As a member of the Wisconsin Park & Recreation Association and an employee of the Menomonee Falls Community Education & Recreation Department I am very interested in parks and their utilization. One Monday evening, my wife and I decided to take our dog for a walk through Oakwood Park. It was amazing to see how many people were utilizing the park, especially when a lot of people I talk to don't even know the park exists. The Menomonee Falls Angels were playing on one of the softball diamonds, Community Ed. & Recreation Department Tennis Lessons were taking place on several of the tennis courts, a group of children were kicking a soccer ball around one of the soccer fields, the toddler playground was full of little ones running around, a girls basketball practice appeared to be taking place while a group of adults formed their own pick up basketball game. It was great to see!
Menomonee Falls is unique compared to a lot of other communities. Our Community Education & Recreation Department and Parks Department are two completely separate agencies. While the Community Education & Recreation Department is a department under the School District of Menomonee Falls, the Parks Department is under the Village of Menomonee Falls. Community Education & Recreation administers the programs (Softball, Volleyball, Basketball, Tennis Lessons, Flag Football) while the Parks Department maintains parks, trails, fields, diamonds and courts.
Though I am an employee of the School District and not the Village, I wanted to take this opportunity to advocate for the parks in Menomonee Falls. Many individuals don't realize that our community is made up of many great active and passive parks. Most are familiar with Village Park because of events such as Falls Fest, The Big PIg Gig, Concerts in the Park, and the Annual Easter Egg Hunt, but there are so many more parks with a variety of different amenities and features. Along with Village Park, there are 16 other parks, plazas and parkways.
Additional parks include Kiwanis, Lime Kiln, Mill Pond, Municipal, Oakwood, Taylor, Willowood, Rivers Edge, Riverside and Rotary. Along with the parks listed above there is also Menomonee River Parkway, Mill Pond Plaza, Old Falls Village and three undeveloped parks (Tamarack Swamp, Tower Hill Park, Maple Road Park).
For additional information regarding park hours, amenities in the various parks, park locations and park rules please visit http://www.menomonee-falls.org/index.asp?NID=136.
