Mill Creek Park to offer youth recreational and sports camp

During the second week of June, Mill Creek MetroParks will offer its first ever Youth Recreational & Sports Camp at the Wick Recreation Area.  

It is open to kids between the age of 6 and 15.  No experience in sports is required to participate.  

Each day instructors and coaches will be teaching kids the fundamentals of golf, volleyball, tennis and baseball.  

Kids will also be going on hikes through Mill Creek to learn about nature and the history of the park.

“You can be a beginner in any of those sports. We just want to be able to play a myriad of sports that sort of encompass the Wick Recreation area because of all it has to offer,” said PGA Director Brian Tolnar with Mill Creek Park.

The camp will take place June 14, 15 and 16 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Children can sign up at the Mill Creek Field House, the Wick Park 3 Golf Shop or the Ford Nature Center.  The cost is $39.99 per child.  Lunch is not included.   

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Mill Creek Golf Course to Host 2nd Annual Junior Inter-League Series

The Mill Creek Wick Par-3 Course, Parto’s Golf Learning Center & Valley Golf Club will be hosting the 2nd Annual Par-3 Course Junior Inter-League Series on select Saturdays in June & July. Junior golfers will compete at all three golf courses during the entire series. The nine hole matches will feature a 2-Player scramble format with juniors playing three 3-Hole matches. Points will be awarded for each match won per 3-Holes with a point added for the team with the most points. 

The league is open to all junior golfers ages 7 to 12 with each team consisting of six players participating in each match. A season finale banquet and fun day will be held at Parto’s Golf Learning Center on July 29, 2017 to close out the Junior Inter-Club program. 

Team Sign-ups can be made by calling team coaches Stacie Butler (Mill Creek MetroParks) at 330.740.7112, Tom Parteleno (Parto’s Golf Learning Center) at 330.743.6718 or Ted Ossoff (Valley Golf Club) at 330.482.9464.

Family Camp in the Park to be held June 24-25

Mill Creek MetroParks presents Family Camp in the Park June 24 at 9 a.m. through June 25 at 1 p.m on the Judge Morley Lawn in the Wick Recreation Area. Designed to give your family lots of fun park activities to participate in both during the day and through the evening. This fun family camping experience is structured to give your family lots of fun activities to participate in both during the day and through the evening. Enjoy nature programs, hikes, family scavenger hunt, evening campfire, children’s outdoor story time, family game-times, crafts, and more! Judge Morley Pavilion area will be closed to non-participants from 9 am Saturday until 1 pm Sunday, and area will be closely monitored.

Family Camp in the Park is sponsored by WFMJ/WBCB. Space is limited; register by June 17! Participant fee is $10 (resident), $15 (nonresident). Additional fee after the deadline. Price includes structured activities, some meals, and snacks.  Limited tent rental available for $15 per tent. Registration will include additional program and set-up details and equipment list. Children must be accompanied by an adult at all times. For more information or to register, visit or call Ford Nature Center at 330.740.7107.

Mill Creek MetroParks Road Closures

The following roads and areas in Mill Creek MetroParks will be closed to vehicular traffic, as well as cyclists and pedestrians from approximately 5:00 am until 1:30 pm, on Sunday, June 4, 2017 for the Youngstown Marathon:

 

• Bears Den Drive 

• Cross Drive

• New Cross Drive

• Lily Pond Drive

• West Drive

• West Glacier Drive

• Price Road

• East Glacier Drive (South of Volney Field)

• Memorial Hill Drive

• Slippery Rock Bridge

• Robinson Hill Drive

• East Cohasset Drive

• West Cohasset Drive

• High Drive

• Valley Drive

• East Park Drive

• Old Mill Drive

• East Newport Drive

• Kreider’s Entrance

• West Newport Drive

• East Golf Drive & parking areas

• Lanterman’s Mill Parking Areas

 

Always use caution when driving on MetroParks roads as many of these roads are also used by pedestrians and bicyclists. Pedestrians and bicyclists should be reminded to also use caution and be aware of vehicular traffic when on these roads. For more information about Mill Creek MetroParks, visit our website at www.millcreekmetroparks.org.

