A creative journey “in the shadow of Leonardo”

Let local artist Giovanni Bocchieri take you on a creative journey “in the shadow of Leonardo” in this one-man show featuring leaf alchemy, paintings, jewelry and more.
 
The use of contrasting textures and patterns as well as vivid color imagery allows the viewer an ever-changing aesthetic exploration. His extensive travels in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean have given him exposure to diverse styles of art which have significantly influenced his own approach to drawing and painting. 

“The Alchemy of Art” is on display in the Nature Center at Penitentiary Glen Reservation in Kirtland. The show runs through May 26 (Memorial Day). Hours are 9 am to 5 pm daily. Artwork by Giovanni Bocchieri is available for purchase; proceeds benefit the Penitentiary Glen Nature Center.
 
Giovanni firmly believes his artistic ability is a gift entrusted to him by God. Like Eric Liddell in the classic movie, Chariots of Fire, he “feels God’s pleasure” whenever he engages in art. Consequently, Giovanni is intentional in his attempts to celebrate life and the unique wonders of creation.
 
A note of interest: Giovanni enjoys a unique artistic heritage as a descendant of Italian Renaissance painter Leonardo Da Vinci. He likes to think he has inherited a certain creative versatility from his famous ancestor.

Don’t let cabin fever keep you indoors!

Get outside and enjoy the beauty of winter. Experience the woodlands as a Lake Metroparks naturalist guides you on a nature hike through field, forest and stream.

Winter Hike
Sunday, February 9, 2014 • 1 to 4 pm
Penitentiary Glen Reservation

 

Two hikes are available to choose from; each varying in length and terrain.

1. An interpretive hike about three miles long with a few stops along the way.
2. Self-guided trail options for families with young children or more limited mobility. Easy-to-follow trail maps are available in the Nature Center.

A Winter Hike patch and a commemorative year patch are presented to all participants.

After completing the hike, warm yourself by a roaring campfire complete with s’mores. Stop by the Wildlife Center to see some of our native wildlife up close. Enjoy hot soup and beverages served inside the comfortable Nature Center and listen to the sounds of folk music performed by Ernest Elshaw. Stop by The Nature Store to see hiking-inspired deals for the whole family!

Hikers are reminded of the importance of wearing comfortable footwear which is sturdy, warm and water-repellent. Hiking boots are recommended as the trails maybe snow- and/or mud-covered. Remember to dress in warm, comfortable layers. For more winter safety tips, visit lakemetroparks.com.

Pre-registration is requested for Winter Hike at Penitentiary Glen.

 

Patch, s’mores, soup and beverages are all included in registration fee. Program is $8 per person, all ages welcome, under 18 with an adult, please.

Register online or call Lake Metroparks registration at 440-358-7275 or 800-669-9226. Program is $8 per person, all ages welcome, under 18 with an adult, please.

 

Photo by Maribeth Joeright for The News-Herald.

Can people benefit from feeding the birds?

 

Winter Bird Open House

Penitentiary Glen Reservation
Sunday, January 26, 2014 • 12 to 4 pm • FREE

 

Feeding and watching the birds in your yard are great ways to “connect with nature.” Spend a cozy winter afternoon at Penitentiary Glen Nature Center learning all about winter birds.

 

The Winter Bird Open House features free, fun activities for the whole family! Relax with a hot drink, watch the birds at our feeders in the award-winning Window on Wildlife and ask a Naturalist all your bird and bird feeding questions. Chat with us about which types of feed specific birds like, the different styles of birdfeeders, the ins and outs of binoculars, and identifying the Top Ten Birds in your backyard this winter.

Ongoing activities

•Short presentations on common winter birds
•Learn about Binoculars, Feeders, and Bird field guides
•Bird Scavenger Hunts and quizzes
•Help us count the birds at our feeders for Project FeederWatch
•Drawing for FREE bird-related items
•Local Audubon Society display

 

Click here for directions and a listing of additional activities to do while visiting Penitentiary Glen Reservation.



