June 8, 2023 • 27 mins
Clint Girlie visits with Jennafer Mayfield and Ashley Luebbert from the Republic Parks Department to discuss all things Have-A-Blast! This year’s patriotic celebration and pyro-musical fireworks show takes place on June 30th at JR Martin Park in Republic. They also discuss other community projects underway in Republic and employment opportunities for teens and college age adults.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hello, and welcome to a showthat we call iHeart the Ozar because this
is a half hour long show thatwe do every Sunday here on all five
of our iHeart Radio stations here inSpringfield, and it gives us a chance
to spend some time with folks whoare doing a ton of good in our
community. Whether that's a nonprofit group, sometimes that's a community organization, sometimes
city government in the show that we'vegot today, but really anybody who's doing
(00:23):
something really great for our community thatwe can all benefit from and maybe find
opportunities to plug in at. Welove sharing those stories and those happenings,
and so today excited to be joinedby Jennifer and Ashley from the Republic Missouri
park Board. So welcome to bothof you. Thanks for doing this,
You're welcome. Thank you for havingus. Full disclosure right off the top.
(00:49):
So we are about a block,like I love the fact that you
are sitting a block to my left. You know, I could not be
bothered to come in to record thistoday. I was like, I'll just
do it from the house, andI could see your building from my front
yard. So but I am meaningthat I am a republic resident I'm actually
(01:15):
on the Republic City Council as anappoint e. So in case there's like
somebody saying there's a conflict of interesthere, Clint, you're bringing this up.
Yeah, they're so what you know, like who it's a big deal.
We're talking about a fireworks show todayand some other really cool stuff.
So I'm fairly certain no one's goingto have a problem with it, you
know, and I can't imagine whythey would, but excited to have you
guys here. What I want totalk about right off the top, and
(01:38):
then we'll come back around to ittowards the end is what I believe,
and what I think a lot ofpeople believe is the biggest, best fireworks
Fourth of July party extravaganza whatever youwant to call it, in all of
our area and that you guys throwevery year. And so let's talk have
a blast, and whoever wants togo, if you could just give me,
(01:59):
give me what's happening in a littlenutshell here, and then we'll drill
into it some okay, So havea blast. Is Friday, June thirtieth
at JR. Martin Park and wetypically see around fifteen thousand for that it's
a free event to the public,so the more the merrier. But we
will have two live bands playing,so we'll have Cyclopithy Cadillac and members only,
(02:22):
and then of course we'll have someguest speakers, and then at ten
pm we'll have a really awesome fireworksdisplay. It'll go for about fifteen minutes.
And then besides that, we havethirty plus food vendors that will be
there, and we've got about fourteennonprofit vendors that'll be there as well.
That's awesome, man. And Iknow that the park is pretty big,
(02:45):
and so when you say fifteen thousandpeople, I know number one that verified.
Like I can. I've been therea couple of times. It's unbelievable
the amount of people you guys havecoming out to this thing. But also
the park is big enough to handleall of that, right, Oh yeah,
yeah, there's lots of space,lots of green grats to sit on.
We've got the Amphitheater, so plentyof room. We'll get everyone in
(03:07):
there. So I remember back yearsand years ago, there used to be
several Fourth of July fireworks shows,and a lot of those have gone away.
Why has Republics stayed yeah, sodefinitely in the area. There aren't
many left. I think one ofthe things why Republics has stayed is we
(03:30):
just wanted to remain committed to it. It's a community event. We're dedicated
to having it every single year.The event does not generate revenue. It
does a little bit, but expensesdefinitely outweigh any of that. But it's
a community service. That's what we'refocused on in the Parks and Recreation Department
in the City of Republic. It'scenter City Park. It brings everybody together,
(03:54):
it brings people into our community,and it's just not something that we
are willing willing to give up.It's just an amazing event. I think
everybody looks forward to it every year. I know that a lot of people
believe and maybe in some instances areright. They say, you know,
government should be run like a business, and then I hear this that is
(04:14):
not a revenue maker for the city, but is a community event. So
my question to you both, beingon the park board there in Republic here,
should to say, why are communityevents like this important for the community.
Yeah. I mean, you tohave a sense of community, you
have to have community events. It'sso important that we offer those things throughout
(04:40):
the year. We have right nowit seems like we have kind of one
mega event every quarter. It's justimportant we have to have a sense of
community. It also brings people intoRepublic that may not visit and maybe they're
like, hey, Republic is anawesome place. Let's let's look at this
town and come in and do someof the other things they have to offer.
So it's incredibly important to have asense of community and have these community
(05:03):
events. And it's just we're dedicatedto doing it and dedicating to providing that
service. We just feel it's veryvery important. Ashley, walk me through
what this looks like. Say I'ma first time attendee, I leave my
house in wherever because everyone's welcome,and get to j R. Martin Park.
(05:25):
To take me through what that lookslike from start to finish my visit
here for have a blast. Soonce you find a parking spot, we
have parking at all the schools.We have it. You know, the
biggest one is right by a RepublicMiddle school. That's where a lot of
folks park. But once you findyour parking spot, you can just head
(05:46):
on into the park, maybe sitdown blankets, some chairs, look for
a cozy spot by the stage.And then first thing I would do is
go get my food and drinks andthen just have a good time and listen
to the music. Yeah. AndI know that there's plenty of stuff to
do for the kids, right becauseyou guys have like a whole area for
them where they can just go andhave fun. Yeah. We do have
(06:09):
a kids zone, um where it'sten dollars per first child, five dollars
per child after that. Um,and that will get you into the kids
zone that includes, um, theThorny Ridge Exotic Zoo And I'm sorry,
what was that bill bring all kindsof animals? Um? I know last
year he brought a kangaroo and azebra, so um, an alligator,
(06:30):
an alligatory, all cool types ofcritters that they can look at and touch.
