Episode 5 - Chris Clingman & Cae Skiff - Clermont County Parks District

We've been living in sin so long. All

Alright. Welcome to episode five.

Let's talk Claremont.

I really appreciate everybody listening.

So we're gonna do like we always do. And in the first part of this, we're gonna talk about some news from the state and from the county.

In particular, I think we're gonna

talk mostly,

if not entirely,

about the May 6 special election slash primary.

They call the special election primary. There's actually nobody being elected, and I don't believe there's a nobody's running a primary or anything.

But there's a couple ballot issues that I thought it would be good to talk about. And depending on where you live,

it it may or may not be relevant for you. But,

one thing that is certainly relevant for everybody in the county is state issue two,

and that's going to,

keep a thirty eight year old state capital investment program

going.

Essentially, what it's gonna do is it's gonna allow the state

to,

issue 2,500,000,000.0

in state bonds over the next decade.

And these the funds that they're raising,

by selling these bonds,

are only going to pay for public works. So that's gonna be things like local roads and bridges,

wastewater projects, solid waste facilities,

stuff like that. So nobody's gonna be building, you know, sports arenas or golf courses or anything

along those lines, with the money raised from these bonds.

Importantly, there's no tax hike. So you're not gonna see an increase in taxes if you if this passes.

All the bond repayments come from the state's general revenue fund.

And then looking into this, pretty much everyone seems on board. Personally, I think it's a great idea to have nice roads and public works. So and if my taxes aren't going up, I don't really see much of an issue.

But, yes, if you vote yes on this, it's going to reauthorize the program,

keep low local infrastructure grants going. If you vote no,

then, the bonding authority is gonna run out over the next year, and future projects are gonna have to compete for capital budget cash

or rely on local taxes and fees.

The latter one there would definitely raise your taxes. So

that's state issue two.

As far as the county goes, Pierce Township,

you guys are looking at a police levy.

Now this is gonna add,

2.9

mills to the property to your property taxes indefinitely.

I think it's probably a good idea to talk about what a mill is. It's short for millage,

and I really hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. If I'm not, somebody tell me.

But,

what a mill is is

it is essentially $1.01 thousandth of a dollar. Or another way to look at it is that it is

$1 of tax

on every thousand dollars

of a property's assessed value. On the state of Ohio, the assessed value of your home

is 35%

of its market value.

So if we look at 2.9

mills,

what that translates to is one hundred and one dollars and fifty cents

per $100,000

of your home's market value, not assessed value, market value.

Value.

So that's that's the dollar amount that your taxes are looking to go up.

And so why why do they want this? Well, it's

obviously, it'll it'll help them with their day to day police operations.

It'll help them replace agent cruisers,

and,

complete some station upgrades.

It it also seems like the township is projecting

that the current police revenue is gonna turn negative by fiscal year twenty twenty six without new cash.

So

I don't know exactly what that would mean for the police department, but I do know that

revenue turning negative is,

not something you want in any situation. So,

that's the police levy in Pierce Township.

The other one is West Claremont's local school district. Now this is a bond levy slash income tax kind of combo.

And what this is looking at,

doing is,

a 1.76

mil bond levy for thirty seven years,

and that's projected to raise about 3,900,000.0

per year for the district.

And, again, translate this,

that's gonna cost $61.60

per $100,000

of your home's market value, not as, assessed value, but market value.

There's going to be an additional quarter of of a percent or point 25%

of earned income tax for thirty years,

and that's expected to bring in 5,000,000 a year for the district.

And, again, to translate that, that's gonna be a $125

tax on every

$50,000

of wages you earn.

So why does the district want this?

One of the big reason seems to be overcrowding.

Currently,

they have

a a middle school that houses sixth through eighth grade

that has 2,300

students in it.

To me, that seems like a preposterous number of students in a middle school.

I as a reference, I thought about I I grew up Middletown. I went to Middletown High School, and that's

was and I'm sure still is considered a fairly large high school, and that only had

12 to 1,300

students in it.

So the thought of 2,300

students in a middle school is,

kind of crazy to me. So what they're gonna use some of this money for is they're gonna build a fifth and sixth grade intermediate school and a seventh and eighth grade middle school complex on the current middle school campus,

and,

they're hoping that's gonna relieve some of the overcrowding,

pressure and let the buildings specialize a little bit better by age.

They're also looking at some of the housing permits that are being pulled, and it's looking like there's gonna be 2,700

new houses by 2020

or, I'm sorry, by 2030,

which is gonna add about 1,300

more students to the district. So they've already got an overcrowding problem. As the

district grows, it's just gonna get worse.

And it sounds like a lot of their facilities are aging.

There seems to be several elementary schools,

that date back to the sixties and really haven't been updated. So they've got, you know, just some, like, problems like asbestos and HVAC problems.

And so these aged facilities are also causing,

causing a problem

in that. So they've got some newer schools that were built

in about 2019, and they've got, you know,

modern labs and

security.

But those older buildings obviously don't have that. So depending on where you are in West Claremont School District, you could be going to one of the really nice modern schools, or you could be going to one of the outdated, you know, 1960

schools.

And so this this bond and

income tax

is

it sounds like what they're wanting to do is just give all of the schools all the updates that they need so there's no,

inequity

across the,

school district.

So

I don't, live in Pierce Township, and I am not in the West Claremont,

County School District.

So

I don't wanna tell you how to vote on either of those things.

I'll just let you make, your best informed decision.

I think it is important to to note though that there is a scenario

in, in which people

living in Pierce Township

could see an increase in tax from both the police levy and the West, Claremont

School District,

bond and income tax,

proposal. So if you're in Pierce Township, pay attention to where you are so,

so you can make the best decision possible.

And then there's two other

I guess you'd call them light items on the ballot.

And I this is for Sunday liquor sales. I guess they're light items depending on how you feel about people buying

liquor on Sundays.

But

in in Ohio, we have to vote whether or not, you know, new

new stores,

like, you know, drive thrus or

gas stations or something could sell liquor on Sundays. And so the two,

places looking to sell liquor on Sundays is Miami Township Wolf Bend drive through

and the Union Township Wawa on 32 in Glen Estee, Withamsoil Road. Again, this is pretty straightforward. If you vote yes on this,

those places will be able to sell wine and mixed beverages on Sunday. And, again, that's not everything everybody's gonna vote on. That's just if you're in a specific part of Miami Township or Union Township. So,

and the last thing I thought we'd talk about is Milford is

hiring. They're looking for a service worker.

It seems like it involves a range of city maintenance duties. I'd it looks like it's kind of akin to just a city handyman.

Their pay rate is between $24.30

an hour and $29

an hour.

So if you're looking for work, and you're pretty handy, it sounds like Milford is,

looking for you.

And if you're interested, you should go to their website

and apply there.

So that's all that's all we really have for the first part of this.

I will get into the interview, and I think we had a really great interview where we talked with Chris Clingman

and, Cae Skiff from the Clermont County Parks Department,

and we just talk,

you know, about the parks in general. We talk about wildlife and birding a little bit, where to find some snakes,

and some of the programs they have going on. I really enjoyed the conversation, and

I think,

I know Chris Chris was a little cagey about it because I I don't think he likes talking about it. I think it,

is a testament to his character that he's so modest, but,

we were we did the interview at Clingman Park, and it just so happens his last name is Clingman.

And this is officially

the first time I've ever met somebody that has a that's have

a park named after them. So

I thought that was that was pretty cool, and they're both they're both great. So,

with all that said, thanks for listening, and I really hope you enjoy the interview.

Alright. Well, I guess we'll just jump into it. K. And why don't you introduce

yourselves and just tell us who you are and and what you do?

I'm Chris Clingman. I'm the special projects

and grant,

manager for the park district. I haven't been with the park district for about twenty five years now.

I'm Cae Skiff. I am the interpretive naturalist for the park district, and I'm coming up on about three years here at the park district.

Okay.

So so to start things off, I think it would just be good to talk about,

what the parks district does. I mean, what, you know, what you guys are involved in,

and

kinda where you're where you're going, where you think you wanna go with the with the parks in Claremont County.

Well, the park district, got established back in the early nineteen seventies,

through a donation of,

of couple different parcels of land. One was, Sycamore Park,

and then, eventually,

Pattison Park came on on board.

And

those two parks have been probably the mainstay of the park district for all those years. Most most people,

know Sycamore Park

and have been there, or they've, gone to a wedding at at, Patterson Park at the Oh, is Sycamore I'm not I'm gonna cut you off. Mhmm. Is Sycamore

is that in Batavia? Sycamore Park is on in Batavia. They're on off of 132.

And then Pattison is right on 50. It's right on here on on Route 50 just outside of Owensville.

And Alethea Pattison donated that property to the park district.

And, also set up a little fund,

to help,

manage the park and do improvements and things to it as well. I mean, they're both beautiful parks. I take we take our family there. They're great. Yeah. And

Sycamore Park has the Wilson Nature Preserve,

connected to it.

And, so there's about 200 acres there for for people to explore. I didn't realize it was that big. Yeah. There's a nice spot all along the East Fork Of The Little Miami River

and, up along Lucy Run Creek a little bit as well. Because I know I've taken my dog back into the into the trails there. And I think we turned around because it was getting a little muddy or something. I don't wanna do you have a dog a bath?

It's a it's a long walk back there, and you can come to some some muddy areas. But we one of the projects we are working on,

is to improve the trails in the in the back there. And we're also putting in a new bridge that takes you out to the to an island,

in the East Fork at Little Miami. And

that'll create some, about a mile of new trail on that island. So it'll

be kind of a great addition to the to the park there.

That's awesome.

Well, I think

I'd like to I know I'd like to transition into this, but I know you're reluctant to,

because you have had, what you said, twenty four years in the in the parks department? I've started in actually the November of nineteen ninety nine. Okay.

Came to the park district

and

been here ever since. I served as a director up until a couple of years ago. And now as we get ready to retire, transition into a special projects and grants position.

And Josh Torbeck has taken over the as the executive director. And

and, I try to share a little bit of the history and knowledge that I have in here before I mount the door.

And I I would be remiss. I know you all like talking about it, but I'd be remiss to say that we're not sitting at Clingman Park.

And that happens to be your last name. Yeah. The the board, decided to name,

this new property that we acquired,

for me and an army or something along that line. I'm I'm more of the effect of, maybe a major donor or, perhaps the person who's already passed away,

versus, somebody who's

still still actively working with the park district.

Well, I mean and I did obviously, I read up on you before I came here. It you quadrupled the size of the parks in your tenure?

Yeah. There was just under 200 acres that the park district had,

when when I started. And then, we now own

right around thousand acres. And then we also have conservation easements on another thousand acres k. In the parks. So,

we're protecting quite a bit of land, a lot of, repairing corridors,

forested properties, and

great places for people to to explore.

So I I do have to ask you. Like,

I can't imagine it's a I mean, you don't do a job like that for fame or fortune, I imagine.

So what overall this time, like, what keep kept you going? Like, what why did you

put so much time and effort into into making our parks the way they are?

I I've always had a, you know, a love of the outdoors.

When I was a kid,

my grandparents had a cottage up on Grand Lake Saint Mary's that we'd spend a lot of time at and,

they grew up fishing and things. And then when I was in high school, I worked in a youth conservation corps program

around the state.

And, that

got experience in what,

they do, you know, what different things that properties,

how department natural resources owns and operates and, you know, got to experience those and sort of got hooked

and went to college

and got my degree in botany or field biology,

to sort of further my career in that. And then,

I worked out in Adams County at Woodland Alters Education Center for

a couple of seasons as an intern and then as as a senior naturalist out there. And,

ironically,

didn't realize it at the time. But,

you know,

every West Clermont,

I think it was fourth grader, came to Woodland Alters,

for an outdoor education experience. So So you know every every fourth grader? I I assume I I know them all from, back in the early,

Well, how old would they be now? They'd be in the mid eighties. So,

and Oh, so they'd probably be in their forties or something like that. Yeah. So,

you know, and come to think of it, I haven't run into anybody that, had me as a naturalist. Maybe this will spur,

We're getting in for this with emails there.

So, my wife, it's where I met my wife. And, and so we both have a avid interest in, the the outdoors. And and,

we

were very interested in birding and then wildflowers and that sort of thing. So it's sort of part of,

you know, my

own passions, my own

things that I like to do, and to to be able to share that and to have a career in it has been going great. That's really well, and there's that's not a lot of that's not something a lot of people can really say

that they've done something for twenty five years or plus. I mean, you've been twenty five years at Claymont.

Yeah. Yeah. And, overall, it's been

over 40. So Yeah. Between

working I worked with, Indiana State Parks, and then I worked with some,

county parks in Indiana and then,

Green County parks here in Ohio and Dark County parks. And,

and all of a sudden, I showed up in Clermont County. Yep.

