43
Bugs have their day at MetroParks Farm
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Jak Kenney of Howland (right), cheered on his worm during the bug races at Mill Creek MetroParks Farm’s Bug Day, while his friend Cole Stevens (left) looked on.
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Andrew Bresnahan (left) and his dad, Greg (right), got an up close look at several bugs at Mill Creek MetroParks Farm’s Bug Day on Aug. 5. There were several stations at children could visit to learn more about bugs. If they visited at least six of those stations, they received a certificate in "Bugology."
Photo
Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Attendees of the Mill Creek MetroParks Farm’s Bug Day had the opportunity to check out several bugs throughout the event Aug. 5.
By ABBY SLANKER
Not letting the wet weather dampen their enthusiasm for bugs, hundreds of children and adults attended Mill Creek MetroParks Farm’s Bug Day on Aug. 5. The event, which is held every other year at the farm, offered bug enthusiasts 10 stations to visit.
As children entered the building, they received official Bug Day punch cards which listed the stations they could visit, including bug bingo, micro bugs, honey harvest, bug exhibits, bug races, bug stories, bug crafts, bug fun, bug hunts and damsels and dragons.
At the end of their visit, the children turned in their punch cards after visiting at least six of the 10 stations to earn a Mill Creek MetroParks “Master of Bugology” certificate.
The micro bugs station included microscopes visitors could use to get a closer look at some species of bugs, including a tick, a mite and a mosquito head. At the honey harvest station, attendees could check out live bees and explore the life cycle of the honeybee family and bug bingo offered a chance to win a prize after completing bingo on a card filled with drawings of bugs.
Visitors also got bug tattoos, colored pictures of a variety of species of bugs and made a caterpillar magnet out of colorful craft puff balls.
An insect petting zoo was set up for attendees, with blue death feigning beetles and a giant peppered cockroach available, which they could touch. Several insects were also under a do-not-touch order, including a green tinfoil beetle, a red-eyed katydid and a California mantis.
The bug races offered attendees the chance to race their own bug and cheer them to the finish line. Round cardboard cutouts were placed on a table and volunteers handed out meal worms to contestants. The contestants then had to encourage their worm to travel from the middle of the cutout to the outskirts of the cutout to win the race.
The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County was stationed in the children’s play room with librarians reading books about bugs to visitors, such as “I Love Bugs,” “Big Bugs,” “The Hungry Caterpillar,” and “Ten Friendly Fireflies.”