WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — Along the walkway of Osborne Park in Willoughby lies n art project with a mission—get the community together to build a snake made of painted rocks.
The project—named Ozzy the Snake—seeks community members young and old to take a blank rock from the pile supplied in front of the Ozzy the Snake sign, break out the art supplies and decorate the piece of earth.
From painted masterpieces to bejeweled brick, stones that are customized are then asked to be brought back to the park and added to the end of the now-growing line of rocks, extending the snake as long as they can.
Judean Keller, the director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Willoughby, said the project began as a competition with seven different parks launched by the National Trail Parks & Recreation District.
"We received an email from National Parks and Trails Recreation District to be in their challenge and to create the longest snake, to have the most rocks in the snake, and also a public vote," Keller said.
But the project also has a bigger mission.
"Willoughby's snake is called Ozzie and the purpose is to bring the community together," Keller said. "It's a project that everybody can do — anybody, any age, any qualification, they can come and pick up a rock, paint it and then add it to our snake."
So far, the city has seen a strong response to their challenge.
Keller said that they have already replenished a 25-gallon bucket's worth of unpainted rocks to the community pile for people to take home.
"We've received phone calls. People have come here and dropped off rocks at our office to bring down for them also," Keller said.
While the project is for people of all ages, perhaps those most excited are the children who come to the park and find the rock snake.
Sophia Hefner, a 9-and-a-half-year-old frequent visitor of the park, said that she loves the idea and was inspired to paint a rock of her own when she learned about the project.
"It makes it cool because not only do you get to put a rock, you also get to create an Ozzie the Snake," Sophia said. "My rock would probably look like—I would grab a rock and maybe put some color on it, green, and then maybe put green gems."
On Friday, a local Eagle Scout named Chris even organized a community rock painting event at Osborne Park. Guests at the pool were able to head over to rock-painting stations and decorate their own rocks to add to Ozzy.
As Ozzy the Snake continues to grow, there's a hope that Osborne Park can get the win with the most rocks, the best decorations and, of course, the longest snake.
Sophia had a prediction for how long Ozzy might be able to get.
"If so many people come to this park, I honestly feel like it's going to be about 50 feet long," she said.
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