By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
It was a crisp 23 degrees Friday morning as Randy Huber bundled up to hit the trails at Wintergarden Park.
“It was such a nice day. I wanted to clear my head” before heading back to work, he said.
A self-described “nature geek,” Huber normally walks twice a week in the woods five minutes from his home. And Friday’s hike did not disappoint.
“I saw a downy woodpecker, six deer and three eastern bluebirds,” he said, admitting that it’s possible that it was just one bluebird that kept following him.
Huber said he has always valued Bowling Green’s parks – but COVID-19 has led him to prize the parks even more.
“I find nature is a great release,” Huber said. “It’s been a Godsend to come here and walk.”
He is far from alone. In the 10 months prior to the COVID vaccine arriving, Bowling Green area residents sought their own cure for some of the symptoms surrounding the virus.
They found the free treatment at Bowling Green’s city parks.
The city’s parks have always been popular destinations – but COVID turned them into necessary sites of human refuge – from dawn to dusk.
“Our parks are essential services – just as fire and police, water and sewer, and garbage collection,” Chris Gajewicz, the city’s natural resources coordinator, said Tuesday during a meeting of the Bowling Green Parks and Recreation Board.
Gajewicz, who spends his workdays divided between Wintergarden Park and Simpson Garden Park, has never seen this number of people in the parks – strolling, jogging, dog walking, birdwatching, taking nature photos, and sitting.
“It’s really amazing how our parks are coming to the rescue right now,” said Jodi Anderson, president of the parks and recreation board. “It’s been really, really important.”
Because of COVID, so many other activities have been closed to the public – but not the parks.
“Our parks in Bowling Green were never closed during the pandemic – and they won’t be,” Gajewicz said. “The trails are open and people are using them.”
“They really have been a saving grace for a number of people in our community,” he said. “It’s healthy emotionally, physically, mentally.”
Nationwide, Americans have been seeking peace in their parks during COVID, according to Kristin Otley, director of Bowling Green Parks and Recreation.
Even with the current frigid weather, people are continuing to flock to the parks. Earlier this week, from her office at Simpson Garden Park, Otley saw cars pull up and heavily bundled passengers pile out.
“It’s like 20 degrees out,” she said. It would have been an easy day to stay inside where it’s warm – but people feel the need to be outside, she said.
“Parks are essential to our overall well-being,” Otley said.
“We continually hear from people that they so appreciate the fact that we have the parks we have in Bowling Green,” she said.
And with so much closed or restricted during the pandemic, the parks have remained a place where people can see neighbors – even if from afar – plus find a sanctuary from the craziness of COVID.
“They are getting outside, getting fresh air, getting exercise,” Otley said. “It’s important, not only physically, but also psychologically.”
City leaders agreed.
“It has been quite therapeutic,” said Bowling Green City Council member Bill Herald, who frequents Simpson Garden Park.
Some people go seeking solitude – while others use the outdoor setting for activities like yoga and exercise classes that could no longer be held inside. Some go for cherished chats with friends. Some go for glimpses of wildlife – deer, wild turkeys, and fox.
“One of the things we learned is that parks play a major role in our lives,” Mayor Mike Aspacher said. “They were a ray of sunshine in a very dark year.”
“Our residents love our parks,” the mayor said.
There is no way to quantify the increase – but as someone who has spent 20 years as a steward at Wintergarden Park, Gajewicz sees the trails being well traveled, the parking lots being busy, and the trash cans being full.
“You know the regulars,” he said. But this past year, many others have put the parks on their list of places to find peace.
January is normally a pretty slow month for the parks, but not this year, he said. The cold weather doesn’t seem to be a deterrent.
“People are bundling up, preparing for whatever the weather,” he said.
“By 4 p.m., the parking lot will fill up again,” as people seek some refuge after work, Gajewicz said. “They’re so pleased to have these spaces where they can walk and be outside.”
On Tuesday at 5 p.m., Gajewicz was walking through the woods, “and we passed at least 30 people on the trails.”
For those unable to make it to the parks themselves, hikers are posting frequent photos on Facebook to share their outdoor experiences.
“More people are wanting to share what they’ve seen,” he said.
