Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 09-08-2026: Dixon Park District's Duane Long shares updates on parks & programs

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Talk Line 09-08-2026: Dixon Park District's Duane Long shares updates on parks & programs · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Sauk Valley.
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: You're with the Waking Crew here on FM 95.1 and
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: AM 1460 WIXN. It's 816 on your Tuesday morning post-Labor
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Day weekend. Hope you've gotten some extra sleep and some
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: good rest because we're ready to tackle the weekend. It's
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: a week going. I'm already ready for it, Dwayne. It's
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: time for Talk Line. We're joined once again by our
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: good friends from the Dixon Park District. Dwayne Long here
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  Speaker 1: to give us the lowdown on the park's How you doing, sir?
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  Speaker 1: How was your Labor Day?
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  Speaker 2: It sounded like it was a bit warmer.
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  Speaker 3: It was a bit warmer, but I'm good to be back.
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  Speaker 3: I've been out of town for about eight days, come
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  Speaker 3: back to a nice long weekend. So, kind of regenerate
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  Speaker 3: and hit the road running.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know about you, Dwayne, but I always
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  Speaker 1: need a day or two of vacation after my vacation
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  Speaker 1: when I get back home, or it doesn't feel quite right.
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  Speaker 3: Well... I came back from vacation, and then I jumped
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  Speaker 3: into a skid loader because we're building E.C. Smith Park.
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  Speaker 3: So the day I got back, we did some skid
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  Speaker 3: loader work, and then the following day we spent all
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: day in the skid loader. Then I took the weekend off,
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  Speaker 3: and here I am today. Okay.
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  Speaker 2: That's kind of fun, though.
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  Speaker 3: Are you kidding me?
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  Speaker 2: You came back from vacation, got to play with some
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  Speaker 2: big boy toys?
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  Speaker 3: I like that. Tyler, my maintenance director, let me do it.
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  Speaker 3: So I had to get permission because I tend to
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  Speaker 3: break the skid loader. So I had to get permission
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  Speaker 3: for that.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's awesome. Well, speaking of parks, what's the status?
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  Speaker 1: Where are we at with everything, Dwayne? Yeah, just a
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  Speaker 1: couple things going on at the Park District. First of all,
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  Speaker 1: our solar field, 24-acre solar field that is being constructed
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  Speaker 1: behind the facility. Once again, that's a land lease. We
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  Speaker 1: don't own the solar field, but there's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: action going on out there. Just want to let people
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  Speaker 1: know that. All the splash pads, boat ramps, kayak rental,
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  Speaker 1: all the parks are open. Get some use out of them.
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  Speaker 1: The weather is going to cool down in the next
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  Speaker 1: couple weeks, but parks are open. and get some last
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  Speaker 1: month or two of use out of them for you.
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  Speaker 3: You pay for them.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. I couldn't have said that better myself. I absolutely
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  Speaker 2: love that. Get out there. It's still beautiful weather. It's
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  Speaker 2: just been fantastic.
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  Speaker 1: Great time to be out there. EC Smith, the playground
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  Speaker 1: grant application, where are we at with that, Dwayne?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so EC Smith, as I mentioned before, we began
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  Speaker 3: construction on the playground itself September 1st. So we removed
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  Speaker 3: the old playground. we constructed a flat 45 by 85
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  Speaker 3: foot area, which on one end of E.C. Smith, if
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  Speaker 3: you're familiar, we had to build it up four feet
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  Speaker 3: to make this area level. So a lot of dirt work.
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  Speaker 3: That's all done. So this week we're going to start
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  Speaker 3: putting holes in the ground and start construction of a
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  Speaker 3: new playground. Completion date is the end of October. So
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  Speaker 3: that's the new playground, new drinking fountain, benches, everything there.
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  Speaker 3: So in the meantime, we're writing a grant. We wrote
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  Speaker 3: a grant. It's been applied for. to repave the tennis courts.
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  Speaker 3: So there will be two tennis courts, a pickleball court,
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  Speaker 3: and a half a basketball court. So that's in the grant.
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  Speaker 3: We'll find out second week in January if we get that.
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  Speaker 3: So that will complete that park. We're going to try
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  Speaker 3: to figure it out. If we don't win the grant,
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  Speaker 3: we're going to see what we can do to get
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  Speaker 3: that paved this summer. It's in bad shape. Once again,
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  Speaker 3: that's not a want. That's a need. That surface is
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  Speaker 3: in pretty bad shape. So yeah, we're moving right along.
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  Speaker 3: So if you drive by EC Smith, you're going to
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  Speaker 3: see some progress there. So obviously the park is closed
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  Speaker 3: because there is no park right now. There is no playground.
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  Speaker 3: But be patient with us. It's all good weather related.
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  Speaker 3: For instance, we got weather coming in tomorrow morning. So
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  Speaker 3: that may slow us down because we're still in the
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  Speaker 3: dirt stages. So be patient with us, but we will
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  Speaker 3: have a new playground in there by the end of October, hopefully.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, that would be a fantastic way to
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  Speaker 1: kind of You know, bring in the end of fall.
