By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Jessie Walton has found community in her new position at the Wood County Park District.
Walton, who was hired in November as the community and communications specialist, is happy to be working with like-minded colleagues who are passionate about the parks and the district’s mission. She is also excited to help engage the greater community as volunteers and consumers of the programs and opportunities that the district’s 20 parks offer.
In the position, she handles the promotion of all park district programs, events and media relations; develops publications, and recruits volunteers. She uses many of the skills she learned from studying graphic design and earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Bowling Green State University, serving as Finders Records store manager and graphic designer and most recently working as in-house graphic designer for MadAveGroup in Toledo.
The park district job answers her “why,” she said during a recent interview. “I kind of know I wanted to work with people and be with people. That’s what I did in college, with my senior thesis, and I knew I wanted to keep doing that,” she said. Through wonderful mentorship at MadAveGroup, Walton confirmed, “My drive was community and people. I had a growing sense of what I wanted to do, and I needed to find it.”
The opportunity at the Wood County Park District checked so many boxes for her. She has always loved nature, and being outside has always been a part of her culture and upbringing. Many of her graphic design projects involved social justice and branding about nature. She even worked on a brand redesign for the park district when she was a sophomore at BGSU, she recalled.
The bonus came after she started the job and met the other district employees. Everyone she works with, across all the departments, wants to help the parks and the community. They are devoted to conservation, preservation and education.
“At the end of the day, that’s what everyone wants no matter whether they are in administration, operations or stewardship,” she said. “Having that like-mindedness is really what resonates with me.”
Community and communications
The job duties combine community and communications into one role.
In addition to working with her community of park district employees, the term community is also defined by the volunteers who share their time and talents to benefit the parks, and the visitors who come to walk, learn and experience the benefits the parks offer.
The communications responsibilities encompass marketing the park district through publications, press releases and social media.
Walton is the point of contact for people interested in volunteering for park programs. “I designate and delegate volunteers who come for different opportunities such as the seed cleaning marathon, Wild Lights, or the Wood County or Pemberville fairs,” Walton said. “I help them navigate to the program staff or whoever needs their help that day.”
Recently, she connected 10 BGSU students to work with the construction manager to restore 14 benches as part of the students’ volunteer service for BGSU’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.
One area of programming where she would like to make a mark is to bring more awareness to her cultural roots. She is half Native American.
She had grown up not knowing much or talking about her Native American heritage until she enrolled at BGSU. There, in her art, academic studies, and experiential opportunities, she found a need to bring the conversation about the Native American community to outside communities.
The Wood County parks offer some Native American courses, talking about Native farm tools and different items used in a specific tribe. “We are re-evaluating those programs to see if we can have more conversations about the local tribes and the local people who were from this area,” she said. “I think younger audiences could be really intrigued.”
Working with park staff and local Native people who would love to help, Walton hopes to increase opportunities and introduce some new programs in Native American Heritage Month next November.
She hopes her graphic design and marketing skills will help raise the brand and visibility of the park district. “Every organization has a need for design, but it’s determined by leadership whether it’s important,” she said.
Park District Director Chris Smalley said, “We are so very pleased to welcome Jessie to our team to handle a very important part of our operations.”
Marketing duties might include print or digital advertisements for employment opportunities or programs at the parks. She might design a brochure or annual report. Because there are multiple projects at any given time, Walton hired Taylor Vanek, a recent BGSU graphic design student, to help part-time with the marketing and volunteer responsibilities.
The experience at MadAveGroup gave her an edge in understanding current trends in marketing and communications. “I hope to bring fresh eyes to the marketing department to launch it into a new wave of what we’re seeing here in marketing,” she said. “I love print (ads, books, newspapers); it’s very effective with our older demographic, but we need to step into digital to try to get younger generations more engaged.”
The district celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2024, which means people are aware of the parks, she said. That is evidenced by the significant following on their Facebook page. She hopes to grow the Instagram account and start posting on other platforms that might be better suited to younger populations. “We want to attract people that will keep coming back,” Walton said.
She started implementing some of the digital content in January to inform younger people about the parks and the programs. Walton will be tracking the data to see what works and doesn’t work with various demographics. She plans to present a report at the March Board of Commissioners’ meeting but expects to have a more thorough picture a year from now.
“I know I have big shoes to fill; I’m very grateful for the person who was here before me. They did a great job of laying everything out and getting everything ready. The foundation was already there. I’m just building off that, starting to make the branches because the roots are already there.”