Um. And then we'll also havetwenty plus inflatables in there, and
um, they've got ones for thelittle little kids, they've got ones for
the little bit older kids. Soum, it's a good variety. And
then I know that the park itselfhas a giant playground. I think is
(06:53):
that the biggest one in Republic thatthat Jared Martin Park playground. It's huge.
It is, it's huge. Yes, and you guys aren't charging all
of these sleeve for anybody to gouse that no? Okay? Cool?
So thirty plus food vendors, agiant inflatable area of playgrounds for the kids,
and then a couple of bands playingkeeping things light. You mentioned guest
speakers. We don't need to talkabout those because who comes for the guest
(07:15):
to speakers probably no one. Thebig question is what time about? Because
I know it's hard to lock inon one. What time do the fireworks
get going? If someone just wantsto come out and enjoy maybe the last
little bit and then the fireworks,what time should they plan on arriving?
Fireworks will be at ten to tento fifteen, okay, awesome and best
(07:35):
place to grab information directions all thatstuff. Where would that be? So
we'll have a Republic parson wreck boothunder the large pavilion, which is pretty
close to the stage, so theyshould see us. We'll have a bunch
of flags hanging up over there,and we'll have a big trailer for drinks
(07:55):
and everything, so they should seeus pretty easily. But that's where they
can come for any question and preevent info is online online. They can
call us, they can come tothe community center with Muchever's easier. Okay,
cool. What is your guys website? That website, it's republicmo dot
com slash you can either do havea blast or slash hab and that'll take
(08:18):
you directly to the have a Blastpage on our website, Ashley, and
Jennifer. And Jennifer, you're theassistant director over there at Republic Parks,
Ashley. I don't know what yourtitle is. I could go back through
emails, but I'm barely literate asit is. So yeah, it's okay,
a special events administrator. Awesome,very cool. So yeah, have
a blast obviously right up your alley. And they're joining us today here on
(08:39):
iHeart the ozarks to talk about.Yes, have a blast coming up June
thirtieth. But also, I don'tknow if you guys have noticed, there's
some other things happening in Republic,one of them being I think a huge
gopher problem over there at Miller Park. The entire grassy part of it seems
like it's been dug up by somethan what is happening over there? What
(09:01):
are you doing to help control thoserodents. Yes, So the real thing
that's happening down there is expansion toour Republic Aquatic Center. So we are
underway on that construction. It'll doublethe size of the existing facility. We're
adding a lazy River five hundred andseventy five feet long, ten feet wide.
(09:22):
We have an additional zero depth entryfor our little kids. That's one
of the most popular locations in ourcurrent aquatic center, is where the toddlers
and the very very young children hangout. So we're adding a second one
of those two additional slides. Oneof those slides will accommodate the tubes that
you also use for the Lazy River. There's going to be an island with
a party zone, some cabanas.It's just it's very very exciting, and
(09:46):
they are They are rocking and rollingdown there for sure. Yeah, I
know that the what is it scheduledto finish? May tenth of twenty twenty
four is the completion date, Sowe do plan to be open for the
twenty twenty fourth season. That's abit ambitious, don't you think, Jennifer.
That's a huge project to say we'regoing to do it in a year.
It is a huge project. Butthey I mean that was that was
(10:09):
kind of a guideline or a stipulationwhen we went out for the project.
We wanted to do it well aheadof time in order to get it get
it done by twenty twenty four.It was kind of a non negotiable for
us. So, um, therethey are going fast and I mean,
I have no reason to think thatwe wouldn't meet that deadline. So we
are super excited. Can I askand this is maybe a little bit more
(10:31):
umbrella, you know, I know, we have a bunch of people coming
to Republic to use the aquatic Center. It's great as it is right now,
and expanding that only makes it greater. But why was that a project
that when when when all these youknow, um tax reups came up for
election, why was that something thatyou guys were like, you know what
(10:52):
we should do that we think peoplewanted this? That the reason because people
wanted a bigger one? Or isthere there more to it? Yes,
So we've done several community surveys throughoutthe years, and that's one thing we've
heard is lazy river, Lazy River, lazy River. That's kind of one
thing that we've always heard from ourcitizens. The facility was built as well
(11:15):
for expansion down the road, sowith our sales taxes coming up for renewal,
we felt that that was one ofthe biggest major projects that we needed
to do. We believe it willbe one of the most awesome aquatic centers
in the area, and we're justsuper excited. Well, I think what
happens is you end up stopped comparingit to other aquatic centers that other cities
(11:39):
have built, and you start comparingit to like Whitewater at that point,
right, because it's got now ahuge area over there. I know that
park is humongous and still will bevery big even after this is complete.
I would say, I think detractorson this say, well, that eats
up a park and do we reallyneed extra stuff that's only been a certain
(12:00):
amount of time during the year.But there are some benefits that kind of
counteract those arguments, are they not? Yes, there are so Obviously everyone
loves the swimming pool during the summer, So we want to cater to everybody
when we go and do projects forthe community. So we want to listen
to our community. The top threeor four items that we have consistently heard.
(12:22):
We are trying to address those withthe projects that we have going on.
So obviously, in aquatic center catersto a certain Not everybody in our
community uses the aquatic center, buta significant amount of our community and people
in the surrounding areas use our aquaticcenter. So we want to offer the
best and make it a very excitingexperience for people to come to. Our
(12:46):
other two projects are sort of different, so I think there's something for everybody
kind of going on in our communityin terms of the parks and wreck side.
But people love swimming, people lovepools, people love being outdoors,
and it's just like a key partof the summer here in Republic is the
Republic acquity sure and generates revenue forthe city, and the bigger it is,
(13:07):
better it is, maybe more peoplecome to it. So that's awesome.
