Rosewood Park Pond Restoration Complete; New Playground Coming This Summer Thanks to multiple grant funding sources, the Centerville-Washington Park District has completed a major restoration of the one-acre pond at Rosewood Park and will soon add a new playground for…
You hear a buzz. You see a fuzzy insect heading for a flower. Naturally, you think, “bee.” But something’s not quite right. The insect hovers, and it has a long, pointy “nose.” That’s no bee; you’ve spotted a bee fly!…
Poppies! Just the scent of them famously sent Dorothy and her Wizard of Oz companions into a deep slumber. In our local parks, our meadows are more likely to be filled with stands of goldenrod or partridge pea. But a…
Pileated woodpeckers never fail to impress. The first sign of their presence usually is auditory—the wild, laugh-like call, or the heavy jackhammering on a trunk. Those sounds were even used to simulate jungle ambiance in some old Tarzan movies. The…
Edwin Way Teale, one of the mid-20th century’s preeminent nature writers, repeatedly traversed the US and chronicled his observations and reflections in his “American Seasons” books. In his later years, though, Teale settled into a New England home on 168…
Perfect for birthday parties, graduation parties, family reunions and more, large group shelters are available in eight of the Centerville-Washington Park District community parks. Reservations for the 2026 calendar year may be made beginning at noon on Friday, January 2. …
Parents sending their kids out to explore the meadows and woods of Greene and Montgomery Counties can take comfort that we don’t have alligators, mountain lions, or poisonous snakes. But still, there are a few natural hazards out there. Among…
It’s November, and Ohio’s migratory summer-breeding birds have left the state. That list of migrants includes the turkey vulture, which, as recently as a few decades ago, was southwest Ohio’s only vulture species. November used to be the beginning of…
It’s probably fair to say that, despite our fondness and admiration for the title character from Charlotte’s Web, most people are happy to keep spiders at a distance for most of the year. But now it’s October, and, for a…
There’s no mistaking a praying mantis! Praying mantises are named for the front-facing, folded forelegs that give the appearance of an animal in prayer. Really, though, the series of spikes along those “arms”, along with their lightning-fast movements, are a…