$25K Richer, Dog Park Committee Eyes More Fundraising Efforts

With Oak Forest's recent 2nd place finish in a national dog park contest, committee organizers aren't in much rush to spend the $25,000 won and, instead, are looking ahead to more fundraisers.

The committee has until August 2015 to spend the money Oak Forest won by taking 2nd place in the Bark for your Park contest, organized by pet product producer PetSafe. Laura Clemons, chair of the city's Bark for a Park committee, said they don't have any definitive plans for the money and do plan to continue ongoing fundraising efforts.

"It’s hard to tell right now what we’ll spend our money on because we don’t know," Clemons said.

The contest winners were announced Friday. The dog park committee is hoping to capitalize on the momentum from the 2nd-place finish to gather more interest in their effort.

Another open meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 27 at the . The meeting will include decision of potential future fundraisers.

The next proposed fundraiser is a dog and owner pub crawl, Clemons said.

Friday's win, and the efforts over three months by the committee to get out the vote, has brought the organization much more exposure and granted it a more established presence in the community.

“We’re not going to rest on our laurels, though," Clemons said.

Oak Forest has submitted a draft "memorandum of understanding" to the Forest Preserve District of Cook County for the use of about seven acres of land near 160th and Oak Park Avenue. The agreement would make Oak Forest responsibility for being stewards of the dog park.

Clemons said it's feasible that dog owners could use the park by mid-Fall. The agreement still needs to go through the District's approval process before anything is finalized.

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