It’s been a year of momentous birthdays. One hundred and fifty for the state, 106 for North Bend, and now 35 for Charleston’s South Slough Estuarine Research Reserve.

This Saturday, biologists, conservationists, community members and others interested in the slough, will converge on the Charleston area to celebrate the occasion in style — with birthday cake, hairy tritons and a hike through the slough on a brand new trail.

Set to run from noon to 5 p.m., the event is free and open to the public.

“We were the first of the 27 national estuary research reserves established, so that’s kind of a big deal,” said Deborah Rudd, the slough’s public involvement coordinator.

The event will honor those involved in that establishment effort and bring in the community.

“The estuary belongs to the people. ... It’s also a great way to learn about the history of the reserve and the local area,” she said.

The day kicks off at 11 a.m. with demonstrations of Native American basket weaving, using materials grown in the estuary. At noon, visitors can tour exhibits, eat cake and meet the people who work at the interpretive center.

Then, at 1 p.m., several speakers will talk about the reserve, including Louise Solliday, the director of the Oregon Department of State Lands and chairwoman of the South Slough Commission, followed by a representative of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Next, Dr. Craig Young, the director of the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology and a member of South Slough Management Commission, will make a nod to Oregon’s 150th birthday, with a presentation on its state shell — the hairy triton, a mollusk.

“I gather he’s been fishing or dredging for a hairy triton just offshore of Coos Bay. I’m not sure if he’s found one or not,” slough manager Mike Graybill said. If he does “We should all have a chance to learn something about our least well-known state symbol.”

The event is coupled with a 3 p.m. ribbon-cutting at the North Creek Trail and its 70-foot aluminum Tidewater Crossing Bridge. Graybill said the new additions turn the slough’s estuary study trail system into one big loop. The bridge also is the first to span over tidewater habitat and will give visitors a chance to see eelgrass, mudflats and open water without donning their boots.

Rudd said all the hoopla is to honor the past 35 years, which represent the reserves continued focus on stewardship and research, as well as its ongoing mission to improve understanding of Pacific Northwest estuaries and coastal watersheds. Doing so, helps people understand why estuaries are important and how to preserve them.

One noticeable change over the decades, Rudd said, is the trees.

 “This was clear cut when we started,” she said. “So those trees are now 35 years old.”

Education program coordinator Tom Gaskill, who began working at the slough 16 years ago, said he’s found great fascination with the estuary, referring to the changing tides, growing forests, and how slough management has worked to restore habitat by removing levies and dikes.

“It’s such a constantly changing place that every day there’s something new to learn,” Gaskill said. 

He said it’s a real tribute to the community 35 years ago that it had the foresight to seek reserve status and protect the slough.

“The reserve here is a place that is for the people,” Gaskill said. “It’s a place for people to learn about estuaries and to really engage and be part of it.”