por Jay Wilson

On Saturday, May 16, acres of fun await everyone attending the annual Explore Mission Trails Day. This year’s theme is “Connecting with Nature.” The event offers great family-oriented activities, primarily at the Mission Trails Visitor Center and the East Fortuna Staging Area from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Whether you want to meet a raptor at the Visitor Center or climb a rock wall at the East Fortuna Staging Area, the park has over 100 volunteers and all the staff ready to welcome you and help you explore all that is Mission Trails.

Fun-filled activities include discovery stations, a children’s bicycle skills course, mini-guided nature walks, children’s pony rides (pony ride line closes at 1 p.m.) and more at the East Fortuna area. At the Visitor Center, the San Diego Natural History Museum and Scholastic Publishing’s Ms. Frizzle and “The Magic School Bus” will present a special program for children in the amphitheater at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. There will also be crafts, face painting, guided nature walks and other activities. Raptors of San Diego County will be on display from noon to 2 p.m. A free shuttle service will transport you from the Visitor Center to the East Fortuna Staging Area and back.

Explore Mission Trails Day is an opportunity to experience the fascinating treasures that make up the park, including hiking, mountain biking, camping, rock climbing, guided nature walks, concerts, art exhibits and Old Mission Dam. Coming this summer are new classes for children: art classes presented by Art Smarts and “Trails and Tails,” a fun-filled series of educational classes with Cindy Christ.

We want to also thank our Explore Mission Trails Day sponsors: Republic Services, Inc.; SDG&E; Superior Ready Mix; Olive Garden Restaurants; and in-kind sponsors San Diego Family Magazine, O’Hungry’s Restaurant and San Diego Community News Network. Support also comes from the city of San Diego, which supports Explore Mission Trails Day through their Special Promotional Program Fund and the San Diego County Community Enhancement Fund.

On Sunday, May 17, Mary Lu Brandwein returns and will be joined by Yuki Easter to present a concert featuring shakuhachi flutes and the koto, a traditional Japanese string instrument. Mary Lu and Yuki have performed together as Wind and Rain Ensemble for more than 10 years. Kumiko Esparza, a student of Yuki Easter, will also play the koto. She is a member of the Southern Koto Ensemble from Murrieta.

The next concert will be Saturday, May 30, featuring the Quartet Nouveau, a string quartet. On June 7, Caprice Strings and Francesca Savage return, and on June 14, the Native American Flute Circle will hold their annual concert in the amphitheater. The MTRP Foundation continues to sponsor free concerts on designated Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m.

The current art exhibition, “The Art of Bird Photography,” sponsored by the MTRP Foundation, features award-winning nature photographer Blake Shaw. This exhibit is on display in the Visitor Center Art Gallery through May 22. Blake’s bird and nature photography regularly hangs on the walls at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. He is one of 14 photographers chosen for the museum’s 2015 Birds of the World exhibition. This is Blake’s third solo show at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center Art Gallery.

The next art exhibition, “Wild Graces,” features Jodie Hulden, a San Diego artist whose photography focuses on the natural landscape, and Robert Treat, a California painter and photographer whose work is exhibited and collected nationally. The public is cordially invited to a reception in honor of the artists on Sunday, May 31 from 1 to 4 p.m.

Linda Hawley’s “Children’s Nature Adventures!” class for children ages 4 and up will meet from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 26. The theme this time is “Darting Dragonflies & Fluttering Butterflies,” and the cost is $10 per child. Parents and siblings ages 3 and under are free.

Shop through Amazon’s AmazonSmile program and Amazon will donate 0.5 percent of the purchase price to the MTRP Foundation at no cost to you or the MTRP Foundation. Go to smile.amazon.com, select Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation, and every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation to the MTRP Foundation. You may use your existing Amazon account to participate in the AmazonSmile program. All your settings will remain the same.

For more information about any of the programs and special events at Mission Trails, visit our website at mtrp.org.

-Jay Wilson is Executive Director of the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation.