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Thank You for Joining Us for the New SLNC Picnic Pavilion Ribbon Cutting

July 17, 2025

A message from SLNC Director-Naturalist, PattiAnn Cutter:

Thank you to All who joined us for the New SLNC Picnic Pavilion Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony on Friday, 7/25/25!

This beautiful New Picnic Pavilion is now officially open, and is available for Visitors to enjoy when it’s not in use by the SLNC Summer Camp! It will also soon be available to rent for special occasions!

We also extend a HUGE thanks to:

  • the Friends of SLNC and ALL who donated to help make this project possible – including through Annual Appeals, Basket Fundraisers, SLNC Night at Local Restaurants, Individual Donations, and More! Thank you also to ALL who helped to coordinate the fundraisers! Without ALL of this support from our Members, Volunteers, Staff, Board, and Community, this would not have been able to happen!
  • Bucks County General Services Team for all their help with the Tent setups/takedowns, moving picnic tables, grounds prep, and everything else they do!
  • Visit Bucks County for their generous grant of $11,700 to help toward this Project!
  • DiCenso Landscaping, Inc. the amazing Contractor who took on this project and stuck with us through the many hurdles along the way! They did an incredible job!!!
  • Tim Hufnell of the Bristol Photographers Club for taking the event photos!

 The driving force/need for this Project was for our Summer Camp as it has grown exponentially over the past few years, and we needed a second Pavilion to help accommodate. For the past few years, the County of Bucks provided us with a Festival Tent to use through the Camp Season, and we are grateful. But we really needed to get a permanent structure, and we did! The Summer Campers are LOVING it!!

If you’d like to make a donation to help offset additional costs* that the nonprofit Friends of SLNC organization incurred through the construction process, please visit: https://silverlakenaturecenter.org/donate/, and include in the comments that this is for the New Pavilion.

*The total cost of the Project (including engineering fees, permits, construction, et al) was $39,224.79. The total fundraised through all the above efforts was $34, 725. If you’d like to help contribute toward the $4,499.79 difference, please visit https://silverlakenaturecenter.org/donate/ and indicate in the comments that it’s for the Pavilion Project. Thank you!!

In addition to funding projects as described above and so much else, the nonprofit Friends of SLNC has supported Environmental Education by being a supporting/symbiotic organization to the Bucks County Parks & Recreation Dept. since 1979. The Friends of SLNC currently funds three full-time/year-round Staff, eight Summer/Seasonal Staff, Internship, and per diem/on-call Educators (many of which generously choose to Volunteer) to help with our field trips, scout programs, birthday parties, & other group & public programs. We couldn’t do it without you, and again we thank you!