Aullwood Audubon Local Park Trip with Antioch College

On Sunday, October 27th, 7 students and 1 staff member from Antioch College took an afternoon trip to Aullwood Audubon in Dayton, Ohio, for the campus’ local park outing. Aullwood Audubon is a member of the National Audubon Society and features an environmental education center, nature preserve, sustainable farm, and of course, the famous “The That Hatched an Egg: An Exhibition by Thomas Dambo.”

The group checked out the gift shop before walking around the Marie S. Aull Education Center. Then, we hiked to the first two portions of the exhibition: the baby troll named “Bibbi” and the Troll Nest, featuring troll-sized eggs. Afterward, we hiked to the Aullwood Farm, home to goats, chickens, turkeys, horses, pigs, and sheep, before hiking to the rest of the exhibition: the mother troll “Bodil” and the father troll “Bo.” 

We chose this outing because we knew people would be interested in it as there is a lot of talk locally about the exhibition. We figured it would be a good way to get people outside and hiking while also giving them something else to do. We thought it went well; people looked like they were having fun, and we got pretty positive feedback from everyone. We think it might have been beneficial to be there longer, as some people with physical impairments couldn’t move as fast as the rest of the group wanted to, but the rest of the group also wanted to see everything before it closed. A longer trip would’ve allowed plenty of time to see everything and for rest periods. However, we do think it was a great opportunity to get people off campus, and not only exposed to nature, but to the intersection of nature and art and farm animals! We had students basking in the sun and lying in the leaves. We think it was a good mental health break for them before the last two weeks of classes. 

Our favorite moments were Anthony getting on the tractor, Shelby and El almost breaking the teeter-totter, and Buddy Bison posing for a picture with Bodil.