It’s not common to see people clinging to trees in the forest, but at Lake Hope State Park in Vinton County, Ohio, it’s an annual tradition.
For the third year in a row, Lake Hope State Park hosted the annual Tree Hugging Competiton.
The competition contains four main categories for contestants to participate in: speed hugging, biggest hug, most dedicated and freestyle.
Kaylin Callander, organizer of the event and a naturalist at Lake Hope State Park, became inspired to coordinate the event after hearing an interview on NPR about the World Tree Hugging Championship held in Lapland, Finland.
“I think nature lends itself really well to that healing aspect of our spirit,” Callander says.
Callender emphasizes the importance nature plays in mental health, citing biophilia, the human affinity toward nature. The date for this year’s competition was originally Feb. 15 but was moved to March 8 due to flooding in the area.
“If you’re spending your time outside in February, in nature, at least a little part of you loves the outdoors,” Callander says.
She notes that February was the month chosen for the competition because it’s a time when the park is not as busy, therefore the number of participants is more manageable.
Three people hailing from Cincinnati were the only registered participants who showed up during this year’s competition; a stark contrast to the 40 to 50 registered participants from the previous years.
Regardless of the smaller number of registered participants, volunteers, members from the Raccoon Creek Partnership and judges joined to partake in the event, enjoying themselves thoroughly.
The three participants from Cincinnati, James, Angie and Mary, swept all four events.
Angie, dressed as a unicorn, won the biggest hug event with a score of eight inches. James, dressed as a T-rex, won the most dedicated event with a score of 56 seconds and the speed hugging event with a score of 12. Mary, dressed warmly, won the freestyle competition with James and Angie after they completed a dance and prayer performance around a tree.
The three winners say they came to the competition to show support for one of Ohio’s state parks in a time of political turmoil regarding cuts to government funding. “We believe there is a value to [state parks] that’s not just money, it shouldn’t be about how much they can bring in,” Angie says.
“’This is something very easy to do, to show up and say, ‘thank you’ to them and have a little fun,’” James says.
All three of them said they would come back next year and would bring more friends.
Callender says that given the low number of official participants the competition went “as good as it could have gone.”
“For them to choose to come here to this state park and do this crazy activity with us, that just warms my heart,” Callander says.
The fourth annual Tree Hugging Competition is set to take place next year on Valentine’s Day.
