New Haven Independent

The Mexican milk snake was among the revelers Wednesday at a season-ending party at the park’s ranger station. The party marked the end of the second year of a weekly volunteer gathering of young kids and the moms, aunts, babysitters, and nannies who care for them. With the help of Ranger Harry (aka Henry Coyle), they meet every Wednesday morning during the school year to explore the park, play together, read books, and check out the critters.

The group has grown to 55 participants from all backgrounds; the vast majority of kids are preschoolers. Some families hail from cultures as distant as Trinidad — even East Haven. Wednesday’s party marked the final session until the program resumes in September.

The prime organizer is Tatiana O’Connor (pictured), who lives in the Beaver Hills neighborhood. She grew up skating at the Coogan pavilion in Edgewood Park. Now her son rides his bike in the adjacent skate park.

O’Connor and other members of Friends of Edgewood Park got the idea one day when they were talking about how city libraries don’t open until noon on Wednesdays. They wanted somewhere else to take their infants and toddlers

“The moms got together. We wondered where we could go before the library opened,” O’Connor recalled. “We wanted to come and let the children know what nature is.”

So they approached Ranger Harry about using the park for the program. “The Friends approached me and said, ‘Let’s do something for kids,’” he recalled. “I said, ‘Here’s a room.’” The room in question was a storage room at one end of the ranger station.

Parents like Deirdre Fox (pictured with her 4 year-old son Jacob) brought in leftover paint from their basements and got to work. Fox, who ran Long Wharf Theatre’s costume shop before giving birth to Jacob, also brought some fabrics. They decorated the room in bright colors, added a “treehouse,” filled it with donated toys and books.

Meanwhile, each week O’Connor and Ranger Harry met in advance to plan a theme for each gathering. O’Connor took related books out from the library. The ranger took the kids and their adults to visit the pond and explore what he caught in a net. He took them on trail hikes, on walks to identify trees or, in winter, the tracks leading to where animals stay for the season.

And they learned not to fear Mexican milk snakes. Angelo Roberts Jr., a home-schooler from Maple Street, was playing happily with the snake for one last time Wednesday morning. His aunt, Carrie, marveled how just months ago — when she was still living in Greenville, N.C., she was scared silly by the same kind of snake. It took getting “citified” in New Haven to teach her otherwise, she said. Click on the play arrow to watch her and Angelo talk about it.

Carrie has been living with Angelo’s family. Inspired by her weekly visits with Angelo to the park program, she said, she and her husband have bought a house right nearby. “I love it so much,” she said of the park.

For information on the program, contact O’Connor here.