Events & Art Shows

Special Event The Great Geauga Total Solar Eclipse

Monday, April 8, 2024 • 11 AM to 4:30 PM
at the Geauga County Fairgrounds
Free Admission
(Sorry, No Dogs or Drones)
#greatgeaugaeclipse & #ShowUsYourSpecs

Facebook Event

Video: One Year Away! What to Know

Available SponsorshipsFood Vendor Application

All hands are on deck in preparation for the total solar eclipse on April 8! Click here for a comprehensive website created by the Geauga County Department of Emergency Services featuring our event layout, traffic patterns you’ll use to get there and home (recommendation: “come early and stay late!”), recent local news , details on two other free eclipse-viewing events in our county, and more. Stock up on your eclipse knowledge to be prepared and “in the know”!

Are you ready for the eclipse?! For a great way to watch it, mark your calendars for our large-scale viewing experience to be hosted at the Geauga County Fairgrounds. Three hours of pre-eclipse activities will last from 11 AM to 2 PM, followed by viewing of the eclipse with provided eclipse glasses for safety (while supplies last — then we share), noting that the most exciting viewing will arrive at 3:15 PM when we’ll achieve three minutes 27 seconds of total darkness in the middle of the day!

Scroll down for a complete schedule of events including a Pop-up Eclipse Shop with exclusive event-only eclipse merch, multiple viewing stations with a variety of equipment such as sun-projecting telescopes, ongoing citizen science projects, several photo ops and a host of other unique eclipse-themed activities.

Food trucks onsite will include Manna Food Truck, Scootie’s Outlaw Grill, PaPa Dogs, Scott’s Fire & Ice Catering, Hunger Squad, The Bus Stop, Java on Wheels and King Kone…or bring picnic or lawn chairs and make a day of it! (Bleacher seating will also be available.)

10:30 AM: PARKING LOTS OPEN

While supplies last, get your free eclipse glasses at any of the three open entry gates: 1, 4 and 9! Glasses will be distributed one per person; hands will be stamped for those who receive them.

11:00 AM: PRE-ECLIPSE ACTIVITIES BEGIN

Indoor crafts & activities until 2 PM:

  • Eclipse model craft station
  • Eclipse projector craft station
  • Sun viewer mask craft
  • Paper sun/moon craft
  • NASA TV viewing station, showing eclipse moving across the United States
  • Pop-up eclipse Nature store
  • Photo booth

Outdoor crafts & activities until 4:30 pm:

  • Chickens provided by Geauga County 4-H families…will they go to roost when it gets dark? What’s your theory? See this citizen science project in action!
  • Solar snapshot station
  • Shadow bands
  • Moon orbit model
  • Temperature recordings, locally & globally
  • Tactile eclipse materials
  • Spider & Nature table
  • Eclipse history sign walk around the track
  • Photo scavenger hunt
  • Announcer
  • Countdown clock

Safe eclipse-viewing opportunities until 4:30 PM:

  • Sun-projecting telescopes
  • User-steered telescopes
  • Lens activity station
  • Mirror projector
  • Snapshot telescope
  • Binocular station
  • Welder’s helmet

2:00 PM: PARTIAL ECLIPSE BEGINS

3:15 PM: TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE (3 minutes 27 seconds of darkness!)

4:30 PM: PARTIAL ECLIPSE ENDS

Within a mile walk of the fairgrounds, visitors can also find Burton Public Library, Burton Log Cabin, Century Village (all with public restrooms), as well as a variety of Burton Square restaurants and shops. Looking back, three of the last four April 8s would have been perfect weather for viewing such an event…just sayin’.

Wish to instead visit a Geauga Park District park to view the eclipse? Go right ahead! While our staff will be busy hosting activities at the fairgrounds, your 28 parks (including Observatory Park) will remain open for casual visitation as usual.

Whatever the weather, it will be an awesome day in Northeast Ohio. We look forward to seeing you!

 

The following sponsors are making this once-in-a-lifetime event more special with their partnership. Thank you!

and in-kind donor Dumpster Bandit

 

Community Art Show The Forest is Calling...

John Muir’s profound words about Nature calling “and I must go” have spoken to artists’ creativity for more than a century.

Likewise, who doesn’t feel better when immersing themselves in trees?

To celebrate the inspiration of our trees and forests, and demonstrate the creativity of regional artisans in all media, “The Forest is Calling and I Must Create” Tree-Inspired Community Art Show will be on display Saturday, February 3, through Sunday, April 21, 2024, from 10 AM to 4:30 PM at The West Woods Nature Center.

Special Initiative 1,000 Trees

Geauga Park District is planting 1,000 beneficial native trees and shrubs at Veterans Legacy Woods between Earth Days 2023 and 2024!

Video: 1,000 Trees Initiative – Spring 2023

 

COUNTDOWN TO EARTH DAY 2024

 

In celebration of Earth Day 2023 last April, 274 volunteers assembled at Veterans Legacy Woods to plant 370 trees (spring planting photos). Then in October, another 64 volunteers headed back into the park’s former fairways (fall planting photos). Shout-out to each and every one of these volunteers, our NRM staff, 18 financial sponsors and three in-kind sponsors who made it all possible! We are proud to announce that our 2023 branch of this initiative yielded 680 new plantings in this park.

To restore this former golf course to a more natural state (“reforesting the fairways”), our ultimate goal is to engage the community in putting 1,000 trees in the ground —and at this point, only 320 trees more will do the job! Would YOU like to celebrate Earth Day 2024 with us planting trees, raising protective fencing, or funding part of the project? Please scroll down to learn more.