This is the longest I've been anywhere. My life has been been here for the last twenty five years. Now it I mean, and, obviously, there was a job in Clermont County, but did you did did you grow up in the county or no? No. I grew up in the Dayton area Okay. And all. But,

my wife had,

worked for,

Hamilton County Park District at, Woodland Mound Park,

there,

you know, on the East Side of Hamilton County. And she

when she was working there, she was living in Clermont County. And, so we had a little familiarity with with the

with the county

and we,

especially attracted to the Ohio River. And Yeah. So

I feel like that attracts a lot of people. It's just the river. Mhmm. I lived in Delaware. I went to college in Delaware, Ohio.

And, you know, they have the sale. So I owe a Danji up there. But you look at those rivers and you're kinda like, it's not really a river.

More like a grandiose creek.

Well, yeah. And, you know, and the and the Ohio River in or in the summer is more like a lake. Yeah. With with the locks and dams on it, it's, you know, it's almost a series of 90 mile lakes Yeah. That that come through there. But, in the wintertime this year, when we had the high water or the floods,

earlier this year, I mean,

you see a lot of amazing things, and it's it's it's, really cool to to to watch.

Now so you

the I imagine you love the nature of Clermont County and the and the biology of it.

I

I feel like this. I feel like

this region of Ohio kinda gets short shrift a little bit in its Yes. For its

outdoors activities and its nature. And

what are some of the things about Clermont County from a naturalist perspective that people might not know about that are just you can't find

many places?

Well, there's just a variety of what we have in the county. You got

near here, we have these,

red maple swamp forests that are just, you know, flat, wet woods that just have, you know, some amazing plant life in them. And then you got the hills in the southern part of the county that, you know, you can go hike for a hike and have a, you know, a significant elevation change. Oh, I live around those hills. They're they're just in Batavia. Yeah. You know? And it's it's just amazing. And then, you know, some of the views off the tops of hilltops and things.

And then, you know, those those rivers and creeks do add a a lot of,

interest as well, you know, as you're exploring those. And,

you know, just in in my time

here,

you know, there's just been some kind of amazing things happening to where, you know,

back when I was starting in the seventies, there was four bald eagles nest in the entire state.

And now there's at least four, if not five in Clermont County. Yeah. We've got one by our house, I think. Yeah. You know, you you just see them all, you know, all the time. This winter, we People are really cagey about where they are too. Yeah. I've noticed that. People are really cagey. Well, you know, we had you know, down at Shiloh Lock Thirty Four Park, we had seven eagles that would got In one picture.

Seven? Yeah. And and during during the winter, you know, they were there feeding, when the ice was on the river or on most of the lakes and the streams. You know, they were they were down there. You know? So that was pretty pretty wild. And then,

you know, we have a river otter that showed up, you know, now, and they're they're everywhere. It was starting to show up different places.

My dad has a he has a boat, and he had a brief battle with a bunch of river otters.

Those things are quite persistent. Yeah. You know? And then we've had, you know, the beaver are

are everywhere,

on the streams and things as well.

That was kind of rare sighting twenty five years ago. Now you you could see those.

So it it's been, it's been kind of amazing to watch the the changes over the years. And, you know, a lot of that is just that,

you know, Clermont County is still not completely developed. It has a lot of rural area. It has a lot of,

natural areas that are still undisturbed

that can harbor a lot of these things. And, you know, we we should be lucky to be able to to live here and enjoy it. Yeah. Yeah. In

the last episode I did, I talked about annexation

and, you know, the weird thing that counties do to grow, not counts, but, the cities. Yeah. Yeah. Due to grow. And

I, myself, am very concerned about growth, but also recognize the need for

economic development and, you know, people need jobs.

How

how do you see Claremont County balancing that, balancing the

need for growth or the demand for growth, but also preserving its kind of natural beauty?

Well, there's been a couple initiatives over over the years have been the balanced growth project that, soil and water conservation district that

that helps

townships and and municipalities take in account some of those green spaces and and things to when they're planning to help protect some of those those areas.

You know, so we've the county in a in a whole has been pretty sensitive to to some of the natural,

features and protecting the water quality,

you know, especially like a Harsha Lake,

because, you know, a lot of our drinking water,

for the entire county comes from there. And, you know, therefore, you know, let's let's make sure we we keep it clean and and and all.

So there's been some, you know, unique projects,

that help, you know, protect that water quality. The,

wetland by the bypass wetland that they built,

there in Williamsburg where the Lowhead Dam used to be. You know, it's taking a lot of silt and phosphates and things out of the river to help, protect that water quality there there at East Fork.

But, you know, the park district's been able to preserve some some land and and things

throughout the area. So, you know, it's if you look around, it's it's not, you know, all pavement happening. You know? There there's green spaces,

with the planned unit developments. People are are set you know, I think to set aside some green space and things.

But, you know,

can our road system handle, you know, as many more houses? Can our

our infrastructure, sewer, and water handle this? You know, all all that's, you know, big questions that,

those departments in the county have to figure out as now as they go through.

So if we could actually go back to to your time at the parks department,

because I I also read,

you have 15,000,000 in grants.

And having

written grants before and having written for government proposals before,

That's any that's a that's a big number. And so I I guess my question is,

did you were there any obstacles in your way, or

were were people pretty on board with, you know, enlarging the park system? Well, but most

of the grants that we got,

were

with landowners who are wanting to protect their lands on the Okay. And, you know, they couldn't

necessarily

afford to donate

all their property. But most of them donated a portion of the property to meet the local match requirement.

And most of the the, you know, the properties were in strict in good places for for, for a park.

You know,

like Wilson Preserve is primarily a a hillside down to to the East Fork and the flood plain along the East Fork.

Not much development pressure, you know, on there. But being able to protect it and have

public to be able to have access and to enjoy it, that's, you know, that's a great thing to be able to have.

Here

at at Clingman Park,

you know, we were able to get a grant to purchase the 90 acres of woods,

and then we used our our levy funds to purchase the the open fields and things that are here

that will get developed into a park,

more park facilities type things where the woods will be protected for a while. And those connect to Pattison Park. So a lot of times we were able to, you know, grow an existing park,

and, you know, that's a

good location, you know, for the for the parks. You know, we're,

in the process of, developing,

Garellville Park,

our preserve up in Loveland.

Okay. And, that'll be a partnership between

us and, the the Cardinal Land Conservancy. And there'll be, you know, 200 acres of land there that people will be able to hike and enjoy

up up in that area as well. And then,

we got the grant to renovate the old powerhouse at Chilowoc 34 Park. And there's a a river

history museum there too. Right? Right. That that And did that did that open? Yeah. It opened o that opened in,

02/2005.

Okay. So we'll be celebrating its twentieth anniversary,

this fall.

