PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Go out on a limb this weekend at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the site of the 2014 Master Challenge Tree Climbing Championship.
Expert tree climbers and professional tree surgeons from all over the state will compete Saturday in the event to see who can climb the garden’s linden trees the fastest, completing various tasks along the way like “limb tossing,” according to the New York State Arborists, who organize the event.
“Each station requires the contestant to demonstrate the skills and abilities needed to perform safe and efficient tree work,” said the competition guidelines from the tree group.
Every contestant is expected to install a climbing system — with ropes, pulleys and harnesses — from scratch at the beginning of the climb, the rules state. Then, the climber ascends through the tree, completing each tasks and returning to the bottom within 20 minutes.
All the contestants are from New York State, said a BBG spokeswoman, including Lawrence Schultz, a Brooklyn resident and worker for the Central Park Conservancy who won the state championship held early this year, she said.
The tree-climbing championship will begin at 10 a.m. on Oct. 18 at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden at 990 Washington Ave. The rain date is Oct. 19. The event is open to the public. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and free for children under 12.
Here are three other fun, family-friendly events in the area this weekend:
Pumpkin Patch Party at P.S. 9
Looking for a good place to pick a pumpkin in the neighborhood? The garden at P.S. 9 in Prospect Heights will have a lots of them, along with pumpkin decorating, paper lantern crafting, face painting, music and food at the school’s annual Pumpkin Patch Garden Party, according to an event listing on the school’s PTO website. All of the proceeds will benefit the school, the group said. The event will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Herve Tullet Mural and Exhibit
The French illustrator and author behind the popular kids’ book “Press Here,” Herve Tullet, will celebrate a new exhibit of his work at the Brooklyn Public Library with a mural-painting event for kids on Sunday at the library’s Central Branch on Grand Army Plaza. A spokeswoman for the library said the event is full — more than 200 kids already signed up — but the exhibit of Tullet’s work, which she said is the only in the United States this year, is open now through Feb. 1, 2015. For more information about the exhibit and the event, visit the library’s event page.
Pet Day at Brower Park (Crown Heights)
Adopt a new furry friend or get your dog or cat vaccinated and microchipped at Brower Park in Crown Heights this weekend at the ASPCA and 77th Precinct’s “Community Pet Party” this Saturday. Vaccinations are free for residents of the 77th and adoption fees are 50 percent off for all attendees, a spokeswoman for the ASPCA said. The celebration of pets will also include a free pet food giveaway, information on pet care and lots of adoptable pets in the ASPCA’s Mobile Adoption van, according to organizers. The event will take place from noon to 4 p.m. at Brower Park at Kingston Avenue and Park Place.
