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By Peter Osborne

Herald Contributor

Great Parks celebrated its urban oasis with the return of the Urban Thrive Festival on September 30, at the Great Parks Nature Center at the Summit in Roselawn.

The Urban Thrive Festival highlighted all the ways a community thrives, including interactions with nature, sustainable living, access to fresh foods, appreciation of the arts and the importance of mental well-being.

Guests learned about the Roselawn community garden, plant seeds, learned about composting and sample local produce. They interacted with farm animals, while enjoying music from local Cincinnati artists.

Great Parks also led an urban mini-hike around the wooded area and along the Mill Creek. Many community-focused organizations will also be at the festival to discuss the services they offer to local residents.

The Great Parks Nature Center at the Summit offers opportunities to connect with nature through nature-themed activities, live animal experiences and hands-on crafts. Located in the City of Cincinnati and within New Prospect Baptist Church at 1580 Summit Road, the Nature Center has programming and activities scheduled throughout the year.

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This year’s Pink and Powerful Walk was blessed with a gorgeous fall day for the folks at Hope Afloat to conduct their 3rd annual staging of the breast cancer awareness event.

Last year’s endeavor found Mother Nature in a bad mood as torrential rains pounded the intrepid souls who ventured out to show their fortitude and resolve despite the dreary weather conditions that presented themselves that day.

With crisp temperatures and clear blue skies in vogue this year, the registration table was working overtime to accommodate the slew of participants who wanted to show their support for the cause and march shoulder to shoulder with the breast cancer survivors who represent the Hope Afloat organization.

Upwards of 150 pink clad walkers could be seen making their way down the Ridge after embarking from the organizing pavilion at the Pearlman Sports Complex. Hope Afloat VP, Sabrina Nansteel-Bunt, and her fellow crew members ran a seamless operation, starting with arranging a spectacular day to setting up, cleaning up and all the little details in between to pull off a first-class event without a hitch.

In addition to generating revenue through registration fees, a sizable chunk of change also made its way into the tills through the outstanding array of donated goody-filled baskets and other contributions that were raffled off.

A few of the noteworthy donations came from Nan Glasgow, Patti Nansteel, Beth Mazur, Wawa, Giant, Manatawy Creek Winery, and Wegmans.

Nan Glasgow was also instrumental in making the abundance of signs with Pink awareness slogans that fellow members helped to decorate.

The wonderful scones that participants raved about and other mouth-watering delectables came courtesy of the fine folks at High Point Café.

For the record, I only took three scones …ok, maybe it was four!

The Hope Afloat organization is a dragon boat team of breast cancer survivors whose mission is to help each other reclaim healthy, joyful lives.

Dragon boat racing is derived from an ancient Chinese sport that has its origins to nearly 2,500 years ago.

Over the years it eventually made its way to the Western world.

Its popularity has risen to the point that many people across the globe believe it merits being an Olympic sport.

Hope Afloat can trace its roots to 2001 when they began competitive racing and are the oldest breast cancer survival team in Philadelphia.

They focus on having a good time while regaining and maintaining each member’s strength, stamina, emotional well-being, and overall health.

They engage in competition at many levels (regional, national, and international) and spread the word wherever they go inspiring other survivors to lead full and active lives.

Studies have proven that dragon boat racing can be an effective tool in reducing lymphedema in breast cancer survivors and that physical exertion and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, in general, can lower the risk of developing breast cancer and other diseases from the outset.

Hope Afloat members stress outreach to the community while raising awareness for screenings and self-examination as critical weapons in the fight against this dreaded affliction.

The group is a non-profit organization and are registered as a Pa. Charity. To learn more about the Hope Afloat team and their mission, visit www.HopeAfloatUSA.org.

Surfers, swimmers, free divers, artists, gardeners, naturalists and anyone else inspired by the great outdoors is being invited to participate in Becoming Nature, which is a SPAN Arts Love Stories to Nature commission run by local photographer and writer, Lou Luddington.

Becoming Nature will profile nine local Pembrokeshire nature lovers as they explore the power and meaning of people’s connection to the natural world, using photography, poetry and prose.  The aim is to capture how being in these places can open people’s hearts and provide them with a deep sense of wellbeing.

Lou Luddington is a nature photographer and writer whose work is inspired by the ocean and coastal environment.

