Preservation Parks of Delaware County

Preservation Parks wins top prize for family programs !

Skunk Cabbage

Our very first blooming “wildflower” produces enough heat to melt snow and raise its internal temperature to anywhere from 59 degrees to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s warm and toasty inside the smelly skunk cabbage!

Skunk Cabbage

Golden Marathon
Winter 2010

It may be cold outside, but it’s still a great time for walking in the parks!

A project of Preservation Parks of Delaware County and Senior Citizens Inc.

the Golden Marathon is a series of hikes – each about two miles – that add up to at least a 26.2-mile marathon at the end of three months.

The winter walks take place every Monday at 1:30 p.m. and are held in Preservation Parks' preserves and other area locations. Participants can join at any time.

Note: If the temperature is lower than 35 degrees Fahrenheit, walkers will meet at the Food Court at Polaris Fashion Place, 1500 Polaris Parkway, Columbus
.
Participants can join at any time.

Click here for hike locations and dates.

All winter hikes begin at 1:30 p.m.

For additional information
contact Saundra McBrearty:
at 740-524-8600, ext. 6
or e-mail her at
saundras@preservationparks.com

Preservation Parks of Delaware County received a first place award for its Summer Letterbox Adventure program at the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association (OPRA) Conference & Trade Show, held Jan. 24-27 in Akron. The awards ceremony was held Jan. 24 at the Akron City Centre Hotel.

The program topped 10 other entries in the Family Programs and Events category; the entries were submitted by park districts around the state of Ohio. In all, OPRA gave 22 first place awards at the ceremony, in categories ranging from facilities, park development and law enforcement, to adult programming, marketing campaigns and special projects.

Summer Letterbox Adventure is a program that has children and their parents following nature clues to find camouflaged boxes hidden in the parks, on their own time over about seven weeks. The program is a partnership with all five Delaware County libraries, where staff members assist with registration and prize distribution. (Libraries involved are the three Delaware County District Libraries, Sunbury Community Library, and Wornstaff Memorial Library in Ashley.)

Preservation Parks launched the project in 2008, as a way to introduce families to the facilities and programs in the Park District. About 220 children participated in the free program the first year; that number grew to more than 700 children (plus their parents or other adults) in 2009.

Summer Letterbox Adventure 2010 will launch in June, at the libraries’ summer reading program kick-off parties. Preservation Parks is the natural areas park district for Delaware County. Preservation Parks has preserved more than 1,000 acres of wildlife habitat and open space, and has opened eight parks since its first tax levy passed in 1999.

Preservation Parks of Delaware County | 2656 Hogback Road | Sunbury, Ohio 43074 | 740-524-8600 | Fax: 740-524-8200