Optimist Club Welcomes John Lehan and Marietta Reuter

On January 29, 2020 John Lehan and Marietta Reuter were the guest speakers for the meeting.  Both are representatives of the Sauk Prairie Parks and Recreation Commission and the leads on the fundraising efforts for the Culver Community Park by the Friends of Sauk Prairie Park and Recreation.  So far the two have met with over 200 people providing information on the future park.  Slightly over $7.5 million has been donated so far including $5 million from Culver's. $12 million is needed to fund the park construction.  Some of the basic information on the park is as follows:  The park of 67 acres will include both passive and active recreation. Some of the features are an ADA compliant playscape, a main event building with a full catering kitchen which can accommodate 300 people, an event garden with flexible seating, several concession stands,  concrete bag toss and ping pong games, a clover field consisting of two baseball and two softball fields, a maintenance shed, two outdoor basketball courts, two tennis and eight pickleball courts, a dog park, bike pump park and skatepark, four multipurpose fields for soccer, football, and lacrosse, a competition field for soccer and football, a pond with ADA accessible fishing, an outdoor skating rink and a sledding hill along with a winter recreation shelter with restrooms, a walking trail that will connect to the hospital trail system and bike/pedestrian trails, softball, youth baseball, baseball field and batting cages, sand volleyball courts, and more.  The Village of Prairie du Sac is the owner of the park land and they will cover the liability insurance, alcohol license etc.  The Sauk Prairie Recreation Commission will manage and operate the park and the Friends of Sauk Prairie Parks and Recreation are the fundraising and design arm of the project.  The Recreation Commission will pay employees with an estimated  3-4 full time staff.  The Recreation Commission has representatives of six local municipalities. Lehan and Reuter emphasized that this is not a school district project.  They are estimating that the main construction will occur in 2021-22 with the opening in 2023.  Two major fundraisers are set. On February 13, A Valentine's Spa Day at Cloud Nine Day Spa and Salon with all proceeds going to the Friends and on March 14, a Friends Pork and Pie Day for the Park with pre-ordered pork chops, pie, and/or a pork chop dinner.  There are also many sponsorship and pledge opportunities to help fund the park.  

For more information, contact John Lehan (HERE) or call him at 608-643-9784, or Marietta Reuter (HERE) or call her at 608-643-5463. 

The Sauk Prairie Optimist Club meets every Wednesday, the first Wednesday at noon and the remaining Wednesdays at 7 a.m. at the Blue Spoon Café in Prairie du Sac. Check us out on Facebook!