Get Involved

The Royal Oak Nature Society is a non-profit volunteer organization established to protect, promote, maintain, and make improvements in Royal Oak’s two nature parks, Tenhave Woods and Cummingston Park.  We are also in the process of developing the Royal Oak Arboretum which is located behind the Royal Oak Senior/Community Center. Listed below are different ways that you can help us.

Volunteer Activities:

Patrolling the Parks:

 This is a good activity for families/friends to do together. It entails:
  • Cleaning up litter within the park and along the outside of the fence
  • Walking the trails in order to report on any obstacles blocking them
  • Walking along the Tenhave fence line in order to report any fence breaches or gaps under it

Contact person is Michelle Watson.

Park Maintenance/Projects: 

Volunteers must be high school age or older.  This is a good choice for community service.  It entails:
  • Assisting in the battle to remove invasive species
  • Maintaining a path inside part of the Tenhave Woods fence line and repair fence breaches
  • Keeping trails clear of encroaching weeds
  • Removing fallen trees and branches from the trails and fences
  • Lining trails with logs

Contact person is Michelle Watson.  

Gardening in the Arboretum- May -September:  

A crew works in the arboretum in order to keep the trails cleared of encroaching weeds, and to remove invasive plants and other plant debris from the park.  Contact person is Michelle Watson.

Annual Fundraiser:  

Our annual fundraiser is held at the Royal Oak Elks Club on a Friday in April, usually towards the end of month..  We need help in setting up for the fundraiser in the afternoon. During the event, we need help busing tables and keeping the banquet hall cleaned up.  Towards the end, we will need help with final clean up.  We are also looking for sponsors and items from businesses that we can use as auction items.  Contact person is Ted Vickers. 

Dream Cruise Parking at Gunn Dyer Park:  

We need volunteers to help us collect parking fees and to find spaces for the cars to be parked in. A portion of the parking fees goes to the Nature Society. Volunteers must be adults.  Contact person is Ted Vickers.

Eagle Scout Projects: 

Contact person is Bob Muller. 

Nature Walk Leaders:

  We are looking for volunteers who would like to learn how lead a nature walk.  Contact person is Bob Muller. 

Help Us Out With One or More of the Following:

Communications:

Responsible for It publicizing organizational activities to the general membership and public through various mediums and performs any other forms of communications required by the board. The department also publishes a newsletter, the Chinquapin, four times a year. 

Education: Provides outreach and liaison to outside individuals, groups and schools to promote environmental education.

Fundraising: 

  Leads the fund-raising efforts of the Royal Oak Nature Society, which includes the coordinating and organizing of the Annual Fundraiser in April and other fund-raiser programs approved by the board.

Programming: 

Responsible for setting up the speaker programs, workshops and all of the nature programs within Cummingston Park, Tenhave Woods and the Royal Oak Arboretum.

Stewardship: 

Organizes the maintenance and improvement of Cummingston Park, Tenhave Woods and the Royal Oak Arboretum.

Ways & Means

:  Investigates means of grant solicitation and then follows through accordingly.


If you are interested in becoming involved with one or more of the above, please contact us

by email(naturesociety@romi.gov) 

or by phone at 248-246-3380 (leave a message) and let us know what you might be interested in being a part of.