7/4/2024: Preserve @ Play Offers a Family Friendly Day of Fun

Saturday, June 15, was full of sun and a refreshing breeze. We could not have asked for a more perfect day to welcome 500 participants to our third annual Preserve @ Play event, where we celebrate families getting out into nature and experiencing the Preserve with their littlest explorers. Activities  included woodland dance parties, live performances by Lolly Hopwood; the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ traveling Woodmobile exhibit; an interactive theater; squirrel olympics; bird nest building (including a human-sized one); and a wildlife presentation by the Aark Wildife Rehabilitation and Education Center.

"It was a joy to meet and connect with so many of our Preserve @ Play attendees throughout the day," says Preserve Executive Director Pete Couchman. "We learned that many, if not most, of our attendees were first-time visitors to the Preserve. That is both exciting and inspiring! Preserve @ Play gets better and better each year, and we are already planning for 2025."

Preserve @ Play was originally conceived in 2022 in 2022 when the Preserve witnessed a remarkable surge in families visiting the Preserve during the COVID-19 pandemic. This event offered a safe and meaningful outdoor family experience for our youngest change makers, and has since become a signature annual event for the community.