"Ladies and Gentlemen Start Your Planning"

by Don Earley, IAPD Conference Chairman

At the Indianapolis Speedway, the famous phrase of "Ladies and Gentlemen start your engines" is the culmination of a great deal of hard work by mechanics and designers. It is now up to the drivers who are going to put the car to the grueling test. Two hours and a few minutes later, we know which team was the best, their car won.

Last December five men met and were seated about a large round table. They were President Joe Doud of the I.P.R.A., President Tim Soldweld of the I.A.P.D., Gene Berghoff, John Hedges and Don Earley. The topic of discussion was the Annual Conference "1977." Discussion centered around the luncheons, the I.A.P.D. annual meeting, the spouses program and an assortment of related topics.

Following this meeting, the I.A.P.D. Committee for the Annual Conference was formed. This year the committee was smaller. Because of its size each individual was expected to pull his or her weight. At this writing I can say with no contradiction that each member has performed in an outstanding manner.

The Committee met for the first time in February. Each member was assigned an area of responsibility. Patricia Leonhard (Champaign) was appointed Co-Chairman. She became responsible for the educational sessions on Friday and Saturday of the Conference. Pat developed a team of commissioners in the central part of the state to bring forth ideas for the sessions. From more than 30 ideas, we were to choose sixteen (16) topics.

The I.A.P.D. is a diverse group of Park Districts, Recreation Commissions, Conservation Districts and Forest Preserve Districts. Because of this diversity our programming must meet the needs of a broad spectrum of Recreational and Preserve groups. In Park Districts alone, we range from small or newly organized, districts with no full time employees, to large districts like Rockford and Peoria to the largest—the Chicago Park District which has thousands of employees and hundreds of facilities to operate. This diversity makes the planning process doubly difficult—try to hit the middle of the topic so it will be meaningful to all those who are going to attend.

The team of Commissioners lead by Patricia Leonhard, consisting of Bruce Larson, Bob Espeseth, James Blackmore and Bonnie Noble developed the topics. An attempt was made to have the topics so broad that they would be of interest to a large segment of our membership. By doing this, every commissioner that attends a session will find some part of the presentation meaningful to him/her particular situation and District.

Mike Linder, a Commissioner from St. Charles, was given the task of making the physical arrangements for the Saturday night banquet. This is no small task to plan a meal for 1,200-1,300 people, the seating arrangements for the ballroom, choice of different meals and having to do it on a very tight budget. He is trying to have the most delicious meal at the best price.

Bud Sherman (Downers Grove) took charge of the sessions that dealt with the legal problems in Park Districts. He also will make arrangements for the Attorneys breakfast on Saturday morning. This is Bud's second year for this.

Another Downers Grove Commissioner, Linda Wander, was given the job of coordinating the Thursday evening entertainment. In conjunction with the I.P.R.A. Committee, the I.A.P.D. has reserved the Blue Max night club. The Blue Max is one of the better clubs in the Chicago area. They have first rate entertainment at a reasonable price. The type of entertainers that are engaged are the big named performers or those who will be at the top in the near future. For a reasonable minimum you will be able to see the floor show and have a couple of drinks. The Committees of I.P.R.A. and the I.A.P.D. thought this would be a good first night at the Annual Conference.

Something completely new at this years conference is the luncheon prior to the annual meeting. Lew Smith of Elk Grove had the most difficult assignment. He is putting together a luncheon that will be open to all Commissioners, park and recreation people. The main purpose of this luncheon is to make the awards to the people who would normally get them during the annual meeting. Our committee thought it would be more fitting that the I.A.P.D. show its appreciation for the civic work and work in the Association at something more fitting than a committee report during the business meeting of the I.A.P.D. The Saturday schedule has no meal function, this means that everyone is on his own for lunch. If possible we would appreciate all the delegates and alternates to the annual business meeting to attend this function as part of the annual meeting. Since this is a special fee and there will be a limited number of spaces open, so we would suggest you register for this early.

In the past the I.A.P.D. annual meeting was held at 3:30 in the afternoon and many items were rushed through without the consideration that they should have received. The Committee has decided that we will start the annual meeting at 1:30 p.m. after the Awards luncheon.

Sevan Sarkisian, of the College of DuPage coordinated the spouses program in conjunction with the Spouses

Ilinois Parks and Recreation 14 September/October, 1977

Committee of the I.P.R.A. We hope that more spouses will attend this year. We have programmed a larger number of activities for the spouses. There will be gourmet cooking demonstration, wine tasting party, trip to the northwest suburbs, and arts and crafts.

The hotel is the best physical facility in which the annual conference has been held. The meeting rooms are quite large and in excellent locations. The hotel has numerous restaurants, Hugo's features continental cuisine, the Polaris revolves atop of the hotel and serves luncheon and cocktails and it turns into a steak house in the evening. The Other Place is a private luncheon club. The Garden Terrace is the open air lobby cafe, and the Ding-a-Ling is the lobby atrium's roving cocktail cart. The twelve-story atrium has live trees, plants and flowers and a mobile with 750 colorful oriental kites, year-round swimming pool and health club with steam room, sauna, massage and sun rooms. We think that just being in these surroundings will get you in a more positive mood ready to participate in the 1977 Annual Conference.

Jean Foran (Chicago Park District) was given the most responsible task of arranging for our dinner speaker. This started in January in Peoria, when Jean and myself had lunch between parts of the Board of Directors meeting. We discussed in depth the number of well-qualified after dinner speakers, Jean has called, talked to, and written many letters in her quest for qualified and well-known banquet speakers. At this writing, we have several nationally known people who have been contacted.

(Editor's note: The article was done by Patricia Leonhard, Mike Linder, Ken Buck, Jean Foran, Craig Sea, Bob Espeseth, Bruce Larson, Lew Smith, Bud Sherman, James Blackmore, Linda Wander, Bonnie Noble, Sevan Sarkisian (the Committee) and written by Don Earley.)

Illinois Parks and Recreation 15 Stptember/October, 1977