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Fellows Gardens celebrates winter with forest-themed display
YOUNGSTOWN
Visitors to Fellows Riverside Gardens can experience the beauty of the forest while avoiding the winter-weather elements.
Trees adorned with glimmering lights and beads line the D.D. and Velma Davis Education & Visitor Center, which has been transformed for “Winter Celebration: The Forest,” a display that is in place today through Jan. 3.
The experience begins when visitors enter the center – which is celebrating its 15th anniversary this month – and step into the lobby, which has been decorated with trees from the gardens, leaves, plants, pine cones, lights and holiday decorations.
Walking toward the library and cafe, visitors will see “Lizzie’s Fort,” a tree house playfully named in honor of Elizabeth Fellows, the benefactor who donated the land to Mill Creek Park for the public garden at 123 McKinley Ave.
The display also includes the “In the Tree Top” exhibit, which features a life-size eagle’s nest, a board on which visitors can compare their arm span to an eagle’s wingspan, and two taxidermied eagles.
Downstairs in the visitor center, guests can experience FRG’s Holiday Tree Walk. More than 40 local nonprofit organizations have festive, elaborately decorated fir trees on display with information about their missions.
Outside, the grounds will be lit up with thousands of lights every Saturday and Sunday for an “Electric Garden” display.
Winter Celebration at the gardens is a free event. Visitors are encouraged to bring a nonperishable item for the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.
FRG has extended hours on weekends during Winter Celebration. Visitors can stop by from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. The gardens and visitor center are closed Mondays, plus Christmas and New Year’s days.
For information, visit millcreekmetroparks.org or call the gardens at 330-740-7116.