October 28, 2024 • 32 mins
Uncover the transformative journey behind the Silver Beach Playground Project as we chat with Jill Adams, Berrien County Parks Department Director and Jaysen Field, Berrien County Environmental Property Manager. This episode promises insights into how a decade-long vision is coming to life, fueled by community spirit and a generous Michigan Spark grant. Learn about the innovative design choices that guarantee accessibility for all, and discover how pieces of the old playground find new life in the village of Eau Claire. This project is a testament to the power of collaboration in creating cherished spaces for future generations.
We also take you on a trip down memory lane, exploring Silver Beach's vibrant history from its amusement park days to its bustling present. Walk with us through the logistical labyrinth of maintaining such a beloved park, including challenges like sand management and staffing. Jill and Jaysen also share exciting dreams for Berrien County Parks' future, guided by community feedback and recent expansions. We highlight the parks' role as essential communal spaces that foster connections and memories. Plus, learn how you can contribute to these endeavors through the Berrien Community Foundation, ensuring these vital spaces flourish for years to come.
Learn more about Berrien County Parks:
https://www.berriencounty.org/355/Parks
Learn more about Wolf Financial Advisory:
https://www.wolffinancialadvisory.com/
Disclosure: Robert Wolf, James Koenig, Sara Wolf, and Michael Rock are investment advisor representatives of, and securities and advisory services are offered through, USA Financial Securities. Member FINRA/SIPC. Additionally, Amanda Opulskas and Adam Wallace are registered non-solicitors of USA Financial Securities, A registered investment advisor. 6020 E. Fulton St., Ada, MI 49301. Wolf Advisory Services and Wolf Financial Advisory are not affiliated with USA Financial Securities.
The strategies and concepts discussed are for educational purposes only and do not represent specific investment, tax, or estate planning advice. Investing carries an inherent element of risk and it is in everyone’s best interests to consult a tax, legal, or investment professional. The opinions expressed herein are not meant to provide specific investment advice or serve as a prediction for future stock market performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Securities and advisory services are offered through USA Financial Securities, member FINRA/SIPC. A registered investment adviser. Wolf Financial Advisory, Berrien County Parks, and USA Financial Securities are not affiliated entities.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Voiceover (00:00):
The strategies and concepts discussed are for
educational purposes only and donot represent specific
investment, tax or estateplanning advice.
Investing carries an inherentelement of risk and it is in
everyone's best interests toconsult a tax, legal or
investment professional.
Past performance does notguarantee future results.
Securities and advisoryservices are offered through USA
(00:22):
Financial Securities memberFINRA SIPC, a registered
investment advisor.
Wolf Financial Advisory are notaffiliated with USA Financial
Securities.
Wolf Financial Advisory.
When it's important to you,it's important to us.
This is the Wolf FinancialPodcast.
(00:42):
Here's your host, Rob Wolf.
Rob Wolf (00:52):
Good day everyone.
Rob Wolf here for the WolfFinancial Podcast and today I
have Jill Adams and Jaysen Fieldof the Berrien County Parks and
Recreation here to talk aboutthe big fundraiser that's going
on for the playground equipmentat Silver Beach.
Welcome to both of you.
Jaysen Field (01:07):
Thank you.
Thank you for having us.
Rob Wolf (01:08):
All right.
So let's get right into it andlet's talk a little bit about
the project itself what you'retrying to do and how is it
getting paid for.
Jill Adams (01:18):
Okay, so we are very excited to be here today to
talk about the Silver BeachPlayground Project.
We've been working on thisproject directly for over a year
, but we knew that this time wascoming, that the playground
would need to be replaced.
This project has been in ourprevious two five-year parks
plans, so it's really been adecade in the works.
(01:39):
We were able to apply for andreceive a Michigan Spark grant,
which gave us $850,000 kickoffpoint to get this project going,
and from there we were able tomeet with a number of playground
companies, bring a lot of ideasto the public.
We had an open house.
(02:00):
We had 80 people come out andtake a look at those ideas.
We had over 200 respondentswhen we reached out for public
comment.
So we were able to bring all ofthose ideas from the public,
from our park staff and from theprofessional playground
companies, and come forward witha design.
And from there we have beenfundraising all along.
(02:24):
And here we are.
We are 91% of the way to ouroverall goal.
The maxed project is going tobe $1.25 million.
Rob Wolf (02:34):
So 91% of $1,125,000?
Mm-hmm.
Okay, so we're almost rightthere.
And when I've talked with youin the past, you said there were
specific criteria you werelooking for with this new
playground equipment.
So what was that criteria youwere looking for?
Jill Adams (02:53):
incredible playground.
It was over 30 years old.
It was in some harshenvironments throughout the you
know, day after day and sincethe 90s when that was installed,
there are a lot of new,improved features out there for
(03:18):
playgrounds, includingaccessibility features, and the
previous playground lacked a lotof those accessibility design
features that we wanted to bringinto this new one.
Rob Wolf (03:30):
Such as what kind of?
Can you give us an example ofan accessibility feature?
Jill Adams (03:34):
Sure.
One simple thing is thesurfacing, the access to the
playground itself.
Some people have difficultymaneuvering in sand in the
surface of that playground.
Before was sand.
Now we are able to bring abarrier-free surface access and
surface.
(03:54):
It's a safety surfacing thatwill be there and the main idea
there is to allow for youngchildren and older children, no
matter what their ability ordisability might be, along with
their siblings, their parentsand their grandparents.
We want everybody to be able toget to, on and around this play
(04:15):
structure.
Rob Wolf (04:16):
Okay.
So yeah, accessibility it makesa lot of sense to have that.
So, Jason, you've been sort ofin charge then of the
maintenance and overseeing theexisting playground equipment
and I know there's a lot ofpeople out there that say, wow,
we got taxpayer money goingtowards this and that.
(04:37):
But overall we're looking at alot of donations to support this
, but taxpayer money was beingused just to repair the old
stuff that was there to makesure it remained safe.
About how much on average wouldit cost per year to make sure
that that playground equipmentthat is there that's over 30
(05:00):
years old remains safe?
Jaysen Field (05:03):
Yeah, it ended up being a lot more costlier just
to maintain that thing, you know, part of it being over 30 years
old.
Some of these pieces were hardto replace or you couldn't
replace anymore.
So we are kind of having to mixand match with different items,
so it's more beneficial tostart with something new.
Jill Adams (05:21):
It was definitely getting more expensive there
towards the end for replacementparts, more replacement parts.
But every year too, we do haveonsite maintenance staff that
maintain the materials.
We have rangers that do everyother week inspections to make
sure that those pieces and partsare not broken and still
(05:42):
functioning.
We we already had thismaintenance in our parks budget
annually and we will continuethat.
We want this new playground tolast for another 30 plus years,
yeah.
Rob Wolf (05:56):
I remember taking my daughter Sara down to this
playground when she was born,and that was over 25 years ago.
So I mean being, I meanwonderful memories, you know, of
playing with her.
