The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Candy Land Has Gone WILD! opens
If Mr. Jingeling, “Keeper of the Keys” to Santa’s workshop and local icon, isn’t recognized by most kids visiting Penitentiary Glen Reservation’s popular holiday exhibit, Candy Land Has Gone WILD! it’ll serve as an additional educational opportunity for parents, and, honestly, maybe even grandparents, to share the traditional regional story with them.
This year, the annual exhibit highlights Mr. Jingeling and Halle Department Store’s 7th Floor holiday memorabilia. And the connection is natural, as the property and nature center building in Kirtland were once part of the Halle family estate.
“We’ve changed things up from years earlier with this reboot of the game,” said Chief of Interpretive Services Dan Burnett. “This year, we’re bringing back the key. Mr. Jingeling would give kids paper keys, and we used to do it here, but now we call it ‘key to nature.’ It’s a metaphor for all the things you can do here. It’s basically organized chaos.”
Beginning from noon to 5 p.m. Nov. 18, Lake Metroparks will once again open its virtual version of the classic Hasbro game, but, of course, with a unique nature twist. As visitors draw a card, they become the game piece and move along the life-sized game board from space to space.
As they play along, they are taken through the colorfully decorated wonderland, where they can discover the many natural wonders nature gives throughout the year.
Candy Land Has Gone WILD! is free for all ages and runs through Jan. 1. The exhibit will be closed on T hank sg iv ing and Christmas Day, and will be open until 1 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.
In addition to the festive display, visitors can enjoy additional hands-on activities both indoors and out.
“We’ve added a Candy Land interactive scavenger hunt, too, in Nature Play,” Burnett said, refer- ring to the park’s new all natural outdoor play area. “We want them to get out and go play, to connect to nature. Everything ties to that.”
Visitors also can enjoy making crafts, “s’morenaments” and completing seasonal activity pages. The Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Center animal rehabilitation facility also will be open for families to meet native Ohio wildlife up close, including a red fox, a bald eagle and many other birds of prey.
Adults and children also can embark on adventurous walks through the park on snowshoes (rentals available through the season with at least 4 inches of snow, weather permitting).
More than 8.5 miles of hiking trails can also be explored.