After Covid-19 struck the U.S. in March 2020, the subsequent lockdown and social distancing protocols left many Americans stranded at home. But that didn’t stop one group of Portage Park District Foundation board members from getting together every week to enjoy the many parks Portage County has to offer.
Although the goal of the Covid-19 lockdown was to separate people, it did just the opposite for this group of friends. It brought them closer together, and, now, four years later, they’re still meeting up for walks with tailgate parties afterward.
A month before the lockdown, Portage Park District Foundation trustees Jane Preston Rose and long-time friend and fellow board member Nancy Stillwagon proposed to the other members the idea of a weekly walk. The idea was to get to know the parks system better, as well as to socialize and to get some exercise.
It was then that their group began to take form.
The following month, the pandemic struck and the lockdown took effect, but that didn’t stop them from carrying out their plans.
“So, at a board meeting we said, ‘Does anybody want to walk with us,’ and one fellow did, and that was David Dix,” Preston Rose said. “Then we started walking and David’s wife [Janet] joined us. Later, we were interested in the continental divide up on the Headwaters Trail and we had another board member who knew about it, so she joined us along with her husband and Nancy [Stillwagon], so there are eight of us, and it just kind of evolved.”
The group also includes Beth Buchanan, her husband Bob Heath, and Stillwagon’s husband, Jon Stein. Heath and Stein are not board members.
The first of their walks took place in March 2020 and continue on a weekly basis on Fridays at 4 p.m.
One of the group’s favorite parks is Trail Lake Park in Streetsboro and not just because of the scenic views. It’s accessible for people with disabilities, because the trail is paved around the perimeter of the lake.
“It’s paved all the way around and there’s stopping places for them,” George Rose said. “It’s got many views to see, too. It’s got old trees and woods you wouldn’t believe. It’s got a beaver dam in the back. It’s just very nice and it’s maintained. That’s why this park has become the most used.”
In the spring, the group makes a point to walk at Dix Park, because of the variety of early blooming flowers.
“That’s where we go in April to look at the trillium and the daffodils, and all of that,” Stillwagon said. “There’s some red trillium there; red trillium is kind of rare. There are marsh marigolds there, as well, and skunk cabbage. It’s a lowland, so plants that like dampness thrive there.
“There are certain parks that we like to go to during certain parts of the year, because they offer unusual things that the other parks don’t offer.”
After a good rain, the group sometimes walks at Headwaters Trail to see Portage County’s continental watershed divide, where the Cuyahoga River Watershed drains to Lake Erie, then out to the Atlantic Ocean, and where the Mahoning River Watershed drains to the Ohio River, into the Mississippi River and then into the Gulf of Mexico.
The park excursions often concluded with a tailgate party, where refreshments were served and socializing took place.
“We would have a little tailgate after each walk,” Preston Rose said. “We even did that in the winter. It would be freezing out and we would have a tailgate and have a little social time after our walk. Then one time it was just too cold, so we went to somebody’s garage and put the chairs far apart and had our tailgate there, and it just kinda worked out.”
Pandemic stay-at-home orders began in the San Francisco Bay area on March 16, 2020, eventually spreading to every state by April 3.
“The parks are the reason we had our sanity through 2020 and 2021,” Stillwagon said. “It was the only place we could go and meet as a group and have a social life. We couldn’t go to meetings, we couldn’t go to church groups, or whatever we do, we couldn’t go anywhere, but we could be outside, and we could be together, and I think it show’s how important the parks are, because we’re still together without Covid.”
The Portage Park District manages 2,700 acres and 17 miles of trails across 10 parks, with more in the works.
To access park maps, the events calendar, and for general inquiries, you can visit the Portage Park District’s website at https://www.portagecounty-oh.gov/portage-park-district.