And now I have twins, I havefive-year-old girls only 20
(06:16):
years apart.
You know good planning.
So if you need a good financialplanner that knows how to plan
the spacing of the kids out,definitely come to Wolf
Financial.
We'll take care of you.
But anyway, wonderful setup.
I mean it feels great.
(06:37):
I mean you don't have anyconcerns about having your kids
go on that equipment right now.
You guys have done a wonderfuljob taking care of it and you
have a place where this existingequipment's going to go, so
it's not going to get scrappedright.
Jaysen Field (06:53):
No, actually a good amount of it.
The village of Eau Claire istaking.
They dismantled it.
It's actually just finished.
Today they're going to berepurposing a lot of those
pieces to go to the uh, the allcare, all clear parks.
So it gets to live on in somekind of form, um, and it's
beneficial to win one for us.
They helped us dismantle thatthing, which hopefully can save
us a little bit of money when itcomes to construction of the
(07:13):
new playground.
Rob Wolf (07:15):
So right now we're at 91%.
When is the final decisiongoing to be made as to the uh,
what type of equipment and thetiming, and when do we want to
see that in in the new spot.
Jill Adams (07:29):
So we, like Jaysen, said today officially today
there is nothing left there ofthe old playground.
It was a little bit bittersweetto see, but it is beautiful.
It is exciting because we willbe bringing that new playground
soon.
Construction will begin soonand fundraising will continue at
the same time.
We are looking at we are goingto be doing construction in 2025
(07:55):
.
So the project is ongoing intothe spring and we are hoping
that we can wrap up ourfundraising by the end of the
year.
It is kind of the end of yeargiving time for folks and if
they want to learn more aboutthis opportunity for donations
tax deductible donations theycan certainly reach out and
(08:17):
learn more about what thosedollars will go towards.
So what's the best way forsomebody that wants to give to
this project specifically?
(08:37):
Where should they go?
How do they write a check?
What's the process?
Their online portal there attheir website are tax deductible
.
They also accept donations bycheck or cash at their facility
on South State Street in St Joeand people have actually dropped
off donations to us here in StJoe at the county admin center
and Jason and I are happy todrive it over and drop it off
(08:59):
ourselves.
Rob Wolf (09:00):
So you also have a level of gifting.
As far as recognition, can youtalk a little bit about what
that looks like?
Jaysen Field (09:09):
supporter, uh name and a permanent sign.
Uh, we have a thousand dollarplus uh level as well.
Um, and the difference for thatis a name on our our uh daily
(09:36):
entry pass, um, for one fullseason.
There is the uh entertainmentsupporter, uh, which is the
$5,000 plus uh, you get uh a$5,000 plus you get your logo
permanent sign at the project.
And which one am I?
There's the $10,000 plusrecreation supporter, $50,000
(09:57):
plus imagination supporter and$100,000 plus advanced supporter
or adventure supporter.
I apologize.
Rob Wolf (10:05):
So what do you have to do to get your name on it as
far as the park named after you?
Jill Adams (10:09):
That's what If anyone's interested in that,
come to us.
We'll have a conversation.
We have a lot of projects onour list, this being one of them
, a very important one.
But yeah, definitely come to usand ask some questions.
Rob Wolf (10:23):
So, Jeyson, let's talk about Silver Beach in general.
So many people enjoy SilverBeach and the surrounding
beaches on Lake Michigan.
What are some of the otherthings that are going on that we
should all be knowing about?
Jaysen Field (10:38):
Well, I mean, it's a wonderful place for
recreation.
It does hold a certain level ofspecial events each summer
special concerts or somevolleyball leagues as well.
This new playground is going tobe a great addition to the park
.
There's a concession stand,restroom facilities.
It's become a nice destinationpark for the Midwest.
Rob Wolf (10:59):
How many people do you believe visit Silver Beach on
an annual basis?
Jaysen Field (11:06):
Well, we actually have done some studies on this.
We did hire out an agency whocan kind of determine that
number for you.
I think we are estimating it'saround 700,000 people a year.
Rob Wolf (11:19):
That's impressive, right, because it certainly
seems to be one of the busiestbeaches in Southwest Michigan.
Although we have severalbeautiful beaches all along the
coast here, it certainly seemsto be the hotspot for a lot of
the action.
Of course, you got the carouselright there, you got the
(11:40):
Compass Park, you got everything.
It's a great attraction for ourcommunity as a travel
destination.
Jill Adams (11:48):
It really is.
What I enjoyed when I was amanager and was on site more
often was I would often run intopeople who were sometimes they
were by themselves, just sort oflooking around, and I'd stop
and say hi, and a lot of timesthey were people who either went
to the amusement park or workedat the amusement park and they
(12:09):
would tell me the history of it.
I moved to Michigan, I moved toSt Joe in 2001.
So I had to learn all of thatfrom scratch, and so these folks
gave me real, live, historicalstories of how they enjoyed that
amusement park where thedifferent rides were setting,
and that helped me kind of formthat love of the park itself and
(12:32):
learn a lot of things that Ijust I didn't know before moving
here.
Rob Wolf (12:37):
And for those of you listening that aren't quite sure
what she's referencing, silverBeach used to be the location of
an amusement park for manydecades.
I believe it closed in the lateor early seventies and they had
a carousel there which theywere able to get up there.
(12:57):
What is the story behind thatcarousel?
Do you know what that is allabout?
Jill Adams (13:03):
They?
Um, there's a group local groupof folks that worked really
hard to bring the carouselthat's currently here to town.
It's not the same carousel thatwas on site at Silver Beach
Amusement Park along the beach.
If anyone is in town it's agreat place to visit.
They have a lot of historicalinformation and photos of the
(13:26):
Silver Beach Amusement Park andthe carousel itself back in the
day and then all of the workthat they put in to bring that
carousel forward.
Now there's actually adocumentary on YouTube that's
phenomenal and free to watch andit gives the whole history of
the Silver Beach Amusement Park.
Rob Wolf (13:46):
That's great to know.
And is that what?
Do you know what?
The just Google or YouTubesearch Silver Beach, st Joseph,
michigan Amusement park,something like that, and that
should bring it up.
Jill Adams (13:58):
Yep, and it's on YouTube.
I can't think of the exact nameSilver Sands or something.
It's just.
If you Google it you can findit easily.
It's about an hour long.
It has a number of local folksthat are sitting down telling
their story of the history ofthat site.
Rob Wolf (14:16):
So right now Silver Beach is starting to winterize
Put up, I'm sure, the sandfences, whatever you call that,
along the road there.
And you know, it's just amazinghow Mother Nature takes over
and winter comes through sandsblowing all over the place over,
(14:37):
and winter comes through sandsblowing all over the place.
So when you guys are gettinginto May and you're trying to
get that place up and runningagain, what are all the
logistics you guys got to gothrough to get that park up and
running?
Jaysen Field (14:46):
That's certainly a lot and it certainly starts
earlier than May.
There's a lot of sandbulldozing that needs to be done
.
