Fall Family Festival Tomorrow

Breakheart Reservation offers a day of fun and educational activities for young and old

  The state Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) has big plans for the first of its kind Fall Family Festival, which gets underway tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 1) at 10 a.m. and lasts through 2 p.m. This free event will include ongoing lawn games, live snakes with the Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team, a petting zoo, music, a DCR Mounted Unit and family-oriented activities. Here are some of the highlights:

• Thirty minute shows by storyteller John Porcino: 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
• Twenty minute programs with live owls by Mass Audubon: 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 12:30 p.m., 1 p.m.
• Discover the park’s trees on a half mile guided walk: noon to 1 p.m.
• Relax with a Tai Chi lesson from State Representative Donald Wong: 1 to 2 p.m.

  Saugus Action Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE) is pleased to sponsor the following free educational program as part of Breakheart Reservation’s First Annual Fall Family Festival: Working together with our community partners, the Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) and the Friends of Breakheart, SAVE is excited to sponsor the program “Owl Encounter.” Mass Audubon will present five 20-minute sessions at Breakheart Reservation’s Christopher P. Dunne Visitor Center. You can attend one or more of these sessions to view local wildlife up close and personal, as well as learn more about these incredible animals.

  SAVE will sponsor an “It’s New To You” SWAP again this year at the Festival. The SWAP – an effort to help keep usable items out of the waste stream – will be held from 10 a.m. to 1:30 pm at the Visitor Center. The SWAP is part of SAVE’s continuing efforts to increase recycling by repurposing still usable goods and reducing what is put out as trash and incinerated.

  The SWAP is another free event – no money, just a simple swap. You can bring items or take items; you do not have to do both. Bring usable items in good condition to the SWAP (typically those things you no longer want but that are too good to throw away) and perhaps find a treasure or two to take home with you. (Please do not bring items that require special disposal.)

  For more information about the SWAP, please contact Ann at adevlin@aisle10.net. You can also visit the SAVE website at www.SaugusSave.org

  To help introduce visitors to the large variety of trees within Breakheart Reservation, SAVE and DCR will sponsor an ecological tree tour led by SAVE member Ryan Duggan. Meet at the Visitor Center at noon to join this easy tour.

  The Fall Family Festival will take place in and around the Visitor Center – rain or shine. Please wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather. Bring drinking water, sunscreen and insect repellent. Look for rangers who will assist with parking. Please observe all COVID protocols. Visit Mass.gov/COVID. Cosponsored by DCR, Saugus Cultural Council, Friends of Breakheart, SAVE and Trader Joe’s.