[Music] [Music] Paris Illinois Parks a plenty I'm Wei's Lacy Spence and in this episode of take a hike the mini series I'll share why you should visit one of Paris Illinois's dozen [Applause] Parks take a hike on weiu is supported by R king America's Farm and Home Store camping supplies kayaks fishing and pet supplies and more find your store and more information regarding r King at rolling.com hi I'm Wei's Lacy Spence I've lived in Central Illinois my whole life and if there's one thing I've learned you don't have to go too far to find the beauty of the Great Outdoors come along with me as I visit a variety of parks and natural areas across Illinois and share why you should take a hike to each episode's location adventure and fun await in take a hike the miniseries thank you for joining us for another episode of take a hike the Min series I'm your host Lacy Spence and today we have taken the show on the road to Paris Illinois and of course we're welcoming in our fabulous guests we have our first mayor on the show we've got mayor Craig Smith welcome to take a hike well welcome to Paris Illinois thank you so much and so we were talking before we started recording that uh there are several parks within Paris so you might not expect it so tell me about you know all the parks we've got 12 parks in Paris some of them are very small some of them were a little larger like the park we're in now all of them are used I'm happy to say by all of the citizens of Paris uh we've always been very particular about taking care of our parks and letting people enjoy them for lots of different uh reasons but we we we love our parks in Paris sure and I should probably let the people at home know today we are at Twin Lakes Park that's where we've started we are on the west side and we're going to save the East End uh for a little bit later in the show so let's start talking a little bit about this west side of the park uh what does this have to offer because it seems like there is plenty as you look around the the West Park there a lot of things going on we have the all abilities Park which is just over to the to your right and we also have the splash park next to that then we have the concession stand we have the miniature golf we have our Spicer Pavilion which is a big deal in the summer because we have free concerts every Thursday night yeah and people come with what I call their grandma grandpa chairs and they sit around and they listen to music the music is anything from pop to Country and it is really packed and a lot of people enjoy just coming out and taking advantage and looking at how beautiful is listening to free music and then over to our left side we have another iion where people have a lot of family reunions that they come over and there's always great fishing in Paris you can ask any bass fisherman in Central Illinois where is the best bass fishing lake and I'll guarantee you they'll tell you Twin Lakes at Paris Illinois that's High Praise yeah it's fun I tell you and so they have tournaments going on here all the time so this park is really used a lot uh to give you a little history sure in 1963 there was a local group called The Silver tones okay and there were a pop group four guys I think maybe four maybe five you know they had they played they had the lead singer a couple of guitar players they had the drummer maybe a little little keyboard going on their first concert was right over here and 1963 so that's 60 years ago and 4 weeks ago under that Pavilion there were a thousand people who showed up for the reunion of the silver tones crazy it was fun it was a lot of fun no that sounds like a good time and so what's it like for you as mayor to be able to uh have a place where people can gather and you know really come together and build that Community you know that that that's a great way to say it too it gives you that Community spirit I think and it's fun when everybody can get together in the on the weekends you'll have several groups you'll have groups over here you'll have groups over there's horseshoes at the other place kids will be at the splash park grandparents will be with their kids on all abilities it's just a great place to bring and gather and get that Community spirit and and having someplace that doesn't cost a dime to come sure that's the other issue is it's it's something that we very proud of in Paris and we want everybody to take advantage of and what's it like to be able to have you know an all abilities playground like you say so that everyone can have a space to enjoy that's right A lot of these kids were left out and the all abilities allows every kid no matter what disability the child may have to take advantage and to have fun and that's so good and then right next door is the splash park so what a combo it's a great combo and about when did the splash pad get completed Splash pad's been here for about 5 to six years okay about a year later then the all abilities came out about 10 years ago we had the uh our plus had the miniature golf so it's always been kind of a we're always working on improving and this year this this uh this fall we'll redo the bathrooms and and update and so we're always looking to update and fix things up sure and so we're taping this in the fall of 2023 our folks will see it in the spring of 2024 so hopefully you know some new facilities things to check out um and so as we're sitting in this area of Twin Lakes uh it didn't always look like this but I know that Twin Lakes has a rich history can you talk a little bit about that and bring the folks at home up to speed sure when when I was younger here and and this was in' 60s over here was an indoor Pavilion where the bands would play and they had a pinball machines and they sold ice cream they had a dock that went out people swam on this side they had broats that they had they had the paddle boats since that time it's all been changed the Pavilion is now gone the indoor Pavilion we just moved the band over to the larger Pavilion over there so the actual ual size of the park has always stayed the same but we've just been adding things for this generation sure and so it's been there's some great pictures and I hope you all are able to find some showing what this looked like back in 1960s it's neat it's really neat well and it's nice to see a space that you know is listening to the community listening to their needs and trying to you know mold and go with those uh I always have to ask is there anything in the in the hopper for the future well the future uh like I mentioned we're re going to redo all the bathrooms over here so there'll be modern bathrooms just recently on the east side there was an old glass factory that had been empty for maybe 15 or 20 years a young man bought it and has remodeled it and it's now the home of the Smash Burgers in Paris it's called the old glass shop and you can go over there have uh you can get your fishing bait you can rent a kayak you can have a Smash