On Saturday, May11th, the Placerita Canyon Nature Center hosted an Open House and Family Festival.  This year’s theme was celebrating the year of the snake.  They offered a variety of activities including: old-fashioned clothes washing and log sawing, history stories, face painting, panning for fools gold, caricatures, and native live animal presentations.  Some of the animals on display included a monkey, a rhinocerous iguana, owls, snakes, birds, and various other reptiles.  Oak tree seedlings were up for adoption to take home and plant.  The “Oak of the Golden Dream” found at the nature center is the site of California’s orginal gold discovery in 1842.  The Nature Center is located at 19152 Placerita Canyon Road in Newhall.  The Nature Center offers various hiking trails for visitors and activities every weekend.