Dingman Township Park
By Julie Forbes
Dingman Township Parks and Recreation Commission
As secretary to the Dingman Township Parks and Recreation Commission, I have been able to see the excitement and enthusiasm grow for Dingman Township Park in leaps and bounds.
The ball fields are in constant use, which has inspired the local leagues to step up to contribute to the park. For example, the Eastern Pike Soccer Club purchased a set of bleachers and donated them to the park. And on two different occasions the Dingman Delaware Little League along with Pike Elite Baseball worked to convert our ball fields to 50’/70′ fields.
It’s not only the sports leagues that use the park every day. I see moms and grandparents at the playground and open field. The Girl Scouts come and work on their craft projects on the picnic tables that the Boy Scouts volunteered to paint to earn their community badges. The 4-H kids shoot off their bottle rockets there. You can set your watch by the group of women that walk the park every morning.
Giving back to the community is very important to Dingman Township, so all of the events that we hold in the park are free of charge. Our kick-off for the year is Spring into the Park, a day of family fun with games of skill and a craft project. This year the kids even learned how to bucket drum. We do a car show in June with live music, and this year the proceeds are for our local American Legion post. (The bands that play donate their time and talent.) We slip in a free family movie night or two before our biggest event, Scarecrows in the Park. With help from local businesses, we are able to give free pumpkins to the kids and provide entertainment like the magician Marvelous Mark. Local vendors come and sell their wares. We end the year with our Halloween Haunted Trails.
We are able to provide these events with help from our local community. People have embraced our park with open arms and are eager for the next phase.