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The "Life. Be In It." Story In The Prairie State For 1983
By Ted Flickinger, Ph.D. Don't stagnate put something into life and in turn get more out of it. This is the basic philosophy of the "Life. Be In It." program in Illinois. These four words, "Life. Be In It.", truly describe the mission of the park and recreation movement. Governor James R. Thompson shared our enthusiasm by proclaiming June, 1983, as Parks & Recreation Month. He urged ". . . all citizens in Illinois to observe this month by enjoying our splendid parks and participating in special events celebrating the vitality of Illinoisans." The Governor also declared June 4th as "Life. Be In It." Day stating that"... free time creates opportunities for achievement and self-fulfillment, and is symbolic of the challenge to all Illinoisans to live life to the fullest and realize their greatest potential." The Illinois Legislature offered increased support by passing a resolution emphasizing the significance of the "Life. Be In It." campaign. The Resolution, read during session and at the "Life. Be In It."kick-off reception held at the Governor's home, was introduced by State Representative David Harris (R-53rd District) who was also active in the Arlington Heights Park District "Life. Be In It." parade and festival. The House of Representatives praised the Illinois park and recreation agencies, forest preserve and conservation districts and proclaimed June 4th "Life. Be In It." Day to "express our belief in the importance of leisure and recreational activities." The "Life. Be In It."campaign had its official kick-off in Springfield with a Reception held at the Governor's Mansion on May 24th. Hal Haskell, Chairman of the NRPA Board of Trustees, joining park and recreational professionals, board members and legislators, was the principal speaker. Haskell urged the legislators to vigorously support the "Life. Be In It." campaign. Special arrangements and items for the Reception included a "Mr. Life" character, a 3'x 3' "Life. Be In It." cake, and original "Life. Be In It." song created and sung by Tom Suhs, Recreation Director, Oak Brook Park District. "LIFE. BE IN IT." GRANT The Illinois Association of Park Districts submitted an application for the grant to the State Department of Commerce & Community Affairs (DCCA) and received nearly $30,000 to support the "Life. Be In It." program and tourism in the State of Illinois. We demonstrated to state officials that "Life. Be In It." promotes tourism. Peter Fox, Director of the DCCA, stated that his Department was ". . . delighted that we were able to participate in this cooperative effort." The grant covered 60% of the cost to promote the "Life. Be In It." program. Included in the grant was the printing and distribution of 50,000 "Life. Be In It."brochures. These brochures were four-color processed describing the "Life. Be In It." program, and listed all the festivals and special events sponsored by park and recreation agencies from May through August, 1983. The brochure included the event, date, location, agency and contact person. The State mailed brochures to visitor centers and the State's highway Welcome Centers. The Welcome Centers provide tourists complete vacation and travel assistance so they won't miss out on any of the wonderful attractions of the Prairie State. Brochures also were mailed to other tourist attractions, associations, historical sites, recreational facilities and hotels motels. In addition the DCCA included a section on the "Life. Be In It." program in the new statewide tourism guide, "The Illinois Book," which described the "Life. Be In It." campaign as "... an effort to tell the citizens and visitors of Illinois about the recreation and services offered by park, forest preserve and conservation districts. The campaign is designed to create an awareness of the importance of being active, to get individuals to place activity higher in the priorities of their everyday lives. Citizens and visitors are encouraged to visit the many historic sites, museums, and parks as well as participate in festivals and special events available to them through the park and recreation agencies." Besides the "Life. Be In It." special events and festivals tourism brochure, the grant supplied funds to purchase "Life. Be In It."mugs (288), buttons (10,000), ribbons, (5,000), balloons (33,200), bumper stickers (5,000), T-shirts (2,000), banners (25 3'x 15'), posters (1,000), pens (1,152) and 3 of the "Mr Life" character costumes. The "Mr. Life" is a "hit" at all events and can be rented from the IAPD or IPRA. All merchandise was sold at cost to help defray the 40% expense to the Association. Incidentally, the mugs, bumper stickers and T-shirts make great gifts to celebrities, government officials, legislators, and citizens who volunteer their services. The bumper stickers appeared on maintenance trucks, equipment
