The Friends of Lockwood Story
 

   In 2003 George Franklin and George Johnson fixed a wagon for Lockwood Park and decided they would like to buy a team of horses to pull the wagon, so they started raising funds for that purpose and started the Friends of Lockwood.  The members at that time were George and Tanya Franklin, George and Vicki Johnson, Jeff Lockwood and Gibbons Electric.  Then in the fall of that year the Rockford Park District decided to take Lockwood Park out of the 2004 budget, that’s when the rest of us got involved.  The first few meetings were attended by a large group of people that had many great ideas to raise money to keep the park open.  After a few meetings we attended the Park Board meeting and they gave us some goals that we had to reach in order to keep the park open, so we had one year to prove ourselves.  During the past year, we have reached all of the goals that the Park Board gave us and beyond.  Our group has become good friends and worked together as the Friends of Lockwood along with the Rockford Park District.  Some of the fundraisers we had over the year were:  Fill the Wagon Weekend, a bake sale at Cherryvale Mall, Cabin Fever Dance, a Volunteer Weekend, Pardon the Turkey Day, we also helped the Undertaker with the Easter Egg Hunt and his Christmas Toy Drive, we opened a gift shop, many people volunteered to bale hay throughout the summer and fall and to drive the tractors for different events, on Opening Day we had horse breeders that put on shows, a silent auction that raised over $3,000.00, we officially opened the Children’s Farm, we also had Channel 23 come out and see Patrick and Peter used like oxen.  We had volunteers that planted flowers, trimmed trees, painted, fixed wagons, started building a duck pond, re-built the windmill and much more.

   Our Children’s Farm is our proudest accomplishment.  We started with Jewel our Jersey cow and added Patrick and Peter.  We had goats, sheep, rabbits, guinea hens, turkeys, pigs and in the fall we added 2 miniature donkeys.  We had a very good response from the community, they loved the Children’s Farm and a lot of families came out several times just to visit the animals.

   Our best fundraiser is our Adopt-A-Horse Program.  That has grown into our best way of keeping people involved, they like to come out and see their name as a donor and feel that they helped keep the park open.  It will continue to be a success in 2005.

   We also opened a gift shop in 2004.  We had it open during all of our regular events and on Friday during the Parents night when the kids could show their parents what they learned during their week at camp, it was very popular with the students.  The way station is in the process of being remodeled and will become our permanent gift shop by opening day.  We carry Friends of Lockwood t-shirts and Lockwood Park sweatshirts and hoodies.  We also carry of variety of other items that relate to horses or farm animals.

   Looking back on 2004 it seems impossible that we squeezed so much into one year, but we had fun doing it and the results are well worth it.  Lockwood Park and Children’s Farm are going to the best in 2005. Some of the events we have planned are:  an antique tractor show, a craft show, team penning, barrel racing, and in the fall we are going to have our “Popcorn Fall Festival” which we are working on now.  We would love to have you join our group; there are many ways in which you can volunteer.  We are going to have quarterly get togethers for the Friends of Lockwood and welcome you to come.  We still have work ahead of us and would like your help. If you want to meet a truly great bunch of people and really feel like you are helping your community, come out on April 23^rd, our opening day.  We will introduce you to the staff of Lockwood Park and the horses, the Children’s Farm will be open, and we will have several demonstrations to watch.  If you come out and help once, you will be hooked by the park.  It is a great place to visit and in 2005 will be the best family oriented place to be.  If you would like to be a part of our group, here is who to contact:

George or Tanya Franklin-964-9521

Dena Campoli-963-6449 or 964-6050

Sally Johnson-645-8227 or 963-6449