2020 Highlights for the EPF
‘2020 Match Challenge’ Brings Marvelous Results!
Did you know that the Eskridge Park Foundation participated in the 2020 Match Challenge sponsored by the City of Eskridge and the Flint Hills Bank from October 1 to December 31, 2020? For every dollar donated to the Park during October, November and December (up to $15,000), the city and the bank each donated 50 cents, making it a dollar for dollar match for the park! At the end of the Challenge, Eskridge Park Foundation raised $25,456 making our grand total with the matching money $40,456!!! This money can now be used for seed money to apply for grants for new Playground structures, bathroom facilities, a shelter structure for events, tables, benches and so much more! It was the best possible way to end a year that created so many challenges for us all.
We started out 2020 with so much hope for a busy, productive year, and spent many hours planning events that eventually didn’t happen. But, looking back, we actually accomplished some very important and exciting things.
In February we were awarded the Heritage Trust Fund Grant to renovate our historic bandstand, in the amount of $43,324. You can read more about it here.
Leap Year Day, February 29, we hosted another Trivia Night. So many great minds in one place, eating, drinking and answering hard questions, raising money for the Park! The ‘Kid’s Table’ won the night!
In March, the Eskridge Park Foundation hired Dede Brokesh with LDB Landscape Designs to create our Master Design Plan for the park. This is the first step to creating excitement in our community. These plans will be used to apply for grants and for fundraising purposes.
We had fun creating a promotional video with the help of Cody Lohse and lots of cute kids. Look for it on FaceBook and our website!
In mid-March, the Pandemic hit and all of our plans started to change. With everyone asked to shelter at home and social distance, we decided to host a fun outdoor activity to bring people to the park. An event called Eskridge Park Rocks! was held the week before Easter, where we asked community members to paint fun rocks to be hidden in the park. Kids had fun both painting rocks, and then coming back to find them to win prizes! Aren’t they so creative and cute!?
August 1- we held a Progress in the Park event to unveil the Park Master Plan.
September- as we geared up for our 2020 Match Challenge to begin in October, we moved the Master Plan posters around to different downtown businesses in Eskridge each week.
October- Flyers with donation forms were mailed out to Eskridge and the surrounding communities. Our goal was to raise the $15000 necessary to get every matching dollar available from the City of Eskridge and the Flint Hills Bank.
There was a competition going on between our city mayor Dolly Mercer and our bank president Mark Hoelting to see who would have to Kiss a Goat (see it here!) on December 5. There were donation jars at the Eskridge Market and Rush In for voting (with money) on who should do the kissing. The big winner (loser?) was Mark Hoelting! A total of $160 was raised towards our challenge goal.
Our year ended with a celebration and FaceBook live video at the bandstand to announce to our community that we had made our Challenge Goal. We cannot express enough how grateful we are to all those in our community that support the Eskridge Park Foundation.
Even though we spent a lot of time planning events that got cancelled in 2020- a Porch Party in April to celebrate our major donors from 2019, a June festival in conjunction with Symphony in the Flinthills, and the Eskridge Fall Festival (our first time ever to help plan), we can look back now and see that we actually accomplished quite a bit. You may not always see our progress, but we hope you know that we will continue to work tirelessly to make our park once again come to life.
Thank you to all those who donated to our 2020 Match Challenge!
Philip & Barbie Flick
Jan & George Brown
Darrell & Erin Rush
Janette Michael
Carol Shumate
Marilyn McQuay
Arlene Taylor
Marilyn Allen
Rush In
Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Mission
Wanda & Jeff Blasnitz
Phillip Schutter
Rick & Zina Bryan
Diane Turnbull
Susan Reinhardt
Pat & Janel Wiederholt
Iva & Alan Clark
Norma Vilander
Donna Warren
Carol & Gary Henderson
Pat & Cindy Rutledge
Ed & Marta Howe
Gerald & Deborah Buser
Eskridge Veterans Memorial
Wabaunsee Co Fire District
Eskridge Firefighters Association
Eskridge Chamber of Commerce
Bill & Marsha Ridinger
Joe & Tiffany Wayman
Jones VanArsdale Funeral Home
Delane Fritzson
D'Earl Dunn
Wayne and Jeannie Bennett
Michael and Pamela Patterson
Benita Peoples
Jack and Bengie Foster
Marjorie Norton
Lil Vikings Daycare
Anton Zouplna Jr
Sharon Durkes
Greg & Elaine Duvall
John Duvall
Kelly & Mark Hoelting
Joe & Louella 'Dolly' Mercer
Charles & Sam Kidd
Rob & Kari Warren
The Converse Family Trust
Sandra Jensen
Mary Reed Spencer
McKenna and Addison Maddox + Parents
Don & Pam Logan
Warren & Jennifer Kraus
Mission Valley FFA
John and Vickie Rush
Nita Rush
Ann & Marvin Hunt
Diane K. Butler in honor of parents, Art (dec.) and Nita Rush
Kolde Construction Inc.
Kathy & Connie Blades-Nelson
Jason and Allison King and Family
Stephan and Lois Cheray
Jackie and Teresa Martin
Constance Evans
Todd Evans
Kendall Baker
Debbie Williams Dunford
The Turnbull Foundation
Gary and Linda Herrick
Tate and Melissa Castillo
Candace and Tuff Stephenson
Vicky Jones
Rhonda Nehring
Monty Clark
Michael and Cassidy Duvall & Family
And everyone who shared our messages, promoted us to friends and family, or gave money into our change buckets/Kiss the Goat challenge, or helped us in any way possible.
