Friends of Ronan Parks and Trails holds first meeting
Megan Strickland
Jennifer Rolfsness flips through draft bylaws for the Friends of Ronan Parks and Trails.
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RONAN – Friday marked the beginning of a new era for Bockman Park, connecting trails and other green spaces within the city of Ronan, as a newly formed nonprofit laid its foundation.
The first board meeting of Friends of Ronan Parks and Trails, also known as FoRPAT, consisted mostly of finalizing paperwork and drafting documents that will let the organization, which came into existence in December, get off to a running start.
“We decided as a park board that we needed to do something different,” FoRPAT President Mark Nelson said. “That’s where the creation of this organization came about, to try to raise funds and do things for the park and trails that the city just isn’t capable of getting accomplished.”
The board includes Nelson, who previously served on the park board, and Jennifer Rolfsness, former director of parks and recreation for the City of Ronan. Also serving is conservation-interested attorney Kiel Duckworth; Larry Hall, who brings urban infrastructure and planning experience; Confederated Salish and Kootenai Vice Chair Carole Lankford; Kicking Horse Job Corps instructor Tracy Morigeau Frank; Ronan Flower Mill owner Ronna Walchuk; and physician Ed Vizcarra and his wife Eleanor, who works with the Women 4 Wellness health fair and is also a former park board member.
Each member brings considerable community service experience, but almost all had different motivations for serving.
For Lankford, preservation of recreational space is imperative to the health of future generations.
“I hope our community will come together and think about some things because our children are obese these days and we need to have more places to be able to recreate,” Lankford said.
Dr. Vizcarra echoed her concerns.
“For 23 years I’ve been trying to get a handle on people’s acute illnesses,” Vizcarra said. “It’s become more and more clear to me that … maybe 85, 90 percent of the illnesses that we suffer from have to do with our lifestyle … What I’ve seen is that public health officials that are telling us that this may be the first generation in 150 years where our kids are not expected to have the same life span that we did. I think that’s a tragedy.”
For Walchuk, serving on the board means committing to improvement of a priceless town resource.
“I wasn’t born here, but I was raised here,” Walchuk said. “And the same swing set I had growing up is the same one in the city park to this day.”
Morigeau Frank also has a long-standing relationship with Ronan’s green spaces.
“My first experience with working with a park was in fourth grade at K. William Harvey Elementary when we just came up with Polliwog Park,” Morigeau Frank said. “I brought a turtle to school and put it in the park. Now looking at what happened to Polliwog Park makes me sad, but I know there is plenty of parkland available around here and I want to see it as preserved as possible.”
Polliwog Park is a now-defunct outdoor classroom that once existed near K. William Harvey Elementary School.
FoRPAT is expected to be the primary vehicle for fundraising for the Pathways for Play project first envisioned by Rolfsness in 2010. The planned pathways will include innovative play “pods” that have different types of culturally relevant play equipment grouped together at different points throughout Bockman Park. The grouping of the pods and signage in Salish, Kootenai and English are meant to drive park-goers deeper into the trail and keep them engaged and active.
“I am bound and determined (this) will change Ronan, for our kids, for our families,” Rolfsness said. “I think this board is going to be the perfect avenue to fulfill this project. It’s going to bridge some gaps with our cultures. It’s going to connect our community. I think it’s really going to be a positive thing.”
FoRPAT’s role will also encompass other projects and purposes.
The group contemplated drafting a letter that weighs in on the possible impact of the proposed Highway 93 expansion project that will take land along the park’s eastern edge and eliminate 60 parking spaces.
“That’s going to change the character of this town for the next 50 years,” Dr. Vizcarra said. “I think it behooves us to be well informed of what’s going on and be well informed of what our city is trying to do. It’s not meant to be a political statement. It’s meant to be a call to arms.”
To keep up with the group, visit http://www.ronanparks.net/.
To learn more about the proposed Pathways for Play project watch a video online at: http://vimeo.com/83849790.
