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A sunny Saturday greeted the second annual Earth Day celebration at Legacy Grove Park in Winchester.

The free event featured activities such as making recyclable crafts, chalk art, tree identification and book walks, a lesson on how to spot invasive species, and live music by 4-H Club and the Possum Queens.

There were also plenty of educational opportunities.

“We have about 12 different educators or activity partner groups,” said the park’s program coordinator, Hope Broecker.

Some of the partners and organizations on hand were: Winchester Inspired by Nature, Clark County Farm Bureau, Clark County Solid Waste Department, Clark County Public Library, Sekisui, Bluegrass Greensource, the Kentucky Department of Forestry, the Clark County 4-H Club, and Habitat for Humanity.

The park is ideal for networking among different organizations trying to be good environmental stewards.

“Legacy Grove Park, one of the things we are trying to do is create a space for environmental education here in Clark County,” Broecker said. “My idea was to get organizations primarily from Clark County not only to network with each other but to expose what is here in town. That way, we can partner up and do more.”

The Earth Day celebration was also an excellent way to show area residents how they can help make the planet a better place.

“People are engaging with things that they can find in their backyard, a different organization, or maybe it is an individual who is very knowledgable here in Winchester, but the idea is that they are connecting with people here in the community,” Broecker said.

Winchester Inspired by Nature’s seed ball activity was designed to show children there is nothing wrong with getting their hands dirty.

“This is a chance to get their hands in dirt. A lot of kids are not used to that, and it is a very clean way to do it,” said one of the booth workers, Rebecca Campomanes. “Dirt is fun, and a lot of people do not have that experience.”

Legacy Grove was designed to make kids and adults fall in love with nature.

“The fact that they created this park shows that individuals want to connect more to nature because this isn’t just a park; it is meant to mimic nature and get kids more confident to play in nature,” Broecker said.

Bethany Caruso’s children enjoy their time at the park.

“My kids love the turf slide. We usually bring cardboard, and they slide both on the turf slide and the one right next to it. I think they like that it is just wide-open spaces, and they can run, and they can go in different directions,” she said

It is a place where kids can still be kids.

“I think it is special that it is all here in one place … I love that they combined the unique outdoor creek experience with the playground. I think it is one of the best places for them to explore and create unique things with their imagination,” Caruso said.