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The Butterfield Pavilion at the Old County Fair Grounds on Morgan Street was full. The rain was pouring down outside but inside the mood was far from dreary on Thursday night as the Valparaiso Parks Department hosted an evening in honor of the Valparaiso Parks Foundation. The night's overall theme was rather straight forward: to celebrate the bright future of our public parks and to show appreciation for the benefactors that allow the Valparaiso Parks Department to thrive as it does.
The Valparaiso Parks Foundation is a non-profit entity that, through the work and charity of citizens, gives a substantial amount of funding and donations to the Valparaiso Parks Department. It is largely because of this organization that Parks Department can get the funding that it needs in border to work as as it does. It is because of such philanthropy that such an event was created, to show appreciation for the men and women who help make our parks what they are.
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Of course this evening wouldn't be possible without generous sponsors such as Century 21 Alliance Group, and Urschel Labs to name a few. The food was also catered by Bon Femme. Also the evening had a live band to set a feel-good mood with Sam Baker on drums, Christopher Rosario on bass, and Dan Pritchet on keyboard. The evening began with a heartfelt thanks to the sponsors, and a brief explanation of what, not only the Parks Foundation was about, but also what the true point of the evening; a celebration of the parks. Two awards were also presented during the evening, first the "Legendary Friend" award was presented to Bill Alexa. Then, the Art and Irene Molasko Award for significant long-term contributions to the Parks Foundation was given to the Urschel Family for their continued support of the parks. After the presentation of the awards, the evening ended with one more round of applause for all who made this event possible and encouragement for continued support to make our parks what they are; something to celebrate.