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Talk-Line: A "Project Rock" update from Duane Long · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: We are quarter past the hour. This is Friday, It's
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  Speaker 1: August one, the year is twenty twenty five, and it's
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  Speaker 1: time for another informational edition of talk Line here at
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  Speaker 1: w i X and Radio. Good morning, I'm Steve Marco.
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  Speaker 1: Time for our monthly look at news and information from
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  Speaker 1: your Dixon Park District. We get it monthly and the
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  Speaker 1: executive director of the Dixon Park District is lied with
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  Speaker 1: us by telephone to fill in the blanks. Good friend
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  Speaker 1: Dwayne Long joins us on this Friday here at WIX
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  Speaker 1: and Dwayne, good morning, Good morning.
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  Speaker 2: Steve, thanks for having the Dixon partner strict.
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  Speaker 1: And it is always a pleasure having the park district
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  Speaker 1: on board with us for news and information. As always,
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  Speaker 1: as we start our Park District report with Dwayne, we
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  Speaker 1: want to get a park status report, Dwayne on the
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  Speaker 1: infrastructure of our parks serving our Soft Valley and especially
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  Speaker 1: our Dixon area, how they shaping up as we move
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  Speaker 1: into the latter part of summer towards the fall.
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  Speaker 3: Already can't believe it.
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  Speaker 2: Well, as you know, Steve, we've had a tremendous amount
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  Speaker 2: of rain and that affects our parks. So obviously we
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  Speaker 2: had you know, people saw yesterday we had a huge
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  Speaker 2: tree down in John Dixon Park now and we've had
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  Speaker 2: several trees low Park and we've just had a hard
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  Speaker 2: time keeping up with the mowing. So the parks might
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  Speaker 2: look a little shaggy with you know, high grass or
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  Speaker 2: even the cut grass is in the you know parks.
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  Speaker 2: So it's kind of unique that, you know, you notice
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  Speaker 2: that the parks look a little rough, but that means
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  Speaker 2: we've been taking really good care of them beforehand. And
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  Speaker 2: people notice that when the grass is long, so we're
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  Speaker 2: keeping it. We're trying to catch up here. But then
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  Speaker 2: you catch up and it rains again, you can't mow,
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  Speaker 2: So it's kind of the revolving thing until the rain
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  Speaker 2: flows down a little bit. Other than that, the parks
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  Speaker 2: are all open, splash pads are all open. Everything is
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  Speaker 2: open for the use. And yes, these we're reaching around
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  Speaker 2: the corner for fall already, believe or not.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, with a lot of fall preparations going on
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  Speaker 1: through the Dixon Park test. Again, we'll get to some
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  Speaker 1: of those preparations in just a bit. Again, back to
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  Speaker 1: the parks to Wayne, As you mentioned the splash pads,
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  Speaker 1: they're in operation. I know that they've been in and
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  Speaker 1: out of the rain, in the water and things like that,
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  Speaker 1: so you know you probably had to make adjustments in
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  Speaker 1: that field as well.
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  Speaker 2: Right, We did, We did for sure. I mean, one
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  Speaker 2: day you'll have eighty people there and next day it'll
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  Speaker 2: be you know, seventy five degrees and just on the
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  Speaker 2: borderline to be at the splash pad. But we keep
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  Speaker 2: them on and you know, you come out and press
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  Speaker 2: the button when you want it on, so we keep
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  Speaker 2: the system going and going. But you know, like today
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  Speaker 2: it's going to be a little cooler, but we'll still
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  Speaker 2: have some people out there today.
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  Speaker 1: See, all right, So again, splash pads in operation, both
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  Speaker 1: docks are still in fishing along the Rock River.
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  Speaker 3: Everything okay in that.
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  Speaker 2: Regard, Everything is okay. The river's a little low, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: but yeah, our ramps are operational at both sites. There
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  Speaker 2: is some periodic closures down a Project Rock that we'll
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  Speaker 2: talk about here in the next segment.
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  Speaker 1: And that's exactly what we want to get into. I'm
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  Speaker 1: glad that you mentioned the river conditions because, yeah, in
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  Speaker 1: part it is due to the construction going on in
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  Speaker 1: Page Park at Project Rock.
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  Speaker 3: Dwayne, bring us up to date on the latest there's a.
