===== PDF PAGE 36 =====

To:
Board of Commissioners
From:  Ben Nelson, Superintendent of Recreation
Date:  October 13th, 2026
Re:
Recreation Department – September Monthly Report

October is here, which means the Recreation Department is officially in Halloween
preparation mode! Staff are busy preparing for Boo Bash on Friday, October 16th and Spooky
Trail, which will run from Thursday, October 22nd through Saturday, October 24th.
Not-So-Spooky Trail will be returning on Thursday, October 22nd, which will give younger
participants the opportunity to walk through the haunted woods before dark. This non-scare
trail will feature friendly actors and a trick-or-treat path.

Practices and games for the Youth Soccer League began in early-September and will continue
through mid-October. A total of 14 participants are enrolled in this co-ed league, which takes
place at Cornerstone Lakes Park. In addition, we have continued to see steady enrollment in
our instructional Soccer Shots program, with 13 participants enrolled across two levels.

In partnership with West Chicago Elementary District 33, the Park District provided childcare
during D33’s Curriculum Nights, held Tuesday, September 8th through Thursday, September
10th, allowing parents to attend sessions and meet with their child’s teacher uninterrupted.
The program was modeled after our Parents’ Night Out program and took place at Zone250.

Current Memberships: 1,171
(Individual: 310; Senior: 25; Youth: 4; Track: 87; Medicare: 322; Corporate: 80; Other: 343)

This month’s fitness challenge, “September
Shred”, encouraged members to collectively burn
100,000 calories throughout the month. A
progress tracker displayed on the member
information board helped build engagement and
excitement as members worked together toward
a shared goal.


During the month of September, the ARC Center hosted 20 birthday parties and 12 event room
rentals, generating $5,508 and $9,626 in revenue, respectively. Outdoors, 74 field rentals
generated an additional $4,955 in revenue.

Noelia Frias and I have been working with our Risk Management Consultant from PDRMA to
complete our annual risk management review. This review evaluates multiple areas of Park District
operations and provides recommendations for minimizing risk and enhancing safety throughout
the District. We will meet with our Risk Management Consultant again in mid-October to finalize
this year’s review process and anticipate receiving our results and final 2026 rating in November.

Marketing Department staff have been busy preparing the Winter Program Guide, which will be
distributed to West Chicago households during the last week in October. This year’s Winter
Program Guide has been reduced from 28 pages to 20 pages, resulting in approximately $1,400
in printing cost savings. Program guides for spring, summer, and fall will remain at 28 pages to
accommodate additional content.

36

===== PDF PAGE 37 =====

A new video announcing the future soccer fields at Kress Creek Farms Park was launched on our
social media platforms and generated significant engagement from community members. As of
the time of this report, the video had received more than 22,000 views and 2,200 reactions in
addition to 30 new followers on our Facebook page.






37