Kathy Stout did just that as she watched the larvae of caddisflies painstakingly build protective casings out of small stones.

“I thought they were incredible insects,” she said. “I thought, `Wow, they’re so beautiful.’”

Ms. Stout was introduced to the caddisfly by her former husband, Ben Stout, a biologist. As he studied the tiny fresh-water insect, her fascination with its masonry grew. Ms. Stout thought it would be interesting to see what the larvae would do with precious and semi-precious stones. She watched in awe as they created beautiful artwork that they discarded as they entered the adult stage of life.

Ms. Stout realized the casings were perfect natural ingredients for creating jewelry.

“I can’t leave the house without a piece of my jewelry on,” Ms. Stout remarked. “I have silver necklaces literally sold jewelry right off my body.”

Ms. Stout is just as committed to telling the story of the amazing caddisfly as she is to the jewelry she makes with their help. The presence of caddisflies in a river or stream is a sign of clean water.

Ms. Stout will be at Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester on Thursday evening to talk about her favorite insect – “I want them to be as famous as the dragonfly,” she said – and demonstrate how she uses the exquisite casings to make earrings, necklaces and bracelets.

“I’m going to bring some bugs with me,” she said by telephone from her home in Wheeling, W.Va. “I’ll bring jewelry and casings and material to construct jewelry.”

In order to make her jewelry, Ms. Stout needs to be rather closely involved in the later stages of tiffany bangles the caddisfly life cycle. Each March, she gathers a few friends and they trek up to the headwaters of springs in the mountains of West Virginia, where the larvae congregate and live off debris. “They maintain the water quality in the stream for other organisms,” Ms. Stout explained.

She and her friends collect the larvae that are in the stage in which they are starting to construct their protective casings; it’s an amazing process to observe, she said. The larvae start by gluing pieces of leaves together with silk.

“If it’s a nice, beautiful weekend, it’s wonderful,” Ms. Stout said. “You sit on the side of a stream and look at leaves. They cut these round-circle disks out of leaves to start constructing the casings. You find the leaf disks and know they’re there.”

Ms. Stout and her friends collect 2,000 to 3,000 caddisflies and bring them back to her house, where she has bins filled with water kept between 55 and 65 degrees. She must maintain a certain water flow and oxygenation or the caddisflies will perish. She feeds her insects leaf debris she has collected from the headwater streams. It took years to create her simulated environment, and she must continually fine-tune it.

As the larvae move into the stone-building stage, Ms. Stout provides them with gems from which to build their casings. Each September, the casings become cocoons. The caddisflies emerge and head for land. They shed one more layer of skin and fly off. Ms. Stout collects the hollow casings and, using a syringe filled with jeweler’s glue, she carefully seals each one.

Ms. Stout, 46, works as a respiratory therapist, and her mother designs and makes much of the jewelry. It is tiffany rings sold on Ms. Stout’s Web site, www.wildscape.com. As far as she knows, she is the only person making jewelry out of caddisfly casings. She knows of an artist in France who uses the casings to create pieces of art.

As much as Ms. Stout enjoys making her jewelry, her real dedication is to the welfare of the caddisfly. She visits schools to give talks and is working on an educational video on the caddisfly ecosystem.

“One way I can get younger kids involved in looking at streams is showing them the beauty and art associated with a stream,” she said.

Ms. Stout recently returned from Salt Lake City, where she attended the annual meeting of the North American Benthological Society, which is dedicated to the study of bottom-dwelling creatures in streams and lakes. When she’s away, her caddisflies are tended by her “bug sitter.”

“She knows the system really well and monitors the caddisflies for me,” Ms. Stout said. “They’re my babies. I want them to survive and live a happy life.”

Contact Pamela H. Sacks at Psacks@telegram.com

Jewelry Created by the Caddisfly

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

Where: Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary, 414 Massasoit Road, Worcester

How much: $3 for members; $5 for nonmembers. There will be a charge for materials used, and Kathy Stout’s jewelry will be for sale.

Steven W. Derr, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that GENERO MARTE, also known as “G,” 44, a citizen of the Dominican Republic last residing in Blackwood, New Jersey, was sentenced yesterday, November 24, by United States District Judge Janet C. Hall in Bridgeport to 204 months of imprisonment for supplying cocaine to a New Haven drug trafficking organization. Judge Hall also ordered MARTE to pay a fine in the amount of $25,000. On November 20, 2008, a jury found MARTE guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base (“crack cocaine”).

This matter stems from “Operation No Nonsense,” an investigation conducted by the DEA New Haven Drug Task Force, including agents and officers of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New Haven Police Department and the West Haven Police Department, into a significant crack cocaine trafficking ring silver earrings operating in and around the Newhallville section of New Haven.

According to court documents, statements made in court and evidence disclosed during trials of several of the individuals charged as a result of this investigation, during 2006 and 2007, DEA Task Force agents made several supervised purchases of crack cocaine from Mauriel Glover, also known as “Feet,” of New Haven. In September 2007, the DEA obtained court-authorization for wiretaps on phones used by Glover and Roshaun Hoggard, also known as “Foot,” of New Haven, after which hundreds of incriminating drug-related calls were intercepted and recorded. The wiretap revealed that Glover, Hoggard and others regularly received cocaine from MARTE, which was transported to Connecticut and processed into crack. Glover, Hoggard and others then sold the crack to numerous customers in the Newhallville section of New Haven.

In several recorded conversations, Hoggard described the process of cooking the powder cocaine he had obtained from MARTE into crack. Hoggard also was intercepted complaining to MARTE about cocaine powder that was of too low quality to be processed into crack and which he wanted to return. During the trial of silver key rings MARTE and Hoggard, the Government presented the testimony of law enforcement agents who followed Hoggard to the Bronx, New York where he met with associates of MARTE to pick up distribution quantities of cocaine.