Meet Yoko - Jersey calf - first newborn of 2014 at Farmpark

 

Visitors to Lake Metroparks Farmpark witnessed the birth of the first newborn of 2014 for the agriculture-themed park on Saturday, January 11. Yoko is a Jersey calf. Her mother is Dawn.

Farmpark is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 am to 5 pm. Admission is $6 for ages 2 to 11; ages 60 and over, $5; ages 2 to 11, $4; Farmpark members and children younger than two are free.  For more information, visit http://lakemetroparks.com/select-park/Farmpark or call 440-256-2122 or 800-366-FARM (3276).

Click here to see more photos of Yoko

Lake Metroparks Farmpark is a family-oriented science and cultural center devoted to agriculture, farming and country life. A visit to Farmpark is an educational experience where you can milk a cow, take a horse or tractor-drawn wagon ride, make ice cream, meet farm animals in the Well Bred Shed and Barnyard. Visit the Plant Science Center to explore The Great Tomato Works, solar and wind power and hydroponics displays. Visit Farmpark’s Gift Shop for a great selection of unique gift ideas. Enjoy lunch or snack at the J& J Café.
 

Walk the stalk: Wind your way through the three-acre corn maze at Farmpark

 

Do you have a good sense of direction?  Here’s a chance to test your skill as you ”walk the stalk” through a multitude of twists and turns through a three-acre corn maze at Lake Metroparks Farmpark.   Trivia questions are posted throughout the maze to help guide you along the way. Answer the questions correctly and you will proceed on the correct path.  Outside the main entrance to the maze is a kids play area. Take pictures of your children throughout the maze and in the farm-themed character cutouts and tag Lake.Metroparks on Facebook and @Lake_Metroparks on Twitter.

 

The three-acre corn maze at Farmpark is open 11 am to 4 pm daily through October 13, weather and field conditions permitting.  To check the conditions of the maze call Farmpark at 440-256-2122 or 800-366-FARM.

 

The corn maze is included with regular daytime Farmpark admission.   Admission to Lake Metroparks Farmpark is $6 for ages 12 to 59; Seniors 60 and over, $5; for youth 2 to 11, $4; children under 2 and Farmpark members are free.

 

The corn maze is also included with admission to the following events at Farmpark:

• Lake Metroparks Senior Day (September 12)
• Village Peddler Festival (September 14 & 15)
• Fall Harvest Festival (September 21 & 22)
• Barnyard BBQ Bash (October 5)
• Corn and Pumpkin Harvest Weekend (October 12 & 13)

The maze will be open weather and conditions permitting.



Wildlife Center caring for orphaned bobcat

This cute 3-week-old bobcat is receiving care by
wildlife specialists at Lake Metroparks Wildlife Center.

On May 13, the Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife (DOW) contacted the Lake Metroparks Wildlife Center to arrange care for this orphaned bobcat. It was found by the side of a road in Athens, Ohio (southeast of Columbus) not far from a dead female bobcat. DOW transported the baby bobcat to the Wildlife Center on May 14.

"That ODNR Division of Wildlife would choose to entrust care of this orphaned bobcat to Lake Metroparks demonstrates confidence in our Wildlife Center," notes Paul Palagyi, Lake Metroparks Executive Director. "This affirms the Center's excellent reputation and the high level of care that our professional, educated and experienced staff provides."

A local veterinarian performed a full physical exam on the animal and determined he was fairly healthy except for being slightly malnourished and needing treatment for parasites. Wildlife Center staff anticipate to remedy both conditions. The bobcat is fed formula every two hours for 16 hours a day and making steady improvement. Young bobcats can survive alone in the wild around six to nine months of age. The goal is to release the bobcat back into a suitable habitat as determined by the DOW sometime this fall.

The bobcat is a native, threatened species in Ohio, and is very rarely seen. For more bobcat facts from ODNR, click here.