And, and, actually, the building will be celebrating its hundredth anniversary, Osal, from when the the core

US Army Corps of Engineers built,

the lock and dam that was there there at Shiloh and was an important part of the the community down there in Franklin Township. And

being able to preserve

a little bit of that history

and,

you know, some of the a lot of the floods and things took homes and things out Yeah. Along the Ohio River and be able to tell some of that story of who used to live here and all is, is a great great park great access or a great addition to the park district there.

What do you think the biggest

challenge to

conserving the parks and nature in Clermont County?

What's the biggest challenge for that? It it's it's it is the funding.

You know, the park district is is funded

through through its own own levy.

And, you know, a lot of that goes to operations to make sure,

you know, the parks that we have are maintained, and you gotta pay the electric bill and the water bill and Yep. You know, and

you got trash to get rid of and and things. Imagine you have a high water bill now to think about it if you're It's not too

bad.

You know, we we try

to yeah. Trying to make sure a flush valve doesn't stick on all weekend. When we had that happen once, that created a high water bill.

But,

but, you know, you you you gotta maintain all those things and, you know, clean they all mow grass and they maintain trails,

along the way.

We offer

a variety of programs for people to attend and and all those things.

You know, there's a little cost to those as well.

You know, we're here sitting in our our classroom where we do a lot of educational programs and things.

So there's

cost there. And then there, you know, we do try to have some funds available to help

with,

acquiring some land. But,

land's not cheap. No. And,

l you know, and to get a significant portion of it, that is is a challenge at times.

But, you know, luckily, the state of Ohio has click created the Clean Ohio Fund,

which helps

a lot of,

entities acquire different lands and things

on there. But, you know, we we talk to landowners

and sometimes,

you know,

they might be willing to donate something or maybe we partner with somebody to be able to to make a an acquisition possible.

Okay.

You know, I had a question, and it just left my head.

Oh, I feel like it was a good question too. I'm sorry. Sorry.

Well,

with the absence of that question,

I if you have an you have an interest in birding. Right? Mhmm. Can you talk about just some of the birds,

in in our area and what kinda your favorites and the way you like them? Oh, the this time of year, you you picked a good time to talk about it is the, you know, the migration

is underway and and everything coming coming through. And, you know, something that people in Clermont County don't maybe think about a lot of times is, you know, we got loons that show up. And they're calling on at East Fork State Park or on the Ohio River. You know? You're standing in Clermont County listening to a loon. Yeah. I know. That'll be kinda kinda unusual. You know? But then,

you know, the warblers are moving through. We have,

prophonatory

warblers, which are just gorgeous yellow,

birds that show up

in the spring here. And, they they especially like our Crooked Run Nature Preserve as a nesting site.

Scarlet tanagers with the the bright scarlet,

bodies with the black wings,

you know, they show up. And then

we as as Cae got a great picture of a Louisiana water thrush this past week.

Here here at Clingman Park. So you

you just don't know what's gonna show up during migration, and it's a it's a lot of fun to be out there

seeing what's

here this week and what's gonna be here next week along the way. Where are some of the and I don't want you to give up spot if you have a spot or something. I I don't know anything about birding. So I I've got bird feeders, and I like watch. Actually, my daughter caught a goldfinch once in

her hand. That was it was shocking. Yeah. She brought it in the house. It's like, oh, look what I got.

Please take it outside. Yeah.

So, yeah, I don't wanna I don't want you to give up any spots. But if people are interested in birding, are there, you know, better places to go than others? Oh, yeah. You anywhere

you can go that has

a variety of habitats,

if they can add a little bit of water to it,

you'll you'll have great

great opportunities to see some some amazing things. Our Kelly Nature Preserve,

is known for for a lot, a lot of people as a good spot to go and see with the a variety of birds. Crooked Run Nature Preserve down in the Ohio River. There's been over 200 species of birds

sighted down there,

over the years. Matter of fact, we're up to,

I think, a hundred and seven

species that we've seen so far this year. Of individual species? Yeah. Different species coming through. It's boring,

I I picked up a spotted sandpiper

down on the on the river. So

so, I feel bad I asked you about this, and I know nothing about birding.

But no. And birders aren't aren't secretive

necessarily about, you know I didn't learn really like a mushroom hunt. No. I don't like some mushroom hunters.

No. Those people are cagey. Yeah.

But, no. Usually, the birders are sharing

where they've seen different things.

There's Facebook page devoted to telling you where they're seeing some rare

rare sightings and things out there. So Is there a pretty healthy bird watching community in Clermont County?

Yeah.

There's

there's active

people,

that that you you if you look on,

eBird or,

or that Facebook page, you'll you'll see folks that are,

posting on there quite regularly as the different things that they're finding at places all over the county.

Now I have to and this is for my daughter. I have to ask you about snakes. Mhmm.

Where are good places to find snakes, particularly ringneck snakes?

Ringneck snakes. I've seen one here.

So I know for ringnecks, I've seen one once here up in the there's kind of a field,

in between Clingman Park and Pattison

Lodge side Pattison Park Lodge side. K.

That's the only place I've seen ring necks Okay. In our parks, but I continually look for them. But anywhere where there's

piles of brush,

edge habitats where there's nice places to come and get warm Okay.

We'll see a lot of snakes. And outside you, it's typically

you're gonna want kind of a warmer day. Mhmm. Because she

loves ringneck snakes. I don't They're adorable. Yeah. I know. I she's found two or three of them.

And I think most of them gotten away.

So she's on a mission to find another ring that you say. We found a couple queens. I think they were queen snakes,

in the we live by a creek, and the water goes up and down. So when it's way low, we can walk the bed,

find queen snakes.

And this is for me and her. I

are there any snakes that we should steer clear of? I don't know if we have copperheads in large quantities here or anything. Well, we actually so in Clermont County, there have not been

validated

reports of venomous snakes in the county for a few decades.

They just haven't we haven't gotten reports. Most of the time, I whenever I have somebody that's like, I think I saw a copperhead, it they shall be a picture, and it's usually an eastern milksnake. Yep. So we have milksnakes. Right? We do, and they're super cool. Or are they hard to find? Also, I wanna make it clear. I don't feel in a habit of going out and, like, grabbing wildlife. I I know the rules.

I have yet to find an eastern milk snake, but I have many friends who have, and they always send me pictures and make me jealous.

But they are decent especially, it sounds like in East Fork State Park. They see a lot of the milk snakes there. Is that kind of the same thing? Just kick around a couple leaves and Yeah. Or you just a lot of times, it's just you are hiking and there's one on the trail. You know, you just happen to see a snake on the trail or I was out hiking the other weekend, and there was a black rat snake hanging in a tree watching everyone go past, waiting for some young squirrels. Yeah.

But yeah. So you'll just usually, most of the time I find snakes, I'm not trying to. I just kind of encounter them. Yeah. It's it's hard to explain to a five year old.

