Lynn McClure
IAPD Public Relations Director

Hard to imagine that Godfrey—a farming community in southwestern Illinois, with a population of 16,000— has much in common with Chicago.

And how is it that a small park and recreation department with five full-time employees is similar to an agency providing facilities and services for nearly three million people? Yet both the Chicago Park District and the Godley Parks and Recreation Department have initiated a successful event that has blossomed into an annual affair dedicated to bringing neighbors together.

Movies in the Park
The Chicago Outdoor Film Festival debuted last summer in Grant Park as brainchild of the Chicago Park District. A 50- by 34-foot movie screen was dropped into the Chicago skyline, blankets were spread, and Dorothy clicked her heels declaring to an audience that numbered in the thousands, "there's no place like home."

"To see Dorothy's face among all the people in the park that night was tremendous," says Angle Amores, press secretary for the Chicago Park District. "Our staff photographer took some great pictures that we used to market the film series this year."

And the series has grown. In addition to the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival at Grant Park, the Chicago Park District has added movies showing in nearly 50 neighborhoods parks this past summer. The fare ranged from "Star Trek" to "Rugrats in Paris" to "My Dog Skip."

The newly born "Movies in the Parks" film series was marketed through the Chicago Park District Web site, press releases distributed to community newspapers, and at other events sponsored by the park district.

"We have strong relationships with our regional marketing efforts. We have also been able to partner with our sponsors and other agencies to get the word out," adds Amores.

And with sponsors like the city of Chicago, HBO, and Lipton, it's a small wonder that "Movies in the Park" drew more than 95,000—up from 63,000 in Grant Park last year.

Still, the best form of marketing was word-of-mouth. It didn't take long for neighborhoods to inquire when their turn came for the movies. It was impressive for a neighbor to walk by open grass in their parks and see the huge screen and hear the sounds.

"We don't have much open space in Chicago," says Amores. "The "Movies in the Park" is successful because it uses the open space in neighborhood parks to bring families and neighbors together."

The Great Godfrey Maze
In Godfrey, where there is no shortage of open space, an annual fall event commands an attendance nearly the size of the entire community. "The Great Godfrey Maze" is situated on seven acres of corn in the Robert E. Glazebrook Community Park. Two separate mazes are cut into the shape of a bald eagle with its wings spread. The Word "Godfrey" is sculpted into the corn on one side, the word "Illinois" on the other.

The "Great Godfrey Maze" is located at the Robert E. Glazebrook Community Park in Godfrey, Ill. The event that attracts more than 13,000 visitors, which is just a few thousand shy of the small town's population.

Nikki Lockhart, recreation supervisor for the Godfrey

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Parks and Recreation Department compiled the facts and figures for local media. According to Lockhart: "If you walked on every path in the maze, which you try not to do, you would go over 2.6 miles. The walls are about seven or eight feet tall... however tall the corn is that year. Sometimes a kid gets lost in there, but we supply them with a bike flag to wave around above their heads just in case."

The maze opened on September 1 and by the time it closes down the last weekend in October, Godfrey Parks and Recreation will have played host to about 14,000 people, nearly 3,000 of which are local school children on field trips.

The event is promoted by sending flyers to the schools, putting posters in store windows, and getting information onto bank marquees. But Godfrey's proximity to St. Louis (just 32 miles north of the Gateway City) has not hurt attendance. Last year four major TV stations from St. Louis featured the maze on their morning or evening news. The "Show Me St. Louis" program camped out in Godfrey for two days doing stories on the maze.

A media day provided reporters with helicopter rides over the maze that made for spectacular photos. And the media list has grown. Many newspapers and radio stations contacted the parks and recreations staff to inquire about this year's plans.

"Every weekend we have families from Godfrey and the surrounding area out to try the maze," says Lockhart. "They come more than once during the event because of some of the special activities we offer that vary from weekend to weekend."

Much like the outdoor movies in Chicago, "The Great Godfrey Maze" has added attractions in its second year, capitalizing on their success in year one.

"We have added a new maze engineered for the younger kids, a "corn crib" sand box filled with corn kernels, and one weekend will feature a country western band, square dancers, food and craft vendors," says Lockhart.

These two highly successful events, each in their second year of operation, are destined to grow as the word gets out. They each provide wonderful opportunities for families, for neighbors, and for tourists and visitors to the community.

"It doesn't matter if you are in a small district or in Chicago," says Amores. "We all have a common ground to bring families together. And when parks were first being built, open space was important because of the whole concept of how we bring people together."

It's still an important concept. And the little community of Godfrey knows it just as well as its giant neighbor to the north.

LYNN McCLURE
is the public relations director for the Illinois Association of Park Districts.

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