Parktacular President Dishes on Big Event

Editor's Note: With Parktacular fast approaching (it starts on Thursday, with most of the main events coming on Saturday), St. Louis Park Patch wants to help you get ready. Today, we have a Q&A with Joan Fenton, who is the volunteer Parktacular president. Tomorrow, we'll take a look at some of the new things worth checking out this year. And on Wednesday, we'll have your last-minute guide to all things Parktacular. During the event, keep checking with St. Louis Park Patch for regular photo galleries of all the fun.

St. Louis Park Patch: For someone who might be new to St. Louis Park, tell people what the event is all about.

Joan Fenton: Parktacular has been going on for 15 years. It started as something else, called “Party in the Park,” but it has evolved into Parktacular. It’s grown every year—bigger events, more and more people, bigger parade. We get thousands of people who come and everyone has a great time.

St. Louis Park Patch: How long have you been involved?

Fenton: Seven years. Five as president.

St. Louis Park Patch: Why did you get involved?

Fenton: I wanted to help the community, and I love being together with family and friends and neighbors. And I really love seeing people smile.

St. Louis Park Patch: Tell me a little about the role of president. What have you been up to?

Fenton: First of all, the (group) that runs Parktacular is all volunteers. So, we do this as a gift to the community. My role as president is to oversee the different committees that run all the events, and to pull it all together and communicate with various media outlets and bring forth new ideas. Just basically overseeing all of it, but it’s very fun. I love doing it.

St. Louis Park Patch: Is it a role that keeps you busy all year? When does some of the planning start?

Fenton: The day after the last Parktacular ends [smiling]. Well, let me tell you the honest truth. July, we’re probably just thinking of doing stuff (for next year), but in August, we start talking about what we liked about previous years, what we want to continue. We start booking bands and other acts, because they have to be booked a year in advance, a lot of them. We start that right away, and we start our fundraising, too. All of our events happen because of fundraising. We get city support in terms of free use of the facilities and equipment, and we get some staff from them. But basically all of our events are funded by donations, by our generous and kind neighborhood merchants and businesses.

St. Louis Park Patch: You kind of already touched on this, but talk about what Parktacular volunteers do and how dedicated they are.

Fenton: This time of year, our volunteers are working almost full-time on this. I easily put in 40 hours per week during the month before Parktacular. The others are completely dedicated. They are so hard working. I just can’t say enough great things about them. It’s a great team; we all get along. We usually bring snacks to our meetings. We laugh and talk and joke. There is about 10 of us on the core team, but we do add another 100 or so volunteers that we need during the event. We would love having anyone else volunteer at any time.

St. Louis Park Patch: What is one can’t-miss event this year?

Fenton: I can’t do that. One? You can’t just go to one. That’s like one potato chip or one M&M—you have to go to many (events). Let me give you three. The first one is the parade. Every one loves a parade. All ages and all types of interests are there at the parade. For a kid, you’ll get handouts and you’ll get candy. If you’re a parent, you’ll see bands, you’ll see horses, you’ll see all kinds of things. It’s fun. You have to come Saturday noon to 2 p.m.—it’ll be wonderful. The second event is the block party, Saturday night at the (Excelsior and Grand) Town Green. We’ll have it fenced off. We have a great new band this year, Boogie Wonderland. They’re going to be very cool. Park Tavern is sponsoring it, and they’ll be bringing in some food and some adult beverages for those 21 and older with ID. It’s a block party—it’s dancing, it’s music, it’s meeting your neighbors and being with your friends, it’s eating. It’s just a really fun neighborhood event. And the third one I have to say is the inflatables, the water slides. We have a huge one this year, and it’s a lot of fun. We are selling wristbands for $15, and you get unlimited rides on any of the equipment except the EuroBungy. That’s new and costs an additional $7 per use.  We also sell dollar tickets, and most of the rides are $2.

St. Louis Park Patch: What is one can’t-miss food item?

Fenton: Well, to me, it’s cheese curds. This is our first year with cheese curds, and I love them. But we have all kinds of really great foot, and wacky food, like deep-friend Oreos and berry pizza. It’s going to be great. There will be something for everyone.

St. Louis Park Patch: Tell folks what the buttons are all about (buttons are $5 each, or four for $15 through Thursday. More information here).

Fenton: When it comes to the block party, the button gets you free entrance. And if you look at the coupon card that comes with the button, if you even go to one of those places once, you’ve got yourself paid back on that button. The card is worth well over $300, and not only that, button sales go to help fund Parktacular. Also, you get your door prize entry form. We’ve got great door prizes, like tickets to the Twins and Timberwolves, gift certificates to restaurants like Lone Spur Grill and Olive Garden, and a Wii system. And then the last thing about the button is that some of the money goes back to the community in the way of helping social service groups. 

St. Louis Park Patch: What is your attendance expectation?

Fenton: We say 2,000 to 3,000 people over the course of the four days, with most of it being on Saturday around the parade.

St. Louis Park Patch: What do you hope people take away from Parktacular?

Fenton: My main purpose of doing all of this is to see people having fun. There are so many things to have fun doing. I love seeing people learn new things, even seniors at the senior dinner. We’re going to learn dancing. I love to see people doing things they wouldn’t normally get to do. We have city kids here who don’t know what a petting zoo is. They’re going to pet some wild and wacky animals. They get to go on some pony rides. Seeing their faces light up, and their parents’ faces light up, makes me happy, too. It’s just all fun. I want people to leave with fun, and not a lot of money spent.