The retired branch library manager teamed up with the Ruch Outdoor Community School for one last project before retiring: A beautiful Cantrall Buckley Park Environmental Coloring Book.
by Christina Ammon
Thalia with a group of Ruch Outdoor Community Middle Schoolers. They helped write the grant and design the coloring book.
Salamanders the size of children. A friendly-faced cougar hanging out near a campfire. A Great Blue Heron relaxing near a playground. A cat on a leash. These are just some of the images that fill the new Cantrall-Buckley Park Environmental Coloring Book. The recently-released coloring book was partially funded by an Innovation grant from A Greater Applegate and alphabetically documents the treasures of our park. It runs from the Art of Cheryl Garcia, to Skunks, to “Zoomed-in” depictions of dragonflies and pussy ears flowers.
Thalia intended to dive into her weaving projects after retiring, but her love of art and children inspired her to pursue the Cantrall Buckley Coloring Book project.
The point person for the project? Thalia Truesdell, a resident of the Applegate Valley for 35 years. The former library branch manager worked with Ruch Outdoor Community School to organize and produce the dozens of drawings that fill the book. Truesdall had originally envisioned a scientific guide to the park’s flora and fauna , but let that idea go.
“Because of the alphabetical format of the book, and the often-whimsical nature of young children’s drawings, our emphasis on scientific precision began to wane,” she writes in the book’s introduction. That’s why you’ll see vultures perched next to volleyball games.
It’s just as well. Her main goal was achieved: Helping the children become more observant of Cantrall Buckley’s abundance. After spending time in the park and consulting bird and flower guides, Truesdall says they gained a new appreciation for the park. “They were like: ‘Wow, we have Martens, Fishers, and Long-tailed Weasels?!’”
For those with a scientific bent, the back of the book features photographs of the animals and plants featured in the book, suitable for use as a field guide for the Park.
Truesdell retired from her position as Branch Manager of Ruch Library last June. She calls herself a “weaving dervish” and intended to give herself over to her art: Weaving landscapes and seascapes out of natural fibers. But her love of children and art found her teaching at the Ruch Outdoor Community School. The inspiration to create the book came as a surprise.
“I’ve never owned a coloring book, or even colored in one. Neither did my children,” she says. But when she came across an Oregon Coast Coloring Book in the library, she thought to make one for Cantrall Buckley. The Park has overcome many financial and environmental challenges since its inception in 1965 and deserved to be celebrated in this way. And she’d long wanted to put together a guide to the park.
She assembled five middle schoolers and began planning. The students were instrumental in writing the grant proposal that funded the project and presented it local civic groups. Truesdell gives them full credit: “It was definitely US working together.”
Some of the kids had actually never drawn before. “It was really fun,” she says. “The students’ growth was astonishing.” Indeed, the drawings will have any adult longing to recapture the unself-conscious artistic freedom that we so often lose along the way.
The groups went through all the ups and downs and joys and challenges that come with any creative project. But despite the amount of energy involved, the coloring book project was a nice transition from leaving the library and children’s program and retiring.
Still, Truesdell is determined to stay retired this time. “I told my friends if they see me raise my hand for something to stop me!”
WHERE TO FIND THE COLORING BOOK:
The books are available at over 20 businesses between Grants Pass and Jacksonville.
INNOVATION GRANTS: To learn more about A Greater Applegate’s Innovation Grants, click here.
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