Ruth Kirchhausen and Sally Fogarty might have attended Bowling Green State University at the exact same time, but their paths did not cross until years later in a driveway in Munson Township.
Ruth Kirchhausen and Sally Fogarty might have attended Bowling Green State University at the exact same time, but their paths did not cross until years later in a driveway in Munson Township.
Kirchhausen’s family lived in their home for 16 years when the house next door went on the market.
“Sally actually tells the best account of our first meeting” she said, regarding the 15-year strong friendship.
“When we first looked at the house to decide to purchase, Ruth was in her driveway and we decided to check out the neighbors,” Fogarty, a retired teacher, said.
Thus, a destined friendship she called “love at first sight” was created.
Together, along with Kirchhausen’s and Fogarty’s husbands — George and Phil, respectively — they’ve enjoyed holiday dinners, survived contra dancing lessons and made annual memories riding on a float in the downtown St. Patrick’s Day parade.
When fun and adventure call, the longtime friends often answer. So, it may come as no surprise that even during a COVID-19 pandemic, they rose to a Geauga Park District challenge.
“Ruth asked me if I would like to do the Geauga Park District’s Fall Scavenger Hunt 2020,” Fogarty recalled.
She was all in.
The free scavenger hunt invited participants to experience things they might not know exist in the district parks.
The GPD posted clues for each of the parks, with a random drawing for prizes available for residents who submit five photos of the hunted for items, or selfies at the spots on the list with the park name included before Dec. 4.
“I said ‘Woohoo, Ruth let’s go to them all,” Fogarty said
GPD presently has 27 open parks. The hunt included sights to see at 22 of them, including Bass Lake Preserve, Beartown Lakes Reservation, Bessie Benner Metzenbaum Park, Big Creek Park, Burton Wetlands Nature Preserve, Chickagami Park, Claridon Woodlands, Eldon Russell Park, Frohring Meadows, Headwaters Park, Holbrook Hollows, The Maple Highlands Trail, Observatory Park, Orchard Hills Park, Russell Uplands Preserve, Sunnybrook Preserve, Swine Creek Reservation, The Rookery, Veteran’s Legacy Woods, The West Woods, Walter C. Best Wildlife Preserve and Whitlam Woods.
“It was board President Howard Bates’ idea,” GPD Executive Director John Oros said.
Bates thought the hunt would be a nice way to get people out to explore their parks.
Holly Sauder, GPD’s outreach coordinator, gathered suggestions from staff as to what is
unique, special and “not to be missed” at each park and formatted that into activities that could easily be completed by a wide age range.
“I was sure to include special landmarks and easy-to-locate places in each park that visitors might not discover if not for this activity,” Sauder said.
On their first outing, Kirchhausen and Fogarty visited three parks and hiked the trails, found their treasures and took their pictures.
“We were hooked,” said Kirchhausen, a wildlife receptionist at Lake Metroparks Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Center at Penitentiary Glen, who has been on furlough since March the pandemic began in March.
“Sally and Ruth started by wanting to enter the scavenger hunt to five parks promoted by the district and were so impressed and frankly amazed at the diversity, design and beauty of each location that they kept going,” Fogarty’s husband said, adding they visited all 27 parks in about three months.
Both women said this program has strengthened their friendship — which was apparent as they easily finished each other’s sentences during a recent revisit to Walter C. Best Wildlife Preserve.
“We were having a blast. Two gals on a mission and beating the COVID blues in the process,” Kirchhausen said.
“Our Geauga parks and programs have proven a necessary resource for the well-being of our residents during this challenging season of Covid19,” Oros said.
Kirchhausen and Fogarty said they loved the hunt element of their visits, but their discoveries of the parks themselves were endless and enriching.
“We thoroughly enjoyed the diversity of the creeks, waterfalls, ravines, meadows, marshes, caves, gorge, prairie, lakes and forests,” Kirchhausen said. “Each park was a unique treasure.”
The duo also loved learning the history of the parks.
“A nice surprise, some of the parks had book boxes (Little Free Libraries) where we found great books to read and even put some of our own in to pass on,” Kirchhausen said. “Every single person we passed on the trails was friendly and cheerful. Nice people like the parks and appreciate them.”
She added, “There is a lot of work that’s involved in creating and maintaining memorable sanctuaries.”
The scavenger hunt was just the beginning, as the two women plan on returning regularly and continue their explorations.
“We really are good neighbors that have grown over the years to be good friends,” Kirchhausen said. “We do the everyday things like help each other with yard projects, borrow the chainsaw, pick up food at Costco that the other might need, watch each other’s dogs, share books, check on each other when the power goes out. Things like that. These things mean even more when your children are grown and living away. It’s piece of mind for us and our children too.
“All four of us are regularly saying to each other how grateful we are that we have each other,” she added. “We really have become like sisters. We will continue to enjoy our friendship and enrich it with shared adventures. One thing is for certain — there will be lots of smiles and laughs ahead.”
Kirchhausen said while everyone’s world has become narrower due to the pandemic, the park experience has personally broadened hers and Fogarty’s.
“We hope (our story) will inspire others to follow suit,” she said. “Let GPD center you and restore your spirits, as it did for two good friends who became even better friends while walking in the parks.”
Fogarty added, “(Kirchhausen doesn’t know it yet, but I plan on making her walk a different county park forever.”