There's a lot of staff we needto hire, from park rangers to
lifeguards, getting the restroomfacilities all open up and
ready, finalizing all of ourreservations for the year.
There's a lot of upkeep thatgoes into keeping that park
(15:06):
operational.
So do they have to bring sandin?
No, that is all natural.
That is all there.
Actually, the excess sand, Ibelieve, gets taken by the city
of St Joseph.
Rob Wolf (15:16):
Oh, so there's actually excess sand that comes
in over the wintertime that theyreposition elsewhere.
Absolutely, now are you incharge of where does the park
end and where does it start?
You got the pier, which is nota county area, right, that's the
piers by the federal, and thenis it start at where that
(15:41):
sculpture is, that big silversculpture by the pier.
Is that where the parktechnically starts?
Jill Adams (15:46):
Yeah, a portion of that sculpture and a little bit
of the park improvements do siton the federal government
property.
We have a very long-term lease.
The park improvements do sit onthe federal government property
.
We have a very long-term lease.
I think we just signed itbecause it was 20 or 30 years.
Every 20 or 30 years we have tore-sign, but majority of it
(16:08):
that's a really good accesspoint the Shadowland Pavilion
and the and you See sculptureright there on the river all the
way down to the south end ofthe park, which is at Park
Street.
So if you take the road thatgoes down the hill, that's the
south end of the Berrien Countyproperty.
Rob Wolf (16:27):
So Shadowland Pavilion is where you can have a wedding
, you can have a concert.
How much revenue does thatpavilion bring into the park
system?
Jaysen Field (16:39):
It's a good amount , but I mean it's enough to just
sustain our park.
We're not trying to make anabsolute lot of money off of it.
We want to provide people thebest opportunity they can that's
affordable for a wedding or afamily reunion or a concert.
Rob Wolf (16:55):
And so if somebody wants to reserve Shadowland for
a wedding or a family reunion ora concert, and so if somebody
wants to reserve Shadowland fora private event or they just
want to have a group picnicsomewhere and reserve an area,
is it just a matter ofcontacting you or what's the
best way of reserving thosespots?
Jaysen Field (17:11):
Contacting the main park office for the Parks
and Recreation Department is thebest way to do that.
We have a calendar set up onour webpage as well, where
people can look and see whatdates have already been selected
, what is open.
I encourage people to utilizethat, but they can just call the
Parks Department and they'lllet them know if the date is
available, which pavilion mightbe best suited for them.
(17:32):
Yeah, there's plenty of options.
Rob Wolf (17:34):
So we've been talking specifically about improvements
at Silver Beach and that park inspecific, but you guys are part
of Berrien County Parks andRecreation, which is a much
bigger area.
How many parks does the countyservice?
Jill Adams (17:52):
So Berrien County Parks Department owns and
operates seven differentproperties and they are spread
out throughout the county.
Out of that it's about 650acres of property and we have
beachfront, we have uplands,lowlands, wetlands, forests.
We have a lot of differentrecreation hiking, biking,
(18:13):
cross-country skiing, disc golf,of course, swimming at the
beach and beach volleyball.
The list goes on.
So we do have options foreverybody, depending on what the
interest is.
Rob Wolf (18:26):
And obviously it's supported by our taxpayers.
But you guys also getcharitable support as well.
How much do you guys rely onthe charitable arm of generosity
and people in the communitysupporting the parks?
Jill Adams (18:41):
Oftentimes what we do is the money that we receive
either from tax dollars or therevenue income from parking and
pavilion rentals.
We will try to stretch thatmoney as far as we possibly can.
So how we do that is we willthen apply for grants and we
might use some of our parksbudget to match those grants or
(19:05):
we might do some fundraising,like we are right now for the
playground project.
So it's often I always say ittakes a village.
I tell that to Jason a lot.
It takes a village, and that'show it is in our projects as
well.
We might have a couple ofgrants involved, we might have
some parks budget involved andalso we have an endowment fund,
(19:26):
a Berrien County Parks EndowmentFund.
That's been running for, Ithink, since the 70s and we
accept donations on a regularbasis there and that endowment
fund has really helped us do alot of projects throughout the
whole system.
Rob Wolf (19:43):
So, especially when you're getting in taxpayer
dollars and and uh, the supportof uh uh parks such as what
we're talking about, there couldbe things that uh, sometimes uh
misunderstandings and thingslike that.
What are some of the big thingsthat you find are common
(20:05):
mistakes that people think arethe way it is, but it's not.
Jill Adams (20:10):
Sure, we you know frequently asked question kind
of thing we get a lot ofquestions.
The Berrien County Parks systemis, like I said, made up of
those seven properties, one ofthem being Silver Beach County
Park.
There are a number of peoplethat will come to us and not
really realize that Silver BeachCounty Park is owned and
operated and funded separatelythan the fountain and the
(20:34):
carousel and all of the otheramenities.
There's four beaches below thebluff in St Joe.
The city owns and operates someof the other beaches, so
there's a lot of us that reallyhave to work together.
When people are, they mightplay at the fountain down below
the bluff and walk across thestreet and use the bathroom or
hang out at the beach.
(20:55):
We don't really care that theydon't know whose property
they're on.
We want them to come and enjoyand have the amenity that they
came there for.
We want them to have a momentaway from real life and be on
vacation, whether it's astaycation or a vacation from
someone out of town.
It's an incredible place to beand we just want to make sure
(21:18):
that we are providing the bestfacilities that we can.
Just want to make sure that weare providing the best
facilities that we can.
Silver Beach is absolutely ourbusiest park out of the seven
and it takes the most resources.
So the money that we do bringin from user fees, which we call
the parking and the use,prevent rental of the pavilions
as user fees.
(21:38):
We want to put that back intothe park itself and keep it at a
high standard.
Kind of funny, we have about a$23,000 toilet paper budget for
county parks.
That's something that we needto think of.
Every year we get a lot ofbathroom use, so it's
interesting when we startbreaking it down and what we
(21:58):
spend the money on.
Rob Wolf (21:59):
Had a run in COVID on toilet paper, so you weren't
getting a discount then, eitherwere you.
That was challenging.
How about any any things thatyou find that people have
misconceptions about,specifically regarding Silver?
Jaysen Field (22:13):
Beach.
I think Jill covered it prettywell.
That park, you know, it mayseem like it brings in a lot of
money, but a lot of it issupporting seven other parks and
it is supporting itself as well.
Like I said, there is a lotthat goes into maintaining that
park.
Rob Wolf (22:30):
So, specifically then, revenue generated at Silver
Beach does get allocated to theother parks or does it stay at
Silver Beach?
Jill Adams (22:38):
It does get used throughout the whole system.
So in general terms it's about40% of the Berrien County Parks
budget.
Revenues do come in fromparking and user fees at Silver
Beach.
Rob Wolf (22:54):
So the parking issue.
So if you're a resident ofBerrien County, you can get a
pass.
What was the pass cost for thelast year?
Jaysen Field (23:06):
For a daily pass for a resident of Berrien County
is $8.
