Q&A with Sue Dillon + Judy Hagan

Q&A with Sue Dillon + Judy Hagan

• When did you first get involved with Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation and why? What was your role?

  Judy:

  There was no CCPR when I began.  Why did I get involved?  Our growing community needed to preserve greenspace. I helped get CCPR established by running for Clay Township Trustee in 1990. I lost that election, but it generated some headlines that made parks an issue, and Dr. Jim Dillon (Sue’s husband) did win a seat on the Clay Township Board. He initiated the township and city interlocal agreement that established the CCPR in 1991 with the help of township attorney Bob Campbell.

  Sue:

  In 1988, a group of citizens were angry about the cutting of 6 woodlands that summer for new subdivisions.  They formed a not-for-profit group called Citizens for Greenspace and I volunteered to be their president. Included in our mission statement was, “To support the development of parks and a strong urban forestry program in Carmel/Clay.” During Arbor Day Week the following spring, we organized Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops in the planting of 68 street trees on Main Street and Range Line.  This was a very visible “feel good” event and helped bring awareness to the community about the value of trees and green spaces.  We also initiated the distribution of tree seedlings to every 3rd-grade student.  At every opportunity, we were vocal about the value of green space in our community and the need for public parks.  “It’s a shame that Carmel doesn’t have any parks.”

  In 1991, as a member of the Clay Township Board, my husband proposed the establishment of a parks department in Carmel.  His proposal was approved, and the new Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation Department was launched.  I was appointed as a member of the new Park Board.

  In 1993, our very first park was created when Scouts planted 85 Arbor Day trees and 198 shrubs to establish an arboretum in the new Carey Grove Park.

  For 21 years, Citizens for Greenspace continued to organize the Arbor Day Tree Planting and we tracked the number of scouts, supervisors, and trees involved.  In one year alone, over 1,000 people were involved in planting trees in Central Park. In total, Scouts planted over 2,600 trees and 430 shrubs in our new parks.  This created a huge amount of community support and ownership in our new park system.

• 30 years ago, what role did parks play in the community?

  Judy:

  None! There was only the Dad’s Club offering youth sports. No parks, no trails, not even sidewalks in most places.

  Sue:

  It didn’t play a role in the community.  There were no public parks in Carmel or Clay Township.

• What would you say is Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation’s biggest accomplishment? What are you most proud of?

  Judy:

  • Developing a park system to meet the current and future needs of the community;
  • Acquisition of 500+ acres of parkland and building the Monon and the White River Greenways;
  • Ensuring that the MCC operated like a business and achieved cost recovery as promised to the community.
  • Most proud of securing a steady stream of funding for park development and capital maintenance by ensuring 20 years of COIT capture through the 2004 Central Park bond.

  Sue:

  I served on the Park Board for 15 years and was involved in many park projects.  However, I was president of the Park Board for 7 years during which we planned and constructed Central Park and the Monon Center.  I have a huge personal investment in Central Park and am most proud of it.

• What do you hope Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation will accomplish in the next 30 years?

  Judy:

  • Continue to adapt to provide park and recreation services at the same high level;
  • Continue to update the strategic plan with input from residents;
  • Continue to operate the MCC under cost recovery model;
  • Continue to be a leader in Parks and Recreation.

  Sue:

  As facilities age, maintenance and updating are always a challenge. I hope that the department will keep up with new trends and continue to meet the needs of the park uses through innovative programs and facilities.

• Which park is your favorite to visit?

  Judy:

  All of them but these are special: The Monon Greenway, White River Greenway, Central Park.

  Sue:

  I’ve always loved West Park because I was personally involved with this park for many years. Citizens for Greenspace sponsored the Prairie Maze Children’s Garden in West Park. We purchased $15,000 worth of prairie plants and organized the volunteers who planted the prairie plants. I was there every day for two weeks helping oversee the project. Scouts planted approximately 700 trees and shrubs in three years of Arbor Day Tree plantings, and I helped organized these projects. Citizens for Greenspace established a Blue Bird Trail with 20 bluebird houses located in 10 stations around the park.  Five teams of volunteers took turns checking the houses every week. I organized the monitoring and reported the results to the Indiana Blue Bird Society.

