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Wyoming celebrates its parks, people during National Parks and Rec Month

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Gezon Park was the most recent park to receive updates and improvements including a new splash pad. The park was completed last summer. (WKTV/Joanne Bailey-Boorsma)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
WKTV Managing Editor

Residents playing coed softball as there are concerts going on at Lamar Park. Children playing in the splash pads while a family is having a birthday party in one of the shelters.

Krashawn Martin was named Parks and Recreation director in October. (WKTV)

These are just a few of things that warms Wyoming Parks and Recreation Director Krashawn Martin’s heart as she travels around the City of Wyoming visiting its 21 parks, which total about 700 acres of park property.

The parks are a mix of developed with a few that are not. The parks are scattered throughout the city with the most northern being the almost 14-acre Marquette Park, 1251 Marquette SW; and southern are the 94-acre Gezon Park, 5651 Gezon Court; and the 2.2-acre Frog Hollow, 2050 Metro Court. Just to note, Gezon is the city’s largest park.

July is Parks and Rec Month

“My office is the overflow area,” Martin said with a laugh as we walked into her office, which among the items has a few boxes with prizes and games.

Those items are for the department’s July Pop-Up in the Park events in celebration of the national Parks and Recreation Month, an annual event since 1985 that promotes building strong, vibrant and resilient communities through the power of parks and recognizes the staff and volunteers who maintain the parks.

Wyoming’s Pop-Up in the Park is every Wednesday from 1-4 p.m. with the park location announced Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. on the Park and Recreation Department’s Facebook page.

A Look Back and Ahead

“This year we are more into a planning year,” she said, adding that the department is kind of “exhaling” after all of the projects that have been completed over the past several years.

Several of the City of Wyoming Park’s have had new playgrounds installed in the past couple of years. This one is located at Ideal Park. (WKTV/Joanne Bailey-Boorsma)

The flurry of activity started with Ferrand Park in 2018 followed by Ideal, Jackson and last year, Gezon. All the parks received new play equipment and shelters with Ideal, Jackson, and Gezon also adding splash pads and restroom facilities.

Martin said restrooms have been a priority this year with work being down on such facilities at various parks. The department also is looking at renovating the pickle ball courts located at Pinery Park.

But this year’s biggest focus has been on the department’s five-year master plan. Parks are being reviewed for possible projects along with evaluating the department’s other assets, such as the Wyoming Senior Center, to make certain that the Parks and Recreation Department is meeting residents’ interests and needs.

“We are surveying residents and talking to users about what type of recreational programs they want to see and what activities they would like to have at the parks,” Martin said, adding the goal is to meet current interests but also that those programs have longevity with resources being used many years down the road.

Some Other Changes

The Wyoming Department of Parks and Recreation oversee the city’s Concerts in the Park series. (WKTV)

Along with the construction work, the department has added special events now overseeing the annual Concerts in the Park series and the holiday celebration, Wyoming Gives Back. The Parks and Recreation Department also will be managing the 36th Street Market located on the northern section of the former 36th Street site, next to the Godwin football stadium. Opening date for the market is spring 2024 with construction set to start this summer, Martin said.

The past year also included Martin being selected as director for the Parks and Recreation Department. She started with the city six years ago, first serving as the the special events and marketing programmer. She then was the recreational supervisor followed by serving as an analyst in the city manager’s office before returning to Parks and Recreation as its director.

“I feel like I am doing what I have always been doing, only we a really cool team,” Martin said.

Just a Few More Things

Martin and her team currently are planning and preparing for the upcoming fall months, which will include a new Youth Flag Football program with Godwin Public Schools (register soon if you want to get in as the deadline is July 30) along with popular favorites, such as the Trick-n-Treat Trail.

Martin also points out that there is still plenty of summer left to enjoy the splash pads. The city has five, one at Gezon, Lamar, Jackson, Ideal, and Oriole, along with a dog park (membership required) at Marquette Park. The splash pads are open through Labor Day.

Other park amenities include playgrounds; basketball, pickle ball, and tennis courts; softball fields and walking trails. For activities, events or more information about the Wyoming Department of Parks and Recreation and the city’s 21 parks, visit wyomingmi.gov/city-departments/parks-and-recreation.

