Lake Metroparks mark Earth Day with free event at Penitentiary Glen Reservation

Thousands turned out for Lake Metroparks’ annual Earth Day event April 22 at Penitentiary Glenn in Kirtland, thanks to favorable temperatures, clear skies and a host of attractions and exhibits.

According to Pat Morse, assistant chief of interpretation at Penitentiary Glen, the popular attraction at the park saw some 1,000 visitors by 12:15 p.m. - just 15 minutes after the official start of the event.

“We know we had at least 1,000 people by 12:15,” she said about 2:45 p.m. “And there are easily 3,000-4,000 who have been here today by now.”

Morse said folks come from all over Northeast Ohio to participate in the park’s Earth Day event, which essentially kicks off the warm-weather season for many of the Lake Metroparks’ properties.

Along with Penitentiary Glen’s other offerings, Earth Day also kicked off train season, where the Lake Shore Live Steamers group treats visitors to train rides on their scale-model locomotives.

“That is definitely something people love,” Morse said about the train rides.

She added that there were a number of other partners who helped illuminate the importance of our planet on Earth Day at the park, including:

• Blackbrook Adubon Society

• Chagrin River Watershed Partners

• Lake County Soil & Water Conservation District

• Lake County Solid Waste District

• Lake County Stormwater Management Department

• Lake Metroparks Natural Resources Department

• Laketran

• Mentor Marsh Carol H. Sweet Nature Center

• OEFFA Lake Effect Chapter

• Ohio Bluebird Society

• Ohio Sea Grant College Program

• OSU Extension Service: Master Gardeners

Participants seemed pleased with all the free event had to offer.

“I think it’s really neat, even just to watch the (program’s) videos,” said Shannon Gemmils, who was at the event with daughters, 6-year-old Eiley and Aeila, 4, all of whom were availing themselves of some of the multimedia resources available inside Penitentiary Glen’s nature center, where videos and other resources were available to inform participants about Northeast Ohio’s flora and fauna.

Gemmils said she is glad to have participated in the event because she wants her daughters to be good caretakers of the planet and be aware of opportunities that kind of care for Mother Earth can lead to.

“I think they need to learn how to take care of the earth, take care of the animals and know what to do if they find injured animals, for one thing,” she said. “It’s important to let them know there are people who do these kinds of jobs, that there are opportunities for them to help, whether by volunteering or even if they want to make careers out of these kinds of things when they’re older.”

She said having four dogs and a cat at home has made her girls acutely aware of caring for animals and they’ve been little conservationists their whole lives, as “we have a very small garbage bag, as opposed to a very large recycling bin.”

Meanwhile, in the arts and crafts room, where participants worked to make take-home products reflecting what they learned at penitentiary Glen’s Earth Day observance, the theme of which was weather, Amy Muellner and her 7-year-old daughter Hannah were putting the finishing touches on a weather-related project Hannah was coloring.

“I like it,” Hannah said of Earth Day at Penitentiary Glen.

Her mom agreed, saying it was their first Earth Day at the park.

“This is a lot of fun,” Muellner said. “I would definitely recommend it.”

She said she’s always tried to instill a healthy sense of environmental stewardship in Hannah and the April 22 event certainly reinforced that ethic.

“It’s important to teach her to reuse and recycle,” she said, adding that she would recommend the Earth Day event at Penitentiary Glen and might just come again next year. “Yes. We would definitely come to this again.”

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