On Friday, October 9, Mill Creek MetroParks cut the ribbon on a new park, designed to help encourage children and their families to get involved with nature.

According to a news release, the Anthony J. Fox Family Foundation Children’s Garden was unveiled at Fellows Riverside Gardens at 11 a.m. on Friday.

The new area looks to “[provide] an engaging space for children and families to explore nature and discover the joys of horticulture.” The park has five areas, including:

• The Stream Garden
• The Forest Garden
• The Wonder Rooms Garden
• The Sensory Garden
• The Harvest Garden

Each area is designed with different learning opportunities.

“One of the things that we did not want to do is we did not want to say, ‘don’t do this.’ We wanted kids to come in and explore and learn at their own individual rates. And a lot of that means touching, smelling – there’s a lot of sensory component to the garden that you’ll see here today, and what a better way to learn,” said Aaron Young, the Executive Director of the Mill Creek MetroParks.

The $3 million project was a part of the Mill Creek MetroParks’ 2025 Capital Improvement Program and was completely funded through philanthropic donations.

According to the release, the Anthony J. Fox Family Foundation was established in memory of AJ Fox, who died in 2016. The goal of the foundation is to provide support for charitable causes, with a particular focus on vulnerable children, human services, education and community organizations.

In total, the Foundation made an approximately $2 million donation to the project, helping advance the Children’s Garden.

Young says he would like to see the youth of the community come out to explore and experience the beauty of the park.

Read the original article at WFMJ.

Mill Creek MetroParks has opened the Anthony J. Fox Family Foundation Children’s Garden, complete with paths, plants, pumpkins and play features.

The project was a 15-month, $3 million addition to Fellows Riverside Gardens.

Chris Litton, director of development for Mill Creek MetroParks, officially welcomed board members of both Mill Creek MetroParks and the park’s foundation, staff members and the community to the newest attraction at the park Friday.

The children’s garden was designed around the Margaret Cushwa Education Building, an outdoor learning center where children can attend programming. The addition of the children’s garden will expand those opportunities.

Aaron Young, Mill Creek MetroParks executive director, said it was important that the garden remain a horticultural space to encourage children to get their hands dirty, while also having some natural play features.

Young said a plan first discussed 20 years ago was part of the early planning for the garden, which has a walking trail, including climbing plants, hidden trolls, water features, interactive sensory components and places where children can climb.

“If you walk the path around here, you’ll see three different trolls with faces built into them that the kids can see,” Young said. “So it’s a very whimsical attempt at bringing horticulture to the forefront for kids.”

At an American Society of Landscape Architects conference in San Diego several years ago, Young said he met Paul Mills, a botanical garden designer with RVI, a national landscape architecture firm, and convinced him to come look at the children’s garden project.

Mills, originally of Brisbane, Australia, was among those enjoying watching people’s reactions at the opening Friday.

Read the original article at The Business Journal.

For the first time in three months, Mill Creek Golf Course has tee times booked for Saturday. The damage from the July tornado has been cleaned up, and at least half the course is ready to go.

From the 18th green on the North Course, looking back at the fairway, it looks very much like Mill Creek before the storm — like a golf course that’s ready to be reopened Saturday morning.

“Well, we wanted to make sure that the quality of the course after the storm was equal or better to than before the storm and we confident that we’ve gotten it there,” said Aaron Young, executive director of Mill Creek MetroParks.

But there are still signs of the work it took to clean up the 150 trees the July 5 tornado knocked over — trees that can be seen piled in various areas around the course.

There’s a wood chipper remaining in the parking lot. The planted grass on 10 fairway, where a tree and stump were removed. The trees that once covered the cart area are gone, and the off colored shingles on the clubhouse corner where a tree fell on the roof.

“Repair of the turf, repair of some of the greens, some of the fairways and then ultimately some of the cart paths,” Young said.

Only the North Course will open for now. The South Course lost 500 trees.

“South Course is still ongoing. As most people know, the South Course is a bit wetter than the North Course. And with the help of Mother Nature, we don’t know we’re going to get there this year,” Young said.

As far as the money lost at the golf course.

“Those calculations are still ongoing. When you say lost, I mean we’ve lost revenue, and we’ve had some additional costs associated with cleanup that weren’t budgeted for,” Young said.

Mill Creek Golf Course is approaching 100 years and has always been known for its abundance of trees. Some of the most famous are now gone, but will the golfers notice it?

“Well, if you’re a golfer that has a propensity to be within the trees. I think you’ll find the course more to your liking because there will be a little less trees than what was here originally. But we’re confident that the overall design intent is still maintained even after such a substantial storm,” Young said.

The first tee time Saturday is at 8:30 am. All the tee times are filled for Saturday, though there are a few nine-hole slots left for after 3 p.m.

Read the original article at WKBN.

A big sign of progress at Mill Creek MetroParks from the July 5 storm.

The North Golf Course is ready to reopen. Golfers will be able to tee off starting October 10. That’s next Saturday, which is earlier than anticipated.

The trees that were brought down or broken by the summer storm have been removed. It’s been a tremendous effort to repair the damage and give the course back to the community before the end of the golf season.

The fifth hole is one place where you’ll notice a difference on the course.

“There’s also some newly planted areas and seeded areas, and there’s still some work to be done with removing some debris. But for the most part, the layout is still the Donald Ross 1928 wonderful golf course that we’ve grown to love,” said David Wykoff, Mill Creek golf and recreation director.

The South Golf Course is not going to reopen this year. More logs need to be removed, and stump grinding will have to be finished before that 18-hole layout can be reopened.

Read the original article at WKBN.

Roughly eight months after Mill Creek Metroparks announced capital improvements, including a new lodge at Vickers Nature Preserve, work is well underway.

The lodge is intended to function similarly to other Mill Creek facilities, offering private rentals for equestrian programs or events plus any Metroparks educational programming.

In March, Mill Creek Metroparks posted a look at the lodge’s progress on Facebook, offering a sneak peek at the facility.

According to officials at Mill Creek, current site work at Vickers Nature Preserve includes soil grading, landscaping preparations, paving work and finalizing utility services for the lodge.

No opening date or official timeline for the end of the project has been announced just yet but 21 News is told that Mill Creek will have a better idea of a solid completion date in roughly a month.

Read the original article at WFMJ.