GroveFest connects all ages with nature
See and learn about live animals, play nature-related games and make crafts with regional nature organizations during the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums annual GroveFest on Saturday, June 27.
GroveFest celebrates nature and wildlife and takes place on the grounds of Spiegel Grove, an accredited arboretum and the estate of 19th U.S. President Rutherford and First Lady Lucy Hayes.
The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and attendees can stop by any time throughout the event to join in the festivities. Admission is free.
The schedule is as follows:
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Organizations’ booths are open. The food tent, featuring hot dogs and ice cream is open. Food is free. Those who wish to make a donation can.
- 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., South Creek Clydesdales will offer horse-drawn trolley rides of the property with Hayes Presidential volunteers providing some historical background. Rides are $5 ages 13 and older, $3 ages 6-12 and free for ages 5 and younger. Tickets will be available in person the day of the event.
- At 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., Back to the Wild Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Castalia will give talks featuring live education animals.
- 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. – Author Elizabeth Davenport gives a reading from her new children’s book, “Otis at the Grove,” which features Otis, a time-traveling squirrel who lives at Spiegel Grove. The book is coming stoon to the Museum Store at Hayes Presidential.
Visitor parking is off-site only with the exception of those who have handicapped tags for their car. Parking will be available on the street and in ProMedica Memorial Hospital’s parking lots at Buildings A and B, located at 605. Third Ave. Spiegel Grove is a short walk to the east of the hospital parking lots. A golf cart will be available to shuttle people from the front to the back of Spiegel Grove.
Participating nature organizations are:
- Birchard Public Library
- Great Lakes Fishery Commission bringing live sea lampreys
- Sandusky County Early Intervention/Board of Development Disabilities
- Ottawa-Sandusky-Seneca Solid Waste (recycling) District
- Sandusky County Public Health - Bicycle Helmets
- Sandusky County Public Health – WIC
- Seneca County Park District
- Shooting Star Farms petting farm
- Wood County Park District
- Back to the Wild Wildlife Rehabilitation
- Great Lakes Community Action Partnership
- Erie County Public Health Department
- National Park Service/Perry’s Victory & International Peace Memorial
- Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
- Friends of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge
- Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Northwest District Office
- Whispering Meadows Garden Club
- Ghoul Runnings
- Sandusky County Historical Society
- Sandusky River Valley Beekeepers Association
- Hayes Presidential Library & Museums
GroveFest is an opportunity to enjoy nature at Spiegel Grove and to learn about Rutherford and Lucy Hayes’ love of the outdoors. The couple raised cows and chickens and planted trees on their beloved estate.
Lucy Hayes enjoyed fishing, and she loved nature so much that her official White House china had images of the flora and fauna of the United States, from deer and raccoons to fish and lobsters.
The title sponsor for GroveFest is the Randolph J. & Estelle M. Dorn Foundation. Additional funding by The City of Fremont, ProMedica Memorial Hospital and Walmart #1429 Fremont.