Conservation Groups Near Me

A Garden of Compromises - A Native Habitat Journey, by Mark Pizzi (free)

Hosted by Wild Ones Columbus **A Garden of Compromises - A Native Habitat Journey, by Mark Pizzi** Saturday, September 26th, 2026 10:00 am to 12:00 pm (Eastern Time) Innis House (Inniswoods Metro Park) , 940 S. Hempstead Road, Westerville, OH Public Welcome , Program/Speaker Presentation Public Restroom, Free Public Parking Mark will share how he and his wife, Maria are transforming their traditional suburban property into a thriving native plant habitat while working within neighborhood and HOA expectations. Their front garden showcases native plants in a formal landscape, while their wooded backyard is evolving into a natural woodland oasis. Learn about their compromises, challenges, and rewards of gardening with natives in a suburban setting.

CONNECTED Westerville Mastermind Group

Join the CONNECTED Westerville Mastermind Group for a dynamic afternoon of B2B networking! This event is perfect for professionals looking to expand their business connections, share insights, and foster collaboration within the community. Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting out, this event offers a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas, build relationships, and grow your network in a supportive environment. Connect with like-minded individuals, explore potential partnerships, and discover new opportunities for professional growth. Don't miss out on this chance to enhance your business network and take your career to the next level with CONNECTED Westerville Mastermind Group! We meet the 4th Monday of every month from 11am-1pm. Welcome and general networking from 11am - 11:30am with core meeting 11;30 - 12:30 and a final round of networking from 12:30 - 1pm.

Tour Rumple Recycling Center, take a walk, and dine at Scotty's Cafe!

This will be a very cool event! We will start with a tour of the Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center, the largest and most technically advanced recycling center in North America. The tour starts at 9 am so plan on arriving a few minutes early so our group can convene. There may be a few other people on our tour, which lasts an hour. From there we'll go to Nelson Park, which is about 1.4 miles from Rumpke, has parking and sits directly on Alum Creek Trail (which is paved). We'll walk about 3 miles (out and back) on Alum Creek and then head to Scotty's Cafe for lunch. Closed toe shoes with backs are required. https://www.rumpke.com/about-us/service-areas/oh/franklin-county/columbus/recycling-resource-center https://scottys-cafe.menu-world.com/#about Address: Nelson Park, 430 N. Nelson Rd., Columbus, OH Address: Scotty's Cafe, 2980 East Broad St., Columbus, OH

Westerville Queer Coffee Meetup

WQC has weekly Thursday night social nights at the Westerville Java Central. Come and grab a coffee and connect with the community: low stakes, chill environment, and tasty drinks. No registration is required; come as you are.

