Seneca Parks receives $125K toward nature center

TIFFIN — Seneca Parks has received a $125,000 grant from National Machinery Foundation toward construction of a nature center at Fruth Wetland. Executive Director Sarah Betts noted the donation in her report to the county park board during Tuesday's meeting. The park district has collected $746,000 of its $1.2 million goal, according to the website (www.senecacountyparks.com), which has a list of donors. Contributions continue to be accepted, and the ground-breaking will be planned when funding is in place. Donors giving $250 or more will be recognized on a permanent donor appreciation wall inside the nature education center. In the education report, this month's list of nature programming recipients included: Bellevue preschools (2), ECI, Fostoria city preschools (4), Fostoria YMCA, Great Lakes Community Action Partnership, GLCAP Fostoria (2), GLCAP Tiffin, Leadership Seneca County, Lincoln preschools (6), Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalists, Old Fort junior high and high school physical education, Seneca County Homeschoolers, Seneca East preschool (2), Seneca East third grade (3) and Wesley Center. Also, parents interested in started their preschooler in Out & About Preschool in spring should contact Linda Rose at Lrose@senecacountyparks.com. The operations crews reported a main focus over winter is cutting brush and removing invasive species. Work continues on rebuilding and replacing wooden storm windows in the house at Bowen Nature Preserve. The board's next meeting is at 9 a.m. Jan. 9 at the park office, 3362 S. TR 151, Tiffin.