Illinois Parks and Recreation 6 September/October 1983 and staff vehicles. We plan to include bumper stickers in all the delegates packets attending the Annual State Conference. The banners are hung at all major special events and banquets and serve as a clever display in gymnasiums and recreation centers. Some park and recreation agencies have sold T-shirts and other merchandise at their golf, swimming and recreation centers. PUBLICITY Public service announcements and news releases were sent to all major Illinois television stations, radio stations and newspapers. News events included television coverage of the reception in the Governor's Mansion (DecaturChannel 17WAND); Channel 9WON Chicago TV station coverage of the Country-Side Recreation's float in the LaGrange Pet Parade; Chicago (WBBM) radio interview; articles in the Chicago & Suburban newspapers. Dr. Morgan Powell, president of the Illinois Association of Park Districts, and Robert Toalson, Director of the Champaign Park District, were interviewed by Channel 3 (W1CS-CBS) TV for a half-hour program on "Life. Be In lt."TheNRPA"Life. Be In It." television public service announcements were prominently run throughout the summer. They were especially effective during commercial breaks for the Chicago White Sox and Cubs baseball games. "Life. Be In It." was promoted in hundreds of ways throughout Illinois, and there were plenty of original ideas, such as Urbana Park District's "Future Participant" infant t-shirts. The local hospitals cooperated with the park district in the distribution of specially designed "Life. Be In It."t-shirts to newborn Urbana residents. Amazingly, the first child to receive the t-shirt was the newborn daughter of the Park District's Superintendent of Recreation, Bobbie Herakovich. The seven-pound, eight-ounce Megan Jessica was born on June 7th. The Urbana Park District Director. Robin Hall. offered a reaction to this coincidence, stating "That's what we call strategic programming and service beyond the call of duty by a dedicated recreator!"
The Illinois Association of Park Districts also promoted the "Life. Be In It." Leisure Chef Cookbooks. The publication was only recently marketed and has already generated sales to exceed three hundred dollars. All funds are designated for the IAPD Student Internship Program. The "Life. Be In It." Leisure Chef Cookbooks make excellent presents. Some individuals supply additional recipes when sending a copy to relatives or close friends. BALLOON LAUNCH - JUNE 4TH "LIFE. BE IN IT." DAY AND WEEKEND The entire weekend (June 3-5) was dedicated to the official opening of the "Life. Be In It." summer program. On June 4th thousands of colored balloons were released at 3 p.m. by Illinoisans throughout the State signifying the official opening of the "Life. Be In It." program. Annie Briski. program supervisor for the Village of Villa Park's Parks and Recreation Department, wrote in a letter to the Illinois Association of Park Districts, "Our balloon blast on June 4th was the opening activity for our community's First Annual Gardenfest. It was a huge success. The farthest balloon returned was from Richwood, Ohio." Another letter was received in the IAPD office forwarded from the Bill Heading family in Plain City, Ohio. Mrs. Heading wrote ". . . our family took a walk on our farm . . , there we saw it coming toward us ... a parachute, no; a weather balloon, no; what was it! My nine-year-old son chased it and it finally landed in our field. There were four balloons still inflated, but the rest were shredded into ribbons and their weight plus the tangled string made it come down. It read "Life. Be In It." and 'Discover the Magnificent Miles of Illinois.'" The Heading family was congratulated on their "Life. Be In It."find in a letter explaining the "Life. Be In It." program in Illinois and their son received a complimentary "Life. Be In It. "T-shirt. "LIFE. BE IN IT." EVENTS Although there were individual agency "Life. Be In It." programs on June 4th, the Suburban Park & Recreation Association (SPRA) sponsored a regional "Life. Be In It."special
Illinois Parks and Recreation 7 September/October 1983
