By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
The Wood County Park District executed a year-long effort in 2025 to reach more households and increase the park’s public engagement and fundraising capabilities.
The efforts have paid off, Community and Communications Specialist Jessie Walton-Summers reported at the parks’ Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday (1/13).
The presentation revealed a trend toward using specific metrics such as impressions, reach, and demographic data to inform and measure the success of marketing campaigns. She said that social media engagement saw a 91% increase from the previous year, with organic follower growth surpassing 1,000 users on Facebook and Instagram, and total Facebook views reaching 934,000 people/households.
“We did an entire year of digital advertising, advertising events and projects that we had,” Walton-Summers said. “So, you found them on iPads, tablets, computers, and websites. If you opened your weather app, it would pop up on there. There were different sizes that would curate and target depending on the demographic.”
In the past month alone, the digital advertising campaign saw over 47,000 impressions and a reach of nearly 9,900 households.
Digital outreach included short-form video, targeted social media ads, and a refreshed, user-friendly website—as the primary channels for public engagement and information dissemination.
The merchandise sales that included T-shirts, holiday hoodies and other items, were hugely successful, said Taylor Vanek, community and communications assistant.
The refreshed website design was implemented in November to help market and advertise the park district. “It also makes it easier for people to explore the parks, hit the different tabs of the locations they are looking for,” Walton-Summers said.
Park maps are easily viewed on phones, and donation opportunities are easily accessible.
In addition to the increased digital marketing and social media presence, Walton-Summers discussed the new focus on making the brand, website and materials compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They implemented a unified brand identity focusing on a cohesive and strong brand identity with ADA-compliant colors and typography.
“We are ADA-Level Two compliant, which is awesome for anybody that has accessibility needs, color issues,” Walton-Summers said. “We’ll continue updating them so everybody is able to look at it (website) and view it just like everyone else. We want to ensure the parks are welcoming to everyone.”
The marketing team worked collaboratively with the Friends of the Wood County Parks on its first Giving Tuesday campaign and the first Parks Trivia Night. Both efforts were extremely successful. The Giving Tuesday campaign was successful at reaching the goal for the $25,000 Chessie Circle Trail matching funds. And the trivia night raised over $2,000 and brought together a large community of people who appreciate the park district, reported Jim Mathews, Friends of the Parks president.
“We have a lot in store for 2026, and we’re very excited,” Mathews said. “We need to make sure Wood County Parks rise to the pinnacle where they deserve to be.
Park Board President Rebecca Ferguson encouraged everyone to take park district swag with them when they travel. “I was supplied with some wonderful pieces on my trip to Antarctica. You too could be out there taking photographs to make sure people know that Wood County parks are important no matter where in the world you are.”
Buttonwood Park restoration project continues
Wood County Park District Director Christopher Smalley was authorized to represent the park district and the board for all H2Ohio paperwork for the restoration and conservation project at the Buttonwood/Betty C. Black Recreation Area at 27174 Hull Prairie Road, Perrysburg.
The park, which features fishing and scenic views of the Maumee River, will be restored using H2Ohio funds in collaboration with the Black Swamp Conservancy.
The project was approved to receive H2Ohio funds totaling between $400,000 and $440,000 through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Previously, Smalley was authorized on behalf of the park district, which owns the land, to sign an environmental covenant to allow funds to be released to the conservancy group. The covenant requires the park district to keep the site in its restored state.
The park district and the conservancy group joined forces in 2025 to work together to develop and implement restoration plans for Buttonwood Park, which had been damaged by ice jams and flooding in both 2015 and 2018.
“This is just authorization for me to continue to represent the Park District and the board on that project. There’ll probably be some short construction and pre-construction meetings as we get this ready to go out to bid,” Smalley said.
In other business, the board:
- Appointed Assistant Director Andrew Kalmar to serve as the Local Project Administrator for Phase 2 of the Chessie Circle Trail. The LPA agreement is a requirement with the Ohio Department of Transportation and the partnership with the Wood County Port Authority to receive carbon reduction program funding.
- Renewed membership with the Owens Community College of Law Enforcement and Professional Development Training Consortium that provides low-cast and no-cost training to member agencies for law enforcement training. The cost increased this year from $500-$600 “for agencies our size,” Smalley said. “But this is a very clear benefit for the park district and our park police staff.”
- Authorized Smalley to handle farmland lease agreements for any park properties that have farm rental agreements.
- Took no action after an executive session to discuss the purchase or sale of property.
- Learned about upcoming events including Wild Lights Weekend at W.W. Knight Preserve Jan. 16-18; Agricultural History Lecture about “Mapping Your Home: A History and How-To of the Public Land Survey System” on Jan. 18 at 1:30 p.m. at the Carter Historic Farm; and Base Camp talk “Getting a Grip on Rock Climbing Projects” by Ben Waggoner on Jan. 20 at Way Public Library from 6:30-8 p.m.; Designing with Local Native Plants on Jan. 27 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at W.W. Knight Preserve.