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  Speaker 2: Right about there. And, you know, I like that. Those grants,
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  Speaker 2: you know, competitive.
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  Speaker 1: But you guys, if anybody's got a strong shot at
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  Speaker 1: getting this, it's you guys. You do a fantastic job
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  Speaker 1: writing those grants and always trying to find a way
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  Speaker 1: to just get that free money and, you know, as
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: much as you can, fund these projects without ever having.
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  Speaker 2: To ask for a dime.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's funny. When those grants come out, I announce
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  Speaker 3: to my staff, okay, I'm going to be working on
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  Speaker 3: this grant. I'm going to need full office help. We
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  Speaker 3: get a hold of Mr. Greg Gates. He helps out,
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  Speaker 3: but the full office throws in for lining up engineers,
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  Speaker 3: getting maps ready, getting information. It just takes a group effort,
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  Speaker 3: and it's turned in. It's applied for, so hopefully you
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  Speaker 3: find out.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we will cross our fingers that would be a
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  Speaker 1: fantastic gift. The Recreation and Nature Center, I always love
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  Speaker 1: hearing updates from there.
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  Speaker 3: What's going on? Yeah, I got a couple things here.
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  Speaker 3: We're kind of in that light season here. School just started,
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  Speaker 3: so we're kind of prepping for a fall stuff, so
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  Speaker 3: Game on Sports, Wednesday, September 23rd. That's run by Jake
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  Speaker 3: and Bo. We get the kids together, do some organized kickball,
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  Speaker 3: wiffle ball, whatever the kids want to do. The kids
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  Speaker 3: love it. Our attendance has been about 30 kids per session.
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  Speaker 3: So it's a new event, but we're trying it out,
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  Speaker 3: and it looks successful to me. Pop-up party, September 11th
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  Speaker 3: at the facility. Adult flag football sign-ups are September 9th.
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  Speaker 3: Just to remind everybody, the facility is open after school
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  Speaker 3: until 6 and Saturdays until 3 Farmer's Market, 8 to 1.
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  Speaker 3: And we're doing a Moonlight Market, October 23rd at Lowell Park.
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  Speaker 3: Nature Fund for Little Ones, October 2nd. And Kids Table,
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  Speaker 3: September 29th at the facility.
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  Speaker 2: Awesome. Plenty of activities.
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  Speaker 1: You know, the year just goes on, but the fun
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  Speaker 1: doesn't stop out at the parks. Fall is going to be...
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  Speaker 1: Fall is always my favorite time of year. It's always
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  Speaker 1: good to get out there. I'm always out during the
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  Speaker 1: summer as well when I can.
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  Speaker 2: But, you know, fall, the... The leaves start turning colors.
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  Speaker 2: You hear the crunch. You got your jeans and your
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  Speaker 2: boots on and you're hiking trails.
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  Speaker 3: And I.
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  Speaker 1: Just already think about it. That's why I take my
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  Speaker 1: coffee with me at that point.
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  Speaker 3: So fall to the Park District people means all of that,
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  Speaker 3: of course. But then fall means, hey, get ready for
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  Speaker 3: our planning session. So we turn into a planning session
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  Speaker 3: late October, November. We start planning for the next year.
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  Speaker 3: For instance, you know, we're in some stages of the
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: restroom shelter facility at Page Park. We're still working on
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  Speaker 3: completing that process, trying to get that going in the
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  Speaker 3: early spring. A couple other things up on the agenda
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  Speaker 3: we're working on too. And then our programs all get
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  Speaker 3: set up that time of year for the next year.
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  Speaker 3: So it's ironic when people come in in June and say, hey,
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  Speaker 3: can you run this program? We did our planning six
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  Speaker 3: months ago because that's what we have to do. Not
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  Speaker 3: saying we can't insert that in, but our planning is
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  Speaker 3: done November, December, January. And that's our big planning session.
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  Speaker 3: So we have you know, gatherings at tables and get
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  Speaker 3: together on that. You know, if we don't do that,
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  Speaker 3: then we're disorganized when it comes summertime when everybody's wanting
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  Speaker 3: things done. So it's a big time for us. Yes,
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  Speaker 3: fall is a great time of year, but fall to
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  Speaker 3: our staff means, all right, things are slowing up a
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  Speaker 3: little bit. Let's get around the planning tables here. So
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  Speaker 3: it's an exciting time for us because that's when we
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  Speaker 3: come up with new things and listen to the public
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  Speaker 3: and what we want to do, what our budget allows
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  Speaker 3: us to do. Neat stuff, neat stuff.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: You know, planning head's always great. You guys couldn't do
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  Speaker 1: what you do by asking, what do you want to
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  Speaker 1: do this week.
