Inclement Weather Wreaks Havoc on High School, Rec Sports

Athletic directors and coaches have been scrambling all spring to get in matches, games and tournaments. The same can be said for Greenfield's park and rec department.

Scott Otto has the The Weather Channel’s website bookmarked on his desktop and checks it repeatedly throughout the day. The Greenfield High School athletic director and assistant principal has got the district’s grounds keeper, the city’s Park and Recreation Department, and the district’s facilities coordinator Stuart Wilke on speed-dial. And Otto has been in constant contact with his high school spring coaches and other athletic directors, all of whom, thanks to this spring’s persistence rainfall, have been forced to coordinate and orchestrate a complex schedule-juggling performance unlike many others. “It’s been a nightmare,” Otto said. “I’ve talked to other ADs in the conference and coaches that have coached 25 or 30 years and none of …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (2)

Brandon Kurta

12:07 pm on Friday, April 26, 2013

its been getting nicer out like Tori said, so the sports will be able to get better and play more.   more ›

Parks Supporter Donald Almquist Earns Hall of Fame Recognition

The former alderman and School Board member was among those honored by the Greenfield Parks and Recreation Department last week.

Throughout his career as an elected official, both during his five terms as an alderperson for the City of Greenfield and his 29 years on the Greenfield School Board, Donald Almquist was a strong supporter of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. And you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who has flipped more pancakes for the department’s various programs. “Since we’ve started breakfast with Santa Claus and breakfast with the Easter bunny, Don’s been the one behind the scene flipping pancakes,” Parks and Recreation Director Scott Jaquish said. “He’s probably flipped over 12,000 pancakes for us.” Almquist’s griddle skills were just part of the reason why he was named he was inducted as the 25th member of the department’s hall of fame …

• Photos (11)

Should Smoking Be Allowed on City Grounds?

The city is considering an exception to an ordinance that prohibits it to allow people to smoke on a patio outside of the Community Center.

The City of Greenfield is considering a change to its smoking ordinance that would allow people who rent out the Community Center to smoke on city grounds. Parks and Recreation Director Scott Jaquish would like an exception made to the ordinance that prohibits smoking on city grounds, except for in parks, to exclude a 4-foot by 8-foot concrete patio on the north side of the Community Center, according to minutes from the November Board of Health meeting. The reason behind Jaquish’s request is the city has received complaints from neighbors, specifically those in the apartment complex across the street from the center, about people attending functions or events at the center leaving the area to smoke in their neighborhood. Some neighbors …

•  8 Comments
• Photos (1)

Shelter Addition Adds to Konkel Park's Appeal

Beginning next summer, residents and visitors will have a traditional park shelter available in a "hidden" part of Konkel Park.

Konkel Park has long been the crown jewel of Greenfield’s park system. Its prominent location coupled with its amenities – softball diamonds, volleyball courts, a playground, pavilion and gazebo, among them — have made it a source of entertainment for residents and visitors alike. But did you know there’s a whole other “half” of Konkel Park, and that construction on a beautiful new pavilion there was completed this fall and will be ready for public use sometime next summer? “This brings a sense of awareness to how big Konkel Park is,” Parks and Recreation Director Scott Jaquish said. “A lot of people think it stops at the (walking) bridge. They don’t realize that there’s a park back here.” The project, which began in June, was part of city…

• Photos (6)

Editor's Notebook

City Celebrates Community Center's First Year

More than 100 people celebrated the center's anniversary at a social Friday.

Since Greenfield Patch launched in December 2010, perhaps no project has been more inspiring than the Greenfield Community Center. No other building has been a more clear-cut example of what good can happen when good people put their heads – and resources – together. When Ted Balistreri, owner of Sendik’s Food Market, presented a check for $20,000 to Parks and Recreation Department director Scott Jaquish and the city in January 2011, it marked the last major donation needed for the city to renovate its old library. Construction began in February, the center opened July 9, 2011, and since then Jaquish and his staff have worked diligently to ensure the building is self-sustaining without passing the buck onto taxpayers. On Friday, nearly 100…

• Photos (6)

Greenfield Community Center Sign Nearing Completion

The monument-style sign that will have electronic reader boards, is expected to be completed within weeks.

