WOODLAND HILLS : Nature Walk to Aid Agriculture Program

Pierce College will hold a nature walk Oct. 29 on the campus to raise money for the school’s agriculture program and to give the public an opportunity to tour the facility.

“Pierce College has such a unique asset in the farm that we believe we ought to share it with the community,” said Pierce President Mary Lee.

Lee said she hopes the walk will be as successful as a similar walk held July 4, which raised about $11,000, not counting expenses. “The people who came loved it,” Lee said. “Many people who were out of town July 4 said, ‘When are you going to do the next one?’ ”

The walks, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will be casual affairs, said Pierce spokeswoman Ina Geller. They will take place along several pathways winding through fields and the nature center and a canyon in the southwest portion of the school property.

“The walkers will get to see horses and sheep and pigs and cattle; it will be like a day at the farm,” Geller said. “It’s real slow, and you just meander around at your own leisure.”

Walkers are asked to give a dollar, and individuals can sponsor the walk by making a $50, tax-deductible donation, Geller said. For the $1, walkers also can visit a haunted house.

For $250, businesses looking for publicity can have their company names painted on large wooden animal signs inserted in the ground at various points along the walk.

The money raised will go to repair fences and barns and to reseed pasture grasses depleted by migrating Canada geese, Geller said. The reseeding is expected to cost $5,000 to $10,000.

The walk is being sponsored by the college, the Foundation for Pierce College and the Associated Students Organization.

Another walk will be held in December or January, when the Canada geese pass through, Lee said. For information on the walks call (818) 719-6408.