On April 24th, 2024, AYLUS Oakland Gardens held its 66th event at Fort Totten Park. During this event, our volunteers took time to watch three puppet shows hosted by our Urban Park Rangers: Morgan, Eric, Adam, AJ, Michelle, and Joe. The audience was able to witness engaging stories while learning about nature.
At the start of the event, some of our members assisted the park rangers in setting up the tent and stage where the puppet shows would take place. When everyone finally settled down, the rangers began their performance.
The first show, ‘A Very Hungry Duck,’ follows a hungry duck who wanders around the park in search of food. She eventually stumbles upon bread, chips, and coffee left over by humans. Many other animals warn her about the human food she finds, but she ignores the warnings and happily eats all the food anyway. After a short while, the duck begins to feel tired and awful as a result of the consumed sugar, salt, and caffeine. Eventually, she learns from a raccoon that natural foods like worms, crabs, plants, berries, and insects are healthier options that can be found anywhere. The story not only educates us about what ducks can and cannot eat but also gives us a key takeaway: do not feed the animals.
The second show, ‘Ricky the Lost Raccoon,’ tells the tale of a young raccoon who became fascinated with a smartphone that he found in a human trash bin. Ricky boasts to his mom that he finds no use in learning about nature due to his device, and he will explore the Great Unknown. Despite his mother’s advice to learn about nature, Ricky believes he can find all his answers with his smartphone. As he goes into the Great Unknown, the smartphone suddenly dies, and Ricky finds himself lost. Then he encounters Georgia the owl and confesses to his cockiness and excitement about the Great Unknown. Georgia shows him how other animals interact with nature: squirrels climbing across trees, foxes jumping high, and owls turning their heads to extreme angles. After Ricky returns home, he apologizes to his mother and learns to appreciate the wonders of nature.
The third show, ‘Caterpillar and Squirrel,’ focuses on the process of metamorphosis. It begins with a caterpillar hatching from an egg and befriending a nearby squirrel. The caterpillar and squirrel become close friends and play with each other for two weeks, until one day the caterpillar begins to feel unwell and covers itself with a blanket-like covering. When the squirrel can’t find the caterpillar in their usual spot, he calls out an owl for help. The owl reveals that the caterpillar is experiencing a transformation in the chrysalis. After a month, the squirrel witnesses the chrysalis open to reveal a beautiful butterfly. The squirrel and butterfly decide to continue playing for a while, until they eventually grow up and move on with their lives. Even though this story doesn’t show us a specific lesson, it provides insight into how metamorphosis works and what we can expect when experiencing it in nature.
In between the three shows, there were two breaks. During the first break, everyone spread out for stretching exercises led by park rangers. For the second break, we utilized the big park field to play Ranger Says. These breaks were important to keep everyone energized and active after sitting down for a long time. When the show was over, the park rangers offered everyone the opportunity to take pictures with them and the stuffed animals.
Actively working in nature doesn’t have to be the only way we can help our community. Sometimes, listening and learning about what NOT to do can also make just as big of an impact.
We would like to thank all of our volunteers who showed up for this event. Our thanks also go out to our Urban Park Rangers: Morgan, Eric, Adam, AJ, Michelle, and Joe. Their commitment to spreading the idea of protecting the environment made this event possible. We are more than eager to work with them again in the future.
Our volunteers:
Ricky Song: 2 hours
Jia Qi (Angela) Liu: 2 hours
Stephanie ShiRan You: 2 hours
Sophia ShiHan You : 2 hours
Hong Hao (Alfred) Liu: 2 hours
Matthew Lin: 2 hours
Benny Zou: 2 hours
Liam Cheung: 2 hours
Adrianna Zhang: 2 hours
Xilin Huang: 2 hours
Eric Yu: 2 hours
XiangXi Yu: 2 hours
Anthony Lin: 2 hours
Sophia Gao: 2 hours
Sabrina Gao: 2 hours
Derrick Gao: 2 hours
Sophia Li: 2 hours
Brayden Lau: 2 hours
Amy Liu: 2 hours
Melody Ke: 2 hours
Binshan Bai: 2 hours
Ivey Lam: 2 hours
Leo Xue: 2 hours
Ioklee Lin: 2 hours
Ioknor Lin: 2 hours
Iokting Lin: 2 hours
Jordan Leung: 2 hours
Tianxiang Ding: 2 hours
Kaisa Wu : 2 hours
Junzhe Ling: 2 hours
Kingsley Chen: 2 hours
Blake Han: 2 hours
Yuxin Liu: 2 hours
Maggie Liu: 2 hours
Emily Wang: 2 hours
Athena Luo: 2 hours
Zhengyilan Fang (Elaine): 2 hours
Shiqi Zheng (Suki): 2 hours
Xitong Zheng: 2 hours
Songen Yang: 2 hours
Zhiyan Zeng: 2 hours
Zoey Zhou: 2 hours
Zhen Xie: 2 hours
Patricia Dai: 2 hours
Fiona Chen: 2 hours
Evaline Yuel: 2 hours
Austin Yuel: 2 hours
Aiden Lin: 2 hours
Brandon Lin: 2 hours
Ella Sun: 2 hours
Emily Zheng: 2 hours
Hannah Zheng: 2 hours
Melissa Chen: 2 hours
Bella Dai: 2 hours
Ethan Dai: 2 hours
Ryan Chen: 2 hours
Collin Lo: 2 hours
Aiden Lan: 2 hours
Hannah Liu: 2 hours
Evina Liu: 2 hours
Owen Liu: 2 hours
Ayden Shi: 2 hours
Princia Dai: 2 hours
Ryan Wang: 2 hours
Nerissa Xu: 2 hours
Paxton Xu: 2 hours
Darren Li: 2 hours
Austin Li: 2 hours
Thomas Liang: 2 hours
William Liang: 2 hours
Hayden Ma: 2 hours
Runyi Liu: 2 hours
Huaiqian Liu: 2 hours
Sunny Chen: 2 hours
Ashley Liu: 2 hours
Alice Chen: 2 hours
Aaron Pan: 1.5 hours
Carolyn Zhao: 1 hour
Alecia Zhao: 1 hour
Parent Adviser Team:
Hsinhui Liao (Karen)
Teng Fei Liu (Faye)
Report written by: Brandon Lin
Reviewed by: Jia Qi (Angela) Liu
