GroveFest to feature hands-on activities, live animals and more

        See and learn about live animals, enjoy games and make-it, take-it crafts and food at the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums’ annual GroveFest, set for Saturday, June 22.
        GroveFest – a celebration of nature and wildlife – takes place on the grounds of Spiegel Grove, an arboretum and the estate of 19th U.S. President Rutherford and First Lady Lucy Hayes, located in Fremont. Festival hours are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Admission is free.
        GroveFest features hands-on activities and crafts at booths with regional nature organizations. Participating organizations include:
        • Birchard Public Library
        • Nature’s Nursery
        • Camp Fire Sandusky County
        • Great Lakes Fishery Commission
        • Help Me Grow/Sandusky County Health Department
        • Ottawa Sandusky Seneca Solid Waste District
        • ProMedica Wellness
        • Sandusky County Public Heath
        • Schedel Arboretum & Gardens
        • Seneca County Park District
        • Toledo Zoo
        • Shooting Star Farms petting farm
        • Back to the Wild
        • Black Swamp Bird Observatory
        • GLCAP
        • Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial
        • Erie County Conservation District
        • Ohio Environmental Protection Agency
        • Sandusky County Park District
        • Whispering Meadows Garden Club
        • Ohio Division of Wildlife
        • Stone Laboratory
        • Scouting America – Erie Shores Council
        • YMCA of Sandusky County
        Hot dogs and ice cream will be available. Donations for food are accepted but are not required.
        Visitor parking will be off-site only with the exception of those who have handicapped tags for their car. Parking will be available on the street and in ProMedica Memorial Hospital’s parking lots at Buildings A and B, located at 605. Third Ave. Spiegel Grove is a short walk to the east of the hospital parking lots.
        GroveFest offers 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.
        The title sponsor for GroveFest is the Randolph J. & Estelle M. Dorn Foundation. Additional funding by ProMedica Memorial Hospital, Walmart #1429 Fremont and Walmart #1445 Port Clinton. The Andersons is the GroveFest activity sponsor.
        For information, call 419-332-2081, visit rbhayes.org, like Hayes Presidential on Facebook at @rbhayespres and follow on Twitter and Instagram at @rbhayespres.