The Greenfield Community Center sign, which will greet commuters as they travel down Cold Spring Road and Forest Home Avenue, is expected to be completed within weeks, according to Greenfield Parks and Recreation Department Director Scott Jaquish. The monument portion of the sign has been erected, and the electronic reader boards will be added soon. The sign created a bit of controversy during its approval process, but is expected to be a major source of annual income for the Community Center.

•  4 Comments
• Photos (3)

Greenfield Community Center Sign Gets New Life

By changing the definition of "public signs" the city created its own loophole to allow off-premises advertising in some instances.

For the better part of a year, Greenfield Parks and Recreation Director Scott Jaquish has been asked to get creative when it comes to making the city’s new Community Center run like a self-sufficient business. On Tuesday at City Hall, the city got a little creative itself to lend Jaquish a hand. The Common Council voted 4-1 in favor of amending the municipal code to define the term “public sign.” The decision was in response to Jaquish’s proposal to allow Clear Channel construct, install and pay for the upkeep of a monument-style electronic reader board sign outside the Community Center. In exchange for the sign, Clear Channel would enter into a 20-year lease with the city, agreeing to maintain the sign and pay approximately $12,000 per …

•  7 Comments
• Photos (1)

Greenfield Parks & Recreation Director Considered One of State's Best

Scott Jaquish will receive the George Wilson Service Award from the Wisconsin Parks & Recreation Association next week.

Several years ago, Scott Jaquish had an opportunity to meet with George Wilson, a pioneer of the Milwaukee Public School system and one of the founding members of the Wisconsin Park & Recreation Association, and pick his brain. At the time, Jaquish worked in Oconomowoc as an up-and-coming member of the Parks and Recreation community. “George would stop in now and then and I was a young guy who thought he knew it all,” Jaquish said. “Talking with him brought a whole new sense of passion and what our profession means to people. I learned so much from him, and he was the type of person that wanted to learn from you.” Knowing the kind of person Wilson provides a unique level of perspective to Jaquish, the City of Greenfield’s Parks and …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (3)

Greenfield Parks and Rec's 'Mainstay' Will Be Missed

After 18 years, Sharon Meier's last day with the department was Thursday.

Sharon Meier’s laughter, kindness and smiling face has greeted customers who walk through the Greenfield Parks and Recreation Department’s office door in City Hall for the better part of two decades. On Oct. 21, however, Meier and her husband Bill will be starting a 10-day drive to Juneau, AK – that’s right, Alaska! – where they will embark on a life-changing journey while leaving behind family, friends, colleagues and a job Meier loves. For 18 years, Meier has been an administrative assistant for the Parks and Recreation Department. An opportunity to move to Alaska was too difficult to pass by. "We’ve been talking about it for quite some time. In the last six years, we’ve traveled there five times," said Meier, whose final day with the …

•  5 Comments
• Photos (1)

Greenfield Business Owner's Generosity Benefits Parks Department

Loretta Kleczka, owner of River Falls Family Fun Center, has allowed the Partners of Parks and Recreation to use her facility for free for an annual fundraiser.

At 82 years old, Loretta Kleczka is full of spunk and wit. But it is the Greenfield business owner’s caring and generosity that forged an unbreakable bond between her and the city. That bond grew from an unlikely place—her family’s love for miniature golf. They had no place to play mini-golf other than Willow’s on 27th Street. So in 1994 Kleczka and her late husband purchased land just went of Konkel Park , and built River Falls Family Fun Center. They had a course of their own, plus batting cages and an entertainment room. “I must have been nutty, to want to build a golf course,” said Kleczka, who also owns the strip mall at 60th Street and Layton Avenue in Greenfield. That nutty idea of a golf course, however, has grown into a popular …

• Photos (1)