James Long, John Kelly, Patrick Gulotta, Robert Tropp, Kelly Hasse

Serving You...

The Lan-Oak Park District Board of Commissioners

PARK NOTES

LAN-OAK

PARK

DISTRICT

Watch for new

construction coming in

April!Two parks to receive exciting

new playgrounds.Lan-Oak Park, located at 180th & Arcadia, is

Lansing’s biggest playground and

is considered the “community

playground”. On any day, dozens of

families either walk, bike, or drive to Lan-Oak

Park to enjoy this massive playground. The

Lan-Oak playground is also one of the park

district’s oldest and is in need of replacement.

Planning and design is complete and bids are

being solicited to start demolition and

construction in April. The Lan-Oak playground

will offer a separate, gated play structure just

for ages 2-5 years, allowing moms

and young children the safety of their own play

space. Older kids will be impressed with new

climbing and play amenities to excite and

challenge them. The second park to see

construction will be Van Laten Park at 183rd &

Holland. This playground will bring a whimisical,

storybook theme sure to inspire. Check out the

bookcase climber! Van Laten Park will also house a

new Story Walk facility. Kids of all ages will be able to

read & get fit walking a lengthy pathway and reading

a displayed story changing every month. A “Take A

Book, Leave A Book Library” just for childrens books

completes Story Walk fun. Construction at Van Laten

is also scheduled to begin in April. Plan on visiting

both of these new playgrounds &

Story Walk this summer!!

The Park

District needs

your help!!

Each spring the Lan-Oak Park District Board of

Comissioners and staff sharpen their pencils and get to

work planning new projects and financing for the coming

construction season. The park district has a great many needs in its 21

parks and a limited budget, so due diligence is necessary in balancing the

needs and wants of the community. This year a dog park is on the

priority list. Many residents have expressed a desire to have a

dedicated space to visit with their best friend.

The park district wishes to survey the community to ensure that

the dog park is a “want” for a majority of the community.

Please take a moment to

visit our website at

www.lanoakparkdistrict.org

to complete our survey

regarding the addition of a dog

park. This will allow the board

and staff to more accurately

determine the correct use of its

funds in the coming year.

Thanks in advance for

completing the survey -

government works best when its people partcipate. We welcome

and appreciate your participation.

The Easter Bunny is hopping

toward Lansing to hide candy for all

Lansing children. Find a gold egg and

win a special prize!

You don’t want to be late, because

the candy disappears within

minutes. Bring a bag or basket.

The hunt gathers at a

NEW location – Lan-Oak Park.

Enjoy ample parking and a wide

open space this year.

Join us in the park

for a morning of

fun and don’t

forget your

camera to take

pictures with the

Easter Bunny!

Age 11 & Under

Don’t be late – the hunt starts

promptly at 10:00AM!!

NEW LOCATION:

Lan-Oak Park

180th & Arcadia

Saturday, April 15

10:00am SHARP!!

This fun is FREE!

Offered to you by your

community park district -

Lan-Oak Park District

Local Churches Donate to Story Walk

Three Lansing churches generously

donated nearly $2000 to the park

district in order to assist with the new

Story Walk program. In The Upper

Room Ministries, St. John’s Lutheran

Church, and New Hope Church

partnered last fall in an annual walk/

run event. Each year they research

upcoming community projects and

carefully determine a benefactor for the proceeds from their event.

This year the park district was humbled and proud to be chosen for it’s

Story Walk project - a new park amenity that will encourage children

to get outside, to get fit and read. “This is the second time the park

district has been chosen for this annual donation and we greatly

appreciate the support of these churches,” said Sharon Desjardins,

Lan-Oak Park District Senior Superintendent.

The Tri-Church 5k was held on Saturday, September 24, 2016 . The run

is a timed community event hosted by three area churches: New Hope

Church, St. John’s Lutheran Church and In The Upper Room Ministries

MB Church. Prizes are awarded to top participants. You can com-

plete the 5K by way of: run, jog, walk, rollerblade/skate, skateboard,

scooter, or wheelchair, but only runners and walkers will be awarded

prizes for top finishes. Watch for details for the 2017 race.

At the IkeThe Eisenhower Center is a busy place!

The park distrct is proud to maintain this

nearly 60,000 square foot community center

for the enjoyment of all Lansing residents

and their friends. The Eisenhower Center is

full service for all ages - from the baby room

to the educational preschool to the two-court

gymnasium to the fitness center - it has

something for everyone!

