The Crawford Park District is offering the following programs:

Nature Story Time

• Thursday, July 27, at 10 a.m. at Lowe-Volk Park, 2401 State Route 598.

Join the Crawford Park District’s Miss Chelsea for a story about Wetlands. In addition to the story, we will have animal visitors and other activities related to the week’s book. Check out our Facebook page each week for updates on what we’ll be reading and who will be visiting! This program will be held inside the Nature Center if it is raining. Lowe-Volk Park is located 3 miles north of U.S. Route 30. For more information on other programs offered by the Crawford Park District, visit our web site at www.crawfordpd.org or follow us on Facebook.

Family Astronomy Night

• Saturday, July 29, from 6:30-9 p.m. at Lowe-Volk Park.

Come on out and join the Crawford Park District Astronomy Club for a fun evening filled with all things astronomy! Thanks to a Hessenauer Grant, many new puzzles, games, and other fun activities, like BINGO, will be available for the entire family to play and interact with. Don’t forget, immediately after is a Viewing the Night Sky program where you will have opportunities to look through the telescopes and see many beautiful celestial sights! Call the Park District at 419-683-9000 to register, but walk-ins are welcome.

Viewing the Night Sky

• Saturday, July 29, at 9:30 p.m. at Lowe-Volk Park.

Join members of the Crawford Park Astronomy Club as they share their knowledge and telescope skills with all who are interested in celestial sights. Some of the targets for summer are:

• Moon – view the amazing details of craters, mountains, and valleys.

• Mars – a red planet that is 155 million miles away.

• Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) – near the big dipper and 23-31 million light years away.

• Sombrero Galaxy (M104) – a fan (and Dan) favorite found in the constellation Virgo and 28 million light years away.

• M4 – a globular cluster, located in Scorpius, and only 5,500 light-years away.

• M15 – located in Pegasus, 33,600 light-years away, and a globular cluster.

• The Hercules Cluster (M13) – over 100,000 stars make up this beautiful globular cluster.

• Ring Nebula (M57) – about 2,000 light-years way, found in Lyra, and a supernova remnant.

• Eagle Nebula (M16) – a diffuse nebula, found near Scutum, and known for the “Pillars of Creation”.

• Dumbbell Nebula (M27) – the first discovered planetary nebula, 1,200 light-years away, and found in Vulpecula.

Archery

• Wednesday, Aug. 2, from 5-7 p.m. at Lowe-Volk Park.

Whether for sport, food, or fun, archery is a great outdoor activity that gets us away from the hustle and gadgets of life, allowing us to focus on one thing: hitting the target. Join the Crawford Park District for an archery shoot that will include an introduction to archery safety and shooting basics. All equipment will be provided. Call the Crawford Park District at 419-683-9000 to register.

Submitted by the Crawford Park District.