To park at Silver Beach.
Rob Wolf (23:11):
And then you can also get a annual pass.
Is that correct?
Jaysen Field (23:14):
Yeah, there is a season pass available as well,
for $40.
Rob Wolf (23:16):
For $40.
So, and then they could justbuy that right there where they
come up to the attendancestation.
Buy it and probably, if you'regoing to be coming down to the,
and that annual pass is good atany of the parks in Berrien
County.
So what's the second mostpopular park in Berrien County?
Jill Adams (23:36):
So I think our second most popular park is
Madeline Bertrand County Park inNiles.
They have an 18-hole disc golfcourse that gets use all year
long, except when we have enoughsnow for cross-country skiing.
Then the skiers come out likecrazy.
They love when there's enoughsnow, which is a little more
challenging these days and wehave to close the disc golf
(23:59):
course down, but otherwise, ifthe snow melts the next day,
they can open up that disc golfcourse and our folks, our
visitors, come out in every kindof weather.
So Madeline Bertrand's a goodone, and we just added an
additional 35 acres to thatproperty, so it's now 150 acres
and we're looking at doing someimprovements expanding the
trails, expanding the disc golfcourse at that site too.
Rob Wolf (24:23):
So obviously, right now, we got the playground
equipment.
We want to get that fullyfunded.
We're at 91%.
If you want your name on theplayground equipment, give them
a call.
They'll make a special deal foryou, especially if you want to
fund the last 9% of the project.
To fund the last 9% of theproject, right, yes, okay.
(24:46):
But what is next on the docketas far as major projects for
Barron County Parks andRecreation?
Jill Adams (24:50):
Well, it's very timely that you asked that
question because we are workingon our next five-year Parks and
Recreation plan.
So we've been taking our ideasand feedback from the community
and we really have it honed ininto a document which helps us.
We reference that documentthrough the years as we work on
projects.
As far as the county parksitself, we have recently in 2023
(25:13):
, we have added property to ourpark.
They were.
This property was adjacent tocurrent parks property.
It came available and in orderto keep it in the hut for public
use, we were able to securesome funds and purchase that
property.
So, system-wide, we'd like toexpand a little bit and get onto
(25:34):
that property and get ourvisitors onto that property to
enjoy it.
If we're looking at SilverBeach itself, we have a master
plan that was developed in 2021.
And that master plan reallydoes talk about some
improvements and helping managethe increase in visitors.
We are excited that our visitornumbers skyrocketed during and
(25:59):
after COVID.
It was a really good response.
But the use of the park and thefacilities and amenities also
went up.
So that means more wear andtear and more use.
So that master plan projectreally does help us plan for
that increase in visitors and wewant to make sure that we're
planning for 10, 20 and 30 yearsdown the road and whatever
(26:23):
those visitor numbers might beis there any?
Rob Wolf (26:26):
there really isn't any way that you can increase the
size of silver beach park,because everything else you got
the compass fountain there, andso forth.
So it is what it is.
Jill Adams (26:37):
It is what it is, and it is what it is and it's a
beautiful piece of property andwe just want to make sure that
we're utilizing it the best wecan and upgrading our facilities
as we go.
Rob Wolf (26:49):
Now, Jaysen, one of your jobs with the county is
also in recycling, so tell us alittle bit about what that
entails.
Jaysen Field (26:58):
Sure, Well, every year, myself and my colleague,
Genevieve Graves she and Ioperate the community recycling
events.
We coordinate those for everyyear.
There's five of them every year.
We just finished our last one acouple of weeks ago, and we
also do some scrap tire eventsas well.
These are great opportunitiesfor residents of Barron County
to bring any of their hazardoushousehold hazardous waste, any
(27:21):
of their electronics they needto get rid of, or possibly
styrofoam on certain event days.
It's just, some of these itemsare so hard to get rid of and
this is just providing anopportunity to community to get
rid of them at a one-stop shop.
Rob Wolf (27:35):
I never had heard about that before.
So, and this happens five timesa year, correct.
So how, how does thatinformation get out to the
general public?
Is it in the paper?
Is it on the radio?
Jaysen Field (27:47):
We do our best press releases to social media.
We also have a flyer that wehave a mailer that people can
sign up for to get it sent tothem.
We definitely want to get theword out there the best way we
possibly can.
Rob Wolf (27:59):
It's on our webpage as well.
Probably because I haven'theard about it is because you
don't advertise during Cub Games.
You know that's the way I get alot of my advertising overall,
but no, is there any otherpoints that you guys would like
to share on this podcast?
Jill Adams (28:15):
regarding the Parks and Recreation Department, I
think so, you know, through theyears Jaysen's been here for a
long time.
I moved to Michigan and startedworking for the county in 2001.
We've met some incrediblepeople along the way working on
these projects, just being atthe parks, enjoying the parks
ourselves, and some of thestories that I've gained just by
(28:37):
working on this playgroundproject have been incredible as
well.
One of the aspects I didn'tthink much of, but I heard a
number of times, was fromgrandparents, and grandparents
are often caregivers in one wayor another, and a playground is
a great place to go, but one ofthe benefits to them is they get
to meet other grandparents.
(28:58):
So it really is a socialgathering place, not just for
kids, it's for parents andgrandparents to meet new people
as well.
So we've been told by multipleorganizations through the
project, the process of thePlayground Project, that Silver
Beach really is a communitymeeting place and we're hoping
that this playground makes thateven more accessible and better
(29:21):
for everyone.
Rob Wolf (29:22):
That was Jill Adams, along with Jaysen Field.
Thank you for joining us,sharing with us this great
project that generations offamilies will be able to enjoy.
Again, if you want to donate toyour cause, to the county parks
(29:43):
and recreation, where's thebest place to go?
Jill Adams (29:46):
The best place to go would be the Berrien Community
Foundation.
They have a Silver BeachPlayground Project Fund there
and they can accept donations,tax-deductible donations.
But if anyone has any questionsabout this project at all, why
we're doing it, when it's goingto happen, we encourage you to
go to the websitebarriencountyorg slash parks or
(30:08):
give us a call and we're happyto walk through and show
renderings of the project andhow we got where we are and
where we hope to be by latespring of 2025.
So we would invite everyone outto come and enjoy that.
We're hoping and working veryhard to make sure that next
(30:28):
summer everyone can come out andplay on that new playground.
Rob Wolf (30:31):
And if they want to call, what number should they
call?
Jill Adams (30:34):
Well, we're at the County Administration Center
here in St Joe, so the number269-983-7111 and the parks
extension is 8435.
Rob Wolf (30:49):
Okay, very good Again.
Jill Adams and Jason Field ofBerrien County Parks and
Recreation, thank you for yourtime, thank you for your sharing
and we look forward to all ofus being able to get up and play
on these new equipment comingout.
Jill Adams (31:06):
Thanks for having us and really thank you for the
donation to get us just to thatnext point of this project.
We really, really appreciatethat.
