Halloween Hayrides Presale tickets on sale now!
for Lake County Residents and all Farmpark members
Out of county residents may purchase beginning September 8
Photo by Linda Terdan
Announcements
Trail closed in Kirtland
The "Kirtland Connector Trail" at Penitentiary Glen Reservation (a 1.5 gravel trail from the park parking lot to Kirtland City Hall) is closed for approximately six to eight weeks due to a construction project near Kirtland City Hall. All other trails at Penitentiary Glen remain open, providing park visitors nearly 6.5 miles of available trail to explore.
Farmpark is new home to Large Black pig.
Farmpark has a new resident! It's a breed of pig called Large Black. It's a British breed that is on the "Critical" list by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, which is equivalent to "Endangered" for wildlife.
The pig is only six months old; when fully grown, she could weigh as much as 600 - 700 pounds.
Click here for more information about the Large Black pig from the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.
Race results/stats and pictures posted.
Click here for Official results and images from the Grand River Canoe and Kayak Race.
Lake Metroparks Farmpark Photo Contest on Flickr
To help celebrate the 20th anniversary of
Farmpark, Lake Metroparks is asking people like you to post photos of your experiences at Farmpark. Photographers are asked to post their favorite Farmpark photos to our Flickr group and tag them to be eligible for our monthly Flickr Photo Contest.
The contest will run May 1- August 31, 2010. At the end of each month, finalists will be chosen and sent to be judged by our Facebook fans. Only photos uploaded to our Flickr page will be eligible for the contest. One photo per month will be declared the winner.
Winning photos will be published on our website, via our social media outlets and in some cases, in our publications. Winners also receive a Lake Metroparks prize pack.
From April 1 to October 31, access to Hidden Lake will be permitted for fishing, by permit only, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 7:00 am until 5:00 pm. Click here for details.
What's happening at Lake Metroparks in 2010? Click here for a complete list of events.
Residents 'March for Mother Earth' at Penitentiary Glen
Photo courtesy of The News-Herald. Photo by Maribeth Joeright.
As part of the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, visitors went on a March for Mother Earth which featured stops along the way with people protesting dirty air, dirty water, the need to protect endangered species, the importance of recycling and not littering, and the fight to protect the environment.
Click here to read the article, view more images, and watch the video featured in The News-Herald.
Danielle Serino reported about the newborn lambs at Farmark. Her segment, Action News Animals: Fluffy Friends aired January 27 on 19 Action News at Noon. Click here to view the video.
Lake Metroparks Ranger Lieutenant Honored
The North Carolina Department of Justice and the North Carolina Justice Academy have awarded Lake Metroparks Ranger Lieutenant James “Jim” Smallwood the prestigious and rare Certificate of Graduation for completing the Professional Ranger Program. Lt. Smallwood is only the 20th recipient of the award in the 32-year history of this certification program, designed to recognize career development efforts in the field of parks.
Lieutenant James "Jim" Smallwood
Lt. Smallwood began working toward this achievement 15 years ago. His award demonstrates both his personal commitment as well as Lake Metroparks’ commitment to ongoing professional training and growth. The program consists of a variety of courses, including general law enforcement, legal issues, environmental and interpretive education, natural resource law and protection, crime prevention as well as a selection of specialized instructor and safety courses. Work experience and additional, ongoing education are also factored into the certification award.
Jim Smallwood has worked in the Lake Metroparks Ranger Department for over 20 years, and has served as Lieutenant Ranger since June 2005. He currently oversees the patrol function of the Ranger Department.
Pleasant Valley Park is one of the newest properties owned by Lake Metroparks. Currently, efforts are underway to return the property, formerly the Warner Nursery, to its original floodplain status.
Video shows park employees involved in cleaning up the property and restoring the floodplain.
Lake Metroparks is in the process of developing a strategic operating plan for the future use of this property. Limited stream access only.
Lake Metroparks’ Volunteer Department recently received the 2010 Distinguished Civic Organization Award from the Rotary Club of Willoughby. In presenting this award, the rotary acknowledged the 2,100 volunteers who provide immeasurable resources that expand and enrich park district services and programs and are also a key part of the reason Lake Metroparks is recognized as one of the top parks systems in the country. Nice job, volunteers!