Trails & Ales! Blacklick Woods Metro Park / Eastside Brewing Co

**History** The deep indigenous history of the land comprising [Blacklick Woods Metro Park](https://www.metroparks.net/parks-and-trails/blacklick-woods/) came to light in stages, beginning with a major discovery during the park's mid-century expansion. In 1961, the park district acquired a 100-acre parcel of land where a previous owner had stripped away topsoil and gravel from a five-acre section. Beneath the surface, workers uncovered 16 ancient fire rings buried roughly 30 inches underground. The park district promptly invited Dr. Raymond S. Baby, the respected Curator of Archaeology at the Ohio State Museum, to evaluate the site. After a thorough review, Dr. Baby confirmed the authenticity of the find and determined that the fire rings were the unmistakable remnants of a prehistoric Late Woodland period Indian village dating between AD 600 and AD 1200. This incredible area was proudly highlighted as the "Indian Village Site" on official Blacklick Woods park maps throughout the 1960s, anchoring the park's identity in Ohio's rich indigenous heritage. Decades later, the park's archaeological timeline expanded significantly when a completely separate, grander feature was discovered hidden just west of Blacklick Creek. In 2017, David Lamp, an eagle-eyed former archaeologist from Lancaster, was systematically analyzing historical aerial photographs kept by the USDA to locate undocumented native structures. While examining a photograph captured in 1954 -- back when the property was still a rural farm owned by the Ashton Lamp family -- he spied a massive, distinct dark circle. Because perfect circles are an extreme anomaly in the natural world, Lamp immediately recognized the shadow as the footprint of a forgotten indigenous monument. Before the land became a protected park, decades of heavy agricultural plowing and livestock grazing had flattened the ground, wearing the structure's physical height down to an easily overlooked 10 inches tall. To verify Lamp's incredible aerial find, a team from the Heartland Earthworks Conservancy partnered with park staff to clear away dense brush and trees covering the site. Renowned volunteer archaeologist Jarrod Burks led a sophisticated geophysical survey on September 24, 2017, inviting the public to watch the science unfold in real time. Burks pulled an array of highly sensitive magnetometers across the soil, measuring minuscule variations in the ground's magnetic content. Because topsoil holds a higher magnetic signature than deeper substrate layers, the instruments clearly mapped a massive, ancient ditch that had filled with topsoil over centuries of erosion. This advanced technology produced a stunning, flawless digital visualization of a hidden prehistoric circular earthwork buried right beneath the feet of unsuspecting park hikers. The data collected by Burks revealed that the Blacklick Circle originally featured a three-to-five-foot earthen embankment pairing with a distinct interior ditch. The structure is estimated to have a total diameter of just under 100 feet, and the magnetic imaging perfectly captured the precise location of the circle’s original eastern entranceway. Archaeologists attribute this monumental construction to the ancient Adena or Hopewell cultures, pushing the park’s human history back roughly 2,000 to 2,200 years. While the Adena and Hopewell peoples are famous throughout the Ohio River valley for building giant burial mounds, circular enclosures like this one served distinct communal purposes. Because these earthworks do not contain human remains, they are understood to be highly sacred, carefully engineered gathering spaces for spiritual ceremonies and social alignment. Today, the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks system treats this miraculous discovery as a crown jewel of regional cultural heritage. Rather than excavating and disrupting the sacred ground, the park utilizes a creative technique known as interpretive mowing. By cutting the grass at strategic heights, rangers visually outline the exact contours and entrance of the ancient circle so visitors can appreciate its scale from the adjacent recreational trail. Educational signs and informative placards now stand near the site, teaching families about the advanced architectural and mathematical skills of the region's first inhabitants. The discovery stands as a powerful reminder that our local green spaces are not just nature preserves, but deeply sacred, historical landscapes that have drawn human communities together for millennia. **Map of the Park** Here is a [map of Blacklick Woods](https://www.metroparks.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/BLK-map-May-2025-with-extended-greenway_1980px.jpg). **Summary** For this event, we will hike about 4.5 miles by doing a couple loops of the Buttonbush, Tucker, Maple Loop, and Beech trails. Blacklick Woods is a very nice park, but it is generally flat and not strenuous, so this will be one of our easier hikes. **Where We'll Meet** Drive all the way to the back of the park to the parking lot that is nearest the Nature Center. There are restrooms here next to the [Canopy Walk](https://www.metroparks.net/parks-and-trails/blacklick-woods/#canopy-walk). We'll meet near these restrooms. **After the Hike** Afterward, we'll head over to [Eastside Brewing Co](https://www.eastsidebrewingco.com/) for drinks and [food](https://www.facebook.com/p/Smash-N-Eatz-61578406199442/). The actual address of the brewery is [1421 Davidson Dr, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068](https://www.google.com/maps/place/1421+Davidson+Dr,+Reynoldsburg,+OH+43068/@39.9541807,-82.8056303,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x8838648e132b4655:0x9d9c1d48e854e09b!8m2!3d39.9541807!4d-82.8056303!16s%2Fg%2F11bw49sw7m?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDkxMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D). We should be there by 5 if you can't make the hike and just want to join us for drinks.