Rob Wolf (31:15):
It's our pleasure.
And again, this is Rob Wolfwith the Wolf Financial Podcast.
If you have additionalquestions, you can also go to
our website,wolffinancialadvisorycom.
Go under resources charity ofthe month.
You will also see BerrienCounty Parks and Recreation
(31:37):
there, along with the othercharities that we spotlight
during this podcast.
Thank you both again and thispodcast.
Thank you both again and Godbless.
Jaysen Field (31:44):
Thank you.
Voiceover (31:46):
Thank you for listening to the Wolf Financial
Podcast.
For additional informationabout our firm, please visit our
website wolfadvisoryservices.
com.
The strategies and conceptsdiscussed are for educational
purposes only and do notrepresent specific investment,
(32:07):
tax or estate planning advice.
Investing carries an inherentelement of risk and it is in
everyone's best interests toconsult a tax, legal or
investment professional.
Past performance does notguarantee future results.
Securities and advisoryservices are offered through USA
Financial Securities memberFINRA/ SIPC, a registered
(32:27):
investment advisor.
Wolf Financial Advisory are notaffiliated with USA Financial
Securities.
The strategies and concepts discussed are for
educational purposes only and donot represent specific
investment, tax or estateplanning advice.
Investing carries an inherentelement of risk and it is in
everyone's best interests toconsult a tax, legal or
investment professional.
Past performance does notguarantee future results.
Securities and advisoryservices are offered through USA
(00:22):
Financial Securities memberFINRA SIPC, a registered
investment advisor.
Wolf Financial Advisory are notaffiliated with USA Financial
Securities.
Wolf Financial Advisory.
When it's important to you,it's important to us.
This is the Wolf FinancialPodcast.
(00:42):
Here's your host, Rob Wolf.
Rob Wolf (00:52):
Good day everyone.
Rob Wolf here for the WolfFinancial Podcast and today I
have Jill Adams and Jaysen Fieldof the Berrien County Parks and
Recreation here to talk aboutthe big fundraiser that's going
on for the playground equipmentat Silver Beach.
Welcome to both of you.
Jaysen Field (01:07):
Thank you.
Thank you for having us.
Rob Wolf (01:08):
All right.
So let's get right into it andlet's talk a little bit about
the project itself what you'retrying to do and how is it
getting paid for.
Jill Adams (01:18):
Okay, so we are very excited to be here today to
talk about the Silver BeachPlayground Project.
We've been working on thisproject directly for over a year
, but we knew that this time wascoming, that the playground
would need to be replaced.
This project has been in ourprevious two five-year parks
plans, so it's really been adecade in the works.
(01:39):
We were able to apply for andreceive a Michigan Spark grant,
which gave us $850,000 kickoffpoint to get this project going,
and from there we were able tomeet with a number of playground
companies, bring a lot of ideasto the public.
We had an open house.
(02:00):
We had 80 people come out andtake a look at those ideas.
We had over 200 respondentswhen we reached out for public
comment.
So we were able to bring all ofthose ideas from the public,
from our park staff and from theprofessional playground
companies, and come forward witha design.
And from there we have beenfundraising all along.
(02:24):
And here we are.
We are 91% of the way to ouroverall goal.
The maxed project is going tobe $1.25 million.
Rob Wolf (02:34):
So 91% of $1,125,000?
Mm-hmm.
Okay, so we're almost rightthere.
And when I've talked with youin the past, you said there were
specific criteria you werelooking for with this new
playground equipment.
So what was that criteria youwere looking for?
Jill Adams (02:53):
incredible playground.
It was over 30 years old.
It was in some harshenvironments throughout the you
know, day after day and sincethe 90s when that was installed,
there are a lot of new,improved features out there for
(03:18):
playgrounds, includingaccessibility features, and the
previous playground lacked a lotof those accessibility design
features that we wanted to bringinto this new one.
Rob Wolf (03:30):
Such as what kind of?
Can you give us an example ofan accessibility feature?
Jill Adams (03:34):
Sure.
One simple thing is thesurfacing, the access to the
playground itself.
Some people have difficultymaneuvering in sand in the
surface of that playground.
Before was sand.
Now we are able to bring abarrier-free surface access and
surface.
(03:54):
It's a safety surfacing thatwill be there and the main idea
there is to allow for youngchildren and older children, no
matter what their ability ordisability might be, along with
their siblings, their parentsand their grandparents.
We want everybody to be able toget to, on and around this play
(04:15):
structure.
Rob Wolf (04:16):
Okay.
So yeah, accessibility it makesa lot of sense to have that.
So, Jason, you've been sort ofin charge then of the
maintenance and overseeing theexisting playground equipment
and I know there's a lot ofpeople out there that say, wow,
we got taxpayer money goingtowards this and that.
(04:37):
But overall we're looking at alot of donations to support this
, but taxpayer money was beingused just to repair the old
stuff that was there to makesure it remained safe.
About how much on average wouldit cost per year to make sure
that that playground equipmentthat is there that's over 30
(05:00):
years old remains safe?
Jaysen Field (05:03):
Yeah, it ended up being a lot more costlier just
to maintain that thing, you know, part of it being over 30 years
old.
Some of these pieces were hardto replace or you couldn't
replace anymore.
So we are kind of having to mixand match with different items,
so it's more beneficial tostart with something new.
Jill Adams (05:21):
It was definitely getting more expensive there
towards the end for replacementparts, more replacement parts.
But every year too, we do haveonsite maintenance staff that
maintain the materials.
We have rangers that do everyother week inspections to make
sure that those pieces and partsare not broken and still
(05:42):
functioning.
We we already had thismaintenance in our parks budget
annually and we will continuethat.
We want this new playground tolast for another 30 plus years,
yeah.
Rob Wolf (05:56):
I remember taking my daughter Sara down to this
playground when she was born,and that was over 25 years ago.
So I mean being, I meanwonderful memories, you know, of
playing with her.
And now I have twins, I havefive-year-old girls only 20
(06:16):
years apart.
You know good planning.
So if you need a good financialplanner that knows how to plan
the spacing of the kids out,definitely come to Wolf
Financial.
We'll take care of you.
But anyway, wonderful setup.
I mean it feels great.
(06:37):
I mean you don't have anyconcerns about having your kids
go on that equipment right now.
You guys have done a wonderfuljob taking care of it and you
have a place where this existingequipment's going to go, so
it's not going to get scrappedright.
Jaysen Field (06:53):
No, actually a good amount of it.
The village of Eau Claire istaking.
They dismantled it.
It's actually just finished.
Today they're going to berepurposing a lot of those
pieces to go to the uh, the allcare, all clear parks.
So it gets to live on in somekind of form, um, and it's
beneficial to win one for us.
They helped us dismantle thatthing, which hopefully can save
us a little bit of money when itcomes to construction of the
(07:13):
new playground.
Rob Wolf (07:15):
So right now we're at 91%.
When is the final decisiongoing to be made as to the uh,
what type of equipment and thetiming, and when do we want to
see that in in the new spot.