You mentioned other projects, and Iknow that those are to the benefit
of the community as well, andnot just in Republic either. I think
if there's one thing that I've learnedbeing on the city council, it's confirmation
of something I suspected after moving hereseven or eight years ago, was that
(13:28):
Republic thinks and is physically situated ina place where the surrounding communities, including
the much bigger Springfield, benefit fromthe things that Republic does. And so
you mentioned other projects, and Iknow that those are public knowledge, But
if folks don't know what else ishappening here, because there's a ton of
stuff. Yes, sure, soon the parks and recreation side, which
(13:50):
is obviously where my knowledge is.So the Jereed Martin Park project, that
one Jared Martin Park is the siteof have a blast. We are doing
a major renovation project to that park. We will be putting in a large
plaza space a farmers market pavilion.We really wanted to bring large farmers markets
(14:11):
to our community. We already haveone that is on Thursday evenings operated by
a separate committee, but we're excitedto work with them and bring a large
farmers market to Republic once that isbuilt additional playground elements. We've put in
a grant for an outdoor classroom thatcould potentially be part of phase two of
(14:31):
that project. So really excited toget that one going. Jarre Martin Park.
Like I said earlier, it's centercity, it's the hub of our
community. It's everybody knows Jarre MartinPark, So we really want to make
that a special space, a gatheringspace that republic is kind of missing right
now for community events, for farmersmarkets, for nonprofit organizations to host different
(14:52):
events. So we're very excited forthat. During the Christmas season, we
light that park up. We've beenbuilding that over the last two to three
years, but we want to goreally big with that once we have this
project done, kind of a lightj R. Martin Park, have a
walk through light display and all ofthis will play into that. The other
(15:13):
major project is our large our regionalpark featuring an athletic complex. That is
a big boy. That is ahuge project. Right now, we're focused
on these first two, but thatone we're hoping to kick off construction in
twenty twenty five with a late twentytwenty five early twenty twenty six opening of
phase one. This is the pointin the show where I turn to the
(15:37):
right and tell my son to stopplaying the drums. So I'm gonna do
that now, Hey, Bronson,you gotta be quiet. We made a
mistake last week and bought him areal drum set, which is these four.
And my wife is very much intofostering creativity and I am I'm going
(15:58):
to choose different battles than those.And so it's in his room upstairs,
which is good, but he doeshave it a little electric one down here
as well. And even though hehas headphones, right buddy, Yeah,
I could still hear the banging.We gotta be quiet for like another like
how much longer? About like twelveminutes? Okay? Hey, sounds good
(16:21):
though, constant encouragement here on iHeartthe Ozarks. Let's reset. My name
is Clint Gurley. This show iscalled iHeart the Ozarks. When I'm not
talking to my child off camera asit would be in this video chat joined
by Ashley and Jennifer, both fromthe Republic Missouri Parks the Department, talking
about a bunch of stuff, includingsome upcoming projects, community benefits, and
a giant Fourth of July party that'snot on the fourth of July, because
(16:44):
that's the parties at my house onthe fourth of July, but on the
thirtieth of June happening here in Republic. Ashley, I want to get back
to you quickly because how long haveyou been now with the Parks Department has
been nine months? Nine months,so you're quick end. But Jennifer,
You've been there for a really longtime, and something I've noticed getting kind
(17:08):
of an outside look in has beenyou guys seem to really hire within this
community, promote within this community.And people who are from Republic typically are
on you know, live and playand work within this community. But you
guys are seemingly just like we're goingto take care of people here, like
(17:29):
we're gonna be not looking for outsidehelp. Even with all these giant projects,
You're taking people from the community andyou're promoting from within. Why why
is that important for a community government, like like what you guys are a
branch of to do. And Iknow that's maybe a little lofty for a
show like this, but this isa community focus show, and I'm always
curious about, you know, theinner workings of how this stuff goes.
(17:52):
Yeah. No, so I candefinitely speak on that. I'm a Republic
native. I grew up here,I graduated from Republic High School. I
started working for the Parks and RecreationDepartment when I was fifteen as a gate
worker, and like you said,just kind of promoting within or whatever.
I've just I've worked my way upand now on the assistant director role,
(18:12):
and that's that's what I love todo. I love to help you know,
people starting even in those as agate worker, like you can become
We have an exceptional service training andI told them, like, you can
become anything you want to be herereally, So it's just an exciting place
to work. We have several employeesthat are from Republic, full time employees,
(18:37):
um. Others they're just from youknow, surrounding towns, so a
lot of a lot of local individuals. And we are we say we're that,
which I do believe. We arethe highest employer and Republic of high
school and college age individuals. SoI mean in our in the summer months,
at the peak of our operations,we have probably one hundred and fifty
seasonal employees. A large majority alreadyof those I call them kids because I'm
(19:02):
older, but a large majority ofthose kids are Republic students. So we
love that. We love getting themin here and letting them really become what
they want to be if they ifthey want to be something bigger and better
and stay on with us for many, many years. Lots of opportunities,
even not during summer months, Likesay, as we look and I don't
want to look. I don't wantto look past summer. I'm very much
(19:25):
enjoying the warm weather right now,but even past summer, when you get
into fall and winter, you guys, are you're available, right? You're
hiring still? Yes, we hireyear round for really in the off season.
