FREMONT – GroveFest celebrates First Lady Lucy Hayes’ love of nature and wildlife at Spiegel Grove.
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.
GroveFest featured many hands-on activities and crafts at booths with regional nature organizations, and horse-drawn carriage rides.
On the hot first full day of summer, ice cream was popular, but children also enjoyed the live animals, playing nature-related games and making crafts with nature groups.
Among the many organizations that took part were some local favorites, including: the Birchard Public Library, Nature’s Nursery, Back to the Wild, Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Facility, the Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s live sea lampreys, the South Creek Clydesdales, the Toledo Zoo & Aquarium and the Shooting Star Farms petting farm.
rlapointe@gannett.com
419-332-2674
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: GroveFest celebrates First Lady Lucy Hayes’ love of nature
Reporting by Roger LaPointe, Fremont News-Messenger / Fremont News-Messenger
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
