STERLING - In honor of Earth Day, the Friends of the Sterling Nature Center and other volunteers were out in force Saturday, cleaning up the stretch of shoreline at the center as part of the annual spring cleanup there.

“This place is a real gem. I love this place,” said Jim Pangborn, of Hannibal. “People from all over the area, from various groups come in to clean up the shoreline, two miles of underdeveloped shoreline. Visitors leave a certain amount of junk, but the lion's share of junk on the shore washes in.”

The group also sponsored a chili cookoff and offered activities for geocachers.

Pangborn, who was also the first-place winner in the chili cookoff, said the group is currently seeking new members; duties for new members include volunteering at the center and helping to maintain the numerous flower gardens outside the main building.

“The nature center is funded by Cayuga County,” said board member Charlie Itzin, of Fair Haven. “We provide a lot of support for it; we do a newsletter; we also develop programs at the center. Over the last four to five years we have been working on a $60,000 matching grant; we only have $17,000 left to go, so we're still working on it. This is the first time we've done the chili cookoff.”

Some volunteers Saturday said that they were originally attracted to the area because of the Sterling Nature Center Rookery, where as many as 300 blue heron converge during the nesting season.

The nature center boasts 1,400 acres of wetlands, woodlands and meadows bordered by two miles of undeveloped lakeshore, with Sterling Creek to the south and Nine Mile Creek to the north. Ecologically sensitive areas are protected by a conservation easement. The wetland is home to beavers, ducks, geese, woodpeckers, frogs, turtles, dragonflies, bald eagles, ospreys and other wildlife.