Out of summer, it's a lotof our youth sports programming, so
referees, gate workers, concession workers, supervisors, and then we do hire
(19:48):
for various programs as well, butthe summer is really the bulk of when
we have one hundred and fifty employeeson board with us. But those that
want to stay on with us yearround, we will keep you and we
will know we'll find you something todo. And if someone wanted to get
information about maybe getting work in theCity of Republic or for the city on
(20:11):
specifically the Parks Department, where's thebest place for them to go to get
that info. So our specific websiteis Republic Parks dot com and we do
have a page on there with employmentopportunities, so they can always visit that
or just give us a call.What are you interested in? We'll get
you connected to the right individual withinour department to speak to and get you
(20:36):
an application and go from there.Awesome. Ashley and Jennifer from the Republic
Parks Department joining here talking about havea blast. We got about eight minutes
left and I want to make surewe touch on this again because it's coming
up soon, right Ashley, Yeah, we have like three weeks in a
day, so let's be here,So give me the full rundown here,
(20:56):
we'll reset and just kind of doit all over again. Okay. So
last is June the thirtieth at JR. Martin Park, free to the public.
So what that would include is we'vegot two bands performing on the main
stage. It'll be psycobiley Cadillac andmembers only. We'll have a few guest
speakers, and then we'll have nationalanthem performance and a ten pm fireworks display
(21:22):
awesome. We'll also have thirty plusfood vendors, and then we've got fourteen
nonprofit vendors, and then available forpurchase you can do the kids Zone,
which is the Thorny Ridge Exotic Zoo, and then our inflatables, and then
also for purchase, we're offering TommyHawks axe throwing awesome. Very cool,
(21:44):
and so the entire park just kindof taken over by this event. What
should folks plan besides maybe a coupleextra bucks for food and to get kids
into some of the extra kids thingsand axe throwing. What should people plan
to bring with them and maybe whattime should they plan on getting there if
they want to experience everything. Soevents will run from six to ten and
(22:06):
then ten pm will be the fireworksdisplay. Definitely bring some sunscreen. It's
gonna be hot. It was sohot last year, so I know I
burned a little bit. I'm sureeveryone else did, but yeah, sunscreen,
bring some water. I would bringa blanket or some cheers to sit
on, and then a little bitof extra cash for those add on activities.
I want to talk about. CanI talk about our fireworks for just
(22:27):
one second? Absolutely? No,no, no, no, because this
is obviously the focal point of thenight. Yeah. Yeah, So I
want to talk about our fireworks displaya little bit. We encourage you have
to be in the park to reallyexperience our fireworks show. It is a
pyro musical, so we actually plana soundtrack. We actually do it within
(22:48):
our department. We create the soundtrackand the fireworks are coordinated to that soundtrack,
and it is anything from We've gotsome Lady Gaga on there, We've
got The Weekend in there, We'vegot some cold Play, We've got some
Sam Hunt, We've got country.So you really have to be in the
park to truly experience that fireworks display, because the music just takes it to
a whole other level. It isan amazing show, awesome, and that
(23:11):
is totally free. You just showup and enjoy YEP and total community service,
which we love. You know,when we approached you all a couple
of years ago at iHeart about beinga part of this and just trying to
help talk about it and tell morepeople about it, it was because we
saw it it was such a neatcommunity event that one of the few things
(23:33):
you didn't have to pay a bunchof money to go be a part of.
And really in this instance, youdon't have to pay any to go
enjoy the fireworks. Should just goonto the park that night, and you
guys do a great job. Wehave never once gone and thought, nn,
this could have been so much better, Like you guys just do such
a great job with it. Soas frequent attendees who are and a lot
(23:56):
of our staff aren't from Republic,so they don't have a vested interests out
here. They're just blown away everyyear by what you all do. So
well done to you. I don'tknow if those words matter at all,
but well done it matters a lot. Thank you. Yeah, we think
it's great, So Ashley for allthe information about have a blast where folks
(24:17):
can go to get it before theyshow up, maybe even directions if they're
not familiar with Republic. Where's thebest place to get that info? So
they can go to our website formost general inquiries, but for something like
directions or something, just call theRepublic Community Center because that's something we can
probably give you a lot easier thanonline. But yeah, most of everything
(24:38):
online, or just feel free tocall the Community Center. What haven't we
talked about? Because I'm so badat this job, what haven't we covered
or talked about that you guys camein wanting to that we've just omitted.
Oh, I would say volunteer opportunities. So if anyone's interest invested in volunteering,
(25:00):
we're still looking for volunteers. Weneed a total of around fifty to
seventy volunteers to run the event.So um we offer two different shifts that
they can do. They can doa five forty five to seven forty five
or seven forty five to nine fortyfive or both. So that would be
something like, um, helping manyou know inflatables, or helping man one
(25:23):
of our beverage stations something like that. So um, all kinds of opportunities.
But yeah, we would love tohave people out there. They'll get
a T shirt, they'll get foodfor dinner and a drink. They'll get
kids own passes Little Caesar's Factors,so they'll get dilly bar from Dairy Queens.
(25:44):
So yeah, if anyone is interested, they can call the community Center
and talk to Casey Vineyard and shecan help you out and let you know
what we need. Okay, awesomeagain, Republic MO or republic Parks dot
org, Republic Parks. That'll takeyou directly to the parks page. So
for have a Blast information, youwant to go to republicmo dot com,
(26:07):
slash have a Blast or slash habeither one of those that you want to
use, and that'll take you directlyto the have a Blast page. Awesome,
Ashley Jennifer, thanks so much fordoing this show today. We're excited
about the event. I know thatthere's a ton of people planning on being
there, and so good luck witheverything because it's gonna get crazy. Thank
(26:29):
you, thank you so much.This show it's called iHeart the Ozarction.
If you're just catching maybe the littlelast few minutes of it and you want
to hear the entire thing, feelfree to go onto your iHeartRadio app and
search iHeart the Ozarks because not onlyis this show on there, but the
entirety of all of these shows thatwe run new ones every Sunday are there
as well. And there's some greatorganizations, not just you know, like
(26:52):
parks departments, but also some nonprofitsin the area as well as other groups
that are doing a ton of goodpro community And if you're looking, like
Ashley brought up Tavala tears somewhere orput a little Laughford money into there are
some great places there to do that. Just search iHeart the Ozarks on your
iHeartRadio app. For myself, ClintGurley, the rest of our staff here
at iHeartRadio and Springfield, thank youso much for listening. Have a great
(27:12):
rest of your day.
