You can go out and enjoy nature while helping preserve it Saturday

Saturday is the Worldwide Day of Play, a day to promote active play for kids.

It also marks the 14th annual National Public Lands Day, the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance public lands across the country.

In Lake in the Hills, the day will be celebrated from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Fen Nature Preserve, located at Barbara Key Park.

There are free events all afternoon, including guided nature walks, nature quizzes with prizes, displays and literature and free posters

Volunteers will collect seeds and clear invasive brush from the area.

Afterward, enjoy a twilight hike at 6:30 p.m., followed by a marshmallow roast. Bring your own flashlight.

According to the National Public Lands Day Web site, www.publiclandsday.org, the event began in 1994 with three federal agencies and 700 volunteers.

Last year nearly 100,000 volunteers worked in 1,100 locations in all 50 states -- building trails and bridges, planting trees and plants, and removing trash and invasive plants.

Now, nine federal agencies and many state and local lands participate in this annual day of caring for shared lands.

The Web site says the annual event educates Americans about critical environmental and natural resources issues; builds partnerships between the public sector and the local community to enhance and restore America's public lands; and improves public lands for outdoor recreation, with volunteers assisting land managers in hands-on work.

This year, there are at least 30 groups across the state getting together to clean up neighborhood parks, forest preserves, park districts and other wilderness areas.

Maybe on Sunday, you could get a group of friends together to see the Leonardo DiCaprio-narrated movie, "The 11th Hour."

Apart from helping the environment, volunteers in Lake in the Hills have the chance to see some unique flowers and plants at the Lake in the Hills Fen.

A fen, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, is a type of wetland that accumulates peat deposits. They are less acidic than bogs, deriving most of their water from groundwater rich in calcium and magnesium.

Fens generally support a more varied vegetation composed of grasses, sedges and reeds.

For more information contact Barbara Wilson of the McHenry County Natural Area Volunteers at (847) 658-0024, or via e-mail at lithfen@aol.com.

On another note, while volunteers will be out cleaning up public spaces, those in marathon training mode will be hitting the road for the last long weekend before the Chicago Marathon.

It's a leisurely 8-miler this weekend for those -- including myself -- following Hal Higdon's novice program.

With the race just over a week away, I am finding myself experiencing a mix of emotions that range from anxious, to nervous, to excited, to outright scared.