Snowboarding

Hike approx 4.0 miles at approx. 18 minute mile pace. Meet in front of the Nature Center.

The market has changed—and pretending it hasn’t is expensive. At our **January COREE meeting**, learn the real strategies local investors are using to stay profitable, reduce risk, and avoid the mistakes that are causing others to quit. PLUS: A critical update on the **new Ohio wholesale law** and how it affects you. ⚠️ RSVP on Meetup does **NOT** register you. 👉 You must register at **[www.COREERocks.com](http://www.COREERocks.com)**

Join us as we get the New Year started with one of the best films of the year: THE SECRET AGENT! This political thriller from Brazil is set in 1977 where a man flees from a mysterious past and returns to his hometown but soon finds the city is far from being the refuge he seeks. Here’s a description, trailer and plan for this event: DESCRIPTION: In 1977, a former professor flees from a mysterious past and returns to his hometown of Recife in search of peace. He soon realizes that the city is far from being the refuge he seeks. The film stars Wagner Moura, Carlos Francisco, Tânia Maria, Robério Diógenes, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Gabriel Leone and Udo Kier in his final film role. TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UfrzDKrhEc BUZZ & ACCLAIM: The Secret Agent was the most awarded film at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival where it won Best Actor for Wagner Moura, Best Director for Mendonça Filho, the Art House Cinema Award and the FIPRESCI Prize. At this year’s Golden Globes, it became Brazil’s first film ever to be nominated for Best Film (Drama)! It also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Film, a Best Actor nomination for Wagner Moura and was selected as Brazil’s entry for Best International Film at this year’s Academy Awards. The film is receiving an incredible 99% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes where critics say, its “compelling script, impeccable acting, and striking 1970s aesthetic” make it “impossible to look away!” Critics say The Secret Agent is “one of the few standout movies of the year” and the Chicago Tribune calls it a “masterpiece of a film” and “the best film of the year!” PARKING: Close, convenient parking is available in the nearby garage (located between 9th and 11th, just off High St). Bring your ticket with you and have it validated at the theater and for $2, you’re covered for the night! PLAN: Details for this event have been confirmed! A bit of a good news/bad news situation with the showtime. I was afraid it may disappear before we got a chance to see it! Its down to one showing at one theater. Showtime is a little early but if you can make it work, I think it’ll be worth our while! Please purchase your ticket for the 4:45pm showing at we’ll meet in the upstairs lobby between 4:25 and 4:35pm! At this time, tickets available via the Gateway website only! Advance purchase is advised! Once you have yours please list your seat number in the Comments below. Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you there, Dan

Skiing and Cheesecake go together...right? We meet at Snow Trails at 10am for a "training day" of fun on the slopes. An easy day of skiing for with good weather projected. We'll meet at the base by left Mt. Mansfield lift and do some slow laps. Then venture around the slope. Lunch will be at 1pm inside. If you are a beginner or intermediate, consider an adult ski lesson. It is less expensive to get your gear at Colorado Mountain Sports in Hilliard or Aspen Ski at the Polaris Mall, than at the resort. About 3-3:30 pm will travel to Belleville to the Wishmaker B&B and restaurant for a slice of their renown cheesecake and their in-house dessert wine.

Join us at Highbanks for sledding, snacks, hot cocoa, and nature 🛷🌲🌈 Bring your own sled. No snow? We’ll enjoy the nearby trails together instead. This event is dog and kid-friendly and accessible to wheeled aids. [Please register here for more details closer to the event ](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScn3P7WpBONMJXiL6v_KrVGj688NLtmeUl81rIMt_6GHe8jEQ/viewform?usp=preview)

Join us at Easton Town Center for a casual evening of board gaming. Play from our library or bring one of your favorites to share. We usually bring along Catan, Ticket to Ride, Cascadia, etc... We'll be set up at the Donatos Pizza Party Room. It was free for us to reserve, but you may want to buy a drink or go in on a pizza. Why Easton? Although there aren't any board game stores / cafes here, it's a nice area. More importantly, this event coincides with LifeTime Fitness Parent's Night Out, so our kid will get babysat. If you happen to be a member of Lifetime you too can get free babysitting and play some games.

