Hope Byers is mad at the groundhog, which predicted six more weeks of winter. "We are all waiting for spring," said the director of Columbia Crossing River Trails Center. "We all have cabin fever." But she has a solution: Spring Into the Park. The five-day event will be held at the center, 41 Walnut St., Columbia, from Tuesday, March 22, through Saturday, March 26, and will feature activities for people of all ages.

"We want to kick off spring and show you all the fun you can have here," Byers said.

Highlights on Tuesday will include bingo and trivia hosted by Columbia Senior Center, beginning at 9:30 a.m., as well as a free yoga class on the riverside deck with Vital Tree Yoga, beginning at 6 p.m. On Wednesday, March 23, a Bridge Walk & Talk will be held at 11 a.m., with a Susquehanna National Heritage Area guide offering information about the bridges that have spanned the Susquehanna River. At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Monica Spiese will host "Tell Your Story: An Oral History Workshop."

While the activities on Tuesday and Wednesday are geared more toward adults, Thursday, March 24, and Friday, March 25, will feature lots of kid-friendly options, Byers stated. Columbia School District has an early dismissal on Thursday and no school on Friday, offering plenty of time for students to head to Columbia Crossing, she said. Thursday's programs will include story time and craft time with the Columbia Public Library, beginning at 10:30 a.m., as well as a Forgotten Friend Reptile Sanctuary show at 2 p.m. A chalk obstacle course will also be set up under the center's deck. On Friday, The Common Wheel will offer a free kids' bicycle program during the day, and Raven Ridge Wildlife Center will present question-and-answer sessions about local wildlife rehabilitation throughout the day. Miss Alison's Studio will host a kids' yoga class at 4 p.m., and the day will wrap up with an outdoor showing of "FernGully: The Last Rainforest" beginning at dusk.

Spring Into the Park will conclude on Saturday with a full day of family fun, featuring a variety of activities that will be offered all week as well, including oversized yard games provided by River Rock Recreation and Columbia Kettle Works, and various self-guided tours of the park and trails. A special Spring Into the Park coloring page is available online at https://tinyurl.com/2p8rrxrw, and children are encouraged to print it out, color it and add pictures of themselves and their family participating in their favorite outdoor activity before returning it to the center to be displayed on-site.

Each day of the event will feature food trucks, with proceeds supporting Columbia Crossing's educational programs. This is the first time Columbia Crossing is holding an event like this, Byers said, noting that it's not only an opportunity to raise funds for the center, but it's also a way to celebrate the community.

"We have a lot of regular visitors, trail users and families who come to us, and we thought, 'Why not bring them all together here to have fun and help us raise money for even more programs?'" Byers commented. "It's going to be a fun week."

For more information and a complete schedule of Spring Into the Park activities, visit https://susqnha.org or the event's Facebook page at https://tinyurl.com/4m7nn2k9.