With a PhD in marine biology Lou’s formal training is as an observer and scientist; knowing the life stories of the species and environments that she is immersed in helps her create visually compelling art works and write with a deep sense of connection and awe.

Her writing and images have featured in a wide range of national magazines and online publications, including Oceanographic, Finisterre’s The Broadcast, Yachting Monthly and the Do lectures blog.

She published her first book in 2019, Wondrous British Marine Life: a handbook for coastal explorers and held her first photographic exhibition, The Sea From Within, at the Bug Farm in St David’s, which showcased the incredible marine life of Pembrokeshire waters. This was a launch pad for making her images available as fine art prints. Her image Nature’s sculptures of marine invertebrate life growing on a rocky shore near Solva was highly commended in the British Wildlife Photography Awards in 2019.

“My idea for Love Stories to Nature is based around my belief that a collective shift towards ecological mindfulness is needed to protect and recover our natural environment and embrace the climate emergency,” she said.

“Our health and happiness is inextricably linked to the natural world and I aim to explore the power and meaning of this connection in Becoming Nature and capture how being in these places opens their hearts, provides nature therapy and a deep sense of belonging.”

By interviewing participants during the session Lou aims to capture the essence of their feelings and what their time in nature means to them in words. From this she will craft a Haiku poem as a distillation of an aspect of the session.

The final result will be a Love Story to Nature from each person, made up of a triptych of images plus accompanying poems and heart-centred captions. Lou will share her works at a launch event in January 2024.

Participants will be photographed and interviewed in a favourite local natural environment however the location need not be disclosed in the final sharing. Participation is voluntary for one half day during October or November. People will need transport to their chosen location but travel expenses can be covered by signing up to SPAN arts volunteer scheme.

Each participant will receive an 8 x 12 inch fine art print of your favourite image from the session or from Lou’s photo archives.

Applications should be sent to [email protected]

This year’s shortlist includes images of balancing otters, sunbathing sea lions, and other amusing critters

From a photogenic owl to a guitar-shredding kangaroo, animals are full of surprises.

The finalists for this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards — founded by photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam in 2015 — all have their own amusing talents. The annual photo competition’s shortlist, announced this week, features some of the silliest critters caught on camera, with 41 finalists picked from the thousands of entries into the 2023 contest.

The 2023 People’s Choice Award, sponsored by Affinity Photo, gives the photographers in the running a chance to take home £500 (approximately $600) and is even helping give back by supporting the U.K. conservationist charity, the Whitley Fund for Nature.

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This year, TV presenter Kate Humble and comedian Hugh Dennis will serve as judges alongside photographers Daisy Gilardini, Will Bullard-Lucas, and others. The overall winner will be announced on Nov. 23. A week-long safari trip to Kenya is among the prizes for the top photographer.

Last year’s winner was Jennifer Hadley with the photo “Not So Cat-Like Reflexes,” which featured a big cat dealing with a big problem!

“Through the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, we aim to widen understanding and engagement of a sustainable world – and wildlife conservation specifically – for the preservation of biodiversity and the health and enrichment of everyone on Earth,” a statement on the awards’ website reads.

Related: Finalists Announced in the 2023 Comedy Pet Photography Awards — See the Photos!

Look below for a selection of finalist photos, and check out the photography awards’ website to see all of this year’s finalists.

Sergey Savvi with “Scream”

Tzahi Finkelstein with “The Happy Turtle”

Dikla Gabriely with “Picture Me! Picture Me!!”

Vince Maiden with “Mona Lisa Smile”

Pratick Mondal with “Look At Right Bro…”

Thomas Vijayan with “Teddy Buddies”

Brigitte Alcalay-Marcon with “Ready Steady Go”

Danielle Goonan with “Part of Your World”

Christian Hargasser with “Hang Loose”

Brandi Romano with “Right of Way”

Otter Kwek with “Otter Ballerina”

Matti Rauvala with “Fake News!”

Jorn Vangoidtsenhoven with “Flossing Beaver”

Kawing Chiu with “Living the Moment”

Delphine Casimir with “The Rainforest Dandy”

Brigitte Alcalay-Marcon with “Just a Kiss”

Paul Goldstein with “Air Apparent”

Jacek Stankiewicz with “Dispute”

Lara Mathews with “Boing”

Jason Moore with “Air Guitar Roo”

Adrian Slazok with “Everyone Can Fly”

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