Our Story, Our Park
By Cheryl Francis - Findlay, Ohio
Our family considered Oakwoods Nature Preserve “our park.” When we moved here in the mid-eighties, we enjoyed many of the Hancock Park District's spaces and regularly attended events they sponsored, but Oakwoods was our favorite park. We then had elementary aged children who liked the out-of-doors, and it offered a place to spread out and explore, spend some energy, see a variety of plant and animal life. It was conveniently close to our house and was seldom crowded, so we just came to think of it as ours.
We visited in all seasons. In the spring we enjoyed trying to identify the wildflowers and other plants poking their shoots and blossoms through the leaf cover. Summer meant fishing on Shank Lake from our red canoe or casting a line from the shore. If one wasn't getting any bites, there was always the surrounding area to explore. 
In the autumn we all enjoyed the trails and the canopy of colorful leaves overhead. We had traditional stops to make as we wandered the trails – the deck overlooking the lake, the clearing at the far side of the lake, the spot where meadow and woods met. Even in winter we found Oakwoods offered us something new and interesting. After snowfalls we discovered a changed landscape crisscrossed with animal tracks. Every season gave my husband, whose hobby is photography, something unique to shoot with his camera. Before our daughter had her waist length hair cut, she and her dad chose to take her portrait at Oakwoods.
Each walk there was like a treasure hunt for all of us; we never knew what we would find. Once, on a Mother's Day walk, the surprise was a mass of violets, my favorite flower. At other times we would spot a snake, a baby animal, a kind of bird we had not seen recently, or an animal burrow. One day, we spied a small gray fox, an animal we had not seen anywhere in years. Hancock County Park District offered us treasures of their own – wonderful programs led by local experts. Two of our favorites were the night owl walk and the evening visit to a Revolutionary War encampment.
At times this quiet and peaceful park seemed to be ours alone, but we did share it with others. When we hosted two boys from the Children's International Summer Village program for a weekend, we took them to Oakwoods. 
Neither had ever fished, so catching a bluegill at the park was an exciting moment for them. We also took our scout dens and troops there to work on badge requirements when we were Girl Scout and Boy Scout leaders. Our son completed part of his Eagle Scout requirements by repairing the boardwalk.
We are most grateful to the Hancock Park District for making us feel as if we owned a park. It has benefitted our family in a variety of ways. It helped us to establish a special family bond through our shared experiences there. It reinforced healthy lifestyle habits of exercise and relaxation. Through both our own observations and park-led programs we had fun learning. Most of all, “our park” connected us with the natural world beyond our Main Street backyard. Its benefits are still paying dividends. Our daughter recently backpacked along a portion of the Appalachian Trail, and she loves to share her parks with us when we visit her in North Carolina. Our son, too, enjoys sharing with us his park, Yosemite, where he is a National Park Service Ranger. Thanks, HPD, for giving us a park of “our own” to lead us down this trail!