Park District Special Events Coordinator Cooking up Even More Crazy Ideas

It is my position to play.

It is my job to push the boundaries of fun and find amusement in places where no one remembers to look – the mud, a remote park, time with a grandparent, or the start line of a new sport.

There are people who are fortunate enough to become Special Events Coordinators. But to have this goofy, wonderful position for the people of my own community makes me lucky beyond measure.

Oswegoland Park District Special Events are experiences in recreation hosted by the marketing department. If the mission of the park district is creating opportunities for a healthy community, then special events are the trailer. They are the commercial that gives residents an idea of what awaits for them should they come enjoy the full feature. Each event has an ultimate goal of getting people more familiar with their park district.

We have another objective as well. With reports like the one by University of Southern California that found the time per week that families interact as a group has fallen by nearly a third between 2005 and 2008, we capitalize on the moments you have together.

If families are willing to give time to an event, we work tirelessly to make it an experience they won’t forget. What a great position to be in, to create opportunities for those kinds of moments.

As Special Events Coordinator, my job is to make my community smile. Last year we hosted 44 events in attempting this goal. Giggles can be found in big places like the top of a PrairieFest Ferris Wheel. Over 40,000 people joined us there in 2010. More than 10,000 people came to our smaller events, showing smiles in smaller moments. This August, 100 kids will laugh at the feeling of cool mud when it gushes in between toes on a hot August at Pig Pen Afternoon.

In this April’s Spring Catalog we actually have the words, “Kids need to bring a sack lunch and a hammer” for our Fort Building event. Parents might be nervous, but those kids sure smile.

I have a reputation for crazy ideas; Snowball fights in August, trucking in dirt for children’s delight, dogs in swimming pools, and chainsaws as incentives during trail runs. Not all of them are good ideas. Despite a clean plan, the Health Department has stopped swimming dogs in September.

Last year I floated the idea that Fox Bend Golf Course could raise reindeer for our holiday events. Executive Director Bill McAdam strained an ocular muscle rolling his eyes. Just like the rest of my co-workers at the Park District, it is my job to keep having ideas. American author Napoleon Hill once wrote, “Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes."

I am looking forward to what crazy ideas become the next Oswegoland traditions. We invite adults to run a 4-mile trail run at dusk through Saw Wee Kee with the creepy Terror Trail Run on May 14. The grand opening of our skate park will be celebrated on Saturday, May 21 with our first Prairie Sk8 Jam. I would like to see some old school dads show their sons just how to carve it up, 1987-style. Crazy ideas? Sure, but hopefully a lot of fun for all of us, too.