Steward the Next Generation

Dec 17

Dear Supporter,

Some places grow more precious with each generation. For multiple generations, the Oehmig family has discovered Reflection Riding as their sacred space.

“This place feeds every part of my body—my heart, my soul, all my senses,” shares grandmother Margy. She’s watched her grandchildren discover the same paths she has walked for decades, their eyes filled with wonder.

Her daughter-in-law, Esmé, also carries this legacy. “Walking on the boardwalk with my mother is one of my earliest memories,” she recalls. Now, she brings her own children here. “When they’re outside, they can get their hands dirty, discover things, and be challenged. It’s where their creativity really thrives.”

For young Lula, Margy’s granddaughter, these grounds are pure magic. From summer camp adventures to school field trips studying endangered species, she’s developing a deep connection to nature that will last a lifetime.

Reflection Riding offers something increasingly rare: an accessible green space where families connect with nature and each other. But maintaining this natural haven for future generations requires your support.

Your year-end gift helps us:

Provide children with hands-on environmental education
Offer families a safe, accessible place to explore nature together
Enable our nursery to continue propagating native plant species for our community
Ensure the highest quality of care for the wildlife in our sanctuary
Support our Native Landscape Apprentices in their restoration efforts

Will you join us in this stewardship? Together, we can be catalysts for nature and ensure a vibrant future for our community for generations to come.

Give Today

“It’s important to be a good steward of nature, of our land, of our surrounding area. Will you join us in this stewardship?”

— Margy Oehmig

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Explore more stories of Reflect, Renew, Restore…

News & Updates

Restore: Nurturing Nature's Next Generation

This year, we witnessed how a single field trip can spark a lifelong journey in conservation. For Jahore Vann, a junior at The Howard School, that spark has grown into a blazing passion for environmental stewardship through our Native Landscape Apprenticeship program.

Renew: Nurturing the Connections with Wildlife

At Reflection Riding, our commitment to environmental stewardship is renewed daily through the healing and nurturing of local wildlife. This vital work cares for individual animals and strengthens the delicate web of life that sustains our entire ecosystem. Wildlife Naturalist Brianna Taylor embodies this mission of renewal, forging deep connections with both the animals in her care and the natural world that we all share.

Reflect: Finding Purpose in Land Stewardship

At Reflection Riding, we often pause to consider what it means to truly reflect in nature. Few stories capture this essence better than that of David Riall, whose connection with our campus began during the isolating days of COVID-19 and has blossomed into a profound relationship with nature and land conservation.

Reflect: A Volunteer’s Journey

For dedicated volunteer Sarah, what began as a way to complete the Master Gardener program requirements has blossomed into a deep connection with Reflection Riding's native plant nursery.

Year-End

Mark McKnight

President/CEO

Team member since 2017

Mark brings more than 15 years of outdoor recreation industry expertise to bear as the President of Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center. While serving as Marketing Director for outdoor retailer Rock/Creek for more than a decade, Mark led an expansion online and into regional brick-and-mortar. While there he co-founded RootsRated, a media startup answering the question of where to go outdoors.

Mark enjoys sharing success stories from Chattanooga, especially where lean teams punch above their weight by working together in a smarter way. He has been a featured speaker at tech events like Oracle’s OpenWorld and Twitter’s global sales conference in San Francisco as well as outdoor industry events like the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance tradeshow in Knoxville.

Mark uses photography and storytelling to highlight the natural beauty of this region. He first discovered Chattanooga during college while working in Mentone, Alabama for a summer camp. Leading the nature center and encouraging people to spend more time outside reconnecting with nature feels like the perfect continuation of that work.

If you give him enough time, Mark will eventually start talking about iNaturalist, a platform for citizen science and a type of social network for nature nerds.