Friends of Metro Parks

Discover Your Parks | Mother's Day 5K
Outside Is In | Advocacy Issues
Ohio Legislators | Federal Legislators
Save the Gorge!

Friends of Metro Parks is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that supports the park district in many ways, including educating visitors about important issues, connecting residents of Summit County with the rich resources of our Metro Parks, and contacting legislators about threats and issues that affect the park district. Membership dues allow Friends to support the mission and programs of the park district.

Benefits of membership:

• Membership is tax deductible
• Access to members-only events
• 10% discount on all purchases at the Nature Realm gift shop
• Free mailings of the Metro Parks publications

YOU can help preserve and promote the parks you enjoy by becoming a Friend. Membership is good for one year.

• $15 Individual
• $25 Family
• $50 Sponsor
• $55 Organization
• $100 Benefactor
• $250 Corporate

DOWNLOAD A MEMBERSHIP FORM and mail it in with your check.

For more information: 330-865-1027, info@friendsofmetroparks.org.

Discover Your Parks - NEW BENEFIT
Become a member of Friends of Metro Parks and "Discover Your Parks!" Get behind the scenes in your park system to experience activities and programs led by talented and knowledgeable Metro Parks staff.

Participate in "Discover Your Parks" events at no charge based on your membership level. (Current members are eligible for upgrades.)

• At the Family level ($25), choose ONE program per year
• At the Sponsor level ($50), choose THREE programs per year
• At the Benefactor level ($100), choose FIVE programs per year

Your year begins the date you join or renew. The benefit applies to your family (spouse/partner and children), as listed in your membership. Availability is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Registration for the first event starts July 1, 2013.

July 27, 2013, Time TBD
KAYAKING THE CUYAHOGA RIVER

August 24, 2013, 9 a.m. (rain date: August 31)
FISH ELECTRO-SHOCKING

October 13, 2013, 2 p.m. (rain date: October 20)
CONSERVATION TOUR, POND BROOK SOUTH

Date and time in March-April 2014 TBD (weather dependent)
PRAIRIE BURN

May 3, 2014, 8 a.m. (cancelled only with severe weather)
PRIVATE FISHING EVENT

Mother's Day 5K
Join us Sunday, May 12 before the Mother's Day 5K at Munroe Falls Metro Park, 521 S. River Rd., Munroe Falls. The race begins at 8 a.m. Friends will host a make-a-sign station so spectators can cheer on their favorite participants. 

We'd like to thank Elmer's for their donation of sign-making materials.

The Mother's Day 5K is fundraiser for the Metro Parks Foundation, a nonprofit organization that furthers the goals and mission of Metro Parks, Serving Summit County. The Foundation accepts gifts and grants to support the park district’s educational, recreational and scientific initiatives.

Outside Is In
Computers. Video games. A lack of funding for school field trips. Parents who are unwilling to let their kids explore the outdoors unsupervised. This is just a partial list of the reasons children are not making a personal connection with nature.

Outside Is In is a partnership between Friends of Metro Parks, Akron Public Schools, YMCA Camp Y-Noah and Metro Parks, Serving Summit County. Its purpose is to connect sixth-grade students with nature through meaningful activities in the outdoors during a 24-hour period.

One day after school, students arrive at Camp Y-Noah, where they check into cabins, enjoy a hot meal and sing camp songs. At night they participate in programs, hike and sit by the campfire with skits and s'mores. The next morning they eat breakfast and head to Firestone Metro Park, where they create nature art, go fishing at Little Turtle Pond, go on a nature hike and play nature games that encourage team building. Metro Parks naturalists and volunteers lead the activities and camp counselors and teachers assist with supervision.

The program began as a pilot in 2009 with 40 students. In 2012, almost 650 students participated and we are planning to serve up to 700 students in the spring of 2013.

The program is funded by Friends of Metro Parks. Generous support has been provided in the past by the Akron Community Foundation, Dominion Resources, the Mary S. and David C. Corbin Foundation, the Sisler McFawn Foundation, the Welty Family Foundation, the Betty V. and John M. Jacobson Foundation, ICF Foundation, the Joseph G. and Sally A. Miller Family Foundation, the Jean Thomas Lambert Foundation, the Charles E. & Mabel M. Ritchie Memorial Foundation, OMNOVA Solutions Foundation, the R.C. and Katherine M. Musson Charitable Foundation, the W. Paul Mills and Thora J. Mills Memorial Foundation, the Lloyd L. & Louise K. Smith Foundation, Wild4Ever, the Curtis Foundation, the Edward J. Thomas Foundation, and the Harvey and Patricia Graves Foundation.

Advocacy Issues
It is in the best interest of Friends to stay informed about the issues that affect our Metro Parks, including:

Clean Ohio Fund: The Clean Ohio Fund is a program to fund the protection of natural areas, prime farmland and waterways and to clean up contaminated property. Metro Parks, Serving Summit County has used Clean Ohio Funding for land acquisition and to build the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath from 2003 to 2010. The governor did not include funding for Clean Ohio in his recently proposed budget. An amendment must be added to the biennial operating budget to fund $52 million in Clean Ohio bonds. MORE

Deer Management: Metro Parks is charged with managing natural resources, and a balance must be maintained between a healthy deer population and a healthy ecosystem. Friends of Metro Parks fully supports the park district's deer-density reduction plan, which has received approval from the Ohio Division of Wildlife, and similar methods have proven successful in other parks throughout Ohio and the United States. All harvested animals are processed and given to the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank. MORE

Land & Water Conservation Fund: The Land & Water Conservation Fund should be funded, not raided. It is a bi-partisan issue, because every state in the country benefits from those funds. Congress can be encouraged to protect the programs in their districts and preserve their special places. LWCF was first authorized in 1965 and will be up for reauthorization in 2015. It has broad-based national support, but some who do not believe the government should own more land oppose it. It is important to speak up for protection of our special places and environmentally sensitive lands. These funds, in small amounts, are available to Metro Parks through ODNR grants.

Saving Ohio's Natural Preserves:Friends of Metro Parks encourages you to help save our state's Division of Natural Preserves by supporting the check-off on your state tax return. Past leaders of this division like Guy Denny and Robert Moseley are volunteering their time to save the DNAP, which no longer receives state funding. Please encourage your friends to promote the check-off, too.

Save the Gorge: A Fairlawn company that wanted to build a hydro plant in Gorge Metro Park scrapped its plans June 12, 2009. The project would have led to the construction of roads, the destruction of old growth forests, the loss of sensitive habitat for numerous rare and endangered species, poor water quality and the destruction of park views and aesthetics. MORE

Ohio Legislators

Federal Legislators

Big Leaves
The American sycamore has the largest leaf of any tree in Summit County. The broad, maple-like leaves can measure more than eight inches wide.

The War of 1812
A high ridge above the Wadsworth Area in Sand Run Metro Park was a lookout point for General Elijah Wadsworth, who made his camp near the present-day Old Portage Area during the War of 1812.