Susan VanderVeen ,
President Message
Another busy year at the park district is now in the books . We renovated 5 neighborhood playgrounds : Linden and Shannon in the Fall 2016 and Kay Lovett , Michael Arbizzani and Stanley Esping in Spring 2017 . We have continued our practice of presenting proposed park designs to the neighborhood with a cookout , in an effort to garner resident feedback . This has proved very successful with great turnouts and feedback . The residents are very happy with the new playgrounds because they had a say in the final designs .
Peck Farm continues to be very popular with Geneva residents and visitors . One new addition is a beautiful sculpture , Prairie Girl , which graces the Sensory Garden . Local Geneva artist , Larry K . Johnson , designed it to represent the wonders of youth and nature . It was installed and then dedicated in October with the artist , representatives of the Cultural Arts Committee & the Starshine Galaxy Foundation NFP who helped raise funds to bring the project to fruition . It is a welcoming feature at the entrance of Peck Farm Park . The museum , butterfly house ,
Hawks Hollow and the prairie paths draw so many crowds that the parking lot is being expanded to accommodate more park patrons . Additional restrooms are in the planning phase as well .
As a park district , we strive to be as sustainable as we can . Some of our past initiatives include replacing light fixtures with LEDs , replacing the Peck Farm pavers with permeable ones and recently replacing a fleet vehicle with a 2017 Chevy Volt to use for park business within our district .
Seven butterfly gardens were added to seven of our parks to fortify butterfly habitat in Geneva . Over 500 people were in attendance for our annual Earth Day event . We were able to recycle over 1000 pounds of electronics and 4000 pounds of paper were shredded .
Playhouse 38 celebrated its move to 321 Stevens St . in August with a grand opening performance of Calendar Girls to sellout crowds . The move has allowed room for larger audiences and more performing arts classes and programming .
In January , 2017 , GPD received its 3rd Distinguished Agency Accreditation with an impressive 497.7 out of 500 points . This accreditation is a very rigorous process by which state & national park professionals rate an agency ’ s policies and procedures in the categories of legal , general management , finance and business operations , facilities and parks , personnel , and recreation services against best practices in the industry . It is outstanding that we have received this acknowledgement with a near perfect score . This speaks volumes about the dedication and professionalism of our staff . Kudos to the staff for this very prestigious recognition and a job well done !
GPD also received its 5 th consecutive Government Finance Officers Association ’ s Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting . The huge task of changing our outdated recreation / registration software was completed in time for the Winter 2016 registration . It was an arduous process that the staff completed professionally and seamlessly .
The Geneva Park District worked with the Geneva Park District Foundation to fund a new playground at the Persinger Center soccer fields which opened to smiling faces on Memorial Day weekend .
The park district launched a revamped website in April 2017 . The newly designed website offers users a modern design , user-friendly navigation and mobile responsive capabilities . We encourage everyone to check it out at genevaparks . org .
Over 45 new trees were planted throughout Geneva parks , many due to the generous donations from the Geneva Park District Foundation , the Natural Resources Committee of Geneva & the Geneva Garden Club .
September brought another successful Autumn Fair . Many thanks to the Geneva Park District Foundation volunteers who work tirelessly to raise money for park improvements and beautification .
The Park District continues to enhance recreational opportunities for our residents through our many successful partnerships with the School District on Kids ’ Zone , park sites and numerous other cooperative projects & programs , with the City of Geneva & the County on the Community Garden , with the Natural Resources Committee on Earth Day , with the library on 7 th Street Park , with the Chamber of Commerce on Swedish Day ’ s “ Kids Day ” and “ Geneva ’ s Got Talent ,” with the Fox Valley Folk Music Society on Folk Fest , and with the Cultural Arts Commission on Shakespeare in the Park and the Geneva Film Festival . Our successful partnerships are a strong example of how together , as a community , we can achieve so much more than we can individually .
It bears repeating that our successful partnerships with other governmental bodies continue to make Geneva a great place to work , live and play . I am truly grateful to live in a community with such a great park district and to work with the dedicated staff and volunteers . Thank you !
Susan VanderVeen ,
Geneva Park District Board President
A Year in Review from our Board President
4 Geneva Park District | Fall 2017 | 630-232-4542 | genevaparks . org | Stay Connected !