Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Programming topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Kiwanis Club to fund StoryWalk at Patton Young Park and donates trees for Kiwanis Woodlot
Summary
The Mitchell Kiwanis Club will fund a permanent StoryWalk at Patton Young Park and donate six trees for Arbor Day planting at Kiwanis Woodlot Park. The Park & Rec Board approved the StoryWalk purchase and asked staff to coordinate installation.
The Mitchell Kiwanis Club announced plans to install a permanent StoryWalk at Patton Young Park and donated six trees to be planted at Kiwanis Woodlot Park, and the Park & Recreation Board voted to approve the StoryWalk project.
Linda McEntee, president of the Mitchell Kiwanis Club, told the board the club budgets $5,000 annually for park projects and used funds from a past half-marathon to pay roughly $6,500 for the StoryWalk installation. McEntee said the club also purchased approximately $1,000 worth of trees — two Fiesta maples, two lindens and two disease-resistant elm varieties — sized about 10 to 12 feet, to be planted on Arbor Day.
Jean Patrick, children’s services librarian at the Mitchell Public Library, described a StoryWalk as pages from a single children’s book mounted in frames on posts along a walking path so families can read while they walk. The board heard that the Kiwanis-funded installation would consist of 20 stations (about 20 panels) placed along the park sidewalk, with aluminum posts, plexiglass covers, laminated panels and bilingual QR codes that will play audio in English or Spanish. Dakota Wesleyan University’s Future Teachers group has volunteered to rotate books and add interactive elements quarterly.
City staff and the board discussed installation logistics including concrete pads to mount posts (staff recommended pads rather than digging into irrigation lines), spacing so snow removal and mowing equipment will not strike posts, and orientation to reduce glare on plexiglass. The Kiwanis Club will pay for hardware and the panels; the city will pour the concrete pads and set mounting bolts. Board members authorized the project to proceed with the understanding staff will finalize exact locations and pad specifications before the company orders and installs panels.
Why it matters: the StoryWalk is intended to increase family and child activity in parks, provide bilingual access, and create a rotating reading resource tied to community events and programs. The Kiwanis Club’s tree donation is intended to add canopy and native species to Kiwanis Woodlot Park and will be planted with city coordination on Arbor Day.
The board’s motion to approve procurement and installation of the StoryWalk carried unanimously. Staff will mark potential locations and coordinate with Kiwanis on final placement and pad sizes in the coming weeks.
