WORTHINGTON -- As of Monday afternoon, Wednesday’s weather forecast called for high temperatures in the low 80s and a mere 10 percent chance of rain.
In other words, it sounds like a perfect day for an ice cream.
Hospice Cottage Inc. of Worthington will host its first-ever open house and ice cream event from 5 to 7 p.m. at the cottage, located on Woodland Court. Because of ongoing road construction, people planning to attend should turn off South Shore Drive on Knollwood Drive, then turn right on Woodland Court.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dan Krueger, who owns and operates Ideal Landscape & Design and serves as president of the Hospice Cottage Board of Directors, said the event is an opportunity to show off additions and enhancements that have been made to the property’s grounds.
“The reason we’re going to have it is there has been a lot of money spent on the trail system,” Krueger said Monday. “The idea behind the trail is that it’s a spot for people to go outside and connect with the outdoors -- either the people staying here, or their family and friends.”
Krueger said work on the trail has been ongoing for three years, and the walkway now has multiple highlights.
“One site has … benches and a table, as well as a gas fireplace that is functional and also some low-voltage lighting,” he explained. “The backdrop to it has established trees; it’s a wooded area that has a serene feeling to it.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Ambling along the trail from there, one will encounter an area that Krueger said is “supposed to pick up on emotions and memories from old farm places,” as a swing hangs from a four-post structure. Other benches are “lined up sporadically along the trail, in shaded areas and out in the open,” added Krueger, so that people walking along the trail and sit and rest on multiple occasions.
The goal for Wednesday is an inside and out tour at Hospice Cottage, Kruger said, though the doors to the facility will not be opened if it’s full with people. And, fittingly for a pleasant summer’s day, there will be ice cream for refreshments.
“There will be a free-will donation spot, but this is more just showing off what we have,” Krueger said. “My goal is not have this be a fundraiser as much as be about giving back to all the donors, because this whole trail wouldn’t be possible without everything they’ve given. It’s for everyone in the community to come and look at.”
The Hospice Cottage already has two established fundraisers hosted annually -- a dinner event in the spring and a Christmas House Walk that usually takes place in late November.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We reaIly just want to show what has been accomplished with all the money that has given over the past few years,” Krueger said.
