St. Joseph County Parks, May Calendar

Calendar of Events
March | April | May

March

6 Saturday
Mat Making
St. Patrick’s County Park: Harvest Room
10am to noon
Fee: $10/person
Ages 14 and up

The Ocean Plait is a popular pattern for floor mats, table decoration, stair treads, wall hangings, coasters, hair barrettes and jewelry. Registration and payment are required by March 3. (Min. 4; max. 10)

6 Saturday
Geocaching: The Great GPS Stash Hunt
St. Patrick’s County Park: Harvest Room
GPS coordinates: N 41° 45.473’, W 086° 16.055’
1 to 4pm
Fee: $2/person

Learn how to use a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) device on a high-tech “treasure hunt” to find caches at St. Patrick’s County Park and throughout the world! Bring a GPS unit if possible; limited loaner units are available. Not sure what Geocaching is all about? Check out www.geocaching.com to find out more about this fun and exciting international sport. A special geocache course will be set up just for this event! Registration is required by March 3. (Min. 4; max. 15)

13 Saturday
Springtime Crochet!
Ferrettie/Baugo Creek County Park: Interpretive Center
1 to 4pm
Fee: $10/person

It may be gloomy outside, but with one stitch and a bright color you can beat the winter blues. Learn the basics of crochet! Participants will learn how to hold the hook, and to perform basic stitches for a hat or scarf. You will keep your hook and the alpaca yarn. Registration and payment are required by March 10. (Min. 3; max. 15)

20 & 21 Saturday & Sunday
Sugar Camp Days
Bendix Woods County Park
8:30am to 3pm
Fee: $5/vehicle
Pancake Breakfast prices:
$7/adult, $3.50/ages 6 to11, children 5 yrs and under free

Join us in celebration as the end of winter nears! Watch sap cook into syrup, enjoy a pancake and sausage breakfast (a New Carlisle Lion’s Club fundraiser), tour the Sugar Bush, purchase home-made baked goods made with pure maple syrup, enjoy family music and much more! Stay the day!

Sugar Camp Days Schedule of Activities

Sugar Camp Days Sponsorship Letter

Sugar Camp Days Advertising Program Rate Agreement

Rent-a-Sap-Bucket Program

25 Thursday
Spring Home School Program: Creepy-crawlies
Bendix Woods County Park: Glenn Bauer Shelter
2 to 3:30pm
Fee: $3/child

Welcome, home school families! There’s no need to be afraid of creepy-crawlies. Explore the arthropod family tree and enter the world of centipedes, scorpions, millipedes and other many-legged critters. Registration is required by March 23.

27 Saturday
Sand Art: Landscape in a Bottle
St. Patrick’s County Park: Harvest Room
10am to noon
Fee: $7/person
Ages 10 and up

Join local artist and art instructor Beth Hullinger and layer colored sand to create a landscape in a bottle. Please bring a small bottle with a lid or stopper (baby food jars make good starters). Sand and other materials will be supplied. A limited number of jars will be available. Registration and payment are required by March 24. (Min.10; max. 20)

27 Saturday
Rustic Fishing Poles
Ferrettie/Baugo Creek County Park: Baugo Station
1 to 3pm
Fee: $5/person
Ages 4 & up, 12 and under accompanied by adult

Ever had the urge to fish, and had no fishing pole? Make a simple fishing pole while learning about local historical fishing practices. If time allows, practice fishing on Baugo Creek. Registration and payment are required by March 24. (Min. 5; max. 20)

April

3 Saturday
Knitting for Beginners
St. Patrick’s County Park: Harvest Room
9am to noon
Fee: $10/person

Learn the basics of knitting! Participants will learn how to hold the needles, cast on (get the first stitches on the needles) and perform basic stitches. You will keep the needles and yarn. Registration and payment are required by March 31. (Min. 4; max. 20)

9 Friday
Project Learning Tree Workshop
St. Patrick’s County Park: Brown Barn
9am to 3pm
Fee: $5/person (student rate); $15/person (non-student rate)

Try indoor and outdoor activities from the Project Learning Tree guide and discuss ways to adapt these environmental activities for K-8th grade students. The fee covers your copy of a PLT book and morning refreshments. Bring a lunch. Registration and payment are required by March 30. (Min. 10; max. 25)

14 Wednesday
Wednesday Walk in the Woods
St. Patrick’s County Park: Brown Barn
6pm
Fee: Free

Get outdoors with the YMCA’s Michiana on the Move program. Enjoy a quiet evening walk along the Riverside Trail and through the Manion Canyon and take steps toward better health!

15 Thursday
Nature Munchkins: Animal Babies
St. Patrick’s County Park: Brown Barn
9:30 to 11am
Fee: $5/adult-child pair; $3 for a second child; $12 for three sessions

Nature Munchkins is designed for parents or grandparents to discover nature with their 3- to 4- year old. The sessions are scheduled for the third Thursday of every month. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required. Siblings outside of the age bracket are not allowed to attend. For more information or to register call 574/654-3155. (Min. 5; max. 10)

17 Saturday
Audubon Rummage Sale
St. Patrick’s County Park: Red Barn
9am to 2pm
Gate fee in effect after 10am

Shop through a barn full of treasures! This annual event is organized and sponsored by the South Bend-Elkhart Audubon Society. Drop off your donated items at the Red Barn on Wednesday or Thursday, April 14 or 15, from noon to 5pm. For more information call 574/243-8739.