Water Quality Celebration – Reaching that Watershed Moment

Join organizations from across Mahoning County as we work together with residents and landowners to learn more about watersheds and water quality on June 22 from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Mill Creek MetroParks Farm, 7574 Columbiana Canfield Rd., Canfield, Ohio.

This is an interactive evening for the entire family to enjoy! Activities include a hayride to a drone demonstration and pond demonstration, a chance to see farm equipment up-close, a composting seminar by the Green Team, the animal area at the farm, a pop-up library with resources and demonstrations in the garden – including soil testing, soil amendments and more. Activities will focus on what we can do as a community to protect and improve water quality throughout Mahoning County. 

Throughout this event, we will focus on everyone’s effect on water quality, whether you are a landowner fertilizing your lawn or a farmer spreading nutrients for crop production.

Everyone who attends and visits stations can complete a passport to win a compost bin, one of four different rain barrels and ten certificates for a complimentary soil test for the lawn, garden or farm.

Event co-sponsors include Mahoning County Farm Bureau, Eastgate, AWARE, OSU Extension in Mahoning County, Davey Resource Group, Mahoning County Soil & Water Conservation District, Deerfield Farms, Davey Resource Group, Mill Creek MetroParks and Aqua Ohio.

For questions, contact the Mahoning County Farm Bureau at 440.437.8700 or nefarmbu@fairpoint.net or call the OSU Extension Office in Canfield at 330-533-5538. Details and a flyer can be found at: http://go.osu.edu/celebratewater

Mill Creek MetroParks to Offer New Youth Recreation & Sports Camp in 2017

Mill Creek MetroParks will be offering a new recreational and sports camp designed for kids ages 6 – 15 at the Wick Recreation Area on June 14, 15, & 16 from 10 am to 3 pm. The camp will encompass the sports of baseball, golf, tennis and volleyball along with fitness and hiking. Instructors will be on hand each day teaching kids the proper fundamentals of each sport as well as the techniques to become a better player in each sport. The hiking portion of the camp will feature outdoor nature education and a brief history of Mill Creek MetroParks. Program instructors will be from the local area and will share a wealth of knowledge in their areas of instruction. “We’re excited to bring this new program to the MetroParks in 2017 as it will encompass all that we have to offer at the Wick Recreation Area. Offering a wide variety of sport and recreation opportunities such as golf, hiking, volleyball, tennis and baseball in one camp creates an opportunity for opening it up to a larger demographic”, says Brian Tolnar, PGA Director of Golf.

Sign-ups are $39/child and are available at the Mill Creek Golf Course Fieldhouse, Wick Par-3 Golf Shop, Ford Nature Center or by calling 330.740.7114 or 330.740.7107.

Mill Creek MetroParks Road Closures

The following roads and areas in Mill Creek MetroParks will be closed to vehicular traffic, as well as cyclists and pedestrians from approximately 5:00 am until 1:30 pm, on Sunday, June 4, 2017 for the Youngstown Marathon:

  • Bears Den Drive 
  • Cross Drive
  • New Cross Drive
  • Lily Pond Drive
  • West Drive
  • West Glacier Drive
  • Price Road
  • East Glacier Drive (South of Volney Field)
  • Memorial Hill Drive
  • Slippery Rock Bridge
  • Robinson Hill Drive
  • East Cohasset Drive
  • West Cohasset Drive
  • High Drive
  • Valley Drive
  • East Park Drive
  • Old Mill Drive
  • East Newport Drive
  • Kreider’s Entrance
  • West Newport Drive
  • East Golf Drive & parking areas
  • Lanterman’s Mill Parking Areas

Always use caution when driving on MetroParks roads as many of these roads are also used by pedestrians and bicyclists. Pedestrians and bicyclists should be reminded to also use caution and be aware of vehicular traffic when on these roads. For more information about Mill Creek MetroParks, visit our website at www.millcreekmetroparks.org.

