Mill Creek Park ice rink nears its opening

The ice rink at Mill Creek MetroParks is almost ready for skaters.

The ice is being smoothed and it is frozen solid to at least two inches thick.

The rink will open Jan. 2, weather permitting.

Skating is free but you have to bring your own skates.

The ice rink is located in the Wick Recreation Area.

The rink is open daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Daily hockey hours are 3 p.m. 5 p.m.

View the full article at wkbn.com

Mill Creek to train professionals to protect park’s dying trees

The Mill Creek MetroParks board wants to protect its trees. But right now, it can’t because it doesn’t have properly-trained personnel.

However, the board is doubling the budget to look for diseased and dying trees in Mill Creek Park. The current budget sits at $10,000 and will become $20,000 heading into 2018.

The money will go towards training certain staff to becoming certified arborists — professionals in the cultivation, management and study of individual trees.

“There are people on our staff who have shown interest in becoming an arborist,” Lee Frey, president of Mill Creek Park’s commissioners, said. “This will allow not only to have an arborist, but also trained in other things that if we need them in either capacity, they will be able to do it.”

With winter setting in, insects commonly referred to as “wolly masses” threaten the health of Hemlock trees, which are commonly found in Mill Creek Park. Right now, the insect has come as close as Beaver County.

“We’re watching for it,” Frey said. “It’s coming this way. As far as we know, it has not gone into the park yet.”

The threat of diseased trees sparked the debate at the MetroParks special board meeting Monday night. The horticulture committee then requested there be a certified arborist in the park.

The park has not staffed an arborist since 2016.

“Nobody’s looking. Nobody’s out there,” one member of the horticulture committee said. “It’s nobody’s job to do that right now.”

They debated on just how to fill the position.

Some want it filled now, while others suggested paying for training and promoting within the current staff.

Horticulture committee member Ellen Speicher said the schooling for certification takes around three years — which she believes is too long to wait. She added that dead trees are hazards that can fall and harm both people and animals.

The board and the horticulture committee ultimately decided on training within. The compromise was that a third-party arborist will be hired to monitor the trees in the park until the staff they have now is fully-trained.

“In the meantime, we’ll use a service,” Frey said. “There are 70 arborist services within a 30-mile radius of the parks.”

The vote for this compromise was almost unanimous, with just one board member voting against it.

Now that the motion has passed, the board will start interviewing within the staff to decide who will get the training to become a certified arborist.

View the full article at wkbn.com

Mill Creek MetroParks to train arborist from within park workforce

Mill Creek MetroParks will open up training opportunities to employees who wish to become certified arborists.

The MetroParks board approved that action at a meeting tonight despite some disagreement on the issue.

The board’s standing committee on horticulture had recommended the MetroParks hire a full-time certified arborist. MetroParks Executive Director Aaron Young, however, recommended a different approach to maintaining the park’s trees: Training employees, and continuing the practice of contracting some work out.

“The recommendation to the board is one of cost-effectiveness that we feel is meeting the needs of the MetroParks,” he said.

Young said the MetroParks spends about 10 percent of what a full-time arborist would cost by maintaining trees via current staff and contracted services.

View the full article at vindy.com

Mill Creek Park sledding packed with first big snowfall

The 20-degree temperatures Thursday did not stop people from getting to Mill Creek MetroParks. Tons of families and friends bundled up and braved the cold for some winter fun.

The sled hill at the Wick recreation area is open for the season now that there’s snow sticking to the ground. Some people came back like they do every year, while others started up a tradition with their children.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever brought the kids here, but I used to come here as a kid,” Lindsay Wharry said. “Grandma lives across the street, so we’re sharing it with the kids.”

The park also has ice skating, a warming house and concession stand.

It’s free to sled and open every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., but it is depending on weather.

You can contact Mill Creek MetroParks with any questions at 330-702-3000.

View the full article at wkbn.com

 

Notice of MetroParks Special Board Meeting

The Board of Park Commissioners of Mill Creek MetroParks will meet for a Special Meeting on Monday, December 18, 2017, at 6 p.m., in the Davis Center at Fellows Riverside Gardens. Agenda items are: Finance Director’s Report, Temporary Budget, Bid Tabulations for Chemicals & Fertilizers, and for Gasoline & Fuel Oil, Golf Pro Contract renewal, Hole 55 Lease renewal, Resolution honoring Commissioner Ragan, Resolution for Idora Bridge Improvements, Arborist position request, MetroParks Foundation Trust Agreement, set date of January Board Meeting, Executive Session.