Hello, and welcome to a showthat we call iHeart the Ozar because this
is a half hour long show thatwe do every Sunday here on all five
of our iHeart Radio stations here inSpringfield, and it gives us a chance
to spend some time with folks whoare doing a ton of good in our
community. Whether that's a nonprofit group, sometimes that's a community organization, sometimes
city government in the show that we'vegot today, but really anybody who's doing
(00:23):
something really great for our community thatwe can all benefit from and maybe find
opportunities to plug in at. Welove sharing those stories and those happenings,
and so today excited to be joinedby Jennifer and Ashley from the Republic Missouri
park Board. So welcome to bothof you. Thanks for doing this,
You're welcome. Thank you for havingus. Full disclosure right off the top.
(00:49):
So we are about a block,like I love the fact that you
are sitting a block to my left. You know, I could not be
bothered to come in to record thistoday. I was like, I'll just
do it from the house, andI could see your building from my front
yard. So but I am meaningthat I am a republic resident I'm actually
(01:15):
on the Republic City Council as anappoint e. So in case there's like
somebody saying there's a conflict of interesthere, Clint, you're bringing this up.
Yeah, they're so what you know, like who it's a big deal.
We're talking about a fireworks show todayand some other really cool stuff.
So I'm fairly certain no one's goingto have a problem with it, you
know, and I can't imagine whythey would, but excited to have you
guys here. What I want totalk about right off the top, and
(01:38):
then we'll come back around to ittowards the end is what I believe,
and what I think a lot ofpeople believe is the biggest, best fireworks
Fourth of July party extravaganza whatever youwant to call it, in all of
our area and that you guys throwevery year. And so let's talk have
a blast, and whoever wants togo, if you could just give me,
(01:59):
give me what's happening in a littlenutshell here, and then we'll drill
into it some okay, So havea blast. Is Friday, June thirtieth
at JR. Martin Park and wetypically see around fifteen thousand for that it's
a free event to the public,so the more the merrier. But we
will have two live bands playing,so we'll have Cyclopithy Cadillac and members only,
(02:22):
and then of course we'll have someguest speakers, and then at ten
pm we'll have a really awesome fireworksdisplay. It'll go for about fifteen minutes.
And then besides that, we havethirty plus food vendors that will be
there, and we've got about fourteennonprofit vendors that'll be there as well.
That's awesome, man. And Iknow that the park is pretty big,
(02:45):
and so when you say fifteen thousandpeople, I know number one that verified.
Like I can. I've been therea couple of times. It's unbelievable
the amount of people you guys havecoming out to this thing. But also
the park is big enough to handleall of that, right, Oh yeah,
yeah, there's lots of space,lots of green grats to sit on.
We've got the Amphitheater, so plentyof room. We'll get everyone in
(03:07):
there. So I remember back yearsand years ago, there used to be
several Fourth of July fireworks shows,and a lot of those have gone away.
Why has Republics stayed yeah, sodefinitely in the area. There aren't
many left. I think one ofthe things why Republics has stayed is we
(03:30):
just wanted to remain committed to it. It's a community event. We're dedicated
to having it every single year.The event does not generate revenue. It
does a little bit, but expensesdefinitely outweigh any of that. But it's
a community service. That's what we'refocused on in the Parks and Recreation Department
in the City of Republic. It'scenter City Park. It brings everybody together,
(03:54):
it brings people into our community,and it's just not something that we
are willing willing to give up.It's just an amazing event. I think
everybody looks forward to it every year. I know that a lot of people
believe and maybe in some instances areright. They say, you know,
government should be run like a business, and then I hear this that is
(04:14):
not a revenue maker for the city, but is a community event. So
my question to you both, beingon the park board there in Republic here,
should to say, why are communityevents like this important for the community.
Yeah. I mean, you tohave a sense of community, you
have to have community events. It'sso important that we offer those things throughout
(04:40):
the year. We have right nowit seems like we have kind of one
mega event every quarter. It's justimportant we have to have a sense of
community. It also brings people intoRepublic that may not visit and maybe they're
like, hey, Republic is anawesome place. Let's let's look at this
town and come in and do someof the other things they have to offer.
So it's incredibly important to have asense of community and have these community
(05:03):
events. And it's just we're dedicatedto doing it and dedicating to providing that
service. We just feel it's veryvery important. Ashley, walk me through
what this looks like. Say I'ma first time attendee, I leave my
house in wherever because everyone's welcome,and get to j R. Martin Park.
(05:25):
To take me through what that lookslike from start to finish my visit
here for have a blast. Soonce you find a parking spot, we
have parking at all the schools.We have it. You know, the
biggest one is right by a RepublicMiddle school. That's where a lot of
folks park. But once you findyour parking spot, you can just head
(05:46):
on into the park, maybe sitdown blankets, some chairs, look for
a cozy spot by the stage.And then first thing I would do is
go get my food and drinks andthen just have a good time and listen
to the music. Yeah. AndI know that there's plenty of stuff to
do for the kids, right becauseyou guys have like a whole area for
them where they can just go andhave fun. Yeah. We do have
(06:09):
a kids zone, um where it'sten dollars per first child, five dollars
per child after that. Um,and that will get you into the kids
zone that includes, um, theThorny Ridge Exotic Zoo And I'm sorry,
what was that bill bring all kindsof animals? Um? I know last
year he brought a kangaroo and azebra, so um, an alligator,
(06:30):
an alligatory, all cool types ofcritters that they can look at and touch.
