The Oak Forest Park District is dedicated to enhancing community morale by providing a variety of recreational opportunities, programs, special events and trips for each individual to create and maintain a healthy lifestyle while doing so in a friendly and safe atmosphere. Our goal is to involve and inform individuals in the community of the many beneficial practices our park district has to offer.
We are also devoted to preserving open space as well as establishing and maintaining the most modern equipment for our parks and facilities.
Oak Forest Park District, a municipal governing agency, provides parks, recreational facilities and programs for its residents. The Board of Commissioner is made up of five (5) elected officials, each serving six (6) year terms. Board meetings are held the 2nd and 4th Thursday, of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Central Park Building, 15601 South Central Avenue and open to the public.
Letter to the Residents
Dear Residents of Oak Forest,
I hope this letter finds you well and that you are enjoying the warm weather as we soak up the last days of summer. I am overwhelmed by the warm welcome I have received as the new Director of Parks and Recreation here at the Oak Forest Park District. Many of you may already know me from my previous 14 years as a Recreation Supervisor. I moved into the role of Director at the end of April, following the retirement of Cindy Grannan, our previous Director. I know I have enormous shoes to fill, as Cindy was an outstanding leader in her field. However, I am excited for the challenge and can’t wait to continue serving and working with the community I have grown up in and served over the years.
The staff of the Oak Forest Park District have been working hard this summer to bring you a number of activities and events, that I hope you and your family were able to participate in and enjoy. If you missed these events, you still have the opportunity to join us Labor Day weekend for our annual Old Times Family Picnic. This event will be Sunday, September 1st from noon until dusk at our Central Park grounds. There will be food trucks, kid’s games, face painters, a balloon artist, live music, bingo, and much more! This is a great chance to sit back, relax, and enjoy time with friends and neighbors.
In July, we started the process of updating our Comprehensive Master Plan, which will serve as a roadmap for the district over the next 5 years. This plan will incorporate input from residents, Park patrons, the Park District Board of Commissioners, and Park District staff. With the help of Hitchcock Design Group, we will complete extensive data gathering through various forums. This knowledge will help us create a document that guides our decision-making for the future, while ensuring alignment with the mission of the district and the residents we serve. Over the coming months you can expect to hear from us and participate in surveys, focus groups, or public forums. We will keep everyone informed of the progress through a dedicated website as we move forward with this process.
We are also looking forward to replacing the play equipment at the Avenues Park on the corner of Fieldcrest & Willowick Dr. in the Fieldcrest subdivision. The current play equipment is approximately 15 years old, and is ready to be replaced with newer, brighter, and more fun pieces. Additionally, to enhance the park, we will be adding some physical fitness equipment along the path. We hope to have these improvements completed by this fall.
Our Recreation staff has planned a variety of activities and events for all ages to participate in, in this fall and winter activity guide. Some yearly favorites such as the Senior Picnic, Thornton Quarry Tour, Spooky Golf, Christmas Arts & Crafts Workshop, and Daddy Daughter Date Night are all returning, along with new activities such as Baby Talk N’ Tempo, Circle Time for Toddlers, and Japanese classes. Our volunteer sport committees and staff are also hard at work to bring the youth of our community a safe, fun, and challenging fall/winter season with sport leagues like Flag Football and Cheer, Sparklers Competitive Cheer Team, Momentum Dance Force Competitive Dance Team, Warrior Wrestling, and Youth Basketball. As always, if you have a talent or interest you would like to share, please reach out to us. We would love to partner with you to offer classes to the community!
At the Oak Forest Park District, our mission is to enhance community morale by providing a variety of recreational opportunities, activities, special events, and trips to all individuals, and to do so in a way that brings our community together. The activities/events listed above are just a few examples of how we strive to enhance this, offering memorable opportunities to connect with neighbors and friends.
I invite you to explore our full schedule of events on our website and join us for these upcoming activities. Let’s make this fall and winter in Oak Forest a season to remember!
Sincerely,
Kirstin Dahm
Director of Parks & Recreation