Gezon is featured as 2022 park and rec highlight

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By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
WKTV Managing Editor
joanne@wktv.org

Earlier in the summer, the splash pad equipment was delivered to Gezon Park. (Supplied)

If you follow the tweets of Wyoming Director of Community Services Rebeca Rynbrandt, you know excitement is building for Gezon Park.

When construction started on the park, Rynbrandt noted that the opening of the park increases the city’s ability to provide equitable recreation and leisure services to one of its more populate areas. That reality comes true on Aug. 27 when the park will have a grand opening.

 

The redevelopment of Gezon Park is also one of the 2022 highlighted accomplishments of the Parks and Recreation Department, which Rynbrandt oversees, as the city marks National Parks and Recreation Month. Always in July, the month is designed to bring attention to how important parks and recreation are to a community.

The importance of parks

In fact, according to the National Recreation and Park Association’s 2022 The Economic Impact of Local Parks Report, local public park and recreation agencies in the United states generate nearly $218 million in economic activity and supported almost 1.3 million jobs that boosted labor income by more than $68 billion from their operations and capital spending in 2019. 

In the city’s proclamation read by Mayor Jack Poll at the July 5 Wyoming City Council meeting, it was noted that the “park and recreation promotes health and wellness, improving the physical and mental health of people who visit parks increasing personal well-being, and alleviating illnesses such as depression, attention deficit disorders, and Alzheimer’s.”

The proclamation also notes how the park and recreation proves physical activities such as softball, baseball, biking, walking, hiking trails, playgrounds, and fitness trails along with the Wyoming Senior Center and the after school program TEAM 21. It also noted that “parks and recreation increases a community’s economic prosperity through increased property values, expansion of local tax base, the attraction and retention of businesses and crime reduction.”

Lamar Park was one of four to receive new playground equipment this year. (Supplied)

What Wyoming offers

The Wyoming Parks and Recreation Department oversees 21 parks that contain almost 700 acres of property and a diverse array of recreational amenities, natural settings, wildlife, and plant life. In its 2021 Annual report, it was noted that about $575 million were directed toward the parks with almost half of the money, about $3 million, toward facilities, capital improvements, and maintenance. 

Rynbrandt has noted in the past that parks are in a state of maintenance and repair with her team working to keep those parks in top-top shape for residents. In fact this year, four of the city parks, Pinery, Hillcroft, Frog Hollow and Lamar park, all received new playground equipment.

There is also the challenge of meeting the evolving interests of residents which is reflected in the decision by the Parks and Recreation Commission to allow dogs at all parks. In 1998, the city had made Pinery Park a dog-free park. In the spring, the commission, with the support of residents, decided to end that policy.

Expanding special events

Residents also have wanted more special events that engage the community with the Parks Department has heard that call adding a number of special events.

Wrapping up next week will be the Concerts at the Park at Lamar Park. Performing on Aug. 2 is Latin soul group Grupo Latin.

But the park events have expanded beyond the popular concert series, which have included a summer market and Chalk the Park at Pinery Park earlier this month, the upcoming Aug. 20 Food Truck Rally (from 11 a.m to 5 p.m.) and the Oct. 8 Trick of Treat Trail at Lamar Park.

“Each day, our team worked hard, smart, and more innovatively to deliver programs and services to the residents of the Wyoming community,” said Rynbrandt in the 2021 Park and Recreation Commission Annual Report. “From reopening parks to honoring veterans in annual celebrations, helping seniors with meals and everyday necessities, and keeping Wyoming youth active and engaged through virtual programs an academic achievement, our parks and recreation team strives to bring the community together.”

Sounds of Summer is set to return with a packed line-up

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  • Schlitz Creek performs July 7
  • That Beatle Thing is July 14
  • Frantic Kingdom is July 21
  • Brena performs July 28

By John D. Gonzalez
WKTV Contributing Writer

With everything from bluegrass to music of the Beatles, this year’s Sounds of Summer concert series at Cutler Park in Cutlerville will feature “a little something for everyone,” according to organizers.

“Not everybody likes the same kind of music,” said organizer Patty Williams. “We try to hit every genre we can in the four-week period. We try to do something for everyone.”

This year’s series includes:

Concerts begin at 7 p.m. Cutler Park is located just east of U.S. 131 off 68th Street.