Um. And then we'll also havetwenty plus inflatables in there, and
um, they've got ones for thelittle little kids, they've got ones for
the little bit older kids. Soum, it's a good variety. And
then I know that the park itselfhas a giant playground. I think is
(06:53):
that the biggest one in Republic thatthat Jared Martin Park playground. It's huge.
It is, it's huge. Yes, and you guys aren't charging all
of these sleeve for anybody to gouse that no? Okay? Cool?
So thirty plus food vendors, agiant inflatable area of playgrounds for the kids,
and then a couple of bands playingkeeping things light. You mentioned guest
speakers. We don't need to talkabout those because who comes for the guest
(07:15):
to speakers probably no one. Thebig question is what time about? Because
I know it's hard to lock inon one. What time do the fireworks
get going? If someone just wantsto come out and enjoy maybe the last
little bit and then the fireworks,what time should they plan on arriving?
Fireworks will be at ten to tento fifteen, okay, awesome and best
(07:35):
place to grab information directions all thatstuff. Where would that be? So
we'll have a Republic parson wreck boothunder the large pavilion, which is pretty
close to the stage, so theyshould see us. We'll have a bunch
of flags hanging up over there,and we'll have a big trailer for drinks
(07:55):
and everything, so they should seeus pretty easily. But that's where they
can come for any question and preevent info is online online. They can
call us, they can come tothe community center with Muchever's easier. Okay,
cool. What is your guys website? That website, it's republicmo dot
com slash you can either do havea blast or slash hab and that'll take
(08:18):
you directly to the have a Blastpage on our website, Ashley, and
Jennifer. And Jennifer, you're theassistant director over there at Republic Parks,
Ashley. I don't know what yourtitle is. I could go back through
emails, but I'm barely literate asit is. So yeah, it's okay,
a special events administrator. Awesome,very cool. So yeah, have
a blast obviously right up your alley. And they're joining us today here on
(08:39):
iHeart the ozarks to talk about.Yes, have a blast coming up June
thirtieth. But also, I don'tknow if you guys have noticed, there's
some other things happening in Republic,one of them being I think a huge
gopher problem over there at Miller Park. The entire grassy part of it seems
like it's been dug up by somethan what is happening over there? What
(09:01):
are you doing to help control thoserodents. Yes, So the real thing
that's happening down there is expansion toour Republic Aquatic Center. So we are
underway on that construction. It'll doublethe size of the existing facility. We're
adding a lazy River five hundred andseventy five feet long, ten feet wide.
(09:22):
We have an additional zero depth entryfor our little kids. That's one
of the most popular locations in ourcurrent aquatic center, is where the toddlers
and the very very young children hangout. So we're adding a second one
of those two additional slides. Oneof those slides will accommodate the tubes that
you also use for the Lazy River. There's going to be an island with
a party zone, some cabanas.It's just it's very very exciting, and
(09:46):
they are They are rocking and rollingdown there for sure. Yeah, I
know that the what is it scheduledto finish? May tenth of twenty twenty
four is the completion date, Sowe do plan to be open for the
twenty twenty fourth season. That's abit ambitious, don't you think, Jennifer.
That's a huge project to say we'regoing to do it in a year.
It is a huge project. Butthey I mean that was that was
(10:09):
kind of a guideline or a stipulationwhen we went out for the project.
We wanted to do it well aheadof time in order to get it get
it done by twenty twenty four.It was kind of a non negotiable for
us. So, um, therethey are going fast and I mean,
I have no reason to think thatwe wouldn't meet that deadline. So we
are super excited. Can I askand this is maybe a little bit more
(10:31):
umbrella, you know, I know, we have a bunch of people coming
to Republic to use the aquatic Center. It's great as it is right now,
and expanding that only makes it greater. But why was that a project
that when when when all these youknow, um tax reups came up for
election, why was that something thatyou guys were like, you know what
(10:52):
we should do that we think peoplewanted this? That the reason because people
wanted a bigger one? Or isthere there more to it? Yes,
So we've done several community surveys throughoutthe years, and that's one thing we've
heard is lazy river, Lazy River, lazy River. That's kind of one
thing that we've always heard from ourcitizens. The facility was built as well
(11:15):
for expansion down the road, sowith our sales taxes coming up for renewal,
we felt that that was one ofthe biggest major projects that we needed
to do. We believe it willbe one of the most awesome aquatic centers
in the area, and we're justsuper excited. Well, I think what
happens is you end up stopped comparingit to other aquatic centers that other cities
(11:39):
have built, and you start comparingit to like Whitewater at that point,
right, because it's got now ahuge area over there. I know that
park is humongous and still will bevery big even after this is complete.
I would say, I think detractorson this say, well, that eats
up a park and do we reallyneed extra stuff that's only been a certain
(12:00):
amount of time during the year.But there are some benefits that kind of
counteract those arguments, are they not? Yes, there are so Obviously everyone
loves the swimming pool during the summer, So we want to cater to everybody
when we go and do projects forthe community. So we want to listen
to our community. The top threeor four items that we have consistently heard.
(12:22):
We are trying to address those withthe projects that we have going on.
So obviously, in aquatic center catersto a certain Not everybody in our
community uses the aquatic center, buta significant amount of our community and people
in the surrounding areas use our aquaticcenter. So we want to offer the
best and make it a very excitingexperience for people to come to. Our
(12:46):
other two projects are sort of different, so I think there's something for everybody
kind of going on in our communityin terms of the parks and wreck side.
But people love swimming, people lovepools, people love being outdoors,
and it's just like a key partof the summer here in Republic is the
Republic acquity sure and generates revenue forthe city, and the bigger it is,
(13:07):
better it is, maybe more peoplecome to it. So that's awesome.