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  Speaker 2: Lot going on on Project Rock. So the steel will
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  Speaker 2: be all set by Tuesday of next week, so you'll
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  Speaker 2: see a complete steel bridge going across the river by
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  Speaker 2: Tuesday next week. And then bike trails and roads are
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  Speaker 2: delayed because all the rain. We may not get some
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  Speaker 2: of the trails paved this year due to all this rain,
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  Speaker 2: but we'll do it in the spring for sure. Working
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  Speaker 2: heavy up by the tennis courts. We're actually moving Page
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  Speaker 2: Park Road over towards the woods, so the road will
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  Speaker 2: be completely moved away from the tennis courts there. So
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  Speaker 2: you'll have closures at the tennis courts here the next
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  Speaker 2: probably month, which involves you know, the boat ramp area,
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  Speaker 2: tennis courts and so forth. But we're working with Helm
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  Speaker 2: and our engineer to you know, bridge that gap there.
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  Speaker 2: The bridge is a week ahead of schedule and the
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  Speaker 2: road and trails are two weeks behind schedule. They don't
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  Speaker 2: have a problem catching those up, they don't think. But
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  Speaker 2: the the bridge is gonna the bridge is gonna be
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  Speaker 2: set on Tuesday, Steve, and then they'll form it up
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  Speaker 2: to start pumping pouring a concrete deck on it, so
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  Speaker 2: that'll move pretty fast. They're looking to get that done
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  Speaker 2: here this fall. So a lot going on down there,
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  Speaker 2: but generally on time, just the little goes behind on
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  Speaker 2: the trails due to all the wet weather.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So again we have the road conditions in
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  Speaker 1: Page Park. They'll be changed, as Dwayne mentioned, some of
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  Speaker 1: the paths will be changed as Project Rock shapes up again.
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  Speaker 1: That bridge construction continues a pace across the Rock River, Dwayne.
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  Speaker 1: This is obviously impeding you know, boat traffic, you know,
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  Speaker 1: and water really you know, up to the dam.
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  Speaker 3: You can see the difference, Dwayne.
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  Speaker 1: You know because of this, I think I shuldn't it's
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  Speaker 1: in part because of the construction going on, isn't it.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not too sure about the river levels with that, Steve.
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  Speaker 2: I know that when they built the platform to get
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  Speaker 2: into the river off their barges, they built it when
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  Speaker 2: the water was high, and now the water has dropped
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  Speaker 2: so much that they had trouble getting their equipment off
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  Speaker 2: onto their landing platform. It dropped almost three feet since
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  Speaker 2: they built the platforms the way back when the snow
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  Speaker 2: was flying. So things have changed in the river. It's
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  Speaker 2: caused a few problems, but they've made up for it,
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  Speaker 2: and the bridges on time.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no boat trap pass past that. You can't
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  Speaker 1: get a boat, right, Dwayne, up past that.
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  Speaker 2: Area, correct, Yes, yes, they left the gap.
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  Speaker 3: Oh they did, okay, and that was required.
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  Speaker 2: By the city. We left the gap and there the
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  Speaker 2: boats can go up and can enjoy the boat docks
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  Speaker 2: between the bridges and go to the local restaurants here
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  Speaker 2: in Dickon, Okay.
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  Speaker 1: Wanting to make sure we punctuate that because that construction
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  Speaker 1: going on, there's still a opening that boat traffic can
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  Speaker 1: use to get further in to that area closer to
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  Speaker 1: the dam. As Dwayne mentioned again past the project Rock Project.
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  Speaker 1: So there you go, the update of our walk bridge
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  Speaker 1: across the Rock River. Dwayne has it for us monthly
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  Speaker 1: here at w IX and Dwayne Long as our executive
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  Speaker 1: director of the Dixon pract District, joining us today for
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  Speaker 1: the Friday morning talk line here at WYXM. Let's move
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  Speaker 1: to some programs and all bet Dwayne. Before we catch
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  Speaker 1: up on programs, let's track back. The last time we
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  Speaker 1: talked to you was just before the Dixon Patunia Festival.
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  Speaker 1: Everything okay. From the Patunia FESTI pass.
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  Speaker 2: Now once again, Steve, the Petunia Festival does a great
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  Speaker 2: job on cleaning up. It's amazing. By Wednesday of the
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  Speaker 2: next week, you don't even know anything went on in Haymarket,
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  Speaker 2: John Dixon Page Park. Everything went off without a hitch.
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  Speaker 2: Everything went great, Steve. It was a great festival, no
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  Speaker 2: damage to the parks. Everything looked good by you know, Wednesday.
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  Speaker 2: Give them a couple of days. They're all volunteers to
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  Speaker 2: get it all cleaned up, and it looked great.
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  Speaker 3: All right.
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  Speaker 1: So again past the Petunia Festival. Obviously the Dixon Park
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  Speaker 1: District a major player for the Dixon Petunia Festival yearly.
