Wheaton Park District Staff Members Prepare for Spring

WHEATON, IL — Behind the Wheaton Park District’s 54 parks and special facilities, there are people cleaning, updating and refreshing things for the crowds spring brings.

Director of Parks and Planning Rob Sperl is one of those people.
“Preparing parks for spring involves a lot,” he said. “Buildings, shelters and other things like water fountains that were winterized need to be started back up. There is a lot of debris that collects over winter that needs to be cleaned. We have a lot to do to get ready for athletics, like repairing fields, putting wind screens out, lining fields, [and] moving soccer goals.”

Sperl’s team of nearly three dozen completes these tasks quickly by necessity.
“There is very little time between the end of winter when we can start working on these things and the beginning of April when they start to be used,” Sperl said. “Much of this work needs to be done before our summer seasonal [employees], who are typically in school, can start.”

Each park, once it’s ready, provides different recreation opportunities, including “baseball, softball, soccer, football, lacrosse, tennis, basketball, pétanque, running, walking, fishing, boating, birding, picnicking, swimming, golfing, playing on playgrounds, summer concerts, or just relaxing on a park bench,” said Sperl.

Lincoln Marsh Program Manager Terra Johnson knows spring is here when certain species return to the natural area.
“The first frogs we hear are chorus frogs,” she said. “All of us have impatiently been waiting for the arrival of spring. We miss the delicate flower of a white trout lily and the ‘konk-la-ree’ of a red-winged blackbird. I also enjoy the woodland spring wildflowers.”

Within the marsh’s 151 acres are woodland, wetland and prairie ecosystems, the last of which benefits from controlled burns that release nutrients into the soil for new growth.
“Our Conservation Manager and conservation crew continue their battle with plant invaders and yearn for the right conditions for a spring burn,” Johnson said.

Programs also experience new growth, “fostering an appreciation for the natural world in a tiny explorer and their adult companion” with Tales and Trails on April 23 and May 13 and Wading and Scooping on April 29 and May 21, available at webtrac.wheatonparkdistrict.com. Enter code 256223 for Tales and Trails and 210506 for Wading and Scooping.

Near its entrance at Harrison Ave. and Pierce Ave. stands the marsh’s challenge course, a clearing in the woods with a group wall, telephone pole shuffle, high ropes course, and 50-foot climbing tower. Guests ages 10 to 14 can scale the climbing tower during Youth Beginner Rock Climbing Class on Fridays, April 28 through May 19, also available at webtrac.wheatonparkdistrict.com. Enter code 255338. To learn more about Lincoln Marsh, visit lincolnmarsh.org or facebook.com/lincolnmarsh.

Another place to climb, jump and explore is now open for the season: Cosley Zoo’s Nature Play Area. Home to logs, stumps, boulders and a Little Free Library, the play area lets kids tackle natural obstacles in manageable ways while developing motor and coordination skills.
But the Nature Play Area isn’t the only part of the zoo, located at 1356 N. Gary Ave., that’s freshened up.
“We do a complete cleaning of the duck pond every spring,” said Education Supervisor Natasha Fischer. “While we are working on the pond, each duck must be temporarily relocated to a behind-the-scenes area. [Zoo]keepers take advantage of this opportunity to do a detailed health check on the ducks.”

Lead Zookeeper Jenny Theuman and other zookeepers do their own spring cleaning, too.
“Springtime is a great time for some sprucing up around the zoo,” Theuman said. “There’s lots of raking and removing errant straw, hay or shavings. It’s also a great time to replace weathered perching and materials in the animals’ habitats.”

For those who like interacting with domesticated animals, the zoo has two options—duck feeding and chicken feeding—that resume in the spring. Duck feeding is offered daily March 25 to April 2 and April 15 to October 9, 10-10:30 a.m. and 3-3:30 p.m. Chicken feeding is offered daily through October 31, 11:30-11:45 a.m. and 1:30-1:45 p.m. Both activities are $1 per serving.

Discovery Stations, available 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays starting April 1, provide free training demonstrations, animal encounters, amphitheater presentations, and more. No registration is required; look for the Discovery Station sign on the walkway toward the admission booth for the day’s topics and locations. All activities are weather permitting.

The zoo is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily April through October, but one program extends into the evening: Barnyard Bedtime Stories on April 7, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Children ages 18 months to 12 years put on their pajamas, grab their teddy bears and listen to an after-hours story time with animal-themed books, activities, and a bedtime snack. Registration is available at webtrac.wheatonparkdistrict.com; enter code 206401.
To learn more about Cosley Zoo, visit cosleyzoo.org or facebook.com/cosleyzoo.

The diversity of the district’s recreation opportunities in spring is reflected in Sperl’s favorite places to visit as flowers bloom once again and winter melts into sunshine.
“[I like] Lincoln Marsh for nature and spring flowers, Northside Park for lots of different activities in one place, Hurley Gardens for quiet time, and the Sensory Garden [Playground] for inspiration,” he said.
To learn more about the Wheaton Park District’s parks, visit wheatonparkdistrict.com/parks.

>>submitted by Wheaton Park District