You mentioned other projects, and Iknow that those are to the benefit
of the community as well, andnot just in Republic either. I think
if there's one thing that I've learnedbeing on the city council, it's confirmation
of something I suspected after moving hereseven or eight years ago, was that
(13:28):
Republic thinks and is physically situated ina place where the surrounding communities, including
the much bigger Springfield, benefit fromthe things that Republic does. And so
you mentioned other projects, and Iknow that those are public knowledge, But
if folks don't know what else ishappening here, because there's a ton of
stuff. Yes, sure, soon the parks and recreation side, which
(13:50):
is obviously where my knowledge is.So the Jereed Martin Park project, that
one Jared Martin Park is the siteof have a blast. We are doing
a major renovation project to that park. We will be putting in a large
plaza space a farmers market pavilion.We really wanted to bring large farmers markets
(14:11):
to our community. We already haveone that is on Thursday evenings operated by
a separate committee, but we're excitedto work with them and bring a large
farmers market to Republic once that isbuilt additional playground elements. We've put in
a grant for an outdoor classroom thatcould potentially be part of phase two of
(14:31):
that project. So really excited toget that one going. Jarre Martin Park.
Like I said earlier, it's centercity, it's the hub of our
community. It's everybody knows Jarre MartinPark, So we really want to make
that a special space, a gatheringspace that republic is kind of missing right
now for community events, for farmersmarkets, for nonprofit organizations to host different
(14:52):
events. So we're very excited forthat. During the Christmas season, we
light that park up. We've beenbuilding that over the last two to three
years, but we want to goreally big with that once we have this
project done, kind of a lightj R. Martin Park, have a
walk through light display and all ofthis will play into that. The other
(15:13):
major project is our large our regionalpark featuring an athletic complex. That is
a big boy. That is ahuge project. Right now, we're focused
on these first two, but thatone we're hoping to kick off construction in
twenty twenty five with a late twentytwenty five early twenty twenty six opening of
phase one. This is the pointin the show where I turn to the
(15:37):
right and tell my son to stopplaying the drums. So I'm gonna do
that now, Hey, Bronson,you gotta be quiet. We made a
mistake last week and bought him areal drum set, which is these four.
And my wife is very much intofostering creativity and I am I'm going
(15:58):
to choose different battles than those.And so it's in his room upstairs,
which is good, but he doeshave it a little electric one down here
as well. And even though hehas headphones, right buddy, Yeah,
I could still hear the banging.We gotta be quiet for like another like
how much longer? About like twelveminutes? Okay? Hey, sounds good
(16:21):
though, constant encouragement here on iHeartthe Ozarks. Let's reset. My name
is Clint Gurley. This show iscalled iHeart the Ozarks. When I'm not
talking to my child off camera asit would be in this video chat joined
by Ashley and Jennifer, both fromthe Republic Missouri Parks the Department, talking
about a bunch of stuff, includingsome upcoming projects, community benefits, and
a giant Fourth of July party that'snot on the fourth of July, because
(16:44):
that's the parties at my house onthe fourth of July, but on the
thirtieth of June happening here in Republic. Ashley, I want to get back
to you quickly because how long haveyou been now with the Parks Department has
been nine months? Nine months,so you're quick end. But Jennifer,
You've been there for a really longtime, and something I've noticed getting kind
(17:08):
of an outside look in has beenyou guys seem to really hire within this
community, promote within this community.And people who are from Republic typically are
on you know, live and playand work within this community. But you
guys are seemingly just like we're goingto take care of people here, like
(17:29):
we're gonna be not looking for outsidehelp. Even with all these giant projects,
You're taking people from the community andyou're promoting from within. Why why
is that important for a community government, like like what you guys are a
branch of to do. And Iknow that's maybe a little lofty for a
show like this, but this isa community focus show, and I'm always
curious about, you know, theinner workings of how this stuff goes.
(17:52):
Yeah. No, so I candefinitely speak on that. I'm a Republic
native. I grew up here,I graduated from Republic High School. I
started working for the Parks and RecreationDepartment when I was fifteen as a gate
worker, and like you said,just kind of promoting within or whatever.
I've just I've worked my way upand now on the assistant director role,
(18:12):
and that's that's what I love todo. I love to help you know,
people starting even in those as agate worker, like you can become
We have an exceptional service training andI told them, like, you can
become anything you want to be herereally, So it's just an exciting place
to work. We have several employeesthat are from Republic, full time employees,
(18:37):
um. Others they're just from youknow, surrounding towns, so a
lot of a lot of local individuals. And we are we say we're that,
which I do believe. We arethe highest employer and Republic of high
school and college age individuals. SoI mean in our in the summer months,
at the peak of our operations,we have probably one hundred and fifty
seasonal employees. A large majority alreadyof those I call them kids because I'm
(19:02):
older, but a large majority ofthose kids are Republic students. So we
love that. We love getting themin here and letting them really become what
they want to be if they ifthey want to be something bigger and better
and stay on with us for many, many years. Lots of opportunities,
even not during summer months, Likesay, as we look and I don't
want to look. I don't wantto look past summer. I'm very much
(19:25):
enjoying the warm weather right now,but even past summer, when you get
into fall and winter, you guys, are you're available, right? You're
hiring still? Yes, we hireyear round for really in the off season.
Out of summer, it's a lotof our youth sports programming, so
referees, gate workers, concession workers, supervisors, and then we do hire
(19:48):
for various programs as well, butthe summer is really the bulk of when
we have one hundred and fifty employeeson board with us. But those that
want to stay on with us yearround, we will keep you and we
will know we'll find you something todo. And if someone wanted to get
information about maybe getting work in theCity of Republic or for the city on
(20:11):
specifically the Parks Department, where's thebest place for them to go to get
that info. So our specific websiteis Republic Parks dot com and we do
have a page on there with employmentopportunities, so they can always visit that
or just give us a call.What are you interested in? We'll get
you connected to the right individual withinour department to speak to and get you
(20:36):
an application and go from there.Awesome. Ashley and Jennifer from the Republic
Parks Department joining here talking about havea blast. We got about eight minutes
left and I want to make surewe touch on this again because it's coming
up soon, right Ashley, Yeah, we have like three weeks in a
day, so let's be here,So give me the full rundown here,
(20:56):
we'll reset and just kind of doit all over again. Okay. So
last is June the thirtieth at JR. Martin Park, free to the public.
