As regular readers know, I'm a frustrated hiker and biker. "Frustrated" because these days my activities are limited as I am recuperating from a pretty nasty bike accident last fall. (My motto since then: Wear a helmet when you ride, or you might not ride again!)
So, fresh off crutches from my latest surgery, I want to walk, but the doc (and the pain in my ankle) limits me to less than a mile a day. So...
Q: What's a hiker to do when she can't do much?
A: Find a nice, short trail with a great education center nearby to keep the kids (smart and) happy.
That's just what we found in the David Fichtner Outdoor Education Center, 12833 Market Avenue North, in Hartville/Lake Township. (http://www.starkparks.com/parks.htm#fich...
Acquired by the Stark County Park District in 2000, the David Fichtner Outdoor Education Center honors the the late David Fichtner, a Goodyear chemical engineer. He deeded his small farm to the park department because he wanted the property to remain undeveloped. And Hartville certainly has developed in recent years, with the new Hartville Kitchens and Hartville Marketplace (both nice, but big, and with way over-sized parking lots, in my opinion) and myriad new homes. According to a representative from the park district, a developer wanted to put a road right through the farm property, to connect the marketplace with downtown shopping. My take: that's silly! Hartville is a small town; you can easily walk from end to end in less than an hour. (That is, you could walk from end-to-end of the shopping district, to restaurants, to the grocery store and to the library. To walk all over Hartville would take all day--the rolling farms spread around the town in a charming way; it's the kind of "sprawl" I like.)
I applaud Fichtner's family for abiding by his wishes. The property makes a fine park, and it's much, much nicer than a road.
The day we dropped in, Mary was the naturalist/educator on duty-and boy, is she perfect for her job! She welcomed us and educated us without overwhelming us. She also set loose Tank, a 9-year-old box turtle, so named because he "plows through everything in his path," Mary explained. (And I thought, 'Hey, Tank would have been a great name for son!')
In addition to sharing some very interesting knowledge about local birds and amphibians (did you know bullfrogs take FIVE YEARS to mature from their tadpole stage??) Mary also engaged my daughter in a brief lesson on the Civil War vs. the American Revolution. Yippee! Talk about a great way to spend an afternoon.
So, fresh off crutches from my latest surgery, I want to walk, but the doc (and the pain in my ankle) limits me to less than a mile a day. So...
Q: What's a hiker to do when she can't do much?
A: Find a nice, short trail with a great education center nearby to keep the kids (smart and) happy.
That's just what we found in the David Fichtner Outdoor Education Center, 12833 Market Avenue North, in Hartville/Lake Township. (http://www.starkparks.com/parks.htm#fich...
Acquired by the Stark County Park District in 2000, the David Fichtner Outdoor Education Center honors the the late David Fichtner, a Goodyear chemical engineer. He deeded his small farm to the park department because he wanted the property to remain undeveloped. And Hartville certainly has developed in recent years, with the new Hartville Kitchens and Hartville Marketplace (both nice, but big, and with way over-sized parking lots, in my opinion) and myriad new homes. According to a representative from the park district, a developer wanted to put a road right through the farm property, to connect the marketplace with downtown shopping. My take: that's silly! Hartville is a small town; you can easily walk from end to end in less than an hour. (That is, you could walk from end-to-end of the shopping district, to restaurants, to the grocery store and to the library. To walk all over Hartville would take all day--the rolling farms spread around the town in a charming way; it's the kind of "sprawl" I like.)
I applaud Fichtner's family for abiding by his wishes. The property makes a fine park, and it's much, much nicer than a road.
The day we dropped in, Mary was the naturalist/educator on duty-and boy, is she perfect for her job! She welcomed us and educated us without overwhelming us. She also set loose Tank, a 9-year-old box turtle, so named because he "plows through everything in his path," Mary explained. (And I thought, 'Hey, Tank would have been a great name for son!')
In addition to sharing some very interesting knowledge about local birds and amphibians (did you know bullfrogs take FIVE YEARS to mature from their tadpole stage??) Mary also engaged my daughter in a brief lesson on the Civil War vs. the American Revolution. Yippee! Talk about a great way to spend an afternoon.
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