The Wonder Of Winning
Great Fall Giveaway prizes put to good use
A paintbrush. A cooperative game. A bike-skills playground. A collection of musical instruments. At first blush, it may seem as though these items have nothing in common. But the winners of the inaugural Great Fall Giveaway agree the prizes are sparking creativity and confidence in the kids who are enjoying them.
In 2021, Northstar Publishing, Inc.—the publisher of Parks & Rec Business and Camp Business magazines—offered parks and recreation departments, summer camps, and school districts an opportunity to win prizes worth $28,555 sponsored by four companies: American Ramp Company (ARC), Percussion Play, 9 Square In The Air, and Blick Arts & Crafts.
“I figured someone’s gotta win, you never know, it could be me,” says Fiona Scott, Assistant Program Director at Camp Henry in Newaygo, Mich. Scott won the Soprano Quartet Ensemble from Percussion Play which includes a Cadenza, a Small Babel Drum, Soprano Pentatonic Free chimes, and a pair of medium Congas—altogether valued at $7,555.
Although Scott says she entered the contest with her youngest campers in mind, she’s thrilled to see it’s a hit among all ages.
“I’ll see 16-year-old boys casually stop and play and then carry on to the next activity,” she says with a laugh. “They’re learning without realizing it, which is surprising and fun.”
Robin Ashfield, Percussion Play’s Marketing Director, says the instruments are tuned pentatonically, which means the F and B keys have been removed—so anyone can hit the notes in any order and “they always sound good.”
“It really builds confidence,” he says. “Someone completely non-musical can come up and make a good sound of them.”
Meanwhile, the kids in Mesquite, Nev., are showing off their knowledge in designing a bike-skills course.
“This is the first of its kind to our knowledge [in the area],” says Zach Robison, recreation manager for the city. “The kids though, they knew exactly what it was and we sat down with them and learned a lot from them, what their wants and needs are.”
Nicole Burton, the recreation coordinator for the city who won the prize, says the nice thing about course—a 15,000 value from ARC—is that it didn’t have set features, so they were able to select a teeter totter, V-shaped ramp, S-shaped ramp, and a number of other items for the course, which is currently still in design. Officials are hoping to cut in the track using city crews and contact ARC to install the ramps sometime this fall.
Robison says the location for the course couldn’t be more ideal—it’s next to a middle school on grass that wasn’t really being used. He added the area has the potential to add several obstacles that could almost double the size of the current proposed track in the future.
At Camp Berry Ranger in Ohio, Lance Kraft won a Playground Edition of 9 Square in the Air which combines 4-square with volleyball to create an incredibly fun and compelling game for all ages. The playground edition is a permanent structure valued at $5,500. The product is the creation of Steve Otey of St. Louis, Mo., and it is meant to help kids better interact with each other.
In Ontario, Calif., kids are exercising their arms using paints, paper, pastels, posterboard, canvases, colored pencils, and an art book from the Blick Arts & Crafts Lesson Plan Kit, a $500 value. Robyn Hokenhull, Senior Recreation Supervisor for the city, says they used the materials to host a watercolor paint night for the Teen Girls Club and a couple Pizza and Painting classes for elementary-age kids.
“We actually still have some of the supplies left and will have another paint activity coming up,” she says. It’s been great! Kids love to paint!”
No matter the size of the prize, each one has inspired kids to roll up their sleeves and try something they not have tried otherwise. Which makes the impact of entering the contest simply priceless.