Ideas for Activities and Events

• Return to Romance: (Valentine's Day) Horse-drawn wagon rides, live romantic music, candlelight walk, bonfire, gift basket raffle, and warm drinks and desserts. Donations of tablecloths, flowers, food, music (if possible).

• Bird Fest: Bird hike in the morning, sessions on bird feeding, identification, bluebirds, box building, making bird treats, and raptors. Book sale, bird carvings, photographs from the park. Bird feeder kits and lunch can be sold. Binocular rental. Competitions to see who can spot, hear, and identify the most birds in the park.

• Nature Faire: (Can be opening day) Lunch sold, nature craft booths (tickets for charge) with a theme, free booths with animals, butterfly catching, or pond dipping. Tracking activities. Scavenger hunt. Wildlife Raffle.

• Run/Walks: Runners/bikers/cross country skiers collect pledges for miles ran toward specific cause, requires a committee to run. Door prizes, raffle, snacks, drinks (all can be donated), t-shirts (design contests). Activities can be held during the event along the theme (planting trees, selling plants, tree purchases, campfire circle building etc.).

• Halloween/Fall Season Hikes: Skits (creatures of the night) on hikes, groups led by guides, bonfires, marshmallows, hunts for animals, owl hooting, lantern light hikes, leaf color hikes, apple cider press, glow in the dark stickers and paints.

• Candlelight Ski: ski/snowshoe rentals, headlamp rentals, torches

• Old-fashioned day: wood games, cakewalks, game tournaments (croquet, badminton, kick the can, etc.), activities centered on what the property was originally like before settlers arrived, etc.

• Summer Saturday evening events: (for adults) dances (square, swing, country), midnight hikes, musical performances, catered dinners/potluck suppers.

• Photo or design contests: to be displayed in the nature center/service station, or on t-shirts and logo for materials. Also, sand sculpture contests, plant counts

• Guest speakers, topics: Timber or red wolves, astronomy, cranes, invasive species, bats and humans, mines, butterflies, frogs, pre-settlement history, mushrooms, poisonous species/native dangers in parks, prairie establishment, how-to's

• Native plant sales: in spring

• Winterfest: hot chocolate, figure skating, snowshoe rentals, snowflake making, snow angels, snowman/sculpture contests, sledding, warming fires, dogsled rides, snow ice cream, luminary making.

• Auction: (can be silent or open) donated items, gifts, park activities. This is especially successful if the community is involved.

• Memorial Benches: (can also be plaques, statues, or bricks in a new building)

• Nature Story time/Story Line: Phone line stories, updated weekly/monthly (magnets for advertising). Park enthusiasts call the phone line (purchased by the Friends group and updated by a Friends member with a song, story, or anecdote), listen to a story or nature fact that promotes the park or park activities.

• Explorer Hikes: Off the beaten track area-guided hikes. Frog call hikes/Hooting owl hikes (with recorders), spring flower hikes (with disposable cameras for sale),

• Survival Training: Fire-making, edible species, shelter making, tips for battling tough elements/cold, build your own solar oven

• Boot Camp Fun day for kids: obstacle courses, races, basic training drills, meet the ranger (learn safety)

• Ski/Bike Day: Ski lessons, ski waxing demonstrations, rentals/bike maintenance, demonstrations, safety on trails

• Rentals: Fishing gear/rods/poles (sale of bait), canoes, binoculars

• Classes: Wildlife on film, sheep shearing/felting, camp cooking, survival skills, make your own prairie, etc.

• Clubs: Biking, skiing, hiking, running, kids at play, astronomy

• Take back the Park Day: Use this as a work party to take back the park from invasive species like buckthorn, garlic mustard, or any other plant problems at the property.

• Take the Park to the People Day: Pack up demo equipment, interpretive materials, rangers and naturalists at a local mall or community meeting place. This could be a great venue for showing off building or construction demos, and activities people can do at home (bird/bat houses, birdcalls, edible/non edible species etc.

• Felling diseased trees: Park must acquire a permit, use Friends member manpower, then can sell branches as firewood.

Please send your successful fundraising activities and membership recruitment ideas to the friends group coordinator, (608) 266-7617.