Lake Metroparks celebrates Earth Day

Lake Metroparks Farmpark and Penitentiary Glen Reservation

Sunday, April 21 • Noon to 4 pm 

We are all responsible for caring for our natural environment. This has been the concept of Earth Day since its beginning in 1970.  Lake Metroparks continues that focus with its Earth Day events to celebrate our successes that help the Earth, and make a commitment to learn and use new ways to make our planet a healthier place.  

LAKE METROPARKS FARMPARK

Discover earth-friendly ways to make an earth-friendly difference at home. You can learn how to start your own garden compost, investigate new ways to conserve energy at home, and how alternative energy works. Enjoy a family day in the country with fun games and crafts for the kids. 

• Check out the high gas mileage and electric micro SMART USA that embodies innovation and efficiency.
• Discover how we harness solar and wind power at our renewable energy display
• Interact with with local conservation agencies at an eco-fair.
  
• Bring your bike to Farmpark for a Children's Bike Safety Clinic (noon to 2 pm)

FREE admission for Lake County residents and Farmpark members (Valid ID required)

PENITENTIARY GLEN RESERVATION

Discover what you can do to help the environment and learn valuable tips as you participate in hands-on activities during this free Earth Day event that features:

• ECO-FAIR, where you can interact with representatives from 16 local agencies, organizations, and groups focused on conservation and the environment.
• Did you know that Earth without Art is just “Eh”? Learn more as you help make this craft. Artwork will be pieced together to be displayed in the Nature Center in the near future.
• Take a walk on the new I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE TRAIL, a self guided with informative and fun stations geared towards learning what you can do to help the environment. A free tree sapling will be given to those who complete the trail.
• Visitors can help paint a rain barrel using the pointillism technique. The winner of a free drawing gets to take the rain barrel home!
• Meet native Ohio wildlife in our Wildlife Center yard and along the train line. A naturalist will share interesting animal stories and answer questions in the Wildlife Center yard.
• Haircut-a-thon – Ladies & Gentlemen Salon & Spa will be on site to give $10 haircuts, first-come, first-served. The money raised will benefit Penitentiary Glen Nature Center.
• WELW 1330 AM will be on site for your entertainment.
• Explore nature in the park – self-guided on our trail system (some trails suitable for strollers).
• Ride the miniature trains provided by the Lake Shore Live Steamers between 1 and 3 pm, weather permitting.

Click here for more information about Earth Day activities at both parks.

The Nature Among Us

On display in Forest Hall
Penitentiary Glen Reservation
March 9 through May 5, 2013 • 9 am to 5 pm

Website

Thomas Koch is a local artist from Euclid, Ohio. He specializes in graphic design and illustration yet experiments with all types of media in an effort to exemplify his love and appreciation of nature. Check out “The Nature Among Us” and see how Koch has transformed your favorite animals and local park scenery into wonderful works of art! Artwork available for purchase; proceeds benefit the Penitentiary Glen Nature Center.

“The Nature Among Us” will be displayed in Forest Hall in the Nature Center at Penitentiary Glen Reservation in Kirtland. The show opens March 9 and runs through May 5. Hours are 9 am to 5 pm daily. 

Click here to view more images and to learn more about Penitentiary Glen Reservation.

Visitors are invited to meet Thomas Koch at a free opening reception on Saturday, March 9 from noon to 4 pm.

Penitentiary Glen Reservation is located at 8668 Kirtland-Chardon Rd in Kirtland. Take I-90 to Rt. 306 south for about one mile. Turn left onto Rt. 615. Turn right (east) onto Kirtland-Chardon Road and continue for two miles. Penitentiary Glen Reservation is located on the right (south) side of the road.

Discover Maple Syrup

By Christina Bellas, Farmpark Interpretation & Education Manager

What is a harbinger of spring that comes from a maple tree? What special edible liquid is boiled to more than 200 degrees and comes from a maple tree? What has the same calcium content as whole milk and comes from a maple tree? Maple syrup! In our program Discover Maple Syrup, offered mid-February to mid-March, children in kindergarten through fifth grade discover the science behind the maple tree and how we use its sap to produce maple syrup. 