######## NEW LOCATION ####### We are going to be at The Forge on Bethel Rd this week and until further notice! The Forge does have a full bar and kitchen. There is no cover charge but they do request all attendees to purchase a minimum of ~$20 per person. Soft drink refills are $1 each. Please support our hosts so we can continue to provide great events for the group! The Forge has a large library of games available for us to enjoy. Hosts and regulars will also provide numerous popular games but please bring any games you would like to teach and/or play. Doors open at 6, and we expect gaming to be rolling by around 630. Please promptly end your games and clear out the space at 10pm when the bar closes. We encourage socializing but do not permit disruptive behavior of any kind. Thank you for your continued commitment to providing a fun and welcoming space to veteran, newbie, and rookie gamers in the Columbus area! Parking can be challenging. There is a parking lot behind the building that is free and easy to walk from but it's a bit hidden.

**TRY AN OLYMPIC SPORT IN A FUN, BEGINNER-FOCUSED CLINIC!** Enjoy 15 minutes of off-ice basics, 50 minutes learning to sweep and deliver stones, then play a couple of ends with your group. Afterward, join us in the warm room for broomstacking (socializing) with your teammates and opponents. Limited spots available. **What to wear:** Clean rubber soled tennis shoes (required), loose/stretchy clothing (no jeans), and warm layers - ice ranges 32-40 degrees F. ***\*\*\*\*\*Ski Club Membership required for this event!\*\*\*\*\**** [Home - Columbus Ski Club](https://www.columbusskiclub.org/) Once membership is established - follow below link to sign up for Curling: [Curling Clinic - Begin to Curl - Calendar - Columbus Ski Club](https://www.columbusskiclub.org/content.aspx?page_id=4091&club_id=686961&item_id=2793520)

Join us at the Pickerington Public Library for an afternoon board game party. This all ages event will meet in the front meeting room, with kids games and light/medium weight adult games for the grown ups. Come and make new friends while playing some favorites like Uno, Carcasonne, Catan, Ticket to Ride, or whatever your favorite games are! You can bring snacks to this room, and can check out games from the library's game collection.