17 Saturday
Women Experience the Outdoors—Glass Painting!
Bendix Woods County Park: Nature Center
10am to noon
Fee: $12/person

Spend a calm morning creating two lovely pieces of art for your home. Use acrylic paints to decorate a small vase and then decorate a coaster and snack on hors d’oeuvres while the vase bakes in the oven. Registration is required by April 14. (Min. 6; max. 20)

18 Sunday
Art Outdoors: Plein Air Painting
Bendix Woods County Park: Otahnagon Shelter
11am to 6pm
Gate fee in effect

Calling all artists! Bring your chairs, canvas, paint and imagination for Plein (in the open) Air painting when the spring wildflowers are in full bloom. There will also be opportunities to watch artists paint, attend a kids’ art workshop and enjoy a wildflower hike with a park interpreter.

18 Sunday
Wildflower Hike
Bendix Woods County Park: Otahnagon Shelter
1pm
Gate fee in effect

Join a park interpreter to enjoy the sights of the spectacular spring woodland flowers. Spring Beauty, Trillium and Celandine Poppy are just some of the flowers to feast your eyes upon. This hike is in conjunction with the Plein Air program listed above.

21 Wednesday
Wednesday Walk in the Woods
Spicer Lake Nature Preserve: Visitor Center
6pm
Fee: Free

Get outdoors with the YMCA’s Michiana on the Move program. Explore the secluded fields and forests of Spicer Lake and take steps toward better health!

22 Thursday
Spring Home School Program: Spiders
Bendix Woods County Park: Glenn Bauer Shelter
2 to 3:30pm
Fee: $3/child

Welcome, home school families! They’re creepy, they’re crawly, they’re…amazing! Help a bug make it through a sticky spider web, see spiders up close and make your own spider-catcher to take home. Registration is required by April 20.

23 Friday
Exploring the Spring Stars
St. Patrick’s County Park: Brown Barn
8 to 10pm
Fee: $3/person

Come out to the park to see the stars and constellations of spring! This program is offered in honor of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22) and Astronomy Day (April 24)! Join park staff and special guests from the Michiana Astronomical Society. Make and take home your own planisphere. Viewing aids will be provided and no experience is necessary.

29 Thursday
Spring Stroller Walk
Bendix Woods County Park: Runnels Shelter
10 to 11:30am
Fee: $3/child

Spring is a wonderful time to share the wonder of nature with a child! Bring your baby or toddler (up to three years old) in a stroller or baby carrier, to see, hear, touch and smell the natural world. The program will include songs, stories, snacks and a guided walk. Registration is required by April 27.

May

1 Saturday
Go Fly a Kite
St. Patrick’s County Park: Brown Barn
1 to 4pm
Fee: $10/person (includes kite kit)
Ages 8 & up, 13 and under accompanied by adult

Build your own box kite and let it fly! Decorate and eat a fun kite-shaped snack while learning about the history of kites. All materials will be provided. Registration and payment are required by April 28. (Min. 4; max. 8)

5 Wednesday
Boomerang Fly-in
St. Patrick’s County Park: Red Barn parking lot
6 to 8pm

Bring your boomerang or use one of ours. Learn to fly the first man-made device to demonstrate controlled flight. Not recommended for children under 10. Children under 13 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. Lesson is free; registration is required by May 4. (Min. 4; max. 15)

15 Saturday
Get Out There!
St. Patrick’s County Park: Fragomeni Shelter
1 to 4pm
Fee: $3/person

Come out to the park to experience a wide variety of outdoor recreational activities in honor of the National Wildlife Federation’s “Be Out There” campaign and the “No Child Left Inside” national initiative. Go canoeing or kayaking, learn to fish or fly fish, play disc golf, throw a boomerang, practice archery or go geocaching! This event is designed for the whole family to get outside and enjoy the outdoors!

20 Thursday
Nature Munchkins: Fabulous Birds!
St. Patrick’s County Park: Brown Barn
9:30am to 11am
Fee: $5/adult-child pair; $3 for a second child; $12 for three sessions

20 Thursday
Spring Home School Program: Insects
Bendix Woods County Park: Glenn Bauer Shelter
2 to 3:30pm
Fee: $3/child

Welcome, home school families! Grab a net and let’s go! Put together a bug puzzle, make music in an insect orchestra and head into the field to catch and identify the incredible insects of Indiana. Registration is required by May 18.

23 Sunday
Bike the Bend
St. Patrick’s County Park
6:30 to 11:30am
Fee: ranging from $30/rider.
Family rates, group rates and early registration discounts available at www.bikethebend.com

Bike the Bend is a family-friendly bike ride. Cyclists of all ages and abilities are invited to join in experiencing a fun-filled day riding through the streets of South Bend, Mishawaka, and along the scenic banks of the St. Joseph River. Staging areas include St. Patrick’s County Park. Most of the route will be restricted exclusively to bicycles providing a safe, fun and unique way to enjoy our community. For more information contact www.BiketheBend.com.