Jill Adams (07:29):
So we, like Jaysen, said today officially today
there is nothing left there ofthe old playground.
It was a little bit bittersweetto see, but it is beautiful.
It is exciting because we willbe bringing that new playground
soon.
Construction will begin soonand fundraising will continue at
the same time.
We are looking at we are goingto be doing construction in 2025
(07:55):
.
So the project is ongoing intothe spring and we are hoping
that we can wrap up ourfundraising by the end of the
year.
It is kind of the end of yeargiving time for folks and if
they want to learn more aboutthis opportunity for donations
tax deductible donations theycan certainly reach out and
(08:17):
learn more about what thosedollars will go towards.
So what's the best way forsomebody that wants to give to
this project specifically?
(08:37):
Where should they go?
How do they write a check?
What's the process?
Their online portal there attheir website are tax deductible
.
They also accept donations bycheck or cash at their facility
on South State Street in St Joeand people have actually dropped
off donations to us here in StJoe at the county admin center
and Jason and I are happy todrive it over and drop it off
(08:59):
ourselves.
Rob Wolf (09:00):
So you also have a level of gifting.
As far as recognition, can youtalk a little bit about what
that looks like?
Jaysen Field (09:09):
supporter, uh name and a permanent sign.
Uh, we have a thousand dollarplus uh level as well.
Um, and the difference for thatis a name on our our uh daily
(09:36):
entry pass, um, for one fullseason.
There is the uh entertainmentsupporter, uh, which is the
$5,000 plus uh, you get uh a$5,000 plus you get your logo
permanent sign at the project.
And which one am I?
There's the $10,000 plusrecreation supporter, $50,000
(09:57):
plus imagination supporter and$100,000 plus advanced supporter
or adventure supporter.
I apologize.
Rob Wolf (10:05):
So what do you have to do to get your name on it as
far as the park named after you?
Jill Adams (10:09):
That's what If anyone's interested in that,
come to us.
We'll have a conversation.
We have a lot of projects onour list, this being one of them
, a very important one.
But yeah, definitely come to usand ask some questions.
Rob Wolf (10:23):
So, Jeyson, let's talk about Silver Beach in general.
So many people enjoy SilverBeach and the surrounding
beaches on Lake Michigan.
What are some of the otherthings that are going on that we
should all be knowing about?
Jaysen Field (10:38):
Well, I mean, it's a wonderful place for
recreation.
It does hold a certain level ofspecial events each summer
special concerts or somevolleyball leagues as well.
This new playground is going tobe a great addition to the park
.
There's a concession stand,restroom facilities.
It's become a nice destinationpark for the Midwest.
Rob Wolf (10:59):
How many people do you believe visit Silver Beach on
an annual basis?
Jaysen Field (11:06):
Well, we actually have done some studies on this.
We did hire out an agency whocan kind of determine that
number for you.
I think we are estimating it'saround 700,000 people a year.
Rob Wolf (11:19):
That's impressive, right, because it certainly
seems to be one of the busiestbeaches in Southwest Michigan.
Although we have severalbeautiful beaches all along the
coast here, it certainly seemsto be the hotspot for a lot of
the action.
Of course, you got the carouselright there, you got the
(11:40):
Compass Park, you got everything.
It's a great attraction for ourcommunity as a travel
destination.
Jill Adams (11:48):
It really is.
What I enjoyed when I was amanager and was on site more
often was I would often run intopeople who were sometimes they
were by themselves, just sort oflooking around, and I'd stop
and say hi, and a lot of timesthey were people who either went
to the amusement park or workedat the amusement park and they
(12:09):
would tell me the history of it.
I moved to Michigan, I moved toSt Joe in 2001.
So I had to learn all of thatfrom scratch, and so these folks
gave me real, live, historicalstories of how they enjoyed that
amusement park where thedifferent rides were setting,
and that helped me kind of formthat love of the park itself and
(12:32):
learn a lot of things that Ijust I didn't know before moving
here.
Rob Wolf (12:37):
And for those of you listening that aren't quite sure
what she's referencing, silverBeach used to be the location of
an amusement park for manydecades.
I believe it closed in the lateor early seventies and they had
a carousel there which theywere able to get up there.
(12:57):
What is the story behind thatcarousel?
Do you know what that is allabout?
Jill Adams (13:03):
They?
Um, there's a group local groupof folks that worked really
hard to bring the carouselthat's currently here to town.
It's not the same carousel thatwas on site at Silver Beach
Amusement Park along the beach.
If anyone is in town it's agreat place to visit.
They have a lot of historicalinformation and photos of the
(13:26):
Silver Beach Amusement Park andthe carousel itself back in the
day and then all of the workthat they put in to bring that
carousel forward.
Now there's actually adocumentary on YouTube that's
phenomenal and free to watch andit gives the whole history of
the Silver Beach Amusement Park.
Rob Wolf (13:46):
That's great to know.
And is that what?
Do you know what?
The just Google or YouTubesearch Silver Beach, st Joseph,
michigan Amusement park,something like that, and that
should bring it up.
Jill Adams (13:58):
Yep, and it's on YouTube.
I can't think of the exact nameSilver Sands or something.
It's just.
If you Google it you can findit easily.
It's about an hour long.
It has a number of local folksthat are sitting down telling
their story of the history ofthat site.
Rob Wolf (14:16):
So right now Silver Beach is starting to winterize
Put up, I'm sure, the sandfences, whatever you call that,
along the road there.
And you know, it's just amazinghow Mother Nature takes over
and winter comes through sandsblowing all over the place over,
(14:37):
and winter comes through sandsblowing all over the place.
So when you guys are gettinginto May and you're trying to
get that place up and runningagain, what are all the
logistics you guys got to gothrough to get that park up and
running?
Jaysen Field (14:46):
That's certainly a lot and it certainly starts
earlier than May.
There's a lot of sandbulldozing that needs to be done
.
There's a lot of staff we needto hire, from park rangers to
lifeguards, getting the restroomfacilities all open up and
ready, finalizing all of ourreservations for the year.
There's a lot of upkeep thatgoes into keeping that park
(15:06):
operational.
So do they have to bring sandin?
No, that is all natural.
That is all there.
Actually, the excess sand, Ibelieve, gets taken by the city
of St Joseph.
Rob Wolf (15:16):
Oh, so there's actually excess sand that comes
in over the wintertime that theyreposition elsewhere.
Absolutely, now are you incharge of where does the park
end and where does it start?
You got the pier, which is nota county area, right, that's the
piers by the federal, and thenis it start at where that
(15:41):
sculpture is, that big silversculpture by the pier.
Is that where the parktechnically starts?
Jill Adams (15:46):
Yeah, a portion of that sculpture and a little bit
of the park improvements do siton the federal government
property.
We have a very long-term lease.
The park improvements do sit onthe federal government property
.
We have a very long-term lease.
I think we just signed itbecause it was 20 or 30 years.
