As the weather heats up more folks are getting outside to use one of the many parks in Mexico and getting those parks ready requires a lot of work.
Mexico Parks and Recreation Director Chad …
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As the weather heats up more folks are getting outside to use one of the many parks in Mexico and getting those parks ready requires a lot of work.
Mexico Parks and Recreation Director Chad Shoemaker told the Ledger last week that his staff operates with about one-quarter to one-third of the manpower that larger cities do with Mexico having a high concentration of green space. The city could hire part-time workers to help out but most people are looking for full-time work. The month of May is particularly challenging because the department has to get the pool ready which opens May 27, and the cemeteries have to be prepared for Memorial Day weekend.
“That’s a huge manpower thing for us,” Shoemaker said. “We have a lot of things that have to happen at the same time.”
With the lack of part-time workers, the city has become even more dependent on volunteer workers to get things done. Volunteers can come in different forms whether it’s a city resident ready to get their hands dirty or someone who’s looking for help with facilitating activities. Shoemaker gave an example of the city’s tree-planting program. The trees are mulched when they’re planted and maybe one more time.
“After that they’re on their own,” Shoemaker said about the trees. “We just don’t have enough people to remain in that context so in that case it’s an easy thing to do for a volunteer.”
The city is also looking for a new camp host for the campgrounds at Lakeview Park. The city thought it had that situation worked out but health issues won’t let the current hosts stay.
“We kind of lucked out and found a couple from the area,” Shoemaker said. “It breaks your heart for them.”
Other volunteer opportunities can come in the form of working with the Audrain County Adaptive Recreation Program through their activities. Currently, the group is taking up disc golf on Wednesday afternoons at Northeast Park.
Mexico Recreation Director Seth Cooke is coaching the group and hopes to have a tournament with the players sometime in June. Cooke said a few in the group might be good enough to play in a regional Special Olympics tournament that pairs each player up with a volunteer to play together. Cooke would like to have a tournament that pairs a volunteer with two players.
“We’ll need more volunteers for that,” Cooke said.