celebration which included various contests such as fishing derbies, kite Hying contests, soccer games, horseshoe tournaments, arts & crafts displays by local artists, as well as frisbee golf, volleyball, softball, boating and New Games tournaments. All June 4th events were well attended and served as a tremendous public awareness project for parks and recreation throughout the State. From Peoria we received the following report: "More than 15,000 people converged on Glen Oak Park for an Old-Fashioned Sunday. Truly it was a celebration for 'Life. Be In It.' Old fashioned games tug-of-war, sack races and spin the hoop were popular family encounters. In the lagoon, skilled logrollers jumped rope and performed feats. Mountain dulcimers and country and bluegrass music echoed through the park. The River Valley doggers and Park Promenaders set a lot of toes a-tapping. Around the log cabin shelter, old fashioned crafts of leather working, weaving basketry, spinning, and caning attracted many spectators. Woodcarving, blacksmithing and sheep-shearing were also demonstrated. Needlecrafts, candlewicking, oil painting and tin punching delighted other viewers. The aroma of butterfly pork chops attracted hundreds to the Peoria "Pork" District concession stand. Rootbeer was served at the Short Branch Saloon and hundreds of funnel cakes and elephant ears were consumed. The Old-Fashioned event is strictly a volunteer project staged by the Peoria Park staff." The Decatur Park District and Herald & Review newspaper joined hands in organizing a "Weekend in the Park" festival to be held over Memorial Day weekend. The program in Decatur included the nationally praised Decatur Park singers, Blues Band & Revue, mud wrestling, water slide relays, adult tricycle races; golf, running, and boat races, superstar contests, bed races, Greek dances, antique car show, canoe races, diaper derbies, egg throw and greased watermelon contests, martial arts displays, magicians and square dancing. The food was prepared by the Decatur Knights of Columbus and all proceeds went to an activity fund for mentally and physically disabled. This 3-day event drew over 100,000 people from a 22-county Central Illinois area. The Arlington Heights Park District also had over 100,000 people attend its "Frontier Days" festival which included arts, music, carnival rides, water fights, food and beverages with the Gold Nugget Saloon. It is impossible here to give a narrative description of each agency's "Life. Be In It."kick-off event. However, a sample of the various events sponsored by park, recreation and conservation agencies throughout Illinois June 4th and 5th includes: The Park District of Highland Park six legged race (runners with dogs), volleyball tournament, and band concert. Zion Park District giant picnic (advertised as possibly the Largest National Picnic), ice cream social, athletic contests, music and games, and the opening of Port Shiloh and the new water slide area. Also included were historical walk, tours, volleyball tournaments, the Senior Center live entertainment program, and the businessmen's triathalon (5-member teams) bike-swim-walk/run race. Palatine Park District bike-a-thon, Hershey track & field meet (children 9-14 years of age). Des Plaines Park District 612 mile race, boating races, kite flying, golf contest (closest to the pin on 18), free concert. Downers Grove Park District demonstrations of aerobic dancing, suzuki violin, and tournaments and contests. Glen Ellyn Park District sidewalk coloring contest, photo show and contest, open house dance extravaganza, sailing regatta, and a pitiful pet contest. Naperville Park District sand castle contest, kayaking, family innertube relays, overloaded canoe races, water basketball and volleyball and Senior citizen special programs. Schaumburg Park District 10K summer stomp (all ages) and mini Indy tricycle race for tots. Elmhurst Park District bicycle hike, family volleyball, outdoor adventure activities. AIsip Park District sand sculpture contest. Bloomington Parks & Recreation Department triathalon featuring running, hiking and innertubing. Northbrook Park District art festival. Illinois Parks and Recreation 8 September/October 1983 Roxana Park District antique auto show. Northwest Suburban Recreation Association special Olympic bowling tournament. Clarendon Hills Park District fishing derby and bluegrass concert. Gurnee Park District & Crete Park District new park dedications. Wheeling Park District father/ son campout. Park Ridge Park District family splash party. Carbondale Park District sunset concerts. Canton Park District drum and bugle corps performances. Parks & Recreation of Oak Park Jim Gilleran show, family games, tumbler show, talent shows, free swimming. In some areas various park, recreation and conservation agencies combined their efforts to conduct a "Life. Be