):
you know, and thanks and partsto you guys, the foundation there,
which of course is being helped outby you know, members and the whatnot.
So you guys are doing great thingsfor the cocks are And I need
to go out there with my familyhere and I haven't been out there in
a while, but we would loveto have you. And there are so
many new things. Sure, thereis a brand new pollinator habitat that's replaced

(11:11):
the butterfly house, more of asustainable seasonal approach where there are just amazing
things going on in that area.And once again, the nature play.
Anyone that has children, they willlove nature play, including the ability to
just really experience nature in a safeway slide, dig, climb and build
right at at our arboretum. Yeah. I love getting out and especially this

(11:35):
area has wonderful metro parks, hikingtrails. You know, it's just a
great time. It's a great wayto get out with your family, enjoy
the outdoors. And you guys aredoing such a great job of really keeping
it looking amazing for everybody who visits. Yeah, thank you, and I
would agree our our metro parks,the entire system through five rivers, and

(11:58):
our bike trails. There are waysthat we attract and retain citizens to the
Dayton region. I am actually fromMissouri and came here in part because of
the amazing park system, the trails. My wife and I are active hikers
and walkers, and you could picka different metro park every week and stay

(12:18):
active all year long, all yearin the Dayton area. All right,
So once again, give us anidea before I let you go here almost
out of time, give us anidea of how we can help you know,
you guys keep the metro parks,especially Cox Arboream looking so nice.
Well, one is to really justkeep sustainability in mind as you're going through

(12:39):
your life in terms of respecting nature, picking up trash, visiting the metro
parks. People who support us areoften our most active visitors, those who
are visible, bringing their families,bringing their dogs for walks. We just
love staying activity at all the metroparks. In my perspective, working with
the Cox Arborina Foundation, we wouldlove to see more people come to Coxarboretum,

(13:03):
which I think is one of thereal hidden jams in the Miami Valley.
Of course, we would welcome additionalmemberships starting as low as forty dollars.
And then if you are planning anevent, maybe a birthday party,
a corporate retreat, a memorial oflife celebration, a wedding, we would
love to have you consider hosting thatwith us at Coxarboretum. It's a great

(13:24):
place. So once again, allthat information, even a schedule of some
of the events that are happening weeklyat Cox Arboretum, you can find on
their website, which, thank youfor the plug, is Coxarboretumfoundation Dot org
or for rentals. Feel free tocontact us at nine three seven two seven
eight two six five seven. Allright, get out there and enjoy Cox

(13:48):
Arboretum. Jason Man, appreciate youcoming in this morning. Thank you for having me