For immediate release Contact: Wendy Fox

May 23, 2007 617-626-1453

THE GREAT PARK PURSUIT CONTINUES

AT GREAT BROOK FARM

Events this Saturday include hayrides and milking a cow

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) continues its Great Park Pursuit series of games and adventures in the parks this Saturday with live music, storytelling, farm field games, beekeeping demonstrations, and more at Great Brook Farm State Park in Carlisle.

The Great Park Pursuit is taking place on six consecutive Saturdays, May 19 through June 23, in a different state park each week. Families and other teams earn points by participating in each event, and teams that participate in five out of the six weeks will be eligible to win grand prizes, such as camping and kayaking gear, donated by Eastern Mountain Sports.

On May 19, the first Great Park Pursuit event was at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton. Even on that chilly, rainy day, nearly 400 people participated and deemed the event a huge success. They met Scout, the search-and-rescue dog; played ball and hula hoop games in the field; took rides in all-terrain wheelchairs; toured the marsh around Houghton’s Pond; and learned compass and map-reading skills.

At Great Brook Farm, participants can compete in a three-legged race and an egg toss, learn to milk a cow, join a scavenger hunt on the farm, listen to music by Ol’ Cold Tater, and much more. Events run 11 a.m.-3 p.m., rain or shine.

The Great Park Pursuit is part of a larger, national campaign called No Child Left Inside, which encourages people, particularly families with children, to spend less time on sedentary pursuits like video games and television, and more time actively enjoying the great outdoors. With indoor, technology-based activities replacing more traditional outdoor play, experts warn that today’s children will be too disconnected from nature to appreciate their role as the environmental stewards of tomorrow. This, and the alarming rate of childhood obesity nationally and in Massachusetts, have environmentalists teaming up with health experts to promote more active, outdoor lifestyles.

The Great Park Pursuit involves families or teams that are defined as having at least one person 18 years or older and one person under 18. Teams can be parents with children, aunts and uncles with nieces and nephews, grandparents with grandchildren, neighborhood groups, school and church groups, even Boy Scout or Girl Scout troops. Participation is free, but teams must register to be eligible to win the prizes. Find more information and directions to Great Brook Farm at www.greatparkpursuit.org or call 617-626-1450.

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