*GOhio!* turns 8!! 🥳 Come celebrate with us at [Pins Mechanical](https://www.pinsbar.com/locations/easton)! 😄 **Summary** Pins Mechanical Co. is a social entertainment venue that combines old-school games like duckpin bowling, pinball, and other classic arcade and table games with craft cocktails, local beers, and punch. The vintage-industrial atmosphere is designed for playful, face-to-face gatherings with friends, family, and colleagues, offering a casual and lively alternative to a typical bar. Pins' Easton location spans over 38,000 square feet, making it the largest in the United States. This massive entertainment venue features two floors, a mezzanine level with stadium seating, and three full-service bars. It offers 16 duckpin bowling lanes, two indoor bocce courts, and more than 60 classic and modern pinball and arcade games. For additional fun, the location is known for its two outdoor patios, an indoor slide, and an expanded patio pong setup. **Activities** As noted below, some machines take actual quarters. Pins has two change machines (one downstairs and one upstairs) that accept ones, fives, or tens (only), and return quarters (only). * *Duckpin Bowling* [Like Bowling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duckpin_bowling) but with smaller balls, stubby pins, and no oil on the lanes. The cost is $9 per game per person. * *Pinball* [Who](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Who)'s a [wizard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball_Wizard) on these [retro machines](https://pinballmap.com/map/?by_location_id=15311)? At $1 per play, everyone! Takes quarters. * *Arcade* Play classics like Gorf, Pac-Man, Gorf, Donkey Kong, Gorf, Galaga, and Gorf! The best part is, there's Gorf! And all the arcade games are free! * *Patio Pong* The classic college party staple but bigger. Instead of tossing a ping pong ball into cups, you use a regular ball and oversized buckets. There are two of these upstairs, and they're both free! * *Ping Pong* The most popular sport in China! They have two ping pong tables downstairs and two more ping pong tables upstairs. For those of you who have studied topological spaces and set theory, you will know this means they have four total ping pong tables. They have bubble gum dispensers with ping pong balls in them for 25¢ each. The dispensers take quarters. However, they also have racks where they store the ping pong paddles, and in these racks are slots for ping pong balls. It's not uncommon to see balls already here, so there's a chance you may be able to play ping pong for free if you want to. * *Hookie* You can't put your eye out! The safe alternative to darts: Hook thrown rings on a board. Outdoors on the upstairs patio, and free! * *Bocce* Like bowling, except there’s turf and a lot more balls. You can also knock your opponent’s balls out of the way. There are two of these upstairs, and they're both free! * *Foosball* Everyone loves [foosball](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_football)! 50¢ a game. Takes quarters. * *Giant Jenga* Stack massive wooden blocks into a tower, then take turns pulling out one block at a time without collapsing the tower. There are four of these sprinkled throughout the venue (two downstairs and two upstairs, with one on each patio), and they're all free! * *Skeeball* There are three skeeball machines on the first floor (near the Gorf machine!), and they're all free! * *Giant Connect Four* On the outdoor patio upstairs, and free! * *Bubble Hockey* This is upstairs. Up to four people can play at once, and it costs $1. Takes quarters. * *Cornhole* There are two cornhole lanes upstairs, and they're both free! * *Basketball* There are two basketball machines downstairs. They're tucked behind the downstairs bar, so they're not always obvious unless you go look for them. They're $2 per play, and they take quarters. * *NES and Sega Genesis video games* These are collections, downstairs (near the Gorf machine!), of video games that you can play for free! * *The Big Metal Indoor Slide* This large two-story slide is for kids, and certainly no adults would ride this. After all, it's not like it's free or anything. **Outdoor Patio** Pins at Easton actually has two outdoor patios. But for our purposes, only the upstairs one matters. See, it will be winter and likely cold. But their upstairs patio has multiple ceiling heaters and two massive gas fire pits that put out a ton of heat. Sitting out here may be a real option. As mentioned above, the upstairs outdoor patio has one of the venue's two Patio Pong setups, one of their multiple Giant Jengas, the Giant Connect Four, and Hookie. **Food** Pins doesn't serve food, but there's a [Mikey's Late Night Slice](https://www.latenightslice.com/) next door. This Mikey's is basically an extension of the Easton Pins; there's a large open doorway between both establishments. Mikey's has a fountain dispenser with Coke products. You can also get Coke and Diet Coke (but not Coke Zero, like you can at Mikey's) at the bars in Pins, but I think the quality of the soda pop from Mikey's fountain is better than that from the bar hoses Pins uses to dispense soft drinks. You are also quite allowed at Pins to either bring food in or order it in via your favorite delivery app. **Parking** I recommend parking in the [Worth Garage](https://eastontowncenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/parking-at-easton-updated-file-sept-25.pdf). It's literally right next door to Pins, and it's free as long as you park on Level 2 or above. They recently started charging people to park on Level 1, and you pay for parking on this level the same way you pay for street parking in Columbus, with the [ParkColumbus](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.parkmobile.parkcolumbus&hl=en_US&pli=1) app. I've seen them enforce this by ticketing people's cars, but I don't know how they actually compel payment. The garage is not a public street that actual cops can write you tickets for parking illegally on. If you have an actual ticket from a cop that you don't pay, they can go so far as to issue a warrant for your arrest. But all Easton has, seemingly, is, "[Please pay our ticket](https://eastonpreferredpark.com/)." Still, in my ongoing efforts to eliminate needless stress and aggravation from my life, I just park above the first Level. The actual address of the garage is [4049 Worth Ave, Columbus, OH 43219](https://www.google.com/maps/place/4049+Worth+Ave,+Columbus,+OH+43219/@40.0542293,-82.9137962,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x88388a86de3af559:0xc1dc8b4661fc834f!8m2!3d40.0542293!4d-82.9137962!16s%2Fg%2F11sgzjp4ml?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkyNC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D). However, your GPS is stupid. The actual entrances to the garage are on the cross steets Brighton Rose Way and Fenlon St, not Worth Ave. Just keep this in mind once you get to the garage. **Where we'll meet** I'll post in the comments where I am. People will obviously want to explore different areas of the venue over the course of the event (and there's a lot to explore), but please just let me know (as in, come find me) once you've arrived. **Peroration** Come on out and say hi! 😄