Burger and that's always on on that side of the lake so that's new this side we will always just continue to work on improving what we have and so this next summer when people come here in the spring the miniature golf will be up to dat and will be probably renovated somewhat so we're always looking at improving sure no that sounds like a lot of fun Okay so we've hit Twin Lakes really well can you tell me about some of the other dozen parks that uh you know stands out where where else should people be checking out well just to our backside would be a Blackhawk Park and Blackhawk Park we used to refer to that when I was younger as the Boy Scout Girl Scout woods and that was where people would go and their troops would go and they would camp out and they would do things outside looking for U arroe heads and doing all kinds of outdoor activities so that Park is over there there's a little little itty bitty park right over by uh the city hall and and it's right beside there and it's got a nice mural and it's got a bench and it's just someplace where somebody can go and sit down and just listen and just watch and see what's going on Sylvan Park is over on the south side of town There's a new park called Schwarz Park where old lawyer who happened to be in my Law Firm had passed away and donated his house and this property he and his wife and it's now called Schwarz Park and it's a great place where people can park their cars walk around it's right in the middle of town so there parks all all over town that people can take advantage of and use and there's a guanas Memorial Park the quanas Memorial Park I'm glad you brought that up that's near and dear to to my heart uh because my father and my father-in-law were in World War II my son was in Iraq and so this is for a war memorial for anybody who has served and it is a beautiful place to go and remember those that have done so much for our community and our country by serving and uh we're very proud of that part quanis Park was a wonderful partk of them too oh definitely and so then also um hops skiing a jump I don't know if it's technically a different Park but there's also a really cool landmark that's in that General vicinity can you tell us about that yeah it's at that quanis Park and the land it's it's what I would call a modern sculpture of Eiffel Tower and it is it's right there at quanas Park and it's it's you can tell it goes up and moves around like this and it's been and a local man John chit uh made it and donated it to the and we put it back we put it up this summer no and that's it's so cool to have something like that with Paris being your Nam sake cuz I feel like I've heard of you know Paris France obviously Paris Texas but it's like hello Paris Illinois has a lot to offer too and come check out our sweet little you know Twisted Eiffel Tower check the Eiffel Tower then you can walk around the Memorial Park and see all the the men and women who served in the military it's a beautiful Park to walk around and it's right between the two big parks that we that we're in now so it's a great you can't help but just stop and say hi right pay homage yes and so is there also a ball field within Paris that's at one of the parks Lakers Stadium par Stadium guess what they we used to have a minor league baseball team there from the Chicago Cubs and they were there in the late 50s very early 6s was their last season uh they were called the Paris Lakers okay and the lake the IE the Laker stadium and so that is also a park and that is just to the south of where we are now and now that has gone through a lot of renovation where we have put in more money for uh concession stand uh for seating and redid the field and it really looks very similar to what it did when we had the minor league team here Ah that's awesome so who plays there now now we have uh the high school plays a few games there but they have their own field we have a junior setup where the junior plays and that's probably 16 to 18 and we have a lot of tournaments in the Summer where people will come and they love to come to because it's almost like playing in a Major League field because it's the same dimensions so it's kind of neat when other teams come and they really like to to visit Paris for their baseball traveling teams no I would be wanting to try and get you know like a pickup game with the people I work with or something you know just to kind of get that feel it sounds so cool you could do it Lacy just bring your groups and yeah bring them on over to par so Perry and so what's it like for you to be able to talk about how you saw it I don't want to say back in the day is a in a bad way but I mean you got to see it transform from being great then being great again what's it like for you yeah you know I I can walk through here because I my parents moved here in the 50s and so I can remember what it was like as a teenager in the 60s what I think we've been able to do reality is to keep it having that same feel yeah that feel that this is our Park uh that we have now let it grow into things where kids who have disabilities can now enjoy this part the kids who can't go to a pool can come to the Splash Park the parents come home can come and have all of their meetings with their friends Church groups reunions so I think we kept that same spirit that we had before it's just it is nostalgic sure driving around and going like well I remember when the silver tones are playing in 1963 right over there and I show the kids and then when we were here for their reunion their 60th reunion I said they're those guys they were over here now they're over there yes yeah kind of neat and so besides those events uh you were talking about how in the summer there are constantly concerts out here are there any other big events or things that people should put on their calendar kind of save the date or be thinking about that they should come out to the park to check on well the and when we open up the parks uh in the spring it's always a great time to come out because we just call that our spring opening okay and then Fourth of July is always is Big the fireworks are right here at this park so people are all over and the the lake will be full of boats on both sides watching the fireworks so Fourth of July is always a big deal and in the fall we've got our uh honeybee Festival which is big and we use this area also so the parks are are interwoven in everything that's going on in Paris we use them either they'll they may have old cars coming out here and parking people can come and see the old cars while things are going on downtown but we try to use them all at the same time so Spring's a great time to come Fourth of July and then don't forget the honeybee and last but not least Christmas in Paris o tell me about it I'm a Christmas fiend Christmas in Paris downtown and we and also at the parks we have the parks are lit up okay so at right at uh the fourth not the fourth but uh Thanksgiving uh