On September 12, the large meeting room at Rust Library in Leesburg will stop looking like a library and start looking like a forest floor. Tables will hold cross-sections of wood, magnifying glasses, and gravel beds. Storytellers will spin tales about the creatures that nest in branches. And children will arrive clutching paper passports, ready to have them stamped at five stations before trading them in for a prize.
The occasion is Tree-mendous Adventures, a drop-in family event hosted by the VCE Loudoun Master Gardeners. It runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 12, 2026, in the Large Meeting Room of Rust Library at 380 Old Waterford Road NW in Leesburg. No registration is required, and the full circuit of stations takes about an hour. The event is designed for everyone from toddlers to adults, though its heart is clearly aimed at the youngest visitors.
At the door, each child receives a passport. As they move from station to station, they collect stamps, and once the passport is full, a reward awaits near the information table. The stations themselves are miniature lessons in arboriculture. One, called Growing Strong Roots, introduces the role of gravel beds in promoting healthy root development. Another, Tree Anatomy, teaches the basic parts of a tree, how to identify species, how to estimate age, and how to care for a tree once it's in the ground. At the Tree Rings station, children use magnifying glasses to count rings from the center of a cross-section to the bark, estimating the tree's age the way scientists do. Who Lives in Trees? is a storytelling session about the magic of trees and the animals that call them home. And Tree Value explores the countless gifts trees provide.
The event has been held at Rust Library in past years, including a 2024 edition that coincided with Grandparents Day weekend. The 2026 edition continues that tradition, offering families a chance to celebrate the season and learn something about the leafy giants that shade their streets. The library itself is a fitting venue for this family event.
For families who show up on September 12, the message is simple: trees are not just scenery. They are living infrastructure, home to wildlife, and a source of countless gifts. The Master Gardeners hope that by the time a child's passport is full, they will see the trees outside the library with new eyes. And the prize at the end is just a bonus.