Every 20 or 30 years we have tore-sign, but majority of it
(16:08):
that's a really good accesspoint the Shadowland Pavilion
and the and you See sculptureright there on the river all the
way down to the south end ofthe park, which is at Park
Street.
So if you take the road thatgoes down the hill, that's the
south end of the Berrien Countyproperty.
Rob Wolf (16:27):
So Shadowland Pavilion is where you can have a wedding
, you can have a concert.
How much revenue does thatpavilion bring into the park
system?
Jaysen Field (16:39):
It's a good amount , but I mean it's enough to just
sustain our park.
We're not trying to make anabsolute lot of money off of it.
We want to provide people thebest opportunity they can that's
affordable for a wedding or afamily reunion or a concert.
Rob Wolf (16:55):
And so if somebody wants to reserve Shadowland for
a wedding or a family reunion ora concert, and so if somebody
wants to reserve Shadowland fora private event or they just
want to have a group picnicsomewhere and reserve an area,
is it just a matter ofcontacting you or what's the
best way of reserving thosespots?
Jaysen Field (17:11):
Contacting the main park office for the Parks
and Recreation Department is thebest way to do that.
We have a calendar set up onour webpage as well, where
people can look and see whatdates have already been selected
, what is open.
I encourage people to utilizethat, but they can just call the
Parks Department and they'lllet them know if the date is
available, which pavilion mightbe best suited for them.
(17:32):
Yeah, there's plenty of options.
Rob Wolf (17:34):
So we've been talking specifically about improvements
at Silver Beach and that park inspecific, but you guys are part
of Berrien County Parks andRecreation, which is a much
bigger area.
How many parks does the countyservice?
Jill Adams (17:52):
So Berrien County Parks Department owns and
operates seven differentproperties and they are spread
out throughout the county.
Out of that it's about 650acres of property and we have
beachfront, we have uplands,lowlands, wetlands, forests.
We have a lot of differentrecreation hiking, biking,
(18:13):
cross-country skiing, disc golf,of course, swimming at the
beach and beach volleyball.
The list goes on.
So we do have options foreverybody, depending on what the
interest is.
Rob Wolf (18:26):
And obviously it's supported by our taxpayers.
But you guys also getcharitable support as well.
How much do you guys rely onthe charitable arm of generosity
and people in the communitysupporting the parks?
Jill Adams (18:41):
Oftentimes what we do is the money that we receive
either from tax dollars or therevenue income from parking and
pavilion rentals.
We will try to stretch thatmoney as far as we possibly can.
So how we do that is we willthen apply for grants and we
might use some of our parksbudget to match those grants or
(19:05):
we might do some fundraising,like we are right now for the
playground project.
So it's often I always say ittakes a village.
I tell that to Jason a lot.
It takes a village, and that'show it is in our projects as
well.
We might have a couple ofgrants involved, we might have
some parks budget involved andalso we have an endowment fund,
(19:26):
a Berrien County Parks EndowmentFund.
That's been running for, Ithink, since the 70s and we
accept donations on a regularbasis there and that endowment
fund has really helped us do alot of projects throughout the
whole system.
Rob Wolf (19:43):
So, especially when you're getting in taxpayer
dollars and and uh, the supportof uh uh parks such as what
we're talking about, there couldbe things that uh, sometimes uh
misunderstandings and thingslike that.
What are some of the big thingsthat you find are common
(20:05):
mistakes that people think arethe way it is, but it's not.
Jill Adams (20:10):
Sure, we you know frequently asked question kind
of thing we get a lot ofquestions.
The Berrien County Parks systemis, like I said, made up of
those seven properties, one ofthem being Silver Beach County
Park.
There are a number of peoplethat will come to us and not
really realize that Silver BeachCounty Park is owned and
operated and funded separatelythan the fountain and the
(20:34):
carousel and all of the otheramenities.
There's four beaches below thebluff in St Joe.
The city owns and operates someof the other beaches, so
there's a lot of us that reallyhave to work together.
When people are, they mightplay at the fountain down below
the bluff and walk across thestreet and use the bathroom or
hang out at the beach.
(20:55):
We don't really care that theydon't know whose property
they're on.
We want them to come and enjoyand have the amenity that they
came there for.
We want them to have a momentaway from real life and be on
vacation, whether it's astaycation or a vacation from
someone out of town.
It's an incredible place to beand we just want to make sure
(21:18):
that we are providing the bestfacilities that we can.
Just want to make sure that weare providing the best
facilities that we can.
Silver Beach is absolutely ourbusiest park out of the seven
and it takes the most resources.
So the money that we do bringin from user fees, which we call
the parking and the use,prevent rental of the pavilions
as user fees.
(21:38):
We want to put that back intothe park itself and keep it at a
high standard.
Kind of funny, we have about a$23,000 toilet paper budget for
county parks.
That's something that we needto think of.
Every year we get a lot ofbathroom use, so it's
interesting when we startbreaking it down and what we
(21:58):
spend the money on.
Rob Wolf (21:59):
Had a run in COVID on toilet paper, so you weren't
getting a discount then, eitherwere you.
That was challenging.
How about any any things thatyou find that people have
misconceptions about,specifically regarding Silver?
Jaysen Field (22:13):
Beach.
I think Jill covered it prettywell.
That park, you know, it mayseem like it brings in a lot of
money, but a lot of it issupporting seven other parks and
it is supporting itself as well.
Like I said, there is a lotthat goes into maintaining that
park.
Rob Wolf (22:30):
So, specifically then, revenue generated at Silver
Beach does get allocated to theother parks or does it stay at
Silver Beach?
Jill Adams (22:38):
It does get used throughout the whole system.
So in general terms it's about40% of the Berrien County Parks
budget.
Revenues do come in fromparking and user fees at Silver
Beach.
Rob Wolf (22:54):
So the parking issue.
So if you're a resident ofBerrien County, you can get a
pass.
What was the pass cost for thelast year?
Jaysen Field (23:06):
For a daily pass for a resident of Berrien County
is $8.
To park at Silver Beach.
Rob Wolf (23:11):
And then you can also get a annual pass.
Is that correct?
Jaysen Field (23:14):
Yeah, there is a season pass available as well,
for $40.
Rob Wolf (23:16):
For $40.
So, and then they could justbuy that right there where they
come up to the attendancestation.
Buy it and probably, if you'regoing to be coming down to the,
and that annual pass is good atany of the parks in Berrien
County.
So what's the second mostpopular park in Berrien County?
Jill Adams (23:36):
So I think our second most popular park is
Madeline Bertrand County Park inNiles.
They have an 18-hole disc golfcourse that gets use all year
long, except when we have enoughsnow for cross-country skiing.
Then the skiers come out likecrazy.
They love when there's enoughsnow, which is a little more
challenging these days and wehave to close the disc golf
(23:59):
course down, but otherwise, ifthe snow melts the next day,
they can open up that disc golfcourse and our folks, our
visitors, come out in every kindof weather.