all of these Park areas will have displays Christmas displays in its you can drive around in your car so the park will be full of displays downtown will be full of displays and the big tree will be lit up for Christmas for Santa time sure now love that yeah we also have Santa House downtown too so you you got to come and see the old man you know make sure you've been good see have you been good oh I am of course on the nice list somewhere towards the middle I'm sure at least uh so we've covered a lot here today is there anything that I haven't quite hit on that is important to tell about the parks no I think what I like to tell people is that we're very proud of our parks in Paris and we want them to be used we don't want them just to sit there and nobody go and and walk in them sit down uh think about things we want them to be used and I'm happy to tell you that our parks are used and I think that if people will come to Paris get a map go by go by the Chamber of Commerce there's a map and all the parks are shown on the map and that would be a great little trip right you could hit different Parks see which and then always end up you know at the old glass shop get your Smash Burger right so uh I also have to ask if I'm somebody who wants to get more information or you know to see when those events specifically are is there a Facebook page or a website or good place we have both we have a Facebook page and we also have the uh City web page which you can go to either one there's also the chamber is also a good place to look so City of Paris but has both in the chamber and do you know are there any sort of cleanup days or ways for people to give back to the parks they have they have different organizations that will maybe adopt a par and they may go by and pick up some stuff they have kids that volunteer all the time uh people want to keep the parks clean they want to help and we do have a lot of Civic organizations a lot of volunteerism in Paris and that also helps the Parks stay where they are no I it takes a community effort to keep such a entity you know looking nice and people making sure they take advantage of it and of the 12 Parks do you have a favorite do you have the favorite spot to sit and reflect as you're kind of talking about well the one we're in now uh I really love my my office is just on the south side and I've got a foster dog that I bring to work every day and so about 10:00 he and I walk around this park every day and uh that's kind of special and it's of course it also brings back memories of when I was uh 9 to 18 years old this park was the integral part of all of us growing up so this is probably the one for me it's nice to see that uh you know you as one of the members of the community see such a value in your outdoor spaces so we're going to take a quick break we're going to transition to the east side of Twin Lakes so don't go anywhere take a hike we'll be right back [Applause] [Music] 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now to weiu.net you can scan the code at the bottom of the screen and you can also call us at the station and we'll make sure to help you unlock this great member benefit called PBS passport now let's get back to take a hike the [Music] miniseries welcome welcome back we have switched to the East Lake Park and we've still got mayor Craig Smith with us here so there's a lot of uh fun Recreation opportunities on this side so fill us in what do we got okay right behind us we have the swimming area that you can see and so this is open all through the summer and then the boat dock where they can put the boats in are just over to that side over my shoulder this is an area for fishing great bass uh fishing uh blue also the larger Motors can come here so you have skiing and you have uh any kind of water activity that anybody wants as it goes around and around to to the side that way so it's a great it's a great used Lake in the summer and there'll be a lot of boats out here sure and do you know if I'm wanting to bring my boat out here is there any sort of like tag or sticker I need to get there's a sticker that you get at City Hall okay and it's uh it's not much I think it's 25 or $50 something like that for all summer and then we have a lot of bass tournaments out here and then right over the camera is another Pavilion where a lot of people have their family reunions out here as well yes and so you talk about this area being you know highly utilized in the summer kind of paint the picture what would we typically see families picnicking or oh you see you'd see a bunch of picnicking going on over here you'd be a lot of kids would be swimming here there would be many boats as well large boats you'll be skiing would be here You' see fishermen over here you see a lot of houses on each side with all of their individual boat docks it's a very utilized area yes and so I mean there was so much action where we started our episode there's a lot of action here and we've got one more spot that we want to show you so let's let's go check it out let's go see it we're back and I wish that the people at home could like smell through the TV okay the the smell coming off of the old glass shop is phenomenal when did this come to be this might be a little Smash Burger you're smelling right now yeah and it's this opened about a year ago and it's a young man that uh took a took a swing at a new business in Paris and I'd like to tell you that if you want to open a business in Paris don't just come and see our Park but we'll let you open a business as well the old glass shop right over our shoulder and it's home of the famous Smash Burgers and again the smell coming from just across the water here topnotch and so you're also telling me that through the old glass shop there's also still some more Recreation opportunities besides getting some good grubs so what are those there are as you can see there's a father and two sons that looks like fishing right off of the city dock and off of the dock through the glass shop you can rent Kayaks and you can go out through this through the lake and enjoy kayaks don't go out that first time for about 8 hours you'll find out it's a little long but maybe an hour or two would be a good thing to do but you can rent The Kayaks right over here as you get your Smash Burgers that bee is trying to get me say the honey the honey be Festival is very well named no but there's plenty of recre recreation opport unities in Paris especially from the park so mayor craith thank you so much for making time for us today and coming on take a Hi Lacy thank you nice to see you thank you and thank you to our viewers for joining us for this episode of take a hike we hope to see you next time [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] take a hike on weiu is supported by R king America's Farm and Home Store camping supplies kayaks fishing and pet supplies and more find your store and more information regarding r King at rolling.com