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  Speaker 1: Now we move on to events and activities taking place,
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  Speaker 1: and I know that a couple of highlighted events to
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  Speaker 1: win that I wanted to punctuate are on our Patunia
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  Speaker 1: Fest excuse me, Petunia Park District schedule moving forward into
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  Speaker 1: the month of August. But I'm gonna let you take
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  Speaker 1: off with your schedule list and maybe I'll listen for
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  Speaker 1: those special events coming up.
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  Speaker 2: That sounds good, Steve. We'll start off with our museum program.
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  Speaker 2: We have our do yourself nature crafts that's Thursday, August
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  Speaker 2: seventh and Friday August eighth, insect investigators at the Nature
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  Speaker 2: Center Thursday, August fourteenth and Friday August fifteenth, and a
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  Speaker 2: nature scavenger hunt Thursday, August twenty first and August twenty second.
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  Speaker 2: Moving in the recreational program, Steve, we have kids table
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  Speaker 2: eleven to twelve thirty Thursday August seventh, and they're going
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  Speaker 2: to plumb Howl and you're gonna do some bowling and
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  Speaker 2: laser tag and pizza that day. That'll be exciting to
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  Speaker 2: get out of the facility and go somewhere else that day.
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  Speaker 3: Nice.
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  Speaker 2: We also got our partner Strict Golf Outing coming up
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  Speaker 2: Friday August fifteenth. We have a new program called the
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  Speaker 2: Paint Workshop August twenty second, and that's at the facility.
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  Speaker 2: And also Steve adult flag football, so you talked about
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  Speaker 2: the fall September seventh, that program is coming up. And
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  Speaker 2: don't forget about our Farmer's Market Saturdays and Wednesdays and
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  Speaker 2: August twenty third, it's customer appreciation at Farmers' Market, so
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  Speaker 2: they'll have giveaways, founce houses, face painting the whole nine
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  Speaker 2: yards down there. And Steve, to highlight our rec program
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  Speaker 2: hoops and roots, we're bringing back Isaiah Roby to basketball
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  Speaker 2: camp at the facility for the first time ever. So
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  Speaker 2: that's exciting stuff for us, Steve. A lot of people
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  Speaker 2: don't know. We tried to do this camp last year
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  Speaker 2: and we actually had all the shirts sent to the facility,
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  Speaker 2: three boxes full of shirts for this camp and basketball,
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  Speaker 2: and then Isaiah went overseas and played basketball and he
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  Speaker 2: couldn't get back to the camp, so we had to
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  Speaker 2: kind of put that on hold, but we still kept
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  Speaker 2: all the shirts. And so here we are, Steve. We're
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  Speaker 2: finally getting Isaiah back. He's rehabbing from an injury a
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  Speaker 2: little bit, but we're getting back at the facility in
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  Speaker 2: his hometown and we're going to do a beautiful camp there, Steve.
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  Speaker 1: And that date again, Dwayne for that camp.
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  Speaker 2: That date is September sixth, and that'll be at the facility.
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  Speaker 2: It's going to be an all day event and it's
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  Speaker 2: going to be exciting. And I would suggest that if
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  Speaker 2: you want to go to this camp, you might want
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  Speaker 2: to get on that pretty quick. It probably will fill up.
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  Speaker 2: It'll be limited spots just due to the size of
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  Speaker 2: our facility.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I can't think of anybody better to give
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  Speaker 1: a basketball camp than our Dixon native and pro basketball
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  Speaker 1: player Isaiah Roby.
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  Speaker 3: He's a natural.
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  Speaker 1: He's a great fit for this again event coming up,
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  Speaker 1: and so we're excited to have Isaiah back in the
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  Speaker 1: fold and giving that basketball camp in early September through
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  Speaker 1: the Dixon Park District. One thing, Dwayne, that I did
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  Speaker 1: want to quickly throw in on your calendar of event
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  Speaker 1: list was the National Night Out event that you're going
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  Speaker 1: to be happening in your parking lot courtesy of law enforcement.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a great collavilation. They take up the whole
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  Speaker 2: parking lot, Steve. It's exciting stuff. They bring all the
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  Speaker 2: trucks up for the kids. Just remember when you come
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  Speaker 2: to that event, you got to park on the road because,
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  Speaker 2: like I just said, all the fire trucks and ambulances
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  Speaker 2: and wreckers and so forth are in the parking lot,
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  Speaker 2: filling up the parking lot. That's a great event. Such
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  Speaker 2: just met on it the other day with them to
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  Speaker 2: finalize things. It's gonna be a great day.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: That is August the eighth, So that comes up next
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  Speaker 1: week at the Dixon Park District facility outdoor area that's
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  Speaker 1: in the parking lot area and adjoining grounds. They'll have
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  Speaker 1: lots of organizations up there. Law Enforcement fire departments, lots
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  Speaker 1: representing our local area and the public is invited again
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  Speaker 1: and we've already touched base with law enforcement on this
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  Speaker 1: Dawayne and they're excited to once again have their National
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  Speaker 1: Night out of MP courtesy of the Dixon Park District
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  Speaker 1: at the facility outdoor area in Northeast Dixon, Dwayne. With
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  Speaker 1: the latter portion of our talk line a couple of
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  Speaker 1: minutes left, we have a new hire through the Dixon
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  Speaker 1: Park District.
