Parks & Recreation

March 12, 2015 by Staff Report

GEAUGA PARK DISTRICT

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

Sap’s-A-Risin’ Celebration

Bring the family and friends out to Geauga Park District’s Sap’s-A-Risin’ for a taste of how maple sugaring has evolved since the Native Americans, and then a taste of the sticky stuff itself. For the first time in a decade, there will be a percheron horse-drawn sap sled in the sugar bush.

Sap’s-A-Risin’ takes place March 15 and 22 from noon to 4 p.m. at Swine Creek Reservation, 16004 Hayes Road in Middlefield/Parkman townships.

Guests are always excited for this free experience to: enjoy historical interactions with costumed interpreters, gather sap during a stroll through the sugar bush, see and learn how sap is boiled in the sugarhouse’s evaporator, enjoy a sample taste of syrup, and then warm up in the lodge with live music, woodcarving demonstrations, maple stirs and maple popcorn.

Each day the lodge also features wood carving demonstrations and sales with Jim Stadtlander and Diane Harto, maple treats and live music, including Drake Hollow String Band on March 15 and The Real Deal String Band on March 22.

Registration is not required.

On March 15 and 22, Swine Creek Reservation’s sugarhouse is also a featured stop on the statewide March Maple Madness Drive-It-Yourself Tour of local maple sugaring operations. Maps will be available at www.ohiomapleproducers.com. Call 440-834-1415 for tour details.

Community Survey Now Open

Geauga Park District encourages all county residents to complete its community survey to help guide its ongoing strategic planning by providing an updated picture of what they all want to see and do while visiting the parks.

The survey, posted at http://bit.ly/gpdsurvey2015, is open through March 31. It is limited to only be taken once per computer. Those with multiple adults, but only one computer in the household, may request a paper copy of the survey by calling 440-286-9516.

“Surveys will not only tell us about public needs, interests, concerns, values and perceptions, but also identify potential information gaps, underserved users and non-users,” said Matt McCue, interim director of planning and operations.

Geauga Park District is not asking for additional support or anything more than your valuable opinion.

The new strategic plan that results, a compilation of the survey and other compiled data, will serve as a guide for how park district policy, operations, programming and capital improvements can meet the changing needs of Geauga County and its residents.

Strategic planning was also completed in 2006 and 2009.

Late Winter Birding

Combat cabin fever with some learning and a late winter birding outing. First, on March 17 from 7-8:30 p.m., join naturalist Dan Best for a review of the variety of local birds active at dusk and dawn and a presentation with the Blackbrook Audubon Society.

Then, on March 21 from 9-10:30 a.m., carpool along LaDue Reservoir with Dan for a Nature’s Not To Be Missed experience, pausing to use spotting spots to view loons, grebes and other migrating waterfowl as well as bald eagles.

Registration is not required.