Parks & Recreation

March 26, 2015 by Staff Report

GEAUGA PARK DISTRICT

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

Set Your Sights On Hunter Education

Geauga Park District is offering Hunter Education Course April 4 and 11 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Big Creek Park, Donald W. Meyer Center, 9160 Robinson Road, Chardon Township.

The hands-on, educational, two-day course covers firearm safety, ammunition, archery, hunter safety, ethics and conservation. And upon completion, students are eligible to purchase their first hunting licenses.

Students must attend both days to obtain certification. Class is for youth 10 and older; a guardian-signed waiver will be required for all children.

The class is free, however, registration is required at http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov or 1-800-945-3543.

Annual Nature Writing Contest

People of all ages are encouraged to enter Geauga Park District’s 20th Annual Nature Writing Contest to celebrate every aspect of the great outdoors in poetry and prose.

The contest’s platinum anniversary welcomes back the return of cash prizes and winner chapbooks. Winners will be published online and named in the Voices of Nature newsletter, which hits all 42,000 households in the county. They will also be invited to read their works on Aug. 2 during the Nature Arts Festival at The West Woods in Russell Township.

All entries must feature nature-oriented subjects or themes. See the contest’s full rules and application on the Bulletin Board on the park district’s website.

Categories remain the same for both prose and poetry in the following age groups: Adults 18 and older; adolescents 12 to 17; and children 11 and under.

Entries must be received no later than April 13, either emailed, dropped off or mailed to ATTN: Nature Writing Contest, Big Creek Park, 9160 Robinson Road, Chardon, OH 44024.

Contact Sandy Ward at 440-279-0803 with questions.

Crack This

Egg Hunt: Nature Style is April 4 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The West Woods Nature Center, 9465 Kinsman Road, Russell Township.

Children ages 3 and up can join in any time during program hours by picking up a scavenger hunt card with questions about egg-laying animals. Use the card to locate plastic eggs, both inside the nature center and out on the trail, containing answers. Each completed card earns a fun prize.

Nature Drawing For Kids

Nature Drawing for Kids will be held April 1 and April 7 at The West Woods Nature Center, 9465 Kinsman Road, Russell Township. Youth ages 8-11 attend from 11 a.m. to noon and youth ages 12-15 attend from 1-2 p.m.

Participants will practice drawing nature at three levels of detail – rapid cartoons, quick sketches and detailed drawings – using sketching pencils and colored pencils. Each session will practice a mammal, a fish, a bird, an invertebrate and a plant, with reference specimens available as guides. Then, each session will practice more complex techniques for transforming simple cartoons into most polished illustration – techniques like blending, shading and drawing from a reference grid.

Astro-naturalist Chris Mentrek will provide tips on observing and drawing nature.

Registration is required. All supplies will be provided. Also, participants may bring in a nature drawing from home to show off.