That no. You just be patient. We might not find one today, but tomorrow, and that that doesn't really compute very well to a toddler.

So I'd I'd I wanna move on to,

why the parks are important. Like, why people should be

involved, why they should be, concerned, and why they should be proud of the parks that we have.

Well, park parks are sort of a,

a way of showing off your community. You know, if you go to a a community

and they've got well care cared for parks and all, you know, it makes your front door to that community look, you know, that much better and that much more inviting.

You know, if you're trying to locate a business

somewhere and you're gonna have employees in that business, you know, well, they're gonna live here. What's their quality of life gonna be like? What are they gonna be able to do as as far as recreation, right, places to get out and relax?

So, you know, it's an important part

of of the the

infrastructure with community,

to be able to have those. And then it's a place to develop community. Yeah.

You know,

we we don't have a

a dog park in any of our parks.

But if you go to a dog park,

the interactions,

not only between the dogs are kind of fascinating to watch, but the interactions between the people. Oh, I've been to it. We've taken our dog to a dog park. It is a fascinating dynamic. Yeah. You know? And you and people share stories and get to know each other.

Same sort of thing. Like, you know Kinda like mushroom hunters too. They they hide the good dog bark. They, like, they don't tell people where the good dog parks are. Yeah. But, you know, if you come to an event, like,

we had,

chili cook off a few years ago,

And people being able to see neighbors and talk and and and enjoy each other's company in a in a we're a relaxed setting. It's it's a, you know, great way to help build community amongst

the the folks that are are in the area.

We're trying

of our our master plan that we,

completed a couple years ago. You know, one of the things that was,

that came out in that was people wanted parks connected to the communities.

So how can we make those connections to to get there? So, like, if you look at the village of Batavia, for example, they don't have a park.

And the only park that's nearby is Sycamore Park, but the only way to get there is to drive. You you don't wanna encourage anybody to walk along 132

to come to to the park. You know? So, you know, we've we've talked with the village of different things. You know? Is there a way we can bridge the river so that we can create a a pedestrian access,

to get,

people into the park. Yeah. That's an idea. It's something that's been floated around actually for

probably as long as the Park District has been around.

But, you know,

make those connections so that people, you know, can enjoy,

each other,

you know, walking together and things.

You know, we have if you'll notice a lot of times when you visit our park, there's regular walkers.

Yeah. You know, they're there. They come to walk for exercise,

and they know each other. They talk to each other,

and on. And and so it's just a you know, makes a great place for people to to communicate and and

form that community. Yeah. Well, and, you know, you wanna live where somewhere beautiful. I mean Yeah.

You wanna have some places where you can go to escape and relax and and,

you know, there's all kinds of studies that that tell you the health benefits of being out outdoors and,

you know,

everything from being exposed to green

to,

just the benefits of walking

in general.

You know?

My doctor, you know, I went to not too long ago. You know? I was like, you know, what what can I you know, exercises can I do to to help improve my health or whatever? And

they basically said, walk. Yeah. It's all we've don't need to do anything special. Just get out and walk. Yeah. So, you know, parks are a great spot to to spot to do that.

So how this is

I think this was the question I forgot a recent a while ago, but I think it flows well.

How do you interact with local parks? I mean, is it do you give them grants or, like, how does the whole structure work? Yeah. So, like, here in Clermont County, we have, you know, state parks. We got East Fork State Park. We have, Stone Lick State Park and, Little Miami,

Scenic Trail Park.

You know, those are all run and operated by the state. They're funded by, your tax dollars that go to the state.

That's how it they all operate. And then there's the county park district.

And we operate

parks throughout the county

that

maybe are a little bit larger than,

some of the community parks and things. But it they're more

nature based. They're more natural areas. They they're preserving

a a forest or the stream cord or or something. And then, you know, most of your township parks or your village parks are,

have an active recreation component to them. You know, if you go up to, like, Miami Meadows, they got

all the athletic fields up there.

Plepper Park over in Union Township, they're starting to develop,

you know, a spray,

spray park there, and they got the big pickleball courts and and their dog park and and all their and their athletic fields as well.

And we stay we stay away from the athletic fields. We allow the the local townships and the villages to to develop

those.

And those are all funded differently depending upon which community they're in. But one of the things that we do

is we do provide a community park, grant program. Okay.

So each year, we make about a hundred thousand dollars available,

for the townships and villages to apply

for,

in order to fund one of the you know, fund a project in their parks. So,

we've funded,

you know, some pickleball courts. We've funded

safety material for playgrounds,

that go on the the surface there. So, hopefully,

reduce

fall injuries.

We've,

funded

new roofs for picnic shelters.

We've funded part, you know, parts of walking trails in those parks.

Because when we

talk to the different communities over the years,

you can get a grant to,

you know, build a new picnic shelter. But no nobody, you know, was gonna give you a grant to put a new roof on that picnic shelter Right. Thirty years later. You know? And so

and that was a struggling point for many of the townships and the villages. So when we developed our grant program, you know, that was some of the things that we

that are things that we made eligible

in order for them to When did you, develop that program?

We developed that in 2016

after we passed the the first park district levy. Okay.

The park district's funded by, a half mill,

levy, ten year levy that's voted on by the by the citizens.

And,

it generates about,

2,700,000.0

a year to,

for the park district to operate on and all. So

So

is conservation is that typical of county parks? Is that typically the role a county park will play as more conservation,

less recreation?

Yeah. If you look around the state, the the county park districts are

more conservation

oriented.

You know, like, our our neighbors over here at Hamilton County, I mean, they got 20,000

acres of of land that they've preserved.

And a small portion of that,

you know, is a golf course or is a boat harbor or or or something of that neighbor or that

idea. So,

but for the most part, yeah, most of the park districts around the state,

they're conservation

based.

Okay.

Well, I think,

to kinda wrap it up, I'd like to talk about some events that you guys have,

selfishly because I have a couple of young kids, and it sounds like you guys do a lot of great programs

for young

kids. Yeah.

So we with our programming, we try to keep all of our programs either free or low cost, as far as registration goes or attendance. Most of our programs, you can just show up.

We try to hit, you know, the wide range of ages. So we have everything programs for everyone from, you know, toddlers to

kind of that middle range, that five to 13.

We do things with teenagers.

We do a lot of

a lot of adult programs

and some crafting

or come and learn how to,

protect your land. We have a in partnership with the Ohio State University conservation office or extension office

and soil and water conservation district. We, host a landowner conservation series. Okay. So that happens once a month, has a different topic each time, and it just kind of come and learn how to

plant native plants. Or I think this month it's about keeping your soils healthy and how to, you know, make sure that your soils are happy so that your land is happy.

