Parks & Recreation
Every park, every program, every binder.
Our mission
To maintain and improve Pawnee's parks, green spaces, and recreation programs so that every resident — regardless of age, ability, or opinion about government — has somewhere wonderful to be outside.
The Parks and Recreation Department manages more than 400 acres of parkland, four community centers, dozens of seasonal programs, and the annual Pawnee Harvest Festival. The department's long-range plan is documented across 12 comprehensive binders, available for public review upon request.
A note from the Director: the department's official position is that this department should not exist and its functions should be handled by the private sector or, ideally, no one. The department's unofficial position, maintained by everyone else in the department, is that parks are the best thing a city does.
Leadership
Ron Swanson
Director, Parks & Recreation
Ron Swanson has directed the Parks and Recreation Department since 1994. The department's official position, as stated by the Director, is that this department should not exist and its budget should be returned to the taxpayers. Under his leadership the department has nonetheless flourished, a fact he declines to discuss. He enjoys woodworking, breakfast foods, and silence.
(765) 555-0100 ext. 3001
ron.swanson@pawneein.gov
Leslie Knope
Deputy Director, Parks & Recreation
Leslie Knope has served the Parks Department with unmatched dedication since 2001, and previously represented her fellow citizens on the Pawnee City Council. She is the driving force behind Pawnee Commons, the revived Harvest Festival, and 12 comprehensive binders of long-range park planning documents, available for public review upon request (please allow time for transport; a hand truck is used). She believes Pawnee is the greatest town in the greatest state in the greatest country in the world.
(765) 555-0100 ext. 3002
leslie.knope@pawneein.gov
Department staff
Tom Haverford
Administrator, Special Programs & Brand Experience
April Ludgate-Dwyer
Deputy Director of Animal Control (Interim); Administrative Coordinator, Parks
Donna Meagle
Office Manager, Parks & Recreation
Craig Middlebrooks
Assistant Office Manager, Parks & Recreation
Park inventory
Pawnee's largest park: trails, splash pad, band shell, Harvest Festival grounds, and an internationally studied raccoon population.
The city's flagship downtown park, built on the former Lot 48. Winner of a 2015 Indiana Statewide Parks Excellence commendation.
Ball diamonds, community garden plots, and the city's oldest oak tree, which has its own advisory committee.
Quiet walking loops, chess tables, and the Li'l Sebastian Memorial Paddock and eternal(ish) flame.
Signature programs
Pawnee Harvest Festival
Five days each October at Ramsett Park: midway, corn maze, livestock exhibitions, local vendors, and the Li'l Sebastian Memorial Derby. The festival draws visitors from as far away as Eagleton (now part of Pawnee).
Freddy Spaghetti Summer Concert Series
Free children's concerts on the Ramsett Park band shell lawn, Thursday evenings in June and July. Mr. Spaghetti has performed for three generations of Pawnee children and shows no signs of stopping.
Senior Center Programming
Water aerobics, euchre tournaments, and a monthly lecture series. The February lecture is always about raccoons, by popular demand.