Dog park equipment an asset for PdC
George Family Foundation directors Cindy Standorff (left) and Deidre Stark (middle) with Parks, Recreation and Forestry Director Mike Wallace (right) stand next to one of nine new pieces of dog agility equipment at the dog park.
Cassidy Jacobs helps guide Cade along several of the new agility obstacles at the Prairie du Chien Dog Park. (Steve Van Kooten/Courier Press)
By Steve Van Kooten
Prairie du Chien’s dog park received a welcome improvement when the city installed new dog agility equipment on September 9. Thanks to the city’s parks and recreation department and the George Family Foundation, Fido has a lot more to do than sit and heel.
“Our siblings go to other towns, and they have nice dog parks with stuff for the dogs to do,” said Cindy Standorff, a director with the GFF. “They felt like that would be a draw for tourism or people coming to visit that there might be a nice dog park or something other than a space for dogs to run.”
The George Family Foundation donated $18,000 for nine pieces of equipment, including tunnels, a dog walk, platforms, adjustable hurdles and hoops, that are divided between the two fenced areas of the park. Minnesota-Wisconsin Playground, of Golden Valley, Minn., produced the equipment, and city employees handled the installation.
“This gives you an enclosed, safe area for your dogs to run if you want to train them on commands, go over agility and it gives the dogs a nice way to exercise in a confined area. You can still have dogs that interact with other people and their dogs,” said Prairie du Chien’s Parks, Recreation and Forestry Mike Wallace.
Deidre Stark, also a GFF director, said the park improvements will be an asset for residents and for visitors during the tourist season.
“People drive and travel with their dogs more and more. Often times, when I’ve traveled, you know where those places are, so you’ll stay a little bit longer. We’re hoping this will add a benefit to other businesses in the community,” she said.
“I’ve been on the job for about a year, and one of my first things is [sic] [Cindy Standorff and Penny Remz] came in to my office around October or November and got the ball rolling on this,” Wallace said. “And it just kind of progressed through.”
“And you agreed to take the lead on it,” Standorff said to Wallace, “which was great. We wanted to fund it and get it started, and then Mike took over.”
The GFF has donated money to more than 50 projects that demonstrated a “vision and plan for the future” in Prairie du Chien and the surrounding area since the organization’s inception in 1996. Past projects have included Fort Fun, diving blocks for the community pool and the city’s public library.
Stark added that they started the foundation to support the area that their parents chose to raise their family in.
“They made their living and raised five kids in this community, so they wanted to give back to the community, and they set up the foundation to do that,” she said.
Wallace credited the GFF for investing in recreation projects throughout the city and improving public areas like the dog park.
He hopes to see people come down and check out what’s new, saying, “We want to have more people come down here and see it while it’s warm. We want this to be used.”
With the dog days of summer behind us, there’s no way Fido will have a bone to pick with that offer.