So Madeline Bertrand's a goodone, and we just added an
additional 35 acres to thatproperty, so it's now 150 acres
and we're looking at doing someimprovements expanding the
trails, expanding the disc golfcourse at that site too.
Rob Wolf (24:23):
So obviously, right now, we got the playground
equipment.
We want to get that fullyfunded.
We're at 91%.
If you want your name on theplayground equipment, give them
a call.
They'll make a special deal foryou, especially if you want to
fund the last 9% of the project.
To fund the last 9% of theproject, right, yes, okay.
(24:46):
But what is next on the docketas far as major projects for
Barron County Parks andRecreation?
Jill Adams (24:50):
Well, it's very timely that you asked that
question because we are workingon our next five-year Parks and
Recreation plan.
So we've been taking our ideasand feedback from the community
and we really have it honed ininto a document which helps us.
We reference that documentthrough the years as we work on
projects.
As far as the county parksitself, we have recently in 2023
(25:13):
, we have added property to ourpark.
They were.
This property was adjacent tocurrent parks property.
It came available and in orderto keep it in the hut for public
use, we were able to securesome funds and purchase that
property.
So, system-wide, we'd like toexpand a little bit and get onto
(25:34):
that property and get ourvisitors onto that property to
enjoy it.
If we're looking at SilverBeach itself, we have a master
plan that was developed in 2021.
And that master plan reallydoes talk about some
improvements and helping managethe increase in visitors.
We are excited that our visitornumbers skyrocketed during and
(25:59):
after COVID.
It was a really good response.
But the use of the park and thefacilities and amenities also
went up.
So that means more wear andtear and more use.
So that master plan projectreally does help us plan for
that increase in visitors and wewant to make sure that we're
planning for 10, 20 and 30 yearsdown the road and whatever
(26:23):
those visitor numbers might beis there any?
Rob Wolf (26:26):
there really isn't any way that you can increase the
size of silver beach park,because everything else you got
the compass fountain there, andso forth.
So it is what it is.
Jill Adams (26:37):
It is what it is, and it is what it is and it's a
beautiful piece of property andwe just want to make sure that
we're utilizing it the best wecan and upgrading our facilities
as we go.
Rob Wolf (26:49):
Now, Jaysen, one of your jobs with the county is
also in recycling, so tell us alittle bit about what that
entails.
Jaysen Field (26:58):
Sure, Well, every year, myself and my colleague,
Genevieve Graves she and Ioperate the community recycling
events.
We coordinate those for everyyear.
There's five of them every year.
We just finished our last one acouple of weeks ago, and we
also do some scrap tire eventsas well.
These are great opportunitiesfor residents of Barron County
to bring any of their hazardoushousehold hazardous waste, any
(27:21):
of their electronics they needto get rid of, or possibly
styrofoam on certain event days.
It's just, some of these itemsare so hard to get rid of and
this is just providing anopportunity to community to get
rid of them at a one-stop shop.
Rob Wolf (27:35):
I never had heard about that before.
So, and this happens five timesa year, correct.
So how, how does thatinformation get out to the
general public?
Is it in the paper?
Is it on the radio?
Jaysen Field (27:47):
We do our best press releases to social media.
We also have a flyer that wehave a mailer that people can
sign up for to get it sent tothem.
We definitely want to get theword out there the best way we
possibly can.
Rob Wolf (27:59):
It's on our webpage as well.
Probably because I haven'theard about it is because you
don't advertise during Cub Games.
You know that's the way I get alot of my advertising overall,
but no, is there any otherpoints that you guys would like
to share on this podcast?
Jill Adams (28:15):
regarding the Parks and Recreation Department, I
think so, you know, through theyears Jaysen's been here for a
long time.
I moved to Michigan and startedworking for the county in 2001.
We've met some incrediblepeople along the way working on
these projects, just being atthe parks, enjoying the parks
ourselves, and some of thestories that I've gained just by
(28:37):
working on this playgroundproject have been incredible as
well.
One of the aspects I didn'tthink much of, but I heard a
number of times, was fromgrandparents, and grandparents
are often caregivers in one wayor another, and a playground is
a great place to go, but one ofthe benefits to them is they get
to meet other grandparents.
(28:58):
So it really is a socialgathering place, not just for
kids, it's for parents andgrandparents to meet new people
as well.
So we've been told by multipleorganizations through the
project, the process of thePlayground Project, that Silver
Beach really is a communitymeeting place and we're hoping
that this playground makes thateven more accessible and better
(29:21):
for everyone.
Rob Wolf (29:22):
That was Jill Adams, along with Jaysen Field.
Thank you for joining us,sharing with us this great
project that generations offamilies will be able to enjoy.
Again, if you want to donate toyour cause, to the county parks
(29:43):
and recreation, where's thebest place to go?
Jill Adams (29:46):
The best place to go would be the Berrien Community
Foundation.
They have a Silver BeachPlayground Project Fund there
and they can accept donations,tax-deductible donations.
But if anyone has any questionsabout this project at all, why
we're doing it, when it's goingto happen, we encourage you to
go to the websitebarriencountyorg slash parks or
(30:08):
give us a call and we're happyto walk through and show
renderings of the project andhow we got where we are and
where we hope to be by latespring of 2025.
So we would invite everyone outto come and enjoy that.
We're hoping and working veryhard to make sure that next
(30:28):
summer everyone can come out andplay on that new playground.
Rob Wolf (30:31):
And if they want to call, what number should they
call?
Jill Adams (30:34):
Well, we're at the County Administration Center
here in St Joe, so the number269-983-7111 and the parks
extension is 8435.
Rob Wolf (30:49):
Okay, very good Again.
Jill Adams and Jason Field ofBerrien County Parks and
Recreation, thank you for yourtime, thank you for your sharing
and we look forward to all ofus being able to get up and play
on these new equipment comingout.
Jill Adams (31:06):
Thanks for having us and really thank you for the
donation to get us just to thatnext point of this project.
We really, really appreciatethat.
Rob Wolf (31:15):
It's our pleasure.
And again, this is Rob Wolfwith the Wolf Financial Podcast.
If you have additionalquestions, you can also go to
our website,wolffinancialadvisorycom.
Go under resources charity ofthe month.
You will also see BerrienCounty Parks and Recreation
(31:37):
there, along with the othercharities that we spotlight
during this podcast.
Thank you both again and thispodcast.
Thank you both again and Godbless.
Jaysen Field (31:44):
Thank you.
Voiceover (31:46):
Thank you for listening to the Wolf Financial
Podcast.
For additional informationabout our firm, please visit our
website wolfadvisoryservices.
com.
The strategies and conceptsdiscussed are for educational
purposes only and do notrepresent specific investment,
(32:07):
tax or estate planning advice.
Investing carries an inherentelement of risk and it is in
everyone's best interests toconsult a tax, legal or
investment professional.
Past performance does notguarantee future results.
Securities and advisoryservices are offered through USA
Financial Securities memberFINRA/ SIPC, a registered
(32:27):
investment advisor.
Wolf Financial Advisory are notaffiliated with USA Financial
Securities.
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