• What’s your fondest memory over the last 30 years?

  Judy:

  • The community input and the collaboration led by Clay Township in partnership with the City of Carmel.
  • Riding bikes down the abandoned Monon railbed with my grade school sons after the rails were removed to see what it could be like.
  • Doing a fish count in Meadowlark Park pond with Gary Doxtater.
  • Hunting for protected bats in Central Park with the bat expert and my husband and Brian Bosma.  (If endangered bats had been present, the land would have cost less!).
  •  The opening of the Monon Greenway in 2002.
  •  The opening of the MCC and waterpark in 2007.

  Sue:

  I have many, many fond memories and they all focus on the dedicated people who shared the same goal and played their part in doing what they could to help create our parks. The volunteers spent countless hours planting trees and flowers, pulling weeds, counting blue birds, etc. The citizen who spent countless hours in meetings, visiting other parks, making decisions, etc. The dedicated staff who have guided the “park ship” to its award-winning status. It has been so very rewarding to work together with people to realize a shared goal.

• Share a Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation memory or story that makes you laugh.

  Judy:

  The White River Greenway and developer George Sweet:  when we offered to pay for the greenway land instead of extracting it as part of his River Road subdivision approval.  I will never forget the look on his face.  It was the first purchase of land by the park dept!

  Sue:

  One day during the construction of West Park, the Prairie Maze planting volunteers had left for the day, and the construction supervisor invited me to get in his pick-up truck so that he could show me Jill’s Hill.  He took me totally by surprise when he drove straight up to the top of the hill.  His truck was very powerful and he knew exactly what he was doing, but it absolutely scared me to death.  I laugh every time I remember the trick he played on me.

• What does Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation mean to you?

  Judy:

  What a community can do when everyone works together and there is strong leadership in all the right places.  The township got the ball rolling and then Jim Brainard was elected mayor with a new city council in support of parks. Everyone joined hands and the rest as they say is history!

  However…..We did miss one important thing ……planning for a future pandemic! Who could have foreseen how important parks and trails would be in a pandemic! Parks and trails proved their worth to the whole country.

  Sue:

  During their lifetime, how many people ever get the opportunity to play a role in creating something as impactful as an entire award-winning park system?  I am so grateful for having had the opportunity to work with so many gifted and dedicated people and to see our visions become reality.

• What’s one thing you wish the community knew or think the community should know about Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation?

  Judy:

  How top-notch and professional our staff is.  Every director has helped move us along but Mark Westermeier and Michael Klitzing raised the bar and achieved the heights as reflected in the accreditations and double Gold Medals.  The quality of the staff makes it all work.

  Sue:

  I wish they could know the Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation story the way I have experienced it.

• During the time you served on the board, what was CCPR’s biggest priority?

  Judy:

  In my first term (1994-1998); land acquisition was THE priority.  Development exploded in the 1980s and ’90s.  We had to secure land first before it was paved over.  The tag line was “The Five Fingers” plan: Monon Greenway; White River Greenway; secure parkland in each of the 3 divisions of our community (east of Keystone, Keystone to US 31; and US 31 west).

  As Clay Township Trustee from 1999-2006, I made appointees to the board who kept the effort rolling to secure parkland and begin development.

  My second trip on the board (2008 to 2012); focus was on cost recovery at the MCC as promised and making sure the needs of a growing dept were met.  The biggest priority was always to have a plan and to work the plan which the Park Board and staff continue to excel at.

  Sue:

  I was on the board during the time of planning and construction of the new parks and their facilities.  Once construction was accomplished, the challenge became organizing the staff to administer and maintain the parks.