Spring Open House at the Lincoln Park District highlights community activities opportunities

 

[April 05, 2022] 

The Lincoln Park District hosted a Spring Open House on Saturday that was well attended by the community. The event was designed to draw attention to the many programs that the park district offers for families, adults and children. In addition to park district activities, there were other entities on hand to talk about offerings they will bring to the community this summer, some for the first time.



As guests arrived they were given a handout that defined all the offerings. From there, guests went whichever direction they chose. For the kids, the first thing they spied was the bounce house. The bounce house, while there for fun, was also part of a demonstration of what can be offered for children’s birthday parties at the park district.

New this year, the park district is offering party themes, where staff will do the set up for a busy parent. The park district has invested in backdrops and props with themes, some geared specifically to boys, some just for girls, and some generic for any gender.



According to staff, rooms at the recreational center have always been available for parties. This new offering is meant to add to the convenience of hosting a party at the rec center, and making it easier for parents to give their child something special. The party plan does not automatically come with the bounce house, but can be included at an additional cost.
 

In addition to explaining the party process, there were tables and displays around the room showing off some of the special activities offered by the park district including swimming lesson, fitness training, and joyful painting classes, an upcoming bike rodeo, nerf battle, and a kid’s tie-dye party.


LMH offers market and fitness

Other groups involved in the open house included Lincoln Memorial Hospital. Cindy Smith with the LMH Community Health Collaborative was on hand to share information about the LMH Market, which opens its season in May. Information was also provided about the Collaborative programs for youth mental health, substance abuse, healthy eating habits and much more.

A new program this summer at LMH will be the LMH Trailblazers. This will be a walking group that meets on Wednesday’s to walk together around the Fitness Trail at the hospital. The LMH Trailblazers are set to begin this summer. Interested parties should log on to the LMH social media pages for further details.

Community Garden

Bethany Buscher explained the new Community Garden project coming to Lincoln this spring. The project has purchased the property at 104 South Logan Street in Lincoln. The lot is a former community garden, and is ready to come alive again this year with vegetables and flowers grown and cared for by garden volunteers.

Buscher said that when approaching the project, the Community Garden managers had done some research of what is working well in other communities. In the last attempt at a community garden program, would-be gardeners had rented a plot within the garden space and were responsible for caring for their own plants.

The new concept, Buscher says, will be one garden for all. Everything in the garden will be raised by everyone volunteering. There will be special work Saturdays at the garden, and when it is time to harvest, the first offering of vegetables will go to those who volunteer to work. Excess produce will be offered to others including local food pantries. There may also be an opportunity to sell produce at the summer market hosted by LHM. If produce is sold, that money will go back into the garden project to help support the next season.

There is no charge to be involved. The only payment required is time spent volunteering. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the garden project may email LCNCommunityGarden
@gmail.com


Creekside Outdoor Center for Environmental Learning

A familiar face at one of the vendor tables was that of Dr. Dennis Campbell from the Creekside Outdoor Center for Environmental Learning. The table featured a variety of objects and a quiz with hints as to what the objects are, whether they were used by early settlers or a part of nature.

Campbell spoke freely about the years he has invested in Creekside and the purpose it has served for the community and for students of Lincoln College. He said with great sadness that he was stunned by the announcements pertaining to the college last week, and of course, does not know what the future of Creekside will be. He is hopeful that someone will step in and take over the environmental center.

Of course, no party or open house is complete without food and the LPD had done a great job of providing a wide variety of snacks and drinks for guests to munch on throughout the morning.

Other activities of the day included face painting and temporary tattoos and other activities for children.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about the summer activities at the Lincoln Park District can visit the reception desk at the Recreational Center, visit the park district website or call 217-732-8770.

[Nila Smith]