Stranahan Arboretum To Host Community Hayride Sunday

Stranahan Arboretum To Host Community Hayride Sunday

The University of Toledo's College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics will host a hayride and family-friendly community event at its Stranahan Arboretum on Sunday, Oct. 27.

The free, public event promises seasonal entertainment for students, faculty, alumni and community members, in addition to a reintroduction to the nearly 50-acre site located less than 5 miles from UToledo's Main Campus.

From 3 to 8 p.m. attendees can paint pumpkins, enjoy s'mores and hot cocoa and take in the arboretum grounds on scenic hayrides leaving every 15 minutes. Environmental Sciences faculty and students will be on hand throughout the event to discuss research, programs and activities at the arboretum and offer tours of its new nature center classroom. Attendees can also enjoy doughnuts and cider with UToledo College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Dean Marc Seigar from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Free parking is available onsite at 4131 Tantara Road, Toledo. For more information, or to RSVP, go to the event webpage on the UToledo Alumni Association website.

The Stranahan Arboretum, donated to UToledo by the W.W. Knight family in 1964 in memory of Robert Stranahan, encompasses new- and old-growth forest, rolling lawns, native prairies, wetlands and ponds, as well as approximately 800 specimens of cultivated, mature trees from areas as far-flung as China, Serbia, Japan and Norway.

As a field site for environmental education and research at UToledo, the arboretum is utilized by faculty researchers monitoring wildlife and ground water. It also serves as an outdoor classroom for undergraduate and graduate courses in ecology and geology, as well as English, art and criminal justice, and hosts educational outreach programs for K-12 students.

The Stranahan Arboretum is in the midst of ongoing revitalization efforts, including the recent dedication of a new nature center classroom funded by UToledo's Women and Philanthropy. The classroom is located in a historic barn in the property, where further renovations are anticipated to add offices, meeting rooms and a laboratory.

The Stranahan Arboretum is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with plans to expand regular hours in the near future. Visitors also are welcome whenever the entrance gate is open.

To support the Stranahan Arboretum, donations can be made to the "Stranahan Arboretum Progress Fund" on the UToledo Foundation website.