So, yeah, we've got lots of different programming.

All that can be found on our website. What's,

what are some of your favorites?

Oh,

for me, I think one of my favorites that we do is our knee high naturalist program.

That's one we do usually in the warm months, and that's for toddlers.

I think May is happening this Saturday. Cicadas. Right? About cicadas.

So we might be

kind of prepping

for those cicadas coming. We're not in a cicada year, are we? Mhmm. Oh, we are? Yep. So coming up in the next couple weeks, we'll have myself.

We will have lots of cicadas visiting us Boy.

Which is always fun. We love cicadas here. They're a great time.

We also

have lots of

some of my favorite programs are the ones that are just come and experience nature with us.

One of my philosophies with

offering programming, offering ways for people to come outside

is, you know, when you talk to anybody that's in this field, when you talk to Chris or you talk to me, a lot of times the reason we're doing this is because that, you know, for me, I had a really cool creek that I played in growing up.

You know, there was a park nearby that we would visit or, you know, something like that. There's always some childhood

connection to nature that then translates into adulthood. Yep.

So my goal is to help

provide those childhood memories

that then even if somebody, you know, doesn't end up being a naturalist

as a career, as an adult, they still have that love of

getting outside, getting their feet in the water, hitting the trail,

looking for birds.

Well, I mean, as evidenced by that long boring fossil story in culture before we started recording,

that that's exactly

like, that's why I studied geology. It's like, you know, I'd go traipse around creek beds and find horned corals and brachiopods.

And Yeah. And it was just fascinating. Yeah. And hooked. That's something that especially with our fossils in this area, it's a very unique

experience

that kids that live in Southwest Ohio, I think, don't realize it's so unique. Transit. You know? Well, everybody wants a dinosaur. You know? I'm 10 years old. I wanna find a T Rex bone or something.

But then you go off and then, at least for me, I

it's like, oh my gosh.

How lucky are we that you can just walk through a creek and pick up a rock, and I'll guarantee you there are fossils. Mhmm. It's wild. There's no I don't I'm sure there's a place like another place like that on Earth, but none come readily to mind. Yeah. It is. I have kids that,

frequently accuse me of pre stocking the creek with fossils before a program.

Like, I promise you I did not have time to do that.

That is way more than they pay me for.

So

for Nihai Naturals mud, did you did you guys just really just played in the mud? Well, that was the idea.

It ended up being

thunderstorming

that day, which was a little too

on the dangerous side of mud.

We're definitely hoping

The dangerous side of mud. Yeah. The mud's mud's the dangerous side. Yeah. You know, when there's active lightning happening, you don't wanna have your toddler outside. Yeah.

But we're hoping to bring that one back at some point and do that again, actually have it be happening

when it's not, you know, dangerous weather.

So well, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cut you off. Oh, you're good. Yeah.

Could you talk more about some of the programs for adults? Because I I have noticed, that there's nature walks and there's,

I think there's a stargazing event Yeah. Coming up? So this Saturday, May 3, we're partnering with the Cincinnati Astronomical Society here at Clingman Park. They'll come out, bring out a few other telescopes.

They've done this a few times, but just

look at the stars, see what's there. This is a really good property for seeing stars and for seeing things pretty well on a clear night.

Sometimes you can see the Milky Way from here. From Clingman. Mhmm. I've seen the Milky Way once, and it was in, like, a state park somewhere. Yeah. It's really it's really, really cool to see. If you've I anybody listening to this, if you've never seen the Milky Way, it's something you should really

try to see. It's pretty incredible. Yeah.

So we try to offer a variety of interesting,

programs for adults, whether it's, you know, something workshop style, so coming and learning,

whether it's a craft. Or,

later this month, we're offering I think it's on May 23, we'll be offering a cooking with cicadas class.

So you're gonna get to come taste the the old taste and taste of some pre seed or precooked cicadas, learn how to cook cicadas.

Should be a fun time. They're they are a superfood. They're very healthy.

I'm gonna I'm gonna pass on that one. I'll skip the cicada eating. Yeah. We try to we try to be creative.

I have not. Oh. So this will be my first So you're shooting over there recommending cicadas while not having eaten one. Well, I I definitely will this year. Okay.

I didn't get quite as into

the consuming of them last time they were here, but

that's my that's my goal this year.

But, yeah, we try to be creative and different and

just offer even just wildflower walks or doing

birding hikes,

especially throughout the year. And in the winter, we do a lot of, breakfast and birding

hikes.

So if somebody wants to outside of going to, events that you guys have or classes, things like that, what what are some good ways to just get in involved with the parks department?

Well, one of the best ways, in my opinion, is to become a volunteer. Okay.

So we have our forest steward program. You can volunteer even

low level just to come hike our trails and let us know if there's problems, because we don't always have time to get out on all of our trails every single week.

We wish. Yeah.

So it's the imagine that's part of the dream. Yeah.

We also one of our newest things is for anyone that uses the iNaturalist

app,

you can join. We have a project called the flora and fauna of CCPD.

You can join that project and help us log what species are in our parks.

So we have a volunteer who I think has now made

probably six

now at least seen 60 different species to So that and then it's on an app. And mhmm. So all you do is you just either if you're out there doing photography, you can upload the photos later, or you can just do it on your phone as you're going through and take a picture of a shrub. It identifies it, and you're like, yeah, that's that looks right.

And then that that just helps us know, like, what's here. So if somebody sees a ringneck snake, you know, you can know, hey. There's a ringneck snake at Kelly Nature. Or I imagine if somebody finds some kind of invasive beetle or something, then, you know,

you got a problem somewhere. Yeah. Just in East Fork, they recently

trimmed down a zone from well, I can't remember the name of the beetle.

Asian longhorn? No. Yeah. Are there are there still a lot of beetle problems around? Like, are there a lot of invasive I sorry. I feel like I'm jumping all over the place, but I just thought of this. I mean, are there any really bad invasive species around here that you guys are dealing with? Plant wise, for sure.

The we have kind of the the classics of bush honeysuckle,

fine honeysuckle,

multiflora rose. Honeysuckle is nasty stuff. It's it's a challenge.

We used to live in Felicity, and our property had tons of honeysuckle on it. And you would do everything you could to cut it back, and it would just strangle everything.

Mhmm. It's wild. Yeah. Yeah. We thankfully, we stick with pretty much the classic invasive plants. We haven't come across any, you know,

weird ones

yet, so that's good. Well, what would be a weird one? I don't know. I guess well, we did find a little bit of porcelain berry, which was the first that I'd seen in Clermont County, but we What is porcelain berry? It's a vine. Okay. It looks like grapevine. So our native grapevine is, you know, supposed to be here, and it's great. Porcelain berry is kind of a look alike. Okay.

