Overview:
The Our Waters event will return to Silver Lake Park on June 27, featuring outdoor activities, demonstrations and educational programs. The event will include a guided bird walk, fishing activities, tree-coring demonstration, pickleball clinic, scavenger hunts, and a search-and-rescue dog demonstration. New offerings include fitness station demonstrations and a water rescue demonstration.
ATHOL – The Our Waters event will return to Silver Lake Park on June 27, bringing a variety of outdoor activities, demonstrations and educational programs.
The event, organized by Athol’s Open Space and Recreation Review Committee, will begin at 9 a.m. at Silver Lake Park. A rain date has been set for June 28.
“We hope to complete the full day’s worth of planned activities,” said Director of Planning and Community Development Eric Smith.
He said about 100 people attended last year’s event before weather forced organizers to cancel afternoon activities.
This year’s event will include a variety of returning activities and new demonstrations. Organizations expected to participate include the Athol Bird and Nature Club, MassWildlife, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Tully Dam, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust and the Town of Athol.
The day will begin with an early morning guided bird walk at 9 a.m. and an aquatic invertebrate workshop at 10 a.m., both hosted by the Athol Bird and Nature Club. Fishing activities will include angler education for children from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., fly-fishing demonstrations at 2 p.m. and advanced fishing instruction at 3 p.m.
Other scheduled activities include a tree-coring demonstration by Clarisse Hart of Harvard Forest at 11 a.m., a pickleball clinic from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a guided “Water is Water” StoryWalk at 3 p.m., scavenger hunts for both children and adults, and a returning search-and-rescue dog demonstration.
Among the new offerings are demonstrations of the Silver Lake Park Fitness Stations from noon to 3 p.m. and a water rescue demonstration by the Athol Fire Department at 11 a.m. The fitness station demonstrations will be led by Eagle Scout Dylan Wornham, who helped install the stations at the park.
Information about the history of Silver Lake and Silver Lake Park will also be available, along with educational materials about Athol’s public water supply.
Organizers have promoted the event through community calendars, newsletters and signage.
“We’re definitely doing a major blitz. I think we’re doing more promotion than we did last year,” Smith said during a recent planning meeting.
The Athol Lions Club will offer burgers and hot dogs, while Pops Sweet-Harts Ice Cream Truck and Red Apple Farm are also expected to participate.