Blue Week 2020- Virtual Exploration

*To maintain the health and safety of our partners and supporters Blue Week 2020 events will be held virtually.

May 11-17

Each May, the partners of the Green Ribbon Initiative assemble a wide array of programs to encourage people to get out into the amazing region that we have right here in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. This globally unique region is home to a wide variety of plants and animals such as wild blue lupine, Karner blue butterflies, blue spotted salamanders, big and little bluestem, blueberries, bluebirds, blue racers and much, much more. The programs offered each year are assembled to encourage people to get out and explore the region and inform them of how diverse and important the region is.

2020 Event Recordings

We have an exciting schedule of events that includes presentations from local experts and researchers, live wildflower tours and animal time, Q&A sessions with native plant experts, crafts for kids and more. Full Schedule here

RECORDINGS

Designing Your Native Garden (Sunday)

Designing Your Native Garden (Saturday)

Birds Falling Out of the Sky

 Ecological Restoration of an Urban Park

 Bats of Northwest Ohio

 Globally Rare in Your Backyard

 A Walk with Aldo Leopold

Breeding Raptors in the Oak Openings

Butterfly Garden for Kids

Pollinator Gardens

DIY Adventures and Prizes!

Participate in one of the following GRI Blue Week games for a chance to win a Green Ribbon Initiative T-shirt. Double your chances by completing both challenges! Submit your entries to oakopenings@tnc.org by 11:59 pm on May 18th to be entered into the raffle. 10 winners will be announced on May 20th. Print Adventures Here

Photo Scavenger Hunt:

Visit 8 of any of the parks or preserves in the Oak Openings Region during Blue Week and take a selfie of you with the following Oak Openings icons. Put all of your photos on one document with the date and location of each and send it to oakopenings@tnc.org for a chance to win Oak Openings gear.  **Please be respectful of nature while participating and stay on designated trails.

• A big sprawling oak tree alone in a field
• Your footprint in the sand
• A Lupine background
• A vernal pond or wetland
• Any wildlife that you can
• A budding shrub or tree
• On a bridge
• On your favorite trail
• With your favorite Oak Openings Region icon

Did You know? Fact Finding Fun:

Visit 8 of 11 participating parks during Blue Week and read the fun fact about a special Oak Openings species. Fill out this Form and submit it to oakopenings@tnc.org for a chance to win an Oak Openings gear.

• Participating parks/preserves include: Pat and Clint Mauk’s Prairie, WW Knight Preserve, Irwin State Nature Preserve, Oak Openings Metropark, Secor Metropark, Kitty Todd Preserve, Sylvan Prairie Park, Olander Park, Ansted Park, Crosswinds Marsh, Sibley Prairie Nature Preserve-West Rd.

Sponsor our Blue Week events.

%MCEPASTEBIN%%MCEPASTEBIN%