The Records Retention Committee of Mill Creek MetroParks will met at 5:00 p.m., Monday, December 18, 2017, in the Davis Center in Fellows Riverside Gardens.

Notice of MetroParks Standing Committee Meeting

The next meeting of the Environment Standing Committee to the Board of Park Commissioners of Mill Creek MetroParks is scheduled for Friday, December 15, 2017, at 10 a.m., in Classroom A at the MetroParks Farm, on Rt. 46 in Canfield.

Fellows Riverside Gardens celebrates Christmas season with month full of events

 

With Christmas just about two weeks away, Fellows Riverside Gardens in Mill Creek MetroParks is continuing to celebrate the holiday season with a month full of events.

For those who registered, children and their families were able to eat breakfast with Santa Saturday morning, catered by Inspired Catering by Kravitz.

Also in the D.D. and Velma Davis Education and Visitor Center, volunteers set up different games — past and present — and toys to create Toyland. Giant game pieces and toy soldiers, Legos, model trains and much more are displayed for all to see. Toyland runs every day for the rest of the month, except Mondays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Along with Toyland, you can also take a look through the Holiday Tree Walk. About 51 trees are displayed throughout the Davis center, each decorated by a local non-profit organization.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Mill Creek Park’s MetroMutts group will host a Jingle Bells Hike starting at Pioneer Pavilion. The hike with your dogs is free, but non-members are asked to donate $2 for refreshments and photos with Santa.

To end the day, participate in Winter Celebration Nights from 5-7 p.m. Check out the outdoor light display, play games with your family and craft for the holidays. Inspired Catering by Kravitz will also serve hot chocolate and cookies. Winter Celebration Nights are every Saturday for the rest of December.

Throughout the day, the Davis Center will accept donations of non-perishable food items for the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.

View the full article at wkbn.com

Fellows Gardens’ Toyland for young, young-at-heart

Toys from generations young and old are filling the halls of the D.D. and Velma Davis Education & Visitor Center at Fellows Riverside Gardens this holiday season.

“The idea is to tie in some nostalgia so that the grandmas, grandpas and parents that come have something to show the kids,” horticulture educator Lynn Zocolo said. “It kind of gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling.”

Fellows, 123 McKinley Ave., is celebrating the holiday season, which runs through Dec. 31, with Toyland, a departure from the center’s nature-oriented themes of the last few years, Zocolo said.

The Davis Center’s interior is decorated with a number of toy- and holiday-themed attractions, and has planned activities for younger patrons, and part of the gardens is decorated with holiday lights.

“It’s for the young and the young-at-heart,” she said.

Read more about it in Sunday’s Vindicator or on Vindy.com.

Mill Creek MetroParks announces road closures for winter months

Mill Creek Park is closing off a few roads to vehicular traffic for the winter months effective Dec. 8.

Chestnut Hill Drive (between Canfield Road and the Kirkmere Spur), High Drive (between the Kirkmere Spur and West Cohasset Drive) and Calvary Run Drive (between Belle Vista Avenue and Milton Avenue) will be closed off.

By closing them to vehicular traffic, the roads can then become available for winter activities, like cross-country skiing, sledding and hiking.

The park also plans to cut costs associated with snow and ice removal by closing the roads. It will also help reduce the negative environmental impacts from de-icing salt.

The roads will reopen in the spring depending on weather conditions.

View the full article at wkbn.com

Mill Creek roads to close for the winter

Mill Creek MetroParks is preparing for winter and closing several roadways. 

Beginning Friday, December 8th, park visitors will not be able to use the following streets: 

•      Chestnut Hill Drive between Canfield Road and the Kirkmere Spur
•      High Drive between the Kirkmere Spur and West Cohasset Drive
•      Calvary Run Drive between Belle Vista Avenue and Milton Avenue

While closed to traffic, these roads are available for recreational use for hiking, cross-country skiing, and sledding. 

According to the park, the benefits of winter road closures include cost savings associated with snow/ice removal as well as a reduction of negative environmental impacts from deicing salt. 

In the winter months, snow and ice can create slippery roadway conditions. 

Park officials say roads with limited shoulders, lack of guardrails and steep grades can become increasingly hazardous for motorists. 

All roads will reopen in the spring when weather permits.

View the full article at wfmj.com