 

MILL CREEK FOUNDATION AJGA JUNIOR-AMATEUR FUNDRAISER TOURNAMENT

Mill Creek Golf Course will be holding the Mill Creek Foundation AJGA Junior-Amateur Fundraiser Tournament on Monday, June 19, 2017 at 1:30 pm. The tournament format will be a 4-Player Scramble (3 Player Amateur Teams paired with 1 AJGA All-Star Player) and will include prizes for the winning teams, skill prizes and door prizes. The tournament entry fee of $600.00 per team will include 18 holes of golf with cart fees for 3 players, an invitation to the Junior-Amateur Dinner Reception, golf balls from Taylor-Made, 3 Polo Ralph Lauren shirts with the AJGA Tournament logo, 3 New Era Tournament Caps, 3 McArthur golf towels, & range balls. “What a great opportunity to be able to play with the future of golf and our game. With players coming from all over the world it’s a great experience for the people of the Mahoning Valley to be able to play with these great players at Mill Creek Golf Course right here in the Youngstown area,” says Brian Tolnar, PGA Director of Golf.

Entry Forms are available at the Mill Creek Golf Course Fieldhouse, by calling 330.740.7112 or by emailing Head Professional, Andy Santor atandy@millcreekmetroparks.org.

Mill Creek MetroParks to open new wet playground in time for Memorial Day weekend

Mill Creek MetroParks will kick off Memorial Day weekend by opening a new area for its visitors.

Park officials, community leaders and people involved in the project will gather at the James L. Wick Jr. Recreation Area off McCollum Road at 2 p.m. today for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that marks the grand opening of a wet playground at the Juliana Kurinka Children’s Play Area.

“It’s going to be exciting. It’ll be that regional draw that we want the Wick Recreation Area to be,” said Justin Rogers, MetroParks planning manager. “It provides families with another opportunity to experience Mill Creek MetroParks, and we’re looking forward to having a really fun, exciting summer at the play area.”

Work began in April on the $80,079 project. The contract was awarded to Daniel A. Terreri & Sons.

The addition of the wet playground caps off a plan developed several years ago to renovate the children’s play area. Three other parts of the playground previously were completed. The play area featured a wet-play component for many years, but that was removed when work began to revamp the area.

“The original playground featured a concrete basin with four sprays and was very popular,” Rogers said. “The introduction of the wet playground is more interactive. There are features for different ages. It brings colors and excitement to the playground, and really fits in nicely with the scale of the other three components of the play area.”

The project is part of the $29 million capital-improvements plan the MetroParks is undertaking over the next 15 years, with $3.2 million of that slated to take place this year.

Representatives of the companies involved in the project, park board members, Mahoning County Probate Judge Robert N. Rusu Jr., Mayor John A. McNally, city Councilman Mike Ray, D-4th, members of the park foundation, past park board members, the owner of Fitness Together, and a representative of the Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association are invited to participate in today’s event.

– See more at: vindy.com

April Showers No Deterent for Visitors to Fellows Riverside Gardens

Mill Creek MetroParks’ Fellows Riverside Gardens (FRG) nearly broke its park visitation record in April 2017. FRG is on track for a record breaking May, too. More than 32,000 community members visited Fellows Riverside Gardens to kick off the spring season. That is just 69 visitors shy of the garden’s record year set in 2014. MetroParks Director Aaron Young says that his goal is to grow even further.

 “It’s great when you can approach record-setting attendance at a park,” Young said. “But we’re not done yet; we want to see new residents using the MetroParks for the first time and past visitors coming back again and again.”

FRG is a free public garden located at the northern end of Mill Creek Park in Youngstown, Ohio. It features 12 acres of landscape with diverse and colorful plant displays. FRG has the D.D. and Velma Davis Education and Visitor Center making the garden a destination for all seasons. April through early May this year, the visitor center had 49,234 community members stop into the center. That is up from 46,335 in 2016. There’s also Kravitz’s Garden Café, which is open from 10am-4pm Tuesdays-Sundays offering a variety of quiche, entrees and beverages.

 “Our goal is to provide park and recreation space while being responsive to community needs,” Young said. “The services offered at Fellows Riverside Gardens, and the community’s response to them, show that we’re on the right track.”

 

Learn more about Fellows Riverside Gardens and all of Mill Creek MetroParks at MillCreekMetroParks.org.