Geauga Park District

May 21, 2026 by Staff Report

For more information and registration, contact the park district at 440-286-9516 or visit www.geaugaparkdistrict.org.

How to Geocache 101

May 31, 1-3:30 p.m.

Geauga Park District will host a beginner-friendly introduction to geocaching at Big Creek Park’s Meyer Center.

Participants will learn how to search for caches, navigate using coordinates and understand geocaching etiquette, with opportunities to locate and place caches during the program.

Registration is required. Participants should wear sturdy footwear for off-trail exploration. 

Nature Writing Contest Winners Announced

Geauga Park District recently announced the winners of its 31st annual Nature Writing Contest, recognizing entries in prose and poetry across child, adolescent and adult divisions. Read their winning works and learn more about the esteemed contest judges on the park district’s website.

Child Prose:   

1st – Elizabeth Wang, “An Early Morning”
2nd – Arjun Agarwal, “Oh No! What Happened to Nature?”
3rd – Caleb Duncan, “Holding Aspen”
Honorable Mention – Willow Haney, “Rainyday Butterflies”
Honorable Mention – Abigail Grace Schaner, “Lake Erie Surprise”

Child Poetry:

1st – Rauhish Khasnis, “Geauga Lake”
2nd – Avery Lasky, “Storm”
3rd – Walter Ward, “In the Spring”
Honorable Mention – Olivia Zupancic, “Summer”
Honorable Mention – Clara Gloer, “A Field of Flowers”

Adolescent Prose

1st – Chiroi Niehus, “For Whom the Wind Sings”
2nd – Kit Weinmann, “The Light of a Firefly”
3rd – Tzurielle Parrino, “The Botanist”
Honorable Mention – Enoch Lin, “The Great Melting”
Honorable Mention – Haadi Nouman, “A Path He Never Chose”

Adolescent Poetry

1st – Amelia Windson, “Red-winged Blackbird”
2nd – Saoirse Niehus, “The Question Song”
3rd – Chiroi Niehus, “Kingfisher”
Honorable Mention – Geneva Hippensteele, “Belong”
Honorable Mention – Harlow Zaller, “What will spring bring”

Adult Prose

1st – Brenda Sawyer, “On Gardens, Beartown Lakes, and Being Human”
2nd – Jennifer Niemann, “Reminders from a Hummingbird”
3rd – Alyssa Martin, “A Mother’s Nature”
Honorable Mention – Cherie Pepe, “An October Night”

Adult Poetry

1st – Don Iannone, “A Still Point of Blue”
2nd – Courtney Cikach, “Decomposition”
3rd – Dorie Schleiden, “Before Spring”
Honorable Mention – Peggy McCray, “Waterlilies”