Lake Metroparks is honored by the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association
- Recognized with six awards including two Superior ratings (1st place). Click here for complete list of awards.
Lake Metroparks is honored by Lake Communicators.
- Recognized with five APEX awards including two Gold.
Lake Metroparks' annual and popular Halloween Hayrides literally takes a cast of thousands to produce.
To assemble the hayrides, the agency must have the help of more than 1,000 volunteers who do everything from being actors to taking tickets to set design and construction to making hot chocolate. It takes nearly four weeks to get everything ready, parks officials say.
In return, these volunteers are greeted with the enthusiastic endorsement of between 15,000 and 18,000 visitors to the agency's Farmpark in Kirtland.
Click here for more of the article that was in The News-Herald….
Becky Parkin on WOIO with 19 Action News' Meteorologist Jon Loufman talking about the Super Star Party. Ian Cooper, president of the Chagrin Valley Astronomical Society, brought in his homemade telescope for us to use as a backdrop.
Piglets
Piglets at Farmpark are featured in an Action News Animals! segment by Danielle Serino on 19 Action News.
Click here to watch video. Search the video file on top left of the page for “This little piglet went to…”
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Click PLAY to watch a video of the segment being filmed -->
Kenny Crumpton kayaks with Lake Metroparks
at Grand River Landing
Kenny Crumpton from FOX 8 came out to Grand River Landing to do a segment about Kayaking. Brian Fowler and Brian Davidson talked with and demonstrated kayaking and Kenny got on and in the two types of kayaks.
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Woolfest
Photo by Mary Beth Joeright. Courtesy of The News-Herald Jamie Wise, 3, of Wellington gets a lesson in sheep shearing from
Wendy Vacak of Chardon during Woolfest at Lake Metroparks Farmpark
A photo and story about Woolfest was featured on the front page of The News-Herald (6/29/09). Click hereto read the story and view video by Nick Carrabine.
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Jaws, Lake Metroparks animal ambassador
Jaws, an animal ambassador from
Lake Metroparks' Wildlife Center, is featured in video which appeared on 19 Action News Animals! segment by Danielle Serino.
Click here to watch video. Search the video file on top left of the page for "Virginia Oppossum".
Bridgett Bellett, 3, of South Euclid milks a cow with some help
from her mother Katie during the cow milking competition Sunday
at Lake Metroparks Farmpark's Dairy Days.
A photo and story about Dairy Days was featured on the front page of
The News-Herald (6/22/09). Click hereto read the story and view video by Jason Lea.
371 racers floated down the mighty Grand River in the annual Grand River Canoe and Kayak Race hosted by Lake Metroparks. The race features a Maddest Hat contest where contestants don the most unusual head attire and have to attempt to wear it the entire race.
A photo and story about the race was featured on the front page of The News-Herald (4/26/09).
Farmpark's Multi-horse Hitch at St. Patrick's Day Parade
Photo courtesy of The Plain Dealer.
Lake Metroparks Farmpark's multi-draft horse hitch took part in the annual Cleveland St. Patrick's Day Parade. Click here to read story featured on Cleveland.com (3/17/09) and The Plain Dealer (3/18/09).
Quilts 2009 at Farmpark is featured in a wonderful story with beautiful photos on front page of The News-Herald's Community Section Feb. 22. Click here to read story.
Printer Friendly Version
To help celebrate the 20th anniversary of
Farmpark, Lake Metroparks is asking people like you to post photos of your experiences at Farmpark. Photographers are asked to post their favorite Farmpark photos to our Flickr group and tag them to be eligible for our monthly Flickr Photo Contest. 
The North Carolina Department of Justice and the North Carolina Justice Academy have awarded Lake Metroparks Ranger Lieutenant James “Jim” Smallwood the prestigious and rare Certificate of Graduation for completing the Professional Ranger Program. Lt. Smallwood is only the 20th recipient of the award in the 32-year history of this certification program, designed to recognize career development efforts in the field of parks.
