Acorn Acres Wildlife Rehabilitation will hold a special event to remember its "rock star."

It will be a bittersweet occasion.

Acorn Acres had originally planned a 10th birthday party for its squirrel ambassador Snags, but Snags died on Sept. 3. It will now be a celebration of life for the revered rodent.

An open house will be held Sunday, Sept. 21, from 2 to 6 p.m. at Acorn Acres, 2100 Stone Mill Road, Lancaster. There is no admission charge. Registration is requested; go to https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/snags-the-squirrels-10th-birthday-party to sign up.

"We would normally have an annual open house," said Acorn Acres' founder and executive director Betsy Shank. "When we moved into the building last year, we had one (last) November, and we decided at that point that we would hold an open house annually. This year, since Snags was turning 10, we decided to do it a little bit early and tie it in with her 10th birthday because who gets to go to a squirrel's birthday party? She died, so now we're like, 'Well, what are we going to do?' I thought, wait a minute. She educated over 50,000 people. She was the only harness-trained ambassador squirrel in the entire state. She did a commercial, which still isn't released. She has been the face of squirrel rehab in Lancaster County for 10 years, and that is something big to celebrate. And we're going to do it and still have cake."

Snags had a big impact on others during her 10 years. "She taught people," Shank said. "It's not often you see a squirrel in a harness that was OK in front of people. She used to walk in the Millersville parade. She was very comfortable in large group settings, and you don't get to see a squirrel six inches from your face. She was fine with the kids getting close enough to actually see her whiskers and her eyelashes. We would show how she had, you know, four fingers on the front and five toes on the back."

Snags visited schools and assisted living facilities and attended community events. "She's been in bars (for an Acorn Acres event)," said Shank. "She's been to Home Depot and Lowe's. She was a regular at That Fish Place - That Pet Place. If you just saw a woman walking in with a squirrel, it was probably me with Snags. She's been everywhere. She got booked for events in New York and in New Jersey. We've been all over the United States. She was a pretty fabulous little educator."

Visitors will see photos of Snags adorning the walls of Acorn Acres while touring the building. "We'll have all the other ambassadors and residents around that people can meet and see," Shank said. "We'll be announcing our two newest residents that we hope to turn into ambassadors. We're going to have cornhole. We're going to have a version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, only it's going to be Pin the Squirrel on (the famous painter) Bob Ross, who had several pet squirrels."

There will be activities for children, and adults will have the opportunity to taste what Shank calls a "special squirrel wine." There will be a taco bar and cake. "We've been here a year now, and we will let people see what we do, and we're just we're just going to celebrate. I'll have different facts about Snags up and around, and the whole team will be talking about, you know, stuff that she did."

Donations for the Acorn Acres clinic are not required but would be appreciated. The wish list includes paper towels, detergent, dishwasher pods, tissues, and toilet paper.

People will not be permitted to park their vehicles in the lot for the apartment building adjacent to the Acorn Acres facility. Parking will be allowed across the street at Haverstick's and on the streets in the residential neighborhood nearby.

Shank noted that Acorn Acres rehabilitates orphaned, ill, abandoned, and injured prey animals and Virginia opossums. "Our goal is to get them fixed, raised, healthy, and then get them back outside to their native or natural habitat," said Shank. "And when we're not doing that, we go out and do education with our ambassadors."

Acorn Acres is typically open by appointment only. Call 717-327-4811 if there is an animal that requires care.