Folks who think all the fun in Shawano ends with the last day of summer could be mistaken this year as the city’s parks and recreation department is launching a new fall event.
Park After Dark will take place at Arlington Park, 300 N. Humphrey Circle, Shawano, on Sept. 18, Oct. 2 and Oct. 16, all Thursdays. The fun begins at 6:30 p.m. with activities, campfires and family-friendly movies.
“We are trying to gear it more toward middle schoolers and high schoolers, but anybody can come out,” said Madeline Stuewer, activities coordinator for the parks and recreation department. “We’ve got lights strung up just for some good vibes. We’ll be showing movies to be determined at each event.”
Stuewer said the idea sprang from wanting to do something after the summer season came to an end. For years, the city has held block parties at the Naberhood Plaza on Tuesdays and Saturdays, band concerts at Franklin Park through the Thursdayz at Franklin, and additional music on Sundays at Arlington.
“We wanted to get people into the parks while the weather was relatively decent,” Stuewer said. “We were also looking for more things for middle schoolers and high schoolers to do outside of their co-curricular activities. We just felt there was a need for more teen and young adult programming.”
Stuewer said there’s a possibility that there will be different games on each date, but the programming will remain relatively the same.
Stuewer said she was uncertain if Park After Dark would lead to more dates in the future or if other teen programs were in the works.
“We’d love to continue to explore the teen programming side of things and see what works,” Stuewer said. “This was sort of just a start to that to see where the interests are — what works, what may not work. It’s just a starting point for potential teen programs.”
Stuewer said there are potentially other programs in the works for the teens in the community, but things are still being sorted out on what to try next following Park After Dark.
“We’ve got a notebook of ideas, but nothing set at this point,” she said.
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