Fairfield Park

[jim]

Well, I spoke with Brownie for a long time tonight on the phone.  He filled me in on some old background info that I wasn't aware of. It sounds like the Flying Deucemen (old Adler club) still exists in some fashion. Rob Schoenhoft is president, but Phil Clark and Dave Brownie are the driving force who have both been in contact with George Alexoff - today in fact. They are now organizing their own Fairfield cleanup day, and hope to get improvements going in general. He made it sound as if Phil really wants to make this his project, or at least be heavily involved. I told Dave that we were very interested in upgrading Fairfield with or without their help. But we agreed that whomever is going to be involved needs to sit down and talk with George Alexoff first.

Here's my thoughts. Let's do the Sunday cleanup as planned. Meet at 2pm, clean for an hour, then play 18 holes. Two groups - Pros/Advanced and Ams. $1 a man, winner take all in each of the two divisions. Or we can just play. The main point is picking up trash. I'll bring some bags.



Brett, did you let George know about the cleanup day? If not, can you please?  Thanks!



I'll wait until after tomorrow's meeting to talk to Phil Clark. I want to make sure we're going in the right direction.

[jim]

I believe between 92-94, before Phil Clark went to Arizona.

[jim]

THANKS EVERYONE for coming out and helping pick up 12 BAGS OF GARBAGE!!!! The place looks great!  The efforts of many individuals make this sport so wonderful, and when we come together for the common good, fabulous things occur!

MUCH THANKS to:

Jon, Becky, & Madissen

Brett Comincioli

Jay Nierodzik

Aaron Bowers

Jojo Burnett

Jason Hany

Paul Christensen

Myk Deardorff

Chud

Brandon Hanfland

Chris Zimmerman



You guys are da bomb baby!  Thanks again!

[jim]

I finished drafting the proposal for Round Lake Park District and Paul C. is currently proofing it. I will drop it off on Monday morning after making corrections.  I will bring a copy to leagues on Sunday for those that want to check it out.

Also, Phil Clark finally emailed me. Said he wants to help.  I told him that he can help us put together a comprehensive work schedule, once different projects at Fairfield get approved so that the Adler group can help in actually DOING some work with us.  This way, others can help out if they want to, but we will not be bogged down if no-one else besides DISContinuum people show up.  Sound good?

[jim]

NEWS!

I got a message from Jeff Nehila, the Executive Director of the Round Lake Area Park District today. Said he met with the Board of Directors who were agreeable to our proposed projects!

BIG WOO-HOO!

The Board had a major concern about the parking lot. The want to expand & improve the lot, perhaps even moving the entrance to the course. This would be decided over the fall/winter and implemented in Spring 2003. During this time we stay in touch with Jeff/Keith so we can alter plans/designs as the entire layout may see some changes. After the road and parking lot are done, then we can go to work!

This was smooth and positive! Let's not lose momentum. If you have not sent an encouraging email to Round Lake, please do so soon. Community support is very important!

Jeff Nehila - jnehila@rlapd.org

Keith Neitzke - kneitzke@rlapd.org

[jim]

Whoa, hooooold on, kids.

I spoke with Dave Brown briefly yesterday and plan on talking more soon. Brownie is a seasoned player and let me know that he and other folks are happy and ready to help. He just wanted to know how. He seemed sincerely interested in simply helping out the course and the local disc golf community in general.

We should welcome his offer. We should welcome all offers to help. Upgrading Fairfield is something DISContinuum members got started, but only because certain other "Adler" people dropped the ball.  Phil and I talked a year ago at Standing Rocks about doing something somewhere locally.

Yes, I believe it is true that there are a few local golfers around that some folks dislike. Me included. But that's a personal thing, not a disc golf issue. A bunch of these old Adler/Fairfield guys worked their asses off to get those courses in. Now a few want to start pumping life into it again. Fabulous!



But how do we work together?  Hmmm....

Get everyone to become a DIScontinuum member!

Hmmm....

I think the best way for everyone to do positive things is to get anyone who wants to help together at the next RLPD meeting and determine a schedule for doing the teepads at Fairfield. Assign jobs to people. Get commitments from people. If everyone puts their money where their mouths are, we'll have a good-sized crew!



The DISContinuum PDGA event is now firmly scheduled for August 10th. Sanctioning is still pending. Anyone who wants to help at this event should become a club member and talk to Jon Brakel or Brett Comincioli.



I thank Phil and Brownie and Tim Davis and Alex Bingman for stepping up and volunteering to help promote and improve local disc golf. I'll check with Brett about setting up a date and let everyone know.

[jim]

Phil, just read your post. Thanks for being cool.

[jim]

Good luck with that!  Did you find them on the Discraft site?

So, is the RLPD providing limestone and/or bark chips for certain?

[jim]

Excellent! Would you like other members to show up too?

[jim]

You got it, big dooooooggggggggggggggggggggg!

Also, what time are we doing the work on April 5th?  Let's get some solid committment from anyone who said they'd help.

So far, we have:

Brett, Jim, Jon, ..........

[jim]

I'll bring some coffee. Or vodka with Mr. T's Bloody Mary mix. Depends how much sleep I get.

[jim]

When?  I thought you were out of state?

Congrats if applicable!

[jim]

Nice pics - looking good!

Will there still be time to paint the baskets before the IO?

[jim]

Will RLPD supply paint and/or steel wool, etc? I'll be there........

[jim]

Nice job, Furb.

Wow, looks like the teepads have already taken a beating. Has the limestone been spread too thin?  Do we need to add more for the tourney?

[jim]

Looking good Brett!

Brett/Jon, I'd send out an email to club members (and perhaps non-club members) requesting help.

Will the Bobcat be there and manned?

[CEValkyrie]

.

[CEValkyrie]

I e-mailed the Round Lake Park District this weekend about the missing basket & improvements to the course for the 2nd time. Since I live in Round Lake I also asked them why in their 60 page park magazine,  there was no mention of the disc golf course in it. I got a response & the superintendent of rec wants to talk. I left him my # so i'll post later what he says.

[CEValkyrie]

That sounds great Jim. He still hasn't called but i'll try to set up a meeting.

[CEValkyrie]

OK, here is the lowdown. George Alexoff called me back today. He is the Superintendent of Recreation at Round Lake Area Park Department. He started off with a negative note. He has been involved with the disc golf course at Fairfield since it started. He said he had a small group contact him about getting a course installed (Adler Scum). They set up Fairfield. After the course was built the main guy who contacted him moved. The neighbors had problems with discs flying into their yard. He tried to contact the existing members but no one ever called him back. To make a long story short, the guys initially involved were no where to be found, so George had to make the decisions himself. He said they actually pulled the baskets for 8 monthes until someone contacted him. The recent layout is due to the discs going into peoples land. He said they will do no improvements until they get a group willing to help. He said they weren't going to ever replace the #3 basket. Here's where we can make a huge difference. He wants communication and people willing to work on the course. Do we want to be part of this? This would be awesome to tweek & make this a great course. Add pro & am tees. Alternate pin placements. I think we could make this course into a top notch course like UW-Parkside. He said they put up the bulletin board & no one used it. Man, wish we had a sweet board like that one!! He also said he would have calls from the Boy Scouts & would give them the #'s of these guys. They would not help them learn about disc golf. He did say that he does recognize that the course is getting a lot of play. He does not have the man power to do all the improvements that the course needs. I gave him the website address. He is going to check it over & talk to another staff member. He said he would get back to me.  I think this would be a great project for us. We wouldn't have to worry about selling disc golf to another park district & finding a place for a course. We have the land & course. Now we can mold it into the best in the state of Illinois. How sweet would that be?