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.

Mill Creek MetroParks will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, May 26 at 2 p.m. to announce the grand opening of the new wet playground as part of the Children’s Play Area at the James L. Wick, Jr. Recreation Area.

The wet playground is the fourth and final playground to be constructed as part of The Juliana Kurinka Children’s Play Area. It is a zero-depth water play environment which features various interactive water play elements which include bubblers, sprays, cannons and dumping buckets. This variety will offer diverse water play opportunities, maximizing play for all ages and abilities with a main area for older children and a distinct area for younger children, while still providing opportunities for inter-generational play. The wet playground will also provide children with interactive opportunities for development of individual motor skills and collaborative, social play with others as well as providing dynamic auditory and tactile sensory experiences. “The Wet Playground was envisioned in the 2007 Master Plan for Wick Recreation Area, so it’s exciting to see this playground constructed as evidence of an effective planning process, thus providing this new play opportunity to many MetroParks visitors”, says MetroParks project manager Stephen Avery.

The project was funded by the Juliana Kurinka Trust, Fitness Together 5K, Rocky Ridge Neighborhood Association Maple Syrup sales & Mill Creek MetroParks Green Cathedral Half Marathon.

For questions and more information, please call Mill Creek MetroParks Administration Office at 330.702.3000.

The Environment Standing Committee to the Board of Park Commissioners of Mill Creek MetroParks, will meet on Friday, August 4, 2017, at 10 a.m., in Classroom A at the MetroParks Farm in Canfield.

Mill Creek Golf Course and the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) are seeking intern housing for the 2017 Mill Creek Foundation AJGA Junior All-Star Tournament this June. College interns will be on-site in Youngstown for this year’s tournament starting on Saturday, June 17, 2017 through Thursday, June 22, 2017. The AJGA college tournament interns will be departing on the morning of Friday, June 23, 2017. Special hosting requirements include each intern having their own bed, access to a bathroom and iron & ironing board for the week. Last year’s AJGA event had a financial impact of over $254,000.00 for the Mahoning Valley. If interested in hosting a tournament intern, please contact Head Golf Professional Stacie Butler at the Mill Creek Golf Shop at 330.740.7112 ext. 101 or stacie@millcreekmetroparks.org.

About the AJGA

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls, ages 12-19) of more than 6,600 members from 50 states and 55 foreign countries.

AJGA alumni include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson, Sergio Garcia, Hunter Mahan, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Zach Johnson, Justin Thomas, Bill Haas, Billy Horschel, Stacy Lewis, Ariya Jutanugarn, Alison Lee, Lexi Thompson, Inbee Park, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome, Cristie Kerr and Morgan Pressel.