**History** [Blacklick Woods Metro Park](https://www.metroparks.net/parks-and-trails/blacklick-woods/), established in 1949, holds the distinction of being the first Columbus Metro Park. Its creation stemmed from a post-World War II push to preserve natural areas amid rapid suburban growth. The land, originally farmland and woodlots along Blacklick Creek, was acquired by the Columbus Metropolitan Park Board through donations and purchases. Early efforts focused on basic trail development and reforestation to combat erosion. The park's name derives from the creek, which early settlers called "Black Lick" due to its dark, mineral-rich waters. By the 1950s, it served as a model for the expanding Metro Parks system. In the 1960s, Blacklick Woods expanded significantly with additional land acquisitions, reaching over 600 acres. A golf course was added in 1964, one of the first public courses in the region, designed to generate revenue for park maintenance. Native American artifacts, including arrowheads from the Adena culture, were discovered during construction, highlighting the area's prehistoric use as hunting grounds. The park introduced interpretive programs to educate visitors on local ecology and history. Flood control measures along the creek became a priority after heavy rains caused damage. These developments solidified its role as a recreational hub. The 1970s and 1980s brought environmental awareness, leading to habitat restoration projects at Blacklick Woods. Invasive species were removed, and native wildflowers were planted in the meadows. A nature center opened in 1976, featuring exhibits on wetlands and forests. The park's slate-covered bridge, a remnant of 19th-century infrastructure, was preserved as a historic feature. Birdwatching gained popularity with the addition of observation decks. Community volunteers played a key role in trail maintenance and cleanups. During the 1990s, Blacklick Woods underwent major upgrades, including paved multi-use trails for biking and hiking. The Walter A. Tucker Nature Preserve, a 53-acre old-growth forest within the park, was dedicated in 1995 to protect rare beech-maple woodlands. Educational partnerships with local schools introduced field trips on topics like stream ecology. The golf course was renovated to improve playability while minimizing environmental impact. Annual events, such as the fall festival, drew thousands to celebrate the park's natural beauty. These enhancements balanced recreation with conservation. In the 21st century, Blacklick Woods has adapted to increasing visitation with sustainable practices. Solar panels were installed at facilities in the 2010s to reduce energy costs. The park now spans 643 acres, offering diverse habitats from wetlands to uplands. Recent initiatives include pollinator gardens and prescribed burns to maintain prairie areas. It remains a flagship for the Metro Parks, inspiring similar preservations system-wide. Ongoing archaeological surveys continue to uncover traces of early inhabitants. **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 the easier hikes that we do. **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. We'll meet near these restrooms. Speaking of the [Canopy Walk](https://www.metroparks.net/blog/canopy-walk-is-your-gateway-to-the-sky/), it's not officially part of the event this time. However, if interested people want to freelance and check it out after the hike (before heading to the brewery), that's okay. **After the Hike** After we're done with the trails, we'll head to [Prost Beer & Wine Café](https://prostcafe.com/) for drinks and [food](https://prostcafe.com/reynoldsburg-prost-beer-and-wine-cafe-food-menu). The actual address of the brewery is [7354 E Main St, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068](https://www.google.com/maps/place/7354+E+Main+St,+Reynoldsburg,+OH+43068/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x8838648cfb8d2dbb:0x545274bab130e9bb?sa=X&ved=1t:242&ictx=111), and we should be there by 5:00 if you just want to do that and skip the hike.

CHANGED to WEDNESDAYS COLUMBUS RECREATION CENTERS require membership fee to play. Register & Pay at the desk when you arrive. $5 day pass is available. I have some extra pickle ball paddles and balls if you don’t have one. Definitely bring your own paddle if you have one and bring some balls if you have them. Legal Stuff: The event hosts/Organizers are just fellow member volunteers. By participating in any event, you assume all risks of liability and injury inherent in these activities. You are responsible for your own safety and for determining if you are in condition fit to participate. You are also responsible for knowing and abiding by all laws and rules during your participation in any event.
 Photos & or Video: by attending these events you acknowledge photos and or video may be taken and used on this and other platforms.