Ingham County Parks - Volunteers

2007

Volunteer of the Year

Virginia White

Mrs. Virginia White, a Meridian Township resident, was honored recently as the recipient of the eighth annual Ingham County Parks AVolunteer of the Year Award@ in recognition of her contributions to the Lake Lansing Community Playground committee and as co-chair of the Lake Lansing Band Shell Committee.

Mrs. White has shown a remarkable level of leadership and devotion to the idea of community involvement by actively seeking out ways to benefit the community in which she lives. In 1997, she began a lasting relationship with the Ingham County Parks with her vision of a community built playground. As a member of the Lake Lansing Community Playground committee, she worked tirelessly to bring together the finances needed by promoting cooperation between Ingham County, other local governmental agencies, and the community at large to build the Community Playground at Lake Lansing Park-South.

Mrs. White played an important role as a member of the We Can Hear Music committee to build the community band shell at Lake Lansing Park South. In 2004, she joined the Band Shell Performance Committee and continues to promote her vision of bringing quality entertainment to the band shell. Since 2006, she has independently sought additional brick donations in order to ensure adequate financial support for the Lake Lansing Band Shell, and continues to actively seek out financial sponsorships for the free Friday night Sounds of Summer concert series.

Mrs. White was able to bring relevant ideas and insights to the Playground Committee and the Band Shell Committees from her previous public service as Meridian Township Clerk during the years of 1972 to 1998. She continues to be an outstanding and committed volunteer for the benefit of the Ingham County Parks and the community as a whole. The Ingham County Parks & Recreation Commission is pleased to recognize the impact of Mrs. White’s work and the immeasurable value of the contributions she has selflessly made.

Mrs. White thanks everyone who participated in the donation brick program for the Lake Lansing Band Shell. Not only are the bricks a personal tribute to the people mentioned, they are also a permanent historical perspective of prominent people and community leaders in the Lansing area.

The Ingham County Parks Department relies on the generous efforts of volunteers to maintain your parks, and we thank Mrs. White and all of the other folks who have assisted us in this past year.

Volunteer of the Year Recipients

2000 - Jackie Lawrence

2001 - Pat Clone

2002 - Ed Gillespie

2003 - Mason High School Senior Class

2004 - James Spackman

2005 - Alfreda Schmidt

2006 - Aengus McIntosh

Other great volunteers who gave their time and talents:

Almost 20 members of the Aktion Club and Lansing's Charter House teamed up to varnish the play structure at Rayner Park in September of last year. This project, undertaken annually by the Aktion Club, is the first joint community service outing that has involved the Charter House. Both groups are part of Community Mental Health.

Eagle Scout, Dwight Bernabei, has created a tree nursery in an isolated area at Lake Lansing Park - North. The amount of work involved with the project was impressive, as he cleared the parcel of land, created a suitable planting area, and planted more than 100 saplings by hand. Dwight has committed to caring for the tree nursery for a year, after which parks staff will tend the growing trees. This nursery gives us a ready source of trees for our parks, both to replace dead trees and to add new plantings. Thanks, Dwight, for helping us to keep our parks looking great for years to come!

Eagle Scout, Derek Spangler, designed and built a covered picnic table on the trails and Lake Lansing Park - North, providing a great place for hikers to take a breather! Thank you, Derek, for adding a nice touch to our park.

The folks from the Volunteer Center of Mid-Michigan participated in the Lake Lansing Park - South Maintenance Day, spreading woodchips and doing landscaping plantings: Melissa Eastman, Vanisha Patel, Seema Patel, Gaurav & Tushar Bhatnagar, Arand & Mukund Aruh, Rama Agrawal, Bhakti Joshi, Courtney Rice, Karen Paulsell, and Tierra & Katie Hanson.

Scouts in the Girl Scout Silver Project painted grills, posts and trail markers and trimmed around the volleyball courts and trails at Lake Lansing Park - North.

Brownie Troop 89 from Holt, and Boy Scout Troop 711 from Onondaga helped to seal the playground at Burchfield Park.

Eta Kappa Nu members helped to paint the Tryke track at Lake Lansing Park - South. Volunteers included Brian Evangelista, Jason Slade, Payam Abrishami, Lonnie Halash, Sarah Barrie and Nick Rosko.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Youth Group helped to seal the playground at Burchfield Park. Volunteers included Mark McGarry, Andrea Hill, Rebecca Hill, Erin Smith, Jason Briggs, Ryan O'Hara, Heather O'Hara, Lee Dietrick, Richelle Corkins, Andrea Job, Tim Strather and Greg Rivet.

We would love to add your name to the list!

For information please contact the Parks office: parks@ingham.org

Office: 517-676-2233 Fax: 517-244-7190