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Get Connected Tech Tip: Customize Your Communication Preferences - You're in Control!

Are you receiving too many or too few communications from us? Did you know you can customize your communication preferences in your Get Connected volunteer account? YOU are in control.

Staff Lead Highlight: Shelby Shaw, Events Specialist - Connecting People to Nature, One Experience at a Time

Since joining Five Rivers MetroParks in 2022, Shelby Shaw has worn many hats! She started as lead at RiverScape's concessions stand, moved into a part-time Recreation Specialist role, then worked as a full-time Visitor Services Representative, before finally landing in her current role as Events Specialist on the Outdoor Recreation team which she's held since October of last year. Her journey has been shaped by a passion for connecting people with the outdoors and fostering community through shared experiences.

Volunteer Appreciation: Thank You Small Farm & Food Fest Volunteers!

Thank you to all our incredible volunteers who helped make the Small Farm & Food Fest at Carriage Hill MetroPark a wonderful success! Each year this event gets bigger and better, and this year we saw 4,000 people come and enjoy this annual event.

Try Volunteering with Tatum: Hills & Dales Workday

Try Volunteering with Tatum: Program Support - Textile & Fiber Arts

Five Rivers MetroParks Volunteer Newsletter - August 2025

FEATURE: 2024 FRMP Annual Report - Getting a Jump on Pervasive Invasives

As a conservation agency, protecting natural spaces is at the heart of MetroParks' mission. While all MetroParks staff have a hand in protecting the region's natural heritage, the agency's conservation team is responsible for studying, researching, planning, providing guidance, and often doing the hands-on work necessary to protect - and often restore - precious habitats.

Summer Safety Tip: Be Tick Smart

It is tick season! Let's take a look at some prevention techniques to be tick smart through this summer season. The best way to prevent tickborne diseases like Lyme Disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, is to prevent tick bites. In Ohio, tickborne illness are most often transmitted between early spring and late fall since ticks are most active during warmer months.

August Volunteer Opportunities: Beat the Heat with Indoor Opportunities this Month! Plus, Volunteers Needed for Events, Trail Workdays and More!

August may be called the Dog Days of Summer, but we're helping to keep our volunteers cool this month with a variety of indoor opportunities like 2nd Street Market Ambassador, Textile Workdays, and Beer Sales and Support.  Plenty of outdoor opportunities are still available and your support is needed in our gardens and on the trails, as well as at our special events. Cool down from the heat with a frozen fruit popsicle from our Summer Care Campaign.

Volunteer Spotlight: Ellen Eveland - Historic Interpreter, Textile Demonstrator, and Helper Extraordinaire!

Growing up in Illinois, Ellen Eveland's parents took her on family camping vacations from coast to coast, visiting historic sites along the way and sparking her interest in living history. She fondly remembers bringing her children to Carriage Hill MetroPark in the 1980's and 1990's for Christmas on the Farm, participating in scouting opportunities, hiking the trails, visiting farmers in the barn, and exploring the endless possibilities for fun and adventure on a historic farm. She knew then that she would someday become a volunteer. Fast forward to summer of 2022, when they visited the park to see the steam engine and ended up spending several hours chatting with the historic interpreters in the house - At that momen

Get Connected Tech Tip: Customize Your Volunteer Experience

Volunteers like you think about community engagement in diverse ways and Get Connected empowers you to find the perfect fit for your skills and passions. Did you know that by adding your skills and interests and fanning volunteer positions, you'll receive tailored suggestions that align perfectly with what you care about?

Volunteer Appreciation: Thank you, Mud Day Volunteers! Plus, Summer Care Campaign is ON; and Help Your Staff Lead Win BIG with Staff Lead Bingo!

We recently celebrated International Mud Day at Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark, and each year more and more people attend with family, friends, or just by themselves to enjoy being outside and the fun of playing in the dirt. Our volunteers helped get people excited and creative, and even helped them get cleaned up after their muddy adventures.