WILLMAR - It has been a great summer for Willmar pooches and their owners.
Three weeks after Willmar was named a finalist in PetSafe’s “Bark for Your Park” competition, Mayor Marv Calvin tabbed July 15 as Dog Park Day.
The mayoral proclamation during Monday’s City Council meeting stated that “The city of Willmar needs a place for our four-legged friends to run and play in a safe environment.”
Willmar has 37 parks, none of which are designated as dog parks. Litchfield, with a population a third of Willmar’s, has one. Regardless of its finish in the “Bark for Your Park” contest, Willmar will soon have one, too.
By the end of July, fencing and signs should be up at Lions Park for the dog park’s Aug. 1 opening. The money to build the fence and erect signs will be taken from the capital improvement budget.
If Willmar’s dog lovers hope to have a more deluxe park, though, they will have to ramp up their voting practices, according to Steve Brisendine, Willmar’s Community Education and Recreation director.
“(The contest) will impact the detail of the development,” Brisendine said, “But we are moving forward with the dog park.”
A popular vote will determine the competition’s grand prize winner, which will receive a $100,000 grant to build a dog park.
The additional money would fund amenities such as fire hydrants, water fountains and running ramps for the dogs. Improved landscaping
and a path leading into the park could also be added.
“The city’s game plan right now is just to get the park open and have the amenities of the fenced area and water available (etc.),” Brisendine said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Willmar sits in 13th place out of 16 cities and would need a miracle to make up the 23,000-vote margin between it and the popular-vote leader, Jacksonville, Illinois, a town nearly the exact size of Willmar.
But there are three additional grants valued at $25,000 which will be awarded to the runners-up in small, medium and large community categories, according to the contest website. Willmar is deemed a “medium” community and sits in last place in the group of five cities as of 2 p.m. Wednesday. It trails the current medium runner-up by about 4,200 votes.
The Kandiyohi County Dog Owners Group, a group of people dedicated to bringing a dog park to Willmar, urges Willmar citizens to vote for the park. The group will hold a Willmar Dog Park Day celebration 5:30 p.m. July 15 at Lions Park. The event is open to the public.
Lori Tostenson, a member of the group, admits its current deficit - even in the medium town subgroup - will be difficult to overcome. She hopes Dog Park Day will encourage people to vote.
“It would be great if everybody in the community on Dog Day would just go in and vote twice,” Tostenson said. “Then we’d be (in the lead). Wouldn’t that be great?”
She admitted to being a little dejected about the community’s lack of participation. Willmar is averaging about 250 votes per day.
“It would be nice to have a very nice dog park, and it’s a cheap way to get it to us,” she said, “But I don’t know what else we can try.”
The group’s efforts have included daily Facebook posts, t-shirt giveaways and walking in Spicer’s Fourth of July Parade.
The public can vote twice per day at
petsafe.net/barkforyourpark/
and
facebook.com/petsafebrand
. Voting closes at 11 p.m. July 22.
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