It's very common in Hamilton County.

We just found a patch last summer at Kelly Nature Preserve, but I think we fully eradicated that and took care of it. So, hopefully,

knock on wood, it won't come back. Do you have to go scorched earth? I mean, do but you how do

you handle that? Most of, and that falls on our natural resource team. K. But most of their strategy is just do cut stump treatment, which means you cut it and then you treat the stump with chemical,

get it,

you know, knocked out. Yeah.

It works

with most of the invasive plants that we have around here.

But, yeah, we don't have too many

active bug invasive bug problems

that are not

I mean,

emerald ash borer is still around, but it's

kind of done the damage it's gonna do. But there's still are there even still ash trees around?

There they get to about, what, five, ten years old?

Yeah.

The there's a few still around. Like, we've got we've got one at Hartman Cabin that's still a fairly decent sized tree, but and it's it's gonna go.

You know? And it just isn't

but as Cae was saying, the

they've done the damage. I mean, we had

90 foot tall,

ash trees surrounding the parking lot at at Pattison

Lodge. And, you know, they were they looked fine one spring, and by summer, they were crispy sticks. And,

you know, we had to take them all down. Had to bring in a crane to drop them all to keep everything, you know, hitting buildings and different things. Yeah. You know? So emirash borer's pretty much

done its damage. It's around. Asian longhorned beetle is still in Tate Township.

The ODA, high department agriculture,

has been working

diligently

to to

maintain that,

quarantine and keep it in that area

so it doesn't spread. And then, you know, there's a couple places across the country where it has showed up.

And, hopefully,

you know, that's that's been here over ten years now. Hopefully, they can,

eradicate that, and we don't have to to deal with that anymore. It's gotta be a really tough job. Yeah. I mean, you know, you come in, you find an infestation,

you know, in a maple tree, and

you know, the people have got, you know, 30 maple trees growing on in their on their property or whatever, and they wanna take them all now. Yeah. You know? And

it's devastating

to that individual

property. But,

you know, if you left

leave it go, I mean, it'll take every maple tree in the state. Yeah. You know? That's just not

that's nasty. Yeah. That's a nasty one. You know?

And Cae was mentioning, you know, the the typical

invasive plants that we've got.

There is kudzu in Clermont County. Is it really? Yeah. Luckily, it's not in any of our parks. That's that thing that's all over the South. Yeah. Like, you take a drive down 75 or seven not seven minutes west.

But that stuff that's everywhere. Yeah. That's just, you

know, hopefully, it stays where where it is,

when there's people actively trying to manage it there. But Somebody tried to negotiate with Kudzu? Like It almost it almost needs to be. It's, you know, I'm I've seen folks trying to deal with it where they cut the vine, and, you know, those vines spread everywhere. They had it where it attaches to the ground, and then, you know, it's, like,

pour the herbicide

into it to to try to, like, to kill it because it's just it's a it's a real nasty one. And the other one that, is real common in the area that a lot of people probably saw this spring,

is the Callery pear.

You know, beautiful white blooms,

and

it'll just take over an area that where you you can't walk through it. The the trees are growing that close together.

We've battled it,

at Shore Park there in Union Township,

several several years now, and we're I don't I don't I don't know that we can claim that we're even ahead

in that game. That that's that's a tough one all all the way around. But,

hopefully, we won't end up, you know, with any more insects.

They seem to be the toughest to deal with. Well, I mean, they're mobile. Yeah.

They take off on you. They're moving targets.

That that is one of the things that always

kind of enamored me with these plants in general. You know, you see a tree or you see some flowers, like, oh, that's pretty. But the fight for survival is just as much in those plants as every anything else. There's just some plants that are

really aggressive and tough to manage.

Yeah.

A lot of people have winter creeper or it's also known as euonymus

growing in in their

landscaping beds as a ground cover.

That's

that's And you know what are the native plant

and learn how to plant native plants. That stuff is is is escaped, and we've got it in in our parks in different areas. You just, you know, can't get it. East Loveland Nature Preserve should be called the Euonymus

Preserve there, in Loveland. It's just it is just so so terrible

in those areas. And it's it just becomes a monoculture.

Yeah. You know, you know, if you don't get rid of it. So

well, I guess, on that happy note,

I don't I don't know if I planned that particularly well.

Why don't you guys just tell us how people can get in touch with you if they wanna volunteer or, you know, if they wanna go to events? What's the best way to stay informed?

So our website is claremontparks.org.

That always is up to date. It has you know, there's a get involved tab that'll give you, you know, all the contact information and everything you need if you're interested in volunteering.

Keeping up to date, we're on social media. We're on Facebook. We're on Instagram. We're also on Blue Sky.

So you can check us for Clermont Parks I think it's just Clermont County Park District on Facebook, and then Clermont Parks

on Instagram.

But we post all of our events, cool things that are happening. We posted about that Louisiana water thrush,

that we saw.

So you'll see, you know, cool sightings,

fun stuff coming up,

PSAs,

things like that. Awesome.

Well, unless there's anything else you guys got, I think I'm gonna call this one a success.

Yeah. Alright. Well, thank you both very much. I appreciate it.

Well, I hope you enjoyed that.

I I enjoyed doing it.

And I think we're probably gonna have to get them back on either together,

or separately

to just talk more. I'd I'd love to talk more about just the wildlife,

programs they're doing,

things like that. I think it was a first good intro,

interview and intro to the parks, but we'll definitely try to have them back

on either together or separately.

And one thing we didn't talk about it, you know, we got done with the interview and I kinda kicked myself because I forgot to ask them about this. Is there,

and we'll talk about this as we get to the events a little bit, but their

equipment,

loan program. So you can

you can go to the Claremont County Parks Department, and you can get

camping gear, backpacks, trekking poles, all kinds of stuff.

They'll loan it out to you, which is incredible because if if you've ever thought about, like, oh, you know, maybe I should go camping or maybe I should start hiking more, and then you start looking at

some of the gear you need, man, does that get expensive quick. So,

it's a nice way to kinda dip your toe into the,

I guess,

adventure,

hobby,

without, you know, having to spend a whole lot of money to do it. So,

I would check that program out if if if you're interested in it. And again, I I I really wanna get them both back on,

to talk more about,

all their programs and wildlife,

what they're doing at the parks department.

So

with that said, let's get into some, some events. And I know we talked about it in the interview a little bit, but,

there's,

the knee high naturalists,

that's gonna focus on cicadas. That's gonna be this Saturday, May 3 from ten,

AM to 11AM.

It's gonna be at Shore Park,

and it's a nature program for preschoolers.