MARTE, Glover and Hoggard have been detained since their arrests in December 2007.

On May 21, 2008, Glover pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base. On November 20, 2008, a jury found Hoggard guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine base, and one count of possession with intent to distribute five grams or more of cocaine base. Each awaits sentencing.

This case has been investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the New Haven Police Department silver necklaces, the West Haven Police Department, the Shelton Police Department, the Meriden Police Department and the Branford Police Department. The United States Marshals Service assisted in the arrests of several of these defendants.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.

A summer enrichment program for students first through eighth grades has been an annual event at Shawnee State University and this year, “Kids on Campus” (formerly “Fun in the Sun”) is being planned early to offer session gift certificates for unique Christmas gifts.

Numerous activities are planned for the summer program with a full spectrum of programs involving academics, life skills, culture, art, crafts, sports and more. Sessions are geared for each of the age groups including cheerleading, dancing, sports, cooking and baking, Spanish, music lessons, crafts, sciences and much more.

Each course will be offered three times each day with Session 1 beginning at 9 a.m. Monday silver key rings, June 28 through Thursday, July 1. The teachers for all the classes are from local schools and SSU staff teaches the athletics.

“I feel like the county’s best teachers step forward to teach in the summer program,” said Ginnie Moore, director of University Outreach.

The summer program is sponsored by a 21st Century Learning Center grant. More than 40 different sessions are offered. Each four-day session with the holiday special is $30 if purchased before Jan. 31, 2010. The early bird fee is $35 if purchased before March 31; registration is $45 from April 1 to May 28, 2010; and a late registration fee is $60 from June 1 to June 24, 2010. Lunch will be provided for $20.00 for the entire four days.

“My son, Zane, and I have been involved in the summer enrichment program at Shawnee State for a number silver necklaces of years,” said Sandy Smith, program coordinator. “He and his friends look forward to the experience each year.”

Register now by purchasing gift certificates for a holiday special discount. The gift certificates may be purchased by phone, with your Discover, MasterCard or Visa at (740) 351-3274 or stop in at the office to purchase gift certificates in person. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call (740) 351-3274.For more information please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.

Angela Ferguson, a customer at the store in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma said regarding her visit, “Definitely tell people to come see Santa’s Wonderland ’cause there’s a lot of stuff for the kids to do, and they love it a lot and it’s free!”

Comprised of both animated and live elves, nutcrackers, reindeer and more, the village offers an old-time model train area, remote control cars, a Red Ryder(R) laser arcade, a soft gun arcade and slot car racing. Kids will love playing the hottest fishing game of the season — “The Strike Bass Fishing Game.” Activity tables will be set up where they can write a letter to Santa, color a Christmas picture and every weekend do fun crafts — all absolutely free. Of course, Santa will be in residence there throughout the season.

And, compliments of Bass Pro Shops, parents will want to pick up the free “Parenting Magazine” Holiday Fun silver earrings Guide available at the store. This guide covers many holiday activities and is full of ideas, tips and checklists to help you make the most of your holidays.

Always a family tradition, customers can get a free 4×6 photo with Santa and his reindeer from 5 pm to 8 pm Monday through Friday, Saturdays 10 am to 9 pm and Sundays noon to 5 pm with extended hours beginning November 27th. Photo and gift packages will also be available for purchase in-store. If the line is long, customers can grab a Bass Pass and their appointment with Santa is set.

Every weekend from 12 to 5 pm beginning November 14th through December 20th at Bass Pro Shops Santa’s Wonderland, shoppers can introduce their children to time-honored traditions of making crafts and holiday ornaments. Kids will have fun making moose ornaments, reindeer cone ornaments, Santa bobbers, reindeer hats, candy cane reindeer and Christmas cookies. Again, it’s all free! A complete schedule of activities and times will be available at Santa’s Wonderland or visit www.basspro.com/santamedia for more details.

And, since the most important part of Christmas is the lesson of giving, Sunday, December 13th, Bass silver key rings Pro Shops will feature a special night for “Local Heroes” that will offer local firefighters, policemen, paramedics, military personnel and others and their families the chance to shop with extra discounts and enjoy free activities.

Bass Pro Shops stores will kick off the Christmas season with a special Preview Night Sunday, November 8th (Foxborough, MA Bass Pro Shops Preview Night to be Saturday, November 7th) from 3 pm to 8 pm. Local children’s groups and carolers will be singing in front of the store and customers will be treated to hot chocolate and cookies. Santa arrives in a Tracker(R) boat pulled by a Toyota Tundra truck. Kids will be invited to help Santa, through a little magic, light a big Christmas tree in the main entrance and then on into the store for the unveiling of Santa’s Wonderland. Also, Santa will be giving away a $25 Bass Pro Shops gift card to one lucky winner every half hour that night. Kids will enjoy a special FREE craft like coloring their own stocking at the activity tables.

Bass Pro Shops also will be celebrating their 3rd Annual Great Turkey Campout beginning at 5 pm Thanksgiving Day silver necklaces. Customers are invited to bring their tents and camp out all night on the parking lot so they can be one of the first in line to enter the store the next morning. They can enjoy hot chocolate, coffee and smores from 5 pm to 8 pm around the fire pits and there will be special drawings for prizes.

Return to the Christmases you remember as a kid, return to “Santa’s Wonderland” at Bass Pro Shops and begin your own family tradition you are sure to remember for a lifetime. For more information go to www.basspro.com/santamedia. (For a video/cd or images from last year’s event, please contact Jenna Kendall at 417-873-5059, Katie Mitchell at 417-873-5618 or Larry Whiteley at 417-873-5022).