Learn more about Lake Metroparks education programs.

Did you know that a maple tree can’t lie about its age, its tree rings or growth rings give its age away? Children are able to investigate a tree cookie (a slice of the tree trunk) where they can count the rings and discover other interesting features of the tree’s life. Tree cookies can show harm done by weather or bugs many years after the damage occurred. By looking deeply into the tree itself and studying a tree trunk diagram, the children find that maple trees produce sap as food for themselves. How we gather and process that sap is where a visit to the Woodland Center sugar house comes in. There they see how technology plays a big part in the production of maple syrup, from the spile in the tree where the sap comes out, to the tank that holds the sap, to the equipment that boils it into the sweet golden syrup we all love.

While touring the Woodland Center students learn sugar making terms. We “tap” a tree to gather the “sap;” we hope for just the right weather forecast, cool nights and sunny days, so the sap will ”run;” and the “sugar house” is where all the “boiling” takes place. A “reverse osmosis” machine removes water from the sap and our wood fired “evaporator” holds the sap while it’s boiling into syrup. A computer monitors the evaporator and draws off the sap when it becomes the right syrup consistency.

The students learn that it’s all about the trees when making syrup. Farmpark is located in an exclusive section of the world where maple trees grow and thrive. The land of maple sugaring is limited to the northeastern section of North America, occurring only in the late winter/early spring of the year and production depends greatly on just the right weather conditions. In a classroom, it’s sometimes hard to describe to the students about the flowers, leaves and seeds of the beautiful sugar maple tree, but at Farmpark they can see the maple tree in action. Though we might not have the goose that lays the golden egg, we do have the trees that provide the golden syrup.

Links

Lake Metroparks

Lake Metroparks Farmpark

Lake Metroparks Education

Maple Sugaring Experience Program

Maple Sugaring Weekend

Natural + Recycled materials = Art

Spring can’t be too far away when the days are getting warmer, daylight lasts a little longer, and Lake Metroparks unveils its annual Spring Art Show.  Woven from Nature will allow you to discover how artists have taken natural and recycled materials and transformed them into wonderful and whimsical works of art. 

Lake Metroparks presents

Spring Art Show: Woven from Nature

Penitentiary Glen Reservation

March 10 - May 13, 2012

           

Nature offers us an endless variety of raw materials in different shapes, colors, and textures. Woven from Nature will be on display in the Nature Center at Penitentiary Glen Reservation in Kirtland. The show opens March 10 and runs through May 13. 

Artwork on display will be available for purchase; proceeds benefiting the Penitentiary Glen Nature Center.

Visitors are invited to meet the artists at a free opening reception on March 10 from noon to 4 pm.

Click here for hours, admission and directions to Penitentiary Glen Reservation.

Lake Metroparks preserves maple woodland through maple sugaring

Lake Metroparks preserves 27 acres of maple woodland through the conservation efforts of the maple sugaring program at Farmpark. Be part of this conservation effort with an opportunity to adopt a tap and enjoy a unique maple experience while supporting Farmpark’s maple operation.

Maple Sugaring Weekend
Lake Metroparks Farmpark
March 10 & 11 • 9 am to 5 pm

Ever wonder how maple syrup is produced?  

Tap into the fun and discover how 100% pure maple syrup is made during Maple Sugaring Weekend. At Farmpark, you can watch the entire process as the sap is collected, boiled, and turned into maple syrup and other products. New this year, through the use of reverse-osmosis, over 50% of the water is removed from the sap prior to boiling which saves both time and resources.