In It." program. Such was the case with 17 special events starting with a 10,000 meter race planned and conducted by the Champaign Park District, Urbana Park District, Champaign Forest Preserve, Rantoul Playground & Recreation Department, Rantoul Park District, and Paxton Park District. As indicated, "Life. Be In It." featured programs were not only planned for the June 3rd-5th weekend but also throughout the summer. The Macon County Conservation District held a special Prairie Isles "Life. Be In It." Day at the Rock Springs Center for Environmental Discovery on June 11. Among events sponsored by the MCCD were a sunrise watch, fishing contest, trail hikes, art exhibit, wagon tour and campfire supper. The Illinois Park and Recreation Association had a special "Life. Be In It." Day bus trip on June 13th for Chicago area park and recreation agencies to visit Great America Theme Park, June 23rd White Sox/ "Life. Be In It." Day at Comiskey Park, Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field and throughout July, the "Life. Be In It." Arts in the Park with special art and cultural programs. The "Life. Be In It. "Hershey State Track and Field Meet was held on July 10th. On August 10th park and recreation specialists ran 580 miles, in ten-mile relays, from southern and northern Illinois, carrying scissor halves. These scissor halves were joined in Springfield and presented to Governor Thompson to cut the State Fair opening day ribbon. Then to conclude the State Fair, the "Life. Be In It." Abe's Amble 10K Run was held for individual and team runners. "Life. Be In It." events were also featured on August 14th with "Life. Be In It." Triathalon hosted by the Glencoe Park District. Lake Michigan was used for the swimming portion of the three-part race for amateurs, teams and families. There is
"Tin-Man" competition in swimming, hiking, and running. And, on August 18th there was "Life. Be In It."Senior Olympics in Elmhurst which included track and field and sporting events for senior citizens. "LIFE. BE IN IT." COMMITTEE All of the above "Life. Be In It." events did not just happen. Hundreds of hours were donated by the citizen board members (commissioners) and the park, recreation and conservation professional staff. However, the primary responsibility for the statewide "Life. Be In It." program rested with the Joint Public Awareness Committee co-chaired by Bonnie Noble (Peoria Park District) and Connie Skibbe (Park District of Highland Park) in 1982 and Arlene Mulder (Arlington Heights Park District) and Steve Scholten (Medinah Park District) in 1983. Through this committee's efforts the "Life. Be In It."program was successfully accomplished. The committee called each park and recreation agency in Illinois to encourage participation in the "Life. Be In It." program. To gain state level governmental support and media awareness, the committee wrote personally to each legislator explaining the program. This letter was followed by an official invitation to the Governor's Mansion for the "Life. Be In It." Reception on May 24th. The news media received press releases. For the future, the committee is planning a statewide "Life. Be In It." concert to be held in conjunction with the Annual Park and Recreation Conference at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in November, 1984. The Committee agreed that the "Life. Be In It." promotions, activities and events were almost as varied as human interests. We did find that everyone has his or her own interpretation of "Life. Be In It." Such was the case with Elizabeth McGreal, a sixth grader at Columbia School, who wrote in a "Life. Be In It."school contest: "When I think of 'Life. Be In It.', I think of running and playing . . . To me 'Life' means taking time to smell the flowers, to look at your surroundings and to think how truly beautiful it really is ... Being in life is like believing in rainbows or wishing on a star, being able to take a chance . . . Being in Life also means liking yourself because you are yourself. If you disliked yourself, you would dislike others. It's being able to say you are not perfect, but also saying you are pretty good ... 1 have to be positive . . . Instead of thinking of Life as a cup half empty I have to be thinking of it as half full ... I know now that whatever Life hands to me I'm going to accept it and truly be in Life." Let's build enthusiasm and continued support for 1984. Send to the IAPD by March, 1984, your list of special events and festivals for the 1984 Spring/Summer/Fall season. Illinois Parks and Recreation 9 September/October 1983 |
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