Jamestown Parks and Recreation offers unique experiences

Kathy Steiner, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.
·2 min read

Mar. 30—Editor's note: This story and accompanying photo are advertorial content that is part of the 2022 "Jamestown Has It" special edition of The Jamestown Sun. The annual Progress Edition features stories on unique experiences in small business, dining and culture in Jamestown.

Jamestown Parks and Recreation Department has a long history of providing unique experiences for residents, said Amy Walters, executive director.

The 28th annual Kite Festival scheduled June 10-12 is one example, she said.

"It is unique to our community," she said. "It's an event that brings in kite fliers from across the country and in pre-COVID days, when travel was easier, we also had fliers coming in from Canada."

The Kite Festival is sponsored by Jamestown Parks and Recreation, partnering with the Wings on Strings kite club, which manages the event held at Meidinger Park. During the festival, kites are flown and displayed. There are also concessions, music and prizes.

Providing an experience such as the Kite Festival is a way to allow people to disconnect from technology and just experience being outside, she said.

"So it's somewhat of an unstructured experience, it allows families to come and build their own kites, fly their own kites, watch and interact and engage with professional kite fliers," she said.

Jamestown Parks and Recreation also partners with the Jamestown Elks Club to provide the annual Easter Egg Hunt for children, in its 62nd year this year. It is held on the Saturday before Easter, on April 16 this year.

"We have a lot of partners in the projects," Walters said, "and some of those historical things that Jamestown Parks and Recreation has based our operations on are working together with other community partners to create these kind of experiences for the community."

Another event is the Gear Grinder Mountain Bike Race and Pipestem Creek Trail Run, set Aug. 13 at Pipestem Creek Trail.

"That is one of the longest standing bike races in the state of North Dakota," Walters said. "The course at Pipestem is unique in that it allows for multiple skill levels to participate. So there's everything from a kids race to beginners and then all the way on up from recreational to sport and expert divisions."

The 8-mile-course events draw participants from around the state, she said.

"From an organization standpoint, Jamestown Parks and Recreation has been in existence for over 120 years and so the basis of what we do and provide to the community continues to be true to that to what we were created for," she said.

She noted Jamestown has a lot of "really longstanding high-quality parks and facilities," along with Jack Brown Stadium, originally constructed in 1917.