So what that would include is we'vegot two bands performing on the main
stage. It'll be psycobiley Cadillac andmembers only. We'll have a few guest
speakers, and then we'll have nationalanthem performance and a ten pm fireworks display
(21:22):
awesome. We'll also have thirty plusfood vendors, and then we've got fourteen
nonprofit vendors, and then available forpurchase you can do the kids Zone,
which is the Thorny Ridge Exotic Zoo, and then our inflatables, and then
also for purchase, we're offering TommyHawks axe throwing awesome. Very cool,
(21:44):
and so the entire park just kindof taken over by this event. What
should folks plan besides maybe a coupleextra bucks for food and to get kids
into some of the extra kids thingsand axe throwing. What should people plan
to bring with them and maybe whattime should they plan on getting there if
they want to experience everything. Soevents will run from six to ten and
(22:06):
then ten pm will be the fireworksdisplay. Definitely bring some sunscreen. It's
gonna be hot. It was sohot last year, so I know I
burned a little bit. I'm sureeveryone else did, but yeah, sunscreen,
bring some water. I would bringa blanket or some cheers to sit
on, and then a little bitof extra cash for those add on activities.
I want to talk about. CanI talk about our fireworks for just
(22:27):
one second? Absolutely? No,no, no, no, because this
is obviously the focal point of thenight. Yeah. Yeah, So I
want to talk about our fireworks displaya little bit. We encourage you have
to be in the park to reallyexperience our fireworks show. It is a
pyro musical, so we actually plana soundtrack. We actually do it within
(22:48):
our department. We create the soundtrackand the fireworks are coordinated to that soundtrack,
and it is anything from We've gotsome Lady Gaga on there, We've
got The Weekend in there, We'vegot some cold Play, We've got some
Sam Hunt, We've got country.So you really have to be in the
park to truly experience that fireworks display, because the music just takes it to
a whole other level. It isan amazing show, awesome, and that
(23:11):
is totally free. You just showup and enjoy YEP and total community service,
which we love. You know,when we approached you all a couple
of years ago at iHeart about beinga part of this and just trying to
help talk about it and tell morepeople about it, it was because we
saw it it was such a neatcommunity event that one of the few things
(23:33):
you didn't have to pay a bunchof money to go be a part of.
And really in this instance, youdon't have to pay any to go
enjoy the fireworks. Should just goonto the park that night, and you
guys do a great job. Wehave never once gone and thought, nn,
this could have been so much better, Like you guys just do such
a great job with it. Soas frequent attendees who are and a lot
(23:56):
of our staff aren't from Republic,so they don't have a vested interests out
here. They're just blown away everyyear by what you all do. So
well done to you. I don'tknow if those words matter at all,
but well done it matters a lot. Thank you. Yeah, we think
it's great, So Ashley for allthe information about have a blast where folks
(24:17):
can go to get it before theyshow up, maybe even directions if they're
not familiar with Republic. Where's thebest place to get that info? So
they can go to our website formost general inquiries, but for something like
directions or something, just call theRepublic Community Center because that's something we can
probably give you a lot easier thanonline. But yeah, most of everything
(24:38):
online, or just feel free tocall the Community Center. What haven't we
talked about? Because I'm so badat this job, what haven't we covered
or talked about that you guys camein wanting to that we've just omitted.
Oh, I would say volunteer opportunities. So if anyone's interest invested in volunteering,
(25:00):
we're still looking for volunteers. Weneed a total of around fifty to
seventy volunteers to run the event.So um we offer two different shifts that
they can do. They can doa five forty five to seven forty five
or seven forty five to nine fortyfive or both. So that would be
something like, um, helping manyou know inflatables, or helping man one
(25:23):
of our beverage stations something like that. So um, all kinds of opportunities.
But yeah, we would love tohave people out there. They'll get
a T shirt, they'll get foodfor dinner and a drink. They'll get
kids own passes Little Caesar's Factors,so they'll get dilly bar from Dairy Queens.
(25:44):
So yeah, if anyone is interested, they can call the community Center
and talk to Casey Vineyard and shecan help you out and let you know
what we need. Okay, awesomeagain, Republic MO or republic Parks dot
org, Republic Parks. That'll takeyou directly to the parks page. So
for have a Blast information, youwant to go to republicmo dot com,
(26:07):
slash have a Blast or slash habeither one of those that you want to
use, and that'll take you directlyto the have a Blast page. Awesome,
Ashley Jennifer, thanks so much fordoing this show today. We're excited
about the event. I know thatthere's a ton of people planning on being
there, and so good luck witheverything because it's gonna get crazy. Thank
(26:29):
you, thank you so much.This show it's called iHeart the Ozarction.
If you're just catching maybe the littlelast few minutes of it and you want
to hear the entire thing, feelfree to go onto your iHeartRadio app and
search iHeart the Ozarks because not onlyis this show on there, but the
entirety of all of these shows thatwe run new ones every Sunday are there
as well. And there's some greatorganizations, not just you know, like
(26:52):
parks departments, but also some nonprofitsin the area as well as other groups
that are doing a ton of goodpro community And if you're looking, like
Ashley brought up Tavala tears somewhere orput a little Laughford money into there are
some great places there to do that. Just search iHeart the Ozarks on your
iHeartRadio app. For myself, ClintGurley, the rest of our staff here
at iHeartRadio and Springfield, thank youso much for listening. Have a great
(27:12):
rest of your day.
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