Take Control Of Your Life, Freedom From Negative Thoughts & Irrational Emotions

Feeling down? Sometimes depressed? Can't focus? Negativity & stress? Recent losses? Creativity in career and personal life hindered by mental blocks? Sometimes we never fully recover from traumatic experiences. Whether it was yesterday, last week or a year ago, traumatic experiences - a loss of a loved one, losing a job, a breakup - can leave you scarred. You talk about it and feel a little better, but it never goes away. After you hang up the phone, it's still there; the sadness, the cloud, the over-thinking, the worry, the guilt. You try to focus, but you're blocked. You try to look forward into new experiences, new relationships but a cloud is hanging over you, casting a shadow on what you once considered a bright, cheerful future. What happened to your courage? Your strength of character? You're 'why not' attitude? Whoever said 'time heals' must have had a special time machine, because after weeks, months, years, you're wondering - when exactly does that kick in? Sometimes it seems like drinking or drugs are the way to go. But they wear off, and now the problem is still there with added side effects from the drugs. At this free local Meetup event we will talk about: * What causes grief, anxiety and depression to become chronic. * Is it possible to regain your joy and happiness even after traumatic experiences? * How to break away from negativity and focus on the future * What are the steps to take to get control of your mind and your emotions? Learn about a safe, gentle, do-it-yourself counseling that can be done in the comfort of your own home. Let's explore safe, effective solutions for healing from traumatic experiences. Be sure to click on the red "Attend" button below to come to the event. We look forward to seeing you there. This group is sponsored by the Dianetics & Scientology Life Improvement Center.

Visit A.P.E.S. Primate Sanctuary, then hang out at NACHOFEST!

Meet at the American Primate Educational Sanctuary (A.P.E.S.), 8380 Kennedy Rd. Blacklick. $10 donation. A.P.E.S., the American Primate Educational Sanctuary, is a non-profit organization that cares for eight White-Handed Gibbons. Located in Blacklick, they house primates that were previously kept as household pets. They are committed to be protectors, conservationists, caregivers and educators for all primates, especially the Capuchin monkey and the endangered White-Handed Gibbon. [https://apesohio.weebly.com/](https://apesohio.weebly.com/) They ask for a $10 donation toward the care of the animals. When finished at A.P.E.S., we will head on over to Edison Brewery, 785 Science Blvd, Gahanna, for NACHOFEST (noon-6PM) for an afternoon of live music, community, and a celebration of the NACHO community. There are bands playing throughout the event, including the TBDBITL Alumni Band, Clintonville Community Jazz Band, NACHO Saxadillas, Cap City Funk, and the NACHO Street Band\*. The Taquitos Food Truck will be there. \*The NACHO Street Band is made up of Nationwide Children’s Hospital staff, family, and friends working to raise awareness and money for the hospital and the Ronald McDonald House of Central Ohio. Free to attend and donations can be made to our campaign for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Every dollar donated means 2 1/2 meals for those in need. So great music for a great cause, not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon! Links: A.P.E.S. [https://apesohio.weebly.com/](https://apesohio.weebly.com/) Edison Brewery [https://www.drinkedison.com/](https://www.drinkedison.com/) NACHO Street Band [https://www.facebook.com/NACHOStreetband/](https://www.facebook.com/NACHOStreetband/)

Dog Walk at Franklin Park Conservatory

Dog Walk - come enjoy the beautiful grounds at Franklin Park Conservatory with your dog! We’ll meet on the path near the entrance. Paths are paved and nicely maintained but sunny! The loop I take is approx. 2mi around. There are plenty of shortcuts back if that’s too far or we can take it twice if the dogs are up to it. Please keep all dogs leashed as per park rules, thanks!

Highbanks hike

📚 Quietly Thriving – Our Take on Silent Book Club 🌿

Columbus Mastering the Art of Aquatic Landscapes

We are getting together to talk shop and share techniques for building beautiful, healthy planted tanks. Whether you are currently struggling to balance your CO2 levels or you are looking for tips on hardscaping and plant placement, this session is meant to be an informal space to learn from one another. We will spend some time discussing the common challenges of aquascaping and how to create the specific aesthetic you are aiming for in your own setup. This gathering is for anyone who appreciates the craft of aquatic gardening, regardless of your skill level. The goal is to connect with other local enthusiasts, troubleshoot any issues you might be having with your current tank, and get some fresh inspiration for your next project. It is a great chance to swap advice and talk through the details that make a tank thrive. If you have been wanting to get more involved in the local hobby, please click the RSVP button so we can get a sense of how many people to expect.

Blendon Woods Hike

Meet at the Nature Center parking lot at Blendon Woods to hike the Sugarbush, Hickory Ridge, Overlook, and Brookside trails approximately 4 miles at 18 min/mile pace. Optional lunch if there is interest :)