By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Wood County Park District Executive Director Christopher Smalley took time just before the close of 2025 to reflect on the parks over the past year.
Support for the Chessie Circle Trail fundraiser ended the year on a positive note. The goal was a grassroots effort to help fund Phase One for the trail. The district needed to raise $25,000 by the end of the year to receive a matched amount from the Andersons Fund Supporting Organizations through the Greater Toledo Community Foundation.
“We were able to get to the $25,000 mark in time,” Smalley said. The Wood County Parks Foundation, the newly formed fundraising arm of the Friends of the Parks, capped off the project by helping to raise approximately $14,000 with its Giving Tuesday effort.
“We’ve been trying to fundraise for it since July. So to me, $25,000 was a very ambitious goal, but then we’ve got some incredible people working with us, and the Friends group really leveled up,” he said.
The Friends had a goal of $10,000 for their first-time Giving Tuesday effort. Led by Chris and Terry Rehard, the fundraiser surpassed their goal by $4,000.
The funds will help cover Phase One, he said. “Though right now Phase One is kind of in hibernation mode because we ran out of weather,” he said. “The project is 90% done, but there is still some concrete work, kiosks, benches and trash receptacles that have to go in,” which might happen in March if the weather cooperates.
“It just amazes me. And that’s on top of what we were able to do for the Chessie,” he added. “To be able to add the Chessie Circle Trail, to see the Friends foundation grow, it’s been a great year of hard but rewarding work.”
The year also brought some sad news for Smalley. In 2016, Doug Pratt and his wife, Mary Ann, announced the park district would get their farm homestead upon their deaths. Mary Ann passed in 2023 and Doug recently passed in December. The 160-acre homestead and fields, split by Hull Prairie Road north of Roachton Road, is surrounded by housing developments and near Perrysburg schools. At the time the Pratts had indicated they didn’t want their farm to be developed into housing.
When Smalley was named executive director in 2021, he knew about the Pratts’ wishes to turn their property over to the parks to be used for sports fields, trails, trees, a pond and cross-country skiing.
He met regularly with Doug after Mary Ann’s death. Initially it was a couple times a year. But they enjoyed their conversations and started meeting more often.
“It was more personal than professional, just checking in on him making sure he was okay,” Smalley said. “He’s that kind of guy: incredibly likable, honest and forthright. I feel so fortunate that I was able to get to know him. I will miss him.”
Doug was very vocal about the fact that the five parcels of the homestead would be coming to the park district.
“There will be more coming, but they were very generous people, but it’s going to take a long time for the estate to be settled,” Smalley said. “There were a lot of people that Doug touched in his lifetime and made an impression on. And I’m sure that they’re going to carry on that goodwill that Doug had.”
They had the foresight to know that parks would provide value for future generations, “and they put that above their own needs, which is just an incredible gift,” he said. “Wood County’s got a lot of good people like that, and the Pratts are probably at the top of that list.”
A special highlight in 2025
The first Friends of the Parks Trivia Night in December, with “the sheer volume of turnout” was another highlight for the executive director.
“You don’t really know who out there is your supporter until events like that,” he said. “And just to see such a broad range of people show up for the park was incredible.”
Attendees included current and former staff, Friends members, Bowling Green Kiwanis members, Bowling Green State University students and faculty, Miller Diversified staff, and local community members who use the Slippery Elm Trail.
“I’m under no illusions. I’m not curing cancer, and I’m not a rocket scientist, but to know that through hard work, myself and my staff are able to provide a refuge for people, a way for them to recharge and get away from a lot of the stresses in life and to know that they appreciate is just an incredible feeling. That night really drove it home for me,” he said. “It was just a great night to see people out, and the unifying factor was the parks. It was just an incredible feeling of support for the parks on so many levels. I know it sounds corny, but it was a great way to cap off a very busy and productive year.”
At the December board meeting, the commissioners approved a $4.6 million budget, up from $4.3 million in 2025. The majority of the increase is for capital improvements on the Slippery Elm Trail, Smalley explained.
