Ross County — The “Kid’s Nature Zone” at Buzzard’s Roost park a few miles west of Chillicothe has been upgraded with a “Storywalk” or “Story Trail.”
The Ross County Park District partnered with the Chillicothe-Ross County Public Library on it, and the Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce helped celebrate with a ribbon cutting a few miles west of Chillicothe on June 21st, 2024.
The footpath and area already dedicated to children’s play and exploration now has signs that display pages out of an entire kid’s book. Myranda Vance, Executive Director of the Park District, said all the stories will be nature-themed, and will be changed out every few months to encourage return visitation.
Mike Throne, President and CEO of the Chamber, said the trail “is yet another amazing step forward for our parks in Ross County.” He said it was part of the commitment to literacy by Governor Mike DeWine and his wife Fran, who helped with Ross County’s first story trail at at Great Seal State Park.
Courtney Lewis, Communications Manager for the Chillicothe-Ross County Public Library, thanked the David Meade Massie Trust and Friends of the Library for helping to fund the trail. She also mentioned one of the benefits: another storywalk trail was the longest hike her 12-year-old son had done without complaint!
A representative of Governor DeWine handed over a proclamation, and said that such trails check so many boxes: education, health and wellness, family connections, and getting kids out into nature.
I asked Vance and Lewis to explain the Storywalk in the below interview video. A few factoids:
- They said that the trail alternates pages from the book with play equipment to keep the trail fun.
- The library will donate each book used on the trail to the Park District to keep in a library in the A-frame nature Center under development.
- Story Trails started in Vermont.
The Ross County Park District has a website and Facebook page, as well as a webpage for Buzzard’s Roost – and the Chillicothe & Ross County Public Library has a website and Facebook page.
See also more photos and another video from the event in my photo essay.
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