 

HOW TO HELP: TEAM UP TO PLANT & PROTECT

Volunteer packages offer recognition and take-home gifts for groups or assembled teams who help plant trees on dates to be determined this coming spring. Recommended group sizes this fall are five, 10 or 20 people. Volunteers work together to plant young trees, fuel them for success by cultivating less impacted soil from nearby woods, and build fencing to protect them from White-tailed Deer.

Earth Day 2024 Volunteer Application

Note: Our morning volunteer shift has already reached capacity, but please let us know if you can help in the afternoon. Thanks to all already signed up!

 

HOW TO HELP: BACK THE MISSION WITH FUNDING

Sponsorship packages offer a variety of opportunities to promote your business or organization while we all work together to help our environment. Levels of support afford us between 11 and 133 new trees for this park!

Earth Day 2024 Sponsorship Application

Links to Contribute Online: $250$500$1,500$3,000

 

Special thanks to the following outstanding supporters!

 

SPRING ’24 VOLUNTEERS

Groups of 5+

Coming soon…


RED OAK ($3,000) LEVEL

 

TULIP POPLAR ($500) LEVEL

In Memory of Frank Murzynski
($1,300 donation)

 

DOGWOOD POPLAR ($250) LEVEL

VLW of Middlefield

 

Also, Sage’s Apples and Sunrise Springs donated apples and water for our plantings, and the National Wild Turkey Federation donated hundreds of bare root saplings for plantings in both 2023 and 2024.

 

Special Event Earth Day Drive-Through

Saturday, April 20 • Noon to 2 PM
at Veterans Legacy Woods

Fee: $5

Of course we encourage you to live every day like Earth Day – but for the actual Earth Day, we like to do something a little extra special.

Geauga Park District’s Natural Resource Management staff invites you to celebrate Earth Day safely and locally through its annual Earth Day Drive-Through!

Sign up in advance at Programs & Events (filter by Program Type, then Annual) to receive a bag of native plants per vehicle; bags will also contain information about caring for our Earth from local wildlife and conservation experts. Each session between 1 and 2:45 PM lasts 15 minutes, so come only at your designated time. One bag will be given per vehicle/family; if carpooling, please have your passenger(s) register separately during the same timeslot and bring receipts/email confirmations. Registration required.

Giveaways typically include native prairie plants and wildflowers such as purple coneflower, common milkweed, yellow coneflower, bergamot, rattlesnake master, oxeye sunflower, foxglove beardtongue, black-eyed Susan, blazing star and cup plant. “These were chosen to encourage residents to plant these native additions to their home yards and gardens,” said Park Biologist Paul Pira, “which will provide native pollinators with preferred host plants and nectar sources.”

Also, Geauga Park District staff typically distribute native tree seedlings including white oak trees, walnut trees, persimmon trees and white pine trees, plus informational giveaway bags. It’s likely there will be enough supply for the distribution of a few plants/trees per vehicle.

Special Events Summer Solstice Day

Wednesday, June 20 • 8 AM to 10 PM

Let’s make a splash in honor of 2024’s longest day! Attend one or many of this year’s Solstice Day programs by registering for those that require it (using the button below) or simply marking your calendar for the rest.

 

Early Morning Hike 8-9:30 AM, at Veterans Legacy Woods

Start your longest day of the year with an up-paced hike of 2-3 miles on hilly terrain. No registration required.

 

Horseback Trail Ride Connecting the Parks 10 AM-2 PM at Holbrook Hollows

Bring your horse for a naturalist-led trail ride to Cleveland Metropark’s South Chagrin Reservation. Registration required.

 

Elderberries: Summer Solstice Fun! Noon-2 PM at Claridon Woodlands

Seniors, choose your own adventure from a selection of activities including the high ropes course, a Nature scavenger hunt, fishing, pond dipping or a hike! Lunch provided by Chardon Healthcare Center. A collaboration with the Geauga Department on Aging and University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center. Registration required.

 

Solar Crafts 1:30-3 PM at Beartown Lakes Reservation

Celebrate the summer solstice with a variety of crafts and activities using solar power! We’ll work with solar ovens and solar print paper to harness the energy of the sun on this longest day of sunshine. Registration required.

 

Summer Solstice Sunset Float 7:30-9:30 PM at Headwaters Park, Boathouse/Boat Launch

Kayaking experience required. Registration required beginning June 13 at 10 AM.

 

Firefly Frolic Bike Ride 8:30-10 PM at Headwaters Park

End the longest day with a magical bike ride to discover lightning bug species along The Maple Highlands Trail. Begin at the boathouse with a short introduction on the natural history of these amazing insects. Then we’ll jump on our bikes and head out. Bring your own bike (no training wheels) and helmet. Participants must be able to ride a bike at least 3-4 miles round trip. A bike or helmet light is recommended since we’ll be riding after dark. We’ll also stop along the way where fireflies are displaying and enjoy Nature at night. No registration required.

Solstice Day Programs

Special Events Nights Out in the Parks

Our popular Nights Out series returns this summer with more live music and movies under the stars now no registration required!

Bring your own blankets, lawn chairs and refreshments. All shows head indoors in the case of inclement weather; please check back for details as they become available, and for any other updates before coming out.

 

What’s Coming Up!

 

The Hickory Rockers
Saturday, June 8, 7 p.m. at Big Creek Park‘s amphitheater

Raiders of the Lost Ark (PG)
Saturday, June 15, at Observatory Park

Guardians of the Galaxy (PG-13)
Saturday, July 6, at Observatory Park

Bent String Band
Saturday, July 13, 7 p.m. at Big Creek Park‘s amphitheater

Migration (PG)
Saturday, August 3, at Observatory Park

Hot Jazz Seven
Saturday, August 17, 7 p.m. at Big Creek Park‘s amphitheater

Need more information? Click the button below.

2024 Nights Out