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  Speaker 2: Out on Monday?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, for sure. You know, we take the consideration of
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  Speaker 3: what the public wants to see, what we can afford,
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  Speaker 3: and what we want to see also. So there's a
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  Speaker 3: lot of combination going into planning. It isn't just like
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  Speaker 3: at your home, all right, I'm going to plan my
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  Speaker 3: weekend out. You have to take 15,000 other people in
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  Speaker 3: consideration on what's the highlights. What does this work? What's
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  Speaker 3: Discover Dixon doing this weekend? We don't want to compete
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  Speaker 3: with that. So there's a lot that goes into that.
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  Speaker 3: And there's still some mess-ups. There always is. But we
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  Speaker 3: try to limit those with our planning periods.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Life has its own plans.
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  Speaker 1: So you plan as much as you can, but sometimes
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  Speaker 1: something always happens, and you have to pivot. You have
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  Speaker 1: to learn how to pivot. And you all do a
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  Speaker 1: great job pivoting. So I don't think I'm worried about that.
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  Speaker 1: I know you're not, Dwayne.
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  Speaker 3: No, our recreation department does a great job of pivoting
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  Speaker 3: on sports between weather, attendance, things that come up, crossover
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  Speaker 3: of sports. They do a really good job of that.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, weather, yeah, oh my goodness. Dealing with anything outside,
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  Speaker 1: you always have to be ready to change your plans
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  Speaker 1: and have something waiting in the wings.
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  Speaker 3: You know, for sure this year we had Spark Camp,
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  Speaker 3: and it was 100 degrees during Spark Camp. So we
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  Speaker 3: had the luxury of pulling those kids into an air-conditioned gymnasium.
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  Speaker 3: we wouldn't have been able to have that Spark Camp
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  Speaker 3: without that pivot. There's no way you can put kids,
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  Speaker 3: even though we have water slides, it was just too hot.
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  Speaker 3: Like I told you last time, it was the first
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  Speaker 3: time I wore shorts to work in 30-some years.
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  Speaker 2: It was that hot.
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  Speaker 3: But it's nice to be able to pivot to go
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  Speaker 3: into a nice air-conditioned gym, and you're not paying for
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  Speaker 3: the electricity because we have solar panels on the roof.
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  Speaker 3: So it all comes around. You never know when you're
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: going to need those things, and we needed it that
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  Speaker 3: day to make that Spark Camp successful.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, love that you guys were able to do that.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure the kids had a fantastic time, and I
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  Speaker 1: can't wait to see what's in store for next year
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  Speaker 1: as you guys get underway planning. Of course, Dwayne will
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: always be here to share and break some of that
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  Speaker 1: on TalkLine every month.
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  Speaker 3: That is for sure, and we're looking forward to you
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  Speaker 3: to emceeing our event when we do this dedication of
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  Speaker 3: the E.C. Smith Playground. It's going to be a great
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  Speaker 3: addition to that neighborhood, to the Dixon Park District, It's
• 9:15
  Speaker 3: going to look totally different. We're changing all the elevations
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  Speaker 3: in that area. Four foot of dirt higher than it
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  Speaker 3: ever was before there. Rubber surface. It's going to be awesome.
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  Speaker 3: It's a great addition to that neighborhood.
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  Speaker 1: It's going to be a fantastic, fantastic addition once it's
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  Speaker 1: all done.
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  Speaker 2: And I am honored to be able to help.
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  Speaker 1: Kick that off as you guys cut that ribbon, so
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  Speaker 1: to speak, on all those improvements there. So it's going
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  Speaker 1: to be a fantastic time. Dwayne, anything else you wanted
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  Speaker 1: to share this morning? That's about it for the Park District.
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  Speaker 3: We're ready to go for next month, and we'll be here,
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  Speaker 3: and we'll give you a status on the EC Smith playground,
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  Speaker 3: and then, of course, how the solar field's coming along.
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  Speaker 3: And by then, I'm guessing our splash pads will probably
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: be closed by then. But we'll see how it goes.
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  Speaker 3: This weather has been unusual, if you will.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, you're not wrong.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: Man. You are not wrong at all.
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  Speaker 1: So, Dwayne, thank you so much for coming, giving these updates.
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  Speaker 1: We look forward to future ones and for all the
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: hard work that you and everyone at the Dixon Park
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  Speaker 1: District do out there to make sure these parks are there,
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  Speaker 1: these additions. You keep coming to us, these programs, right?
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  Speaker 1: Because it doesn't just stop with having the parks and
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: maintaining them. Y'all are always doing so much more from
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: there to your facilities, programs, people. It's fantastic, and we're
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: blessed to have such a great park district here in Dixon.
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: Well, you can tell if you come into our office
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: or give us a call, you can tell that everybody
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: there loves their job. We love helping people. I think
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: that's the number one thing for the park district. We
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: love our job. We love the people we work for.
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  Speaker 2: And we're there.
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  Speaker 3: Give us a call if you have any ideas. Ironically,
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: I got an email when I was on vacation about
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: somebody wants to help us do some programs and stuff.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: We're going to have that meeting this week. So that's
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: just a random email, but you never know. If you
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: don't listen, you don't know what that could be. So
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: we're going to find out what this could be. It
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: could be a really special thing for the public and
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: the Dixon Park District. So thanks for having us today.