Friends of Van Buren State Park

July and August were busy months....

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The months of July and August were teaming with activities in the park. Volunteers were busy improving the bridle trails and building new trails for the mountain bikes.

Lots of folks enjoyed canoeing on the lake. If you look close at the picture of the red canoe, you can see Mandi just coming up out of the water to get back into her canoe. She made a big splash. She laughed it off and continued canoeing around the lake. Never stand up in a canoe!

The kids had fun making bottle fish and learning all about bats. One of the girl scouts even dressed up as a bat to help explain about the ears and wings.

Folks also enjoyed movies, hiking, fishing and some helped with feeding the reptiles at the nature center.

The boy scouts finished building the riding arena for an Eagle Scout project. They did a great job. I’m sure we will find many activities we can use the arena for. Some local 4-H kids have already made use of it for practice with their horses.

Speaking of 4-H clubs, we had the Triple-R-Bar 4-H club from Morrow County enjoy a weekend of camping and trail riding. Steve May tells me they had a great time and may come back again next year. We look forward to seeing them again. All the hard work the volunteers put into the trails, arena and camp ground is done so folks like them can enjoy themselves at the park.

The regional Ohio Trail Partnership (OTP) also held their regional ride here. The group is made up of horsemen, bikers and hikers who work on trails. Without folks like them and other volunteers there would be very few trails of any kind in our state parks. Most trails are built and maintained by groups such as them.

Another exciting addition to the park was the planting of the butterfly garden and construction of the rearing gazebo for Monarch Butterflies. School kids and scouts will be busy rearing, tagging and releasing Monarch Butterflies in the park.

Hope to see you in the park. If you are interested in any of the activities in the park contact us. Volunteers are always welcome and needed, to help us make Van Buren State Park the best little state park in Ohio!