Thank You, to Our Volunteers!

Coming Together for a Healthy Community!

The board of directors would like to thank Mary Thorson of Thorson Bookkeeping for her committment to the La Pine Parks and Recreation District. Mary volunteers a minimum of one hour per week in the office.

A big thank you to Wes for agreeing to take on the huge task of our Youth Soccer Program! It is the parents like this that make our sports programs possible. Thank you to all the coaches for time you take to make these programs a success!

Many thanks to Cathy Stangland for volunteering her time to make sure the office is staffed 3 days a week, Wednesday from 12:30pm to 6pm and Thursday & Friday from 9am to 1pm. Cathy and her volunteers will be responsible for facility rentals, volunteer coordination, and office management. You can reach Cathy at 536-2223 or email her at office@lapineparks.org.

 

Volunteer!

Your La Pine Parks & Recreation District loves volunteers! Without the volunteerism of the good people in La Pine, we wouldn’t have our youth sports programs, such as basketball, football, soccer and the BB Gun Club. Construction companies such as Northwind Construction have donated labor and materials to help maintain our aging facilities. Businesses such as Hooker Creek have granted the District money to make our after-school program possible. Federal agencies such as the Forest Service have granted monies to secure our historic ranger station on a solid foundation at Rosland Campground. Local government agencies such as Deschutes County have awarded the District money for improvements such as the new playground at Finley Butte. The list goes on, and this is just recent activity!

Even with this kind of assistance, the Park is in need of more volunteers. It has become a well-known fact that our District is run WITHOUT a tax base. Our district is the only special district in Oregon without income from property taxes. A measure failed in November of 2006, which asked for a tax base of .20 cents per $1,000 of ASSESSED value. That comes out to about $20 to $40 per household per YEAR. The district hoped to use the money to hire an office manager/director and a part-time maintenance person to maintain the facilities with things such as stocked restrooms, clean kitchens, mowed lawns and working light bulbs.

Without these people to help, (or the dollars to hire them) it stretched the district thin on resources such as answering the phone & booking facilities for events that produce income.

To grow our programs and to rent our facilities, we need volunteers. Anything you are interested in could be applied as a Park District volunteer:

Do you like to garden or landscape?
Do you like to deal with people?
Do you like to work with kids?
Did you ever want to be a journalist?
Do you love La Pine and want to give back?
Are you an expert in some field that you would like to share with others?

If so, you have a lot to offer and can make a difference in our community.

La Pine Parks and Recreation District would love to have volunteers in the following areas, even if it is just one hour per month:

Mowing the lawn at White School Park, John C. Johnson, Finley Butte or Rosland Campground. (We will provide the riding mower and the gas).

Grant writers. There are a lot of grant opportunities out there. We need help to go get them! A good grant could make it possible to lower the cost of our summer and after school programs. It could make it possible to renovate the historic Rosland Ranger Station or the John C Johnson Building. We could even finish the White School Park Building or fix up the Little League fields at Finley Butte Community Center. If you feel we have a need, write the grant request!

If talking to people is your thing, we need volunteers in the Park Office to manage the phones and return messages. Someone to finalize paperwork for facilities rentals. You name it, we need it done!

Are you a hard worker? There is a group that gets together to recycle pop cans for revenue. It's a dirty job, but it's a lot of fun and it brings income to Parks and Rec every month.

LPRD would like to submit an article about what’s going on in the district published in the Newberry Eagle and the Frontier Advertiser each month. Whether you want to write one article or an ongoing monthly article, we can use your help.

Are you an expert photographer? Is your passion crochet? Did you ever teach line dancing or hula?  Whatever it may be, the District would love to talk to you about teaching a program.

Do you have an unused utility trailer you would consider donating to Parks & Rec? Your donation is tax deductible and the district needs a trailer to haul the riding mower to each facility.

Are you a retired naturalist, ranger or scientist? We hope to develop programs at Rosland to explore and educate people about the native plants, trees and animals indigenous to this area.

These are just a few of the things you can help with. Give us a call at 536-2223 or email volunteer@lapineparks.org for more information.

 

Click here to view the La Pine Park & Recreation Comprehensive Plan.

 

Northwind Construction

 

Links:

photo photo photo photo