11-06-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Compare to 3 Rivers daytime hours are the norm, although some Three Rivers facilities have bathrooms/vestibules open when the nature center is closed, and gates are left open until 10pm. AUDIENCE: 45 schools come out to Wargo every year, and staff visit 60 schools/year, going into Sherburne and Isanti Counties. Bulk of students at Wargo are k-5, but camp attendance is k-7. Adult visitors come mostly for birding. It's hard to get high school students to come in, although some alternative schools do send kids. Older kids & alternative high schools are more involved in outdoor recreation activities They are getting a few more requests for accommodating specials needs kids. The nature play area (built by eagle scouts) gets used by local moms clubs, but is not a draw for the general public, especially when compared with Tamarack. VOLUNTEER PROGRAM: Currently not too many volunteers, but Wargo is trying to tap into the volunteer resource from Parks & Recreation. Do have MN Conservation Corp volunteers for 10 months in the park system. Need to update & expand. Volunteers are not currently used for programming. Volunteers do some maintenance, as there is no on-site maintenance person. Both volunteers present report helping out with whatever is assigned to them. Mostly desk duty, envelope stuffing, bird programs, maple sugaring, etc. WHAT OTHER NATURE CENTERS DO PEOPLE VISIT & WHY? Eastman -likes the new nature center building(2 years old) with a great indoor/outdoor relationship. Dodge Nature Center has great events and festivals Tamarack for its great outdoor nature play area Richardson NC has new sculptures and 3D interpretive displays. Green Bay nature center has a great interactive display -beaver lodge slide for staircase Walk-ins versus Pre -registration programs. Pre -registration programs are generally experiencing declining interest, especially with families. Warner NC recently cancelled a Saturday pre -registered event for lack of interest. MARKETING& OUTREACH AWARENES: Email list serve, twitter, newspaper, a printed Activities Guide gets sent home with every kid and is also available online, does not get sent out to every resident in the county, but is sent to those on the mailing list. Find the links Three Rivers Program Outreach: website, repeat visitors, events calendar mailing, word of mouth (in order of effectiveness from high to low). Warner NC would like to do more targeting marketing -who does what? Cross marketing of Chamonoix, Bunker Hill, & Wargo TRENDS: Alex sees a renaissance in Conservation sports; fishing, archery. Has had over 5,000 participants in archery last season and would like to have an indoor/outdoor archery range. (Wargo used to have an Wargo Nature Center Master Plan — March 27, 2014 Focus Group Meetings Summary Pa g e 12 A 10 Appendix: Meetings & Outreach