Parks & Recreation

September 12, 2013

GEAUGA PARK DISTRICT

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

parkdistrict.org.

Youth Outdoors

Young people have new opportunities to fish and hunt Geauga Park District this year thanks to Geauga County Probate and Juvenile Court Judge Timothy Grendell.

Two Family Fishing Expo events are scheduled this month for families with kids ages 8-14: one is Sept. 14 at Beartown Lakes Reservation in Auburn Township and the other is Sept. 15 at Swine Creek Reservation in Middlefield Township. Both are from 9 a.m. to noon, and registration is required.

Fishing expo families will enjoy instruction in the basics of fishing equipment, knot typing and fish identification, followed by a morning of fishing with the help of experienced anglers. Equipment will be provided or bring your own.

Additionally, those young people who apply by Oct. 31 and are selected via lottery may also take part in Youth Hunting Nov. 23 and 24 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at The Rookery.

Applicants must possess a valid youth hunting license and youth deer permit, have completed the ODNR Division of Wildlife’s Hunter Safety course and be accompanied by a non-hunting adult. All ODNR rules and regulations apply. Applications and additional information are available at The West Woods Nature Center, Big Creek Park’s Meyer Center and online at http://bit.ly/gpdhunt.

In his sponsorship of these events, Judge Grendell formed the following special volunteer committee to work with Park District personnel and assist the court in planning and encouraging participation: Al Schienke, Michelle Reda, Scott Denamen, John Oros and the court’s constable, John A. Ralph, who will act as chair.

Prizes will be offered by Judge Grendell and other event sponsors.

Calling All Monarchs…

Not only are monarchs sparse in Geauga County this year, but Mexico also saw its smallest population overwintering since 1975, when counting began. Yet, Geauga Park District will continue with its popular monarch butterfly tagging programs this year, even if it means exploring the causes of the decline and other field insects in the their absence.

Monarch Butterfly Tagging takes place from 12:30-4 p.m. on Sept. 8 at Swine Creek Reservation in Middlefield Township and then again on Sept. 15 at Frohring Meadows in Bainbridge Township.

As usual, tagging programs will include exploration of the fields to net and tag monarchs on their way to winter havens in Mexico, part of Monarch Watch’s study of this cross-continental migration, and perhaps more important now than ever before, from 1-4 p.m. An introduction about the monarch’s life cycle and migration will begin at 12:30 p.m.

Participants may also play an exciting “life-sized board game” dramatizing the hazards of this amazing journey. Nets will be provided, but participants may bring their own. Sun protection, hats and long pants are recommended.

Why Do Cows Need Names?

Meet formerly local author Randy James and hear the story behind “Why Cows Need Names and More Secrets of Amish Farms,” his new book now on sale on Amazon.

Meet the Author: Randy James is Sept. 16 from 6:30-8 p.m. at The West Woods Nature Center, 9465 Kinsman Road in Russell Township.

Agriculture continues to be the largest industry in the United States, with more than 2.2. million farms. Amazingly, well over 100,000 new small family farms have sprung up in the past few years and almost no one has noticed.

“Why Cows Need Names” tells the true story of one young local Amish family as it contemplated and struggled to establish a profitable, quintessentially American small farm, told from the vantage point of the author, who served almost 30 years as the County Agricultural Agent in the fourth-largest Amish settlement in the world, right here in Geauga County.

As the family’s plan unfolds over the next five years, readers get a glimpse of what it’s like to work in the fields with draft horses; to spend time in the barn with cows, calves, children and Chip the family dog; and to sit at the table talking with family and friends over a noontime meal. Thus, a quiet picture emerges about how a shared goal and “doing without” can strengthen family and provide an appreciation for what’s truly important in life.

Randy James is a professor emeritus with The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, and has his doctorate in agronomy. He now lives in Beaufort, S.C., but visits old friends in the Amish Settlement as often as he can. This is his second book.

Registration is not required for this free discussion.