Gurnee Park District Summer 2016 Program and Events Guide

DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE Welcome to fun Dear <strong>Gurnee</strong> <strong>Park</strong> <strong>District</strong> Residents, Every summer has a story, <strong>and</strong> <strong>Gurnee</strong> <strong>Park</strong> <strong>District</strong> is excited about writing ours this season with help from all of you. We have lots of fun, engaging programs <strong>and</strong> events planned for you this summer. However, our biggest story is a new initiative we are very proud to launch called GO GURNEE. I, along with a few of my team members, had the honor of attending the National <strong>Park</strong> <strong>and</strong> Recreation Conference in September 2015. The U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, was one of the keynote speakers at the event. Dr. Murthy’s remarks about the tremendous amount of health benefits from walking for just a half an hour each day moved our team. For the past several months we have been working on creating a movement in our community that will benefit our health <strong>and</strong> wellness <strong>and</strong> the result is GO GURNEE! GO GURNEE is a community wellness movement designed to increase community health through activity, education <strong>and</strong> collaboration. As a <strong>Park</strong> <strong>District</strong>, we take our role in building a healthy community seriously, <strong>and</strong> we want <strong>Gurnee</strong> to be a place where being physically active is not only easy but fun. GO GURNEE is free <strong>and</strong> accessible to all residents <strong>and</strong> friends of <strong>Gurnee</strong>. On Sunday, May 1, <strong>2016</strong>, we invite the entire community to join us at Viking <strong>Park</strong> (4374 Old Gr<strong>and</strong> Avenue, <strong>Gurnee</strong>) for our kick-off event <strong>and</strong> a 30 minute walk. Then we want everyone to start walking daily for the month of May in your own neighborhood or a park/trail of your choice. We will get together at the end of the month to celebrate our success. For more details, please visit GOGURNEE.com or Facebook.com/GOGURNEE <strong>and</strong> join the conversation by using #GOGURNEE. In addition to GO GURNEE, we will be hosting our Sounds of <strong>Summer</strong> Concert Series, Farmers’ Market <strong>and</strong> memorable events at Hunt Club <strong>Park</strong> Aquatic Center as well as Family Olympics, Fishing Derby <strong>and</strong> Rec-Mobile. See the color insert for all special event details. <strong>Summer</strong> is the time for family, <strong>and</strong> at <strong>Gurnee</strong> <strong>Park</strong> <strong>District</strong>, we are pleased that you are a part of ours. As we write our story this summer, we need you to be part of it. Let our story be how we improved our health <strong>and</strong> wellness by choosing a lifestyle that incorporates the simple act of walking for half an hour each day. As always, I welcome your comments <strong>and</strong> suggestions to further enhance our services. Please feel free to call me at 847-623-7788 or e-mail me at skuruvilla@gurneeparkdistrict.com. Warmly, Susie Kuruvilla, CPA, CPRP Executive Director 1