Patty Williams with her son Lare Williams (left) and a guest. (Supplied)

“The best part about all of these shows is the price tag,” said Lare Williams, Patty’s son whose company LW Studios helps produce the shows each summer. “They are all absolutely free thanks to our friends at Byron Township.”

It’s a great family event, he added.

“Bring your lawn chairs, bring you blankets, bring the whole family,” Williams said. “Kids are welcome. There’s a big playground there, and they can run around and play ’til their heart’s content.”

“The series has brought fun and livelihood to Cutler Park,” he added.

The Sounds of Summer concert series started in 2008 at Bicentennial Park in downtown Byron Center by Patty Williams, who is a WKTV producer and volunteer and runs her independent P. Williams Productions.

They migrated to Cutler Park in 2015, Lare Williams said.

Lare Williams handles the sound board during one of the Sounds of Summer concerts. (Supplied)

The shows have gathered a following, he added.

“The picnic setting has brought up to 500 guests from the neighborhood and other states to the concerts,” he said.

What’s the reason for its success?

Patty Williams said it’s because they know a little bit about the entertainment business being part of The Williams Family, a local group popular in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s known for its bluegrass music.

She said Lare, for example, is a well-seasoned musician who has recorded CDs of his own. and has been on stage since he was 2-years-old.

It’s the reason why locals love Sounds of Summer, she said, because they always add “a personal touch to each week’s concert.”

“You are entertained from the moment you set up your lawn chair,” she said. “There’s not a dull moment. There is always something going on.”

They might play Sounds of Summer trivia, give away CDs and interact with the audience.

“People love that. It really puts a personal touch on it where they actually feel like they own this concert series. When people come here they say, ‘This is ours.’”

Participants often bring a picnic meal to the popular Sounds of Summer which is at Cutler Park in Cutlerville. (Supplied)

Other highlights: Ken’s food cart will be vending beverages and hotdogs this summer, and “we have the local ice cream truck make an appearance,” Lare Williams said.

Already looking ahead to next year, Patty Williams said they hope to expand the series and include the month of August, possibly back at Bicentennial Park. The concerts in Cutler Park would remain in July.

Regardless, she’s proud of what she started 14 years ago. She remembers the idea came to her when she was touring with The Williams Family band.

“We used to perform at these little town festivals, and I would say ‘Why doesn’t Byron Center have anything like this? We’re a wonderful community. We have beautiful parks.’” 

It’s been good for the community, she said.

“It brings a lot of people out, and families, too,” she said. “People love it!”

John D. Gonzalez is a digital journalist with 30-plus years of experience as a food, travel, craft beer and arts & entertainment reporter based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He also co-hosts the radio show and Podcast “Behind the Mitten,” which airs at 6 p.m. Sundays on WOOD-AM and FM. Follow him on his journey to discover what’s next. You can find him on Twitter as @MichiganGonzo, on Instagram @MichiganGonzo and Facebook at @GRGonzo. He also relaunched his YouTube Channel. Email him story ideas and tips at michigangonzo@gmail.com.

Movies in the Park start June 3

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movie-rMark your calendar for Movies in the Park this summer. Pre-movie entertainment typically begins at 6 pm and movies begin at dusk.  A list of movies will be out later this month. Meanwhile, the dates are as follows:

 

  • June 3
  • June 17
  • July 8
  • July 22
  • August 5
  • August 19

 

Movies in the Park is the premier outdoor film series in Grand Rapids. DGRI and partners present films–free of charge–on a giant screen in Ah-Nab-Awen Park on the banks of the Grand River every other Friday from June thru August. Guests are invited to treat the evening like a picnic and bring your own blanket, chairs, beer, wine and snacks for a special night under the stars. Pre-movie entertainment begins at 6 pm. Films start at dusk.

 

Movies in the Park stems from a 2013 community idea to expand the portfolio of free, outdoor urban recreation activities in Downtown Grand Rapids. The film series has quickly become a signature event in Downtown. The 2015 series of six movie nights attracted more than 31,000 people and stimulated an estimated $664,000 in total consumer spending. Overall, the series leveraged approximately $441 in economic return to downtown and participating businesses for every public dollar invested to produce the events.

 

Go here for more info.