The month's theme is cicadas, obviously.

So they're gonna read a nature story. They're gonna make a cicada themed craft and go on a mini outdoor adventure, which who doesn't like a mini outdoor adventure?

And the program is free, and you don't need to register.

And it's also followed by an optional nature play session,

and I quote,

for little ones to burn off extra energy.

And as a little one that has tons

as somebody with I'm not a little one as but I have a little one who has tons of extra energy,

that sounds great.

There's also a star party with the Cincinnati Astronomical

Society. That's also on Saturday.

That's gonna be from 8PM to 11PM

at Clingman Park,

and it's just an astronomy event. There's gonna be volunteer astronomies from the Cincinnati Astronomical Society,

and it's just gonna be an evening of stargazing

and telescope viewing.

You're gonna be able to get an, up close look at the night sky,

and all ages are welcome. No registrations needed. You just drop by, and you can in enjoy some stargazing.

When I was talking to them in the interview, I

I think it was in the interview. I hope it was.

If not, they were talking about how sometimes you could see, the Milky Way at Clingman Park, which if you've never seen the Milky Way,

it's kind of incredible.

You know, when you live close to a city and there's lots of lights, it's kinda hard to see the night sky as it really is.

But I I can't

recommend it enough to go someplace and see the Milky Way. If you can do that at Clingman Park, I would I would do it during this astronomy event.

There is a free family movie night at the, Veterans Memorial Park in Union Township.

This is also on Saturday.

It's gonna start at dusk around 08:30. I mean, obviously, if you're gonna show a movie in a park, it's gotta be dark, so there isn't a specific time when it starts.

And they're gonna be showing the wild robot. I've never seen the wild robot. I remember seeing some previews for it. Seems like a decent, decent movie.

And if you're gonna go, you should bring some chairs and blankets.

And it's free, obviously.

There is a Bluebird

monitoring volunteer workshop, and that's Saturday, May 10 from 10AM to 12PM.

That's gonna be at Clingman Park.

And it's gonna

train volunteers to help monitor bluebird nest boxes,

across the county.

So it you're you're gonna get some information on wildlife and

community science.

So if you kinda wanna volunteer and and be outdoors and help the parks department,

would check that out. It's free.

There's a spring native plant sale. One of them's already happened, but there's gonna be another one on Sunday, May 18.

That's gonna be from 10AM to 5PM at the Grove Visitor Center at the Cincinnati Nature Center.

And you'll be able to stock up on all your herbs and native perennials and flowering trees and shrubs so you can get your although I suppose it's getting pretty close to being too late to get your garden in order. But,

if you haven't had a chance to get all the plants you want, I would check out the spring native plant

sale,

over there at the Cincinnati Nature Center.

Loveland food truck rally, May ten

from 12PM to 8PM, Shoppers Haven Plaza.

Like we've been saying, 25 food trucks, beer, wine, water, soda, live music, and fun. It's completely free.

So if you're looking for something to do on May 10 and you like food trucks, I'd head over there.

The fifty fourth annual Appalachian festival. That's also on Saturday,

May 10 and Sunday, May 11. So you can go to the food truck rally on the tenth and the Appalachian fest fest on the eleventh.

So that's gonna start at 10AM, and it's gonna go to 10PM

on Saturday.

On Sunday, it's gonna go from 10AM to 6PM,

and that is at Front Street in New Richmond.

And it's just a a celebration of Appalachian heritage. It's gonna

heritage. It's gonna have live music,

crafts, storytelling,

traditional dance,

stuff like that.

There is an admission fee. Adults are $15.

Kids ages five to 17

are $5, and kids under five are completely free.

We have a homeschool discovery day, and this is, it's creek crawl. This is also something I'd like to talk more,

to Cae and and Chris about as the the stuff they do for homeschoolers. But this particular one,

event is gonna be on Friday, May 16 at 1PM,

and it's gonna be at the Catherine

Stagmar

Park. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing,

that right. And in case I'm not, it's also,

6662

Goshen Road in Goshen, Ohio.

And what this is is is just a,

hands on exploration for homeschoolers.

Recommended ages are five to 13,

and,

students are gonna be able to just wait in creeks, learn about fossils, aquatic insects,

and creek creek wildlife in general. And I know we talked about it in the interview, but, you know, doing things like that as kids, I think, is a really good way to

connect your children to nature and,

just have them have a love and appreciation for it their whole lives.

This is a free event,

but you should preregister because there is limited space. So if you wanna do that, I would go to the, parks website, make sure you register.

Mustard seed market is coming up, and we've got an interview coming up,

with, the people who put that on.

That's gonna be May 16 from 4PM to 8PM, May seventeenth,

ten AM to 4PM,

and May 19 from 10AM to 3PM

at the Claremont County Fairgrounds.

And, again, it's just lots of local shops and businesses, live music,

lot of food, lot of fun. I've taken my family there, and I can't can't recommend it enough. It's a really nice way to spend a day.

There is a

sweetheart stroll, which I might have to see if my wife wants to do. I don't think we've taken a sweetheart. I don't know if we've ever taken a sweetheart stroll, to be honest.

So this is gonna be Friday, May 16

from 08:30 to 09:30PM

at, Patterson Park. That's in Owenville, Batavia.

And it's just a date night. You get to you get to walk in the park, lit by lanterns.

Looks like couples can pick up a lantern at the trailhead

and enjoy a self paced stroll at sunset,

and that's completely free. So if you need an idea for a for a fun date night, there's there's your,

there's your date night

for, May 16.

Unlike we're talking about earlier, there's an adventure gear expo, and this is all around trip planning and ideation.

This is gonna be Saturday, May 17,

from 04:30 to 07:30PM,

and you can just drop in. So it's not like you have to get there at 04:30

and, you know, sit there for three hours.

You can come in whenever.

And, what this is gonna be is you just get to learn about their free adventure packs and gear loaner program.

You can also,

get some tips for planning your own outdoor adventures.

There's gonna be park staff there. And and as you can tell from the interview, they're all very friendly,

and, and they'll answer your questions. And that is also free.

We've got the River Days Festival,

and that is gonna be

Thursday, May 22, and Saturday through Saturday, May 24.

And that's gonna be a front street in New Richmond.

And it's just a a big multi day festival. It's gonna be carnival rides, live entertainment, food vendors,

craft booths,

family friendly activities.

So

that sounds like a a really fun event for,

the May,

but that,

my friends is all we have for events.

Like I've said earlier, and as always, I really appreciate,

everybody who's listening. And,

you know, I I think there's gonna be some good things to come.

But that's all we got for you today. So thanks.

Let's Talk Clermont