Throughout the weekend, demonstrations offer hands-on opportunities to learn about the maple sugaring process. Help tap a tree and gather sap used to make maple syrup. You’ll even learn how you can make maple syrup in your own backyard. A video about the production of maple syrup is online at lakemetroparks.com on the Maple Sugaring Weekend page. Maple sugaring activities and demonstrations include:

• Maple flavored ice cream making
• Sugar bush and maple conservation tours
• Make a model mokuk (bark bucket)
• Silver dollar pancake samples
• Horse-drawn sap gathering
• Hand tree tapping
• Sugar making
• Maple leaf craft
• History of maple sugar exhibit 

 

Sample the delicious end product with freshly made maple syrup and maple sugar. Maple stirs available for purchase to make your own tasty treat. Take some of Farmpark’s very own pure maple syrup and other maple items home to enjoy. Maple products are available for sale in the Woodland Science Center and Gift Shop.

Maple Sugaring Weekend pours into Farmpark March 10 and 11. Hours are 9 am – 5 pm. For more information, visit lakemetroparks.com or call 440-256-2122 or 800-366-3276.  

If you can’t join us this weekend then mark your calendars as maple maple activities and pancake breakfasts will also be offered March 17 and 18.

Kids Explore the Outdoors this Summer at a Lake Metroparks Day Camp!

Hey moms and dads: let your children explore the outdoors this summer at a summer day camp with Lake Metroparks.  Children ages five to 16 will experience the outdoors this summer while participating in one or more of the 50 offerings available.  Lake Metroparks summer day camps offer hands-on fun and educational activities including nature, farming, fishing, wildlife, boating, field trips, and so much more.  Camps are held at various parks throughout Lake County and are led by qualified staff.   Extended care is available for some camps.

A complete listing of Lake Metroparks summer day camps is available online at lakemetroparks.com and in the Spring Parks Plus! activity guide.

 


Pre-registration is required to participate in Lake Metroparks Summer Day Camps and/or the extended hours offerings.  Registration for Lake County residents begins at 8:00 am Thursday, March 1.  Open registration begins 8:00 am March 8. Registration for camps is available online at lakemetroparks.com or by calling 440-358-7275 or 800-669-9226.  In person registration is available at the Lake Metroparks Registration Office located at 11211 Spear Rd in Concord Twp.   Registration for extended care is available by phone or in person only.

Enjoy the benefits of a Winter Hike

Come on…get outside and enjoy the beauty of winter woodlands on a guided nature hike with Lake Metroparks naturalists. What could be better than a hike, campfire, warm food and music to cure your cabin fever! Winter Hike activities will step off at Penitentiary Glen Reservation in Kirtland beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 19. 

There are four hikes, varying in length and terrain, from which hikers may choose.

1. An interpretive hike about three miles long with a few stops along the way.
2. A shorter and easier hike for novice hikers.
3. Fast walkers who want to get some fresh air and enjoy the park.
4. A self-guided short trail option for families with young children or more limited mobility. Easy-to-follow trail maps are available in the Nature Center.

Enjoy hot soup and beverages served inside the comfortable Nature Center after the hike and enjoy live folk music, all included in the program fee. Outdoors, the warmth of a roaring campfire will be ready with s’mores for everyone.

All participants receive a Winter Hike patch and an add-on year patch. 

Hikers are reminded of the importance of wearing comfortable footwear which is sturdy, warm and water-repellent. Hiking boots are recommended as the trails maybe snow- and/or mud-covered. Remember to dress in warm, comfortable layers. For more winter safety tips, visit lakemetroparks.com. 

Registration Information

Pre-registration is required for participation in the Winter Hike at Penitentiary Glen Reservation. Register online at lakemetroparks.com or call registration at 440-358-7275 or 800-669-9226. Program is $8 per person, all ages welcome, under 18 with an adult, please.

Directions
Penitentiary Glen Reservation is located at 8668 Kirtland-Chardon Rd in Kirtland. Take I-90 to Rt. 306 south for about one mile. Turn left onto Rt. 615. Turn right (east) onto Kirtland-Chardon Road and continue for two miles. Penitentiary Glen Reservation is located on the right (south) side of the road.