IN FITNESS......The winter/spring season is in full swing at the

community and fitness center. Eisenhower Fitness welcomes the

hundreds of new fitness members that took advantage of our very

popular January Fitness Special and also appreciates the support of the

hundreds of members that renewed their memberships with the same

special. New to our fitness programming - our new Barre Fitness class is

thriving and our long-time favorite fitness classes, both floor and water, are busy filling up each session. The park district is

looking forward to a major fitness improvement coming in August - the painting of the indoor pool area. This painting project

will include the indoor pool, pool deck, whirlpool, walls and ceiling. Students and teachers should check out our discounted

summer fitness memberships going on sale in May!

IN RECREATION......Playskool, the park district’s very popular educational

preschool program, is gearing up for its last three months of

school with three exciting theme units - the human body,

dinosaurs and space. The school year will wrap up with

the annual Blast-Off Pajama Party, Family Picnic and

graduation. Many Playskool students have already registered to

return for the 2017-2018 school year and are looking forward to

greeting new friends. Families that are interested in Playskool may

call 708-474-8552 for a tour. Register soon as Playskool fills up very quickly.

It’s almost time for summer camp!! The staff is starting to plan and schedule summer camps for summer 2017.

Our summer day camp, Camp Wewannago, welcomes about 70 campers

each year for games, art, music, field trips, fitness and lots of fun with friends. Camp

Wewannago is staffed with college students and is super safe with a ratio of one counselor to

every eight children - compare with other camps that often maintain a one to twenty ratio.

Our counselors complete a full-week of training each year, are subjected to a criminal back-

ground check, and are trained for American Red Cross CPR and first aid. Campers, ages 6 to 13,

have a blast from 9:00am to 3:00pm, Monday through Friday, with before and after care

available. Camp Wewannago is split into two four week sessions in June and July, with a

two-week session offered in August.

Children ages 3 to 5 years may enjoy Camp Loads-of-Fun, offered

three mornings per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday

from 9am to noon. Camp Loads-of-Fun is staffed with Playskool

instructors and offers preschool-aged children a fun,

traditional summer camp experience. Watch

for our Summer 2017 program brochure coming soon for these

day camp options and a bunch of other camp offerings in

gymnastics, athletics, art, cooking, summer preschool, and more.

Check out our new athletic offerings! Coming up in March & April-

Munchkin and Youth Spring Soccer League, Badminton (for the whole family), Senior

Bocce Ball, Kids Kickball, Volleyball (from age 6 to adult), Handball (for ages 6 to adult),

Dodgeball (teen and adult), Adult Coed Softball League, and 3 on 3 Basketball

Tournament!! Register at www.lanoakparkdistrict.org.

There’s so much waiting for you - Get In the Game!!For details about these upcoming athletic programs, please call 708-474-8552 or look

in our Winter/Spring 2017 program brochure (pages 24-27) on our website at

www.lanoakparkdistrict.org

PRESORTED STANDARD

US POSTAGE PAID LANSING, IL 60438

PERMIT 216

LAN-OAK PARK DISTRICT 2550 178th Street Lansing, Illinois 60438 708-474-8552

ECRWSS RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER Lansing, Illinois 60438

Did you know that park shelters are available for family reunions,

birthdays, graduations, and other events each summer? Lansing

residents reserve park shelters every year to make their event special

and you can, too. Lan-Oak Park District offers nine shelter options lo-

cated in five parks - Erfert Park, Lan-Oak Park, Rotary Park, Van Laten

Park, and Bock Park. Park shelter reservations provide you use of the

shelter from 11am to 8pm, a bathroom key (except Bock Park), picnic

tables, and electricity. The cost of a shelter reservation is just $50

and each reservation requires a $100 damage deposit that will be

refunded after the use if no damage is present and park rules are not

violated. Call 708-474-8552 to see if your preferred date is available.

Party in the park this year!!

Arcadia Shelter, Lan-Oak Park

Van Laten Park Shelter

Oakley Shelter, Lan-Oak Park

Bock Park Shelter

Rotary Park Shelter, Southwest

Rotary Park Shelter, Northeast

Erfert Park

Large Shelter,

Each end

reserved

separately

Erfert Park Octagon

Shelter