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  Speaker 3: Talk about this we.
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  Speaker 2: Do, Steve. It's been a long process and way overdue,
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  Speaker 2: but we did hire our new director at the Nature Center.
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  Speaker 2: Her name is Anna Smith and she wrote something up
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  Speaker 2: from Adjoining as the new director of the Dixon Nature
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  Speaker 2: Center is Anna Smith, a passionate author of eleven national
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  Speaker 2: education books and a veteran educator who has taught program
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  Speaker 2: since two thousand and three. She is thrilled to bring
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  Speaker 2: her unique vision and intern interactive exhibits and programs to
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  Speaker 2: the Dickson community. We're excited to have her on board
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  Speaker 2: and she's already collaborated with the next picture show for
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  Speaker 2: Palace in the Park. Steve. She's been there two weeks.
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  Speaker 2: She's off and running, so we're excited to have that
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  Speaker 2: position filled. There's gonna be some twist on the Nature
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  Speaker 2: Center now. I've kind of decided to separate two kind
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  Speaker 2: of categories out there. So we're gonna do the nature
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  Speaker 2: part of the Nature Center and learning about animals and
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  Speaker 2: insects and plants, and then we're going to do an
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  Speaker 2: off of that. We're going to do adventures, so we're
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  Speaker 2: gonna do kayaking to new trips, bike trips, so forth,
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  Speaker 2: all out of the Nature Center. So we're trying to
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  Speaker 2: bring in a different variety of people and interest to
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  Speaker 2: the Nature Center, and we'll bring everybody in. We'll have
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  Speaker 2: two different things for people to enjoy at the Nature Center.
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  Speaker 2: Instead of just one, we're having two things to get
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  Speaker 2: people in there. So exciting stuff for us here at
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  Speaker 2: the Partnerstrict. We're going to try something new at the
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  Speaker 2: Nature Center, but we're also going to keep the old,
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: so we're trying something new. See if I hope it
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  Speaker 2: works out well.
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  Speaker 1: And we welcome aboard Anna Smith as our new again
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  Speaker 1: Nature Center director again and it sounds like she's well
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  Speaker 1: versed in this area moving forward with the Dixon Park District,
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  Speaker 1: So congratulations and welcome to Anna Smith. As our new
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  Speaker 1: Dixon Park District Nature Center director. The Edwards Nature Center
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  Speaker 1: director will be taking as Dwayne mentioned already as taken
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  Speaker 1: hold of the nature Center directorship.
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  Speaker 3: She's been in the works for.
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  Speaker 1: A couple of weeks now, so go out and meet her,
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  Speaker 1: right Duaye, Now she's out at the nature Center then period.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely look on our Facebook page. We're going to announce
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  Speaker 2: our new hours for the nature Center and then we're
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: going to have programs like you wouldn't believe here because
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: we're going to have actually two directors there. Well, she's
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: going to be directing the whole department, but she'll have
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: an employee underneath. It's going to run kayak and canoe
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  Speaker 2: trips and bike trips and go to different parks and
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: band trips. So it's gonna be exciting. Steve. There's gonna
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  Speaker 2: be a lot of news coming out of the Nature
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  Speaker 2: Center here in next month.
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  Speaker 3: Looking forward to it.
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  Speaker 1: Dixonparkdistrict dot com there's your source of information when it
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: comes to Dixon Park District news and information. You're going
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: to go to their Facebook pages Dwayne just mentioned, get
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: daily information out of their Facebook page. You can call
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: the Park District Dwayne your number at the Park District
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: office two.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: Eight four three three oh six. Like I said before,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: you'll talk to Jana and show guide you where you
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: need to go and.
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: You can find out a lot.
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  Speaker 1: If you have questions, just give them a call at
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: the Dixon Park District Office and keep up to date
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: with Park District reports monthly here at w WYX in Dwayne,
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  Speaker 1: a pleasure having you on board. Thanks for joining us
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: today and if not sooner, we'll see you next month.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Steve for having us. We appreciate you.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: Dwayne Long is our executive director of the Dixon Park
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: District Podcast on the talk line today here at w
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: wyxent time to go to press.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: Next, here's Tim Leet