Crown Point Community Library welcomed families from across the city on Saturday when it hosted one of its biggest events of the year, “Hole” Lot of Fun! – a minigolf “fun”draiser on Saturday April 5.
The first library mini golf event was held in 2013, and features 18 holes designed by local schools, businesses, and the library staff, as well as a 19th Hole: Family Fun Zone containing snacks, mini-games, and other activities. Families packed into the library by the hundreds, with the library anticipating between 500-600 participants on the Saturday event. The "Fun"raiser is an entertaining day, but it has a serious goal to raise funding for two years of library programming for all ages, other library special events, and outreach activities.
“Although it is a huge undertaking, this is one of my favorite days,” Julie Wendorf, Director of Crown Point Community Library, said about "Hole" Lot of Fun. “It’s lovely to see the kids running around, exploring the library, golfing, and just having fun. More importantly, in a time where library funding is challenged at the local, state and federal levels, fundraising events like this one will become even more necessary to maintain the level of service and events that our community expects from our award winning library.” Wendorf shared that the day wouldn't be possible without the extraordinary library staff that help transform the library into a golf course.
Families started their day at the library by selecting their golf balls and putters, with plenty of colors to choose from. Then, they took a trip upstairs to find the first golf hole where Dolly Parton (a cardboard version of her, at least) greeted them highlighting the library's partnership with the Crown Point Rotary to provide access to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program. At another hole, the Crown Point Lions