Party in the Park, New Trail Opening & Lantern Parade

The Rock Island Parks & Recreation Department, in partnership with the Rock Island Library, invites the community to join the fun at Party in the Park on Wednesday, Sept. 10 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Hodge Park, 2294 35^th St., Rock Island.

This family-friendly event will feature face painting, balloon animals,a paper bag lantern craft from the libraryand a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the new Hodge Park Recreational Trail. The trail is approximately one-third of a mile long and was made possible through funding from the Illinois Recreational Trails Grant Program, administered by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

To close the evening, families can join together for a walking lantern parade through the park. To participate, build a lighted cardboard lantern of any size in advance, or make a simple paper bag lantern at the event. Parade line up starts at 6:45 p.m. with the walk following the new recreational trail around the park. Instructions for making a cardboard shadow box lantern are on the library events calendar. Lantern making also will be the featured craft at library-after-school activities on Thursday, Sept. 4 at the Rock Island Southwest Branch, 9010 Ridgewood Rd., and on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at the Rock Island Watts-Midtown Branch, 2715 30^th St. Both events are from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and are open to any elementary-age student in grades K-6.

In case of inclement weather, attendees can call the rain line at 309-732-RAIN (7246) after 3:30 p.m. on the day of the event to check for any changes or cancellations.

For more information, please contact Rock Island Parks and Recreation at [email protected] , 309-732-7275 x 1, or visit www.facebook.com/rockislandparksandrec/ .