There are literally thousands of northwest Alabama residents who fondly remember their childhood experiences at the Bear Creek Education Center and Overton Farm in Hodges.
Most were part of a school or church group that participated in events at the 400-acre facility located on the shores of Big Bear Creek. Those events often included overnight stays in the two bunkhouses and meals in the Education Center's spacious dining hall. The Tennessee Valley Authority purchased Overton Farm in 1969 and opened the Bear Creek Education Center as a way to education local children about life in a rural, farming community.
You can count Bethany Green, Bear Creek Collaborative's Director of Funding & Project Development, among those who still remember visiting Bear Creek as a child.
“I'm a Bear Creek kid,” Green said. “I went to Bear Creek with Muscle Shoals City Schools in the fourth and sixth grade. It's always had a special place for me.”
Along with Jen Berry, Director of Educational Programming, Green is one of two full-time employees of the Bear Creek Collaborative, a not-for-profit organization founded in 2022, which now operates and maintains the Bear Creek Education Center for educational events including field trips, day and overnight trips, inclusive events, group events and customized outings.
This is done in partnership with Past Times,LLC, a business which hosts weddings, corporate events and catering at the dining hall. John L. (Bo) Williams is Past Times' owner.
Yes, Bear Creek experiences have returned, and the collaborative has hosted more than 1,000 kids so far this year. Tailoring activities appropriate for each group is the responsibility of Berry, who works with the officials booking the event to customize the experience to meet their needs.
That can include team-building activities, educational programs, historical field trips to Bear Creek's pioneer village or outdoor recreational activities. There's no limit to the creative ways Bear Creek Collaborative can plan an event, and that's going to become easier as fund-raising grows to allow continued renovations and improvement of the property.
The past three years have included a lot of cleaning of the property, as well as clearing brush, tree limbs, etc., to make trails accessible once again.
From its outdoor classroom pavilion to the five remaining structures at the farm, the Bear Creek Collaborative is moving toward the goal of returning to what it once was, with some enhancements.
In addition to Green and Berry, the Bear Creek Collaborative Board of Directors and several part-time employees are the ones working to maximize the potential of this natural learning environment including making it completely accessible for all guests, regardless of disability, while creating a setting 'where individuals value one another's differences and engage in experiences where they are understanding and accepting of others,' according to the collaborative's website, www.bearcreekcollab.org.
Board members include former Bear Creek Education Center Director Patrick Shremshock, who worked at the center for 19 years.
“We're fortunate to have him on board and he's been a huge help,” Green said of Shremshock. “He's helping map out trails, he's a good voice of reason and he talks about events they used to do here and what did and didn't work.”
Bear Creek Collaborative's Board of Directors also includes Dr. Jeffrey Bibbee, a Dean at the University of Tennessee-Martin, Amanda Martin, who brings her business experience to the board, Nicholas Simmons, a K-12 educator and Jessica Davenport, who created the Kruzn for a Kure Foundation.
A recent visit to Bear Creek by McBride Elementary School's fifth-grade classes included a day filled with archery, a sensory hike to identify what does and doesn't belong in the outdoors, water testing (with assistance of TVA), learning about Native Americans' use of corn with a sampling of corn cakes and a history lesson from the early 1800s, according to the Bear Creek Collaborative's Facebook page.
That visit was significant as it was the first field trip to Bear Creek for any Muscle Shoals City School in more than 10 years. Next summer, Bear Creek will host the Healing Place's grief camp, for children who have experienced the death of a family member.
Bear Creek's two bunkhouses allow overnight lodging for up to 88 guests. The dining hall has undergone significant renovations by Past Times. And the main building's downstairs has been updated to serve as a powder room for weddings. There's also an office on the downstairs level, Green said.
There remains much renovation and updating to be done, though. And that's where Green's Director of Funding title come into play. Bear Creek received a grant that will allow for construction and installation of a completely accessible dock and kayak launch. This will be only the second of its kind in Alabama when it's completed this spring.
A special Community Paddle Day is set for Saturday, April 12, 2025, when the grand opening of the dock and kayak launch will take place. There will be local elected officials, donors and other contributors invited to this event, which will be from 10-2 that day.
Green said plans are underway to bring back the ropes course, a very popular activity in past years at Bear Creek/Overton Farm. The course will be professionally designed but first, the old ropes must be taken down and staff must be trained to run the course. Meanwhile, work continues on trail rebuilding, plans for 2025 events, promoting the reopening of the property and, of course, fund raising.
“We have a built-in audience we never realized we were going to have in people who experienced coming here when they were kids,” Green said. “We've had so many people share their old photos and their experiences at Bear Creek. Most of our donors have had a Bear Creek experience. If I can get people to the property, I can sell it. But we are very blessed that people have fond memories of coming here and are willing to continue supporting it,” she added.
For more information on the Bear Creek Collaborative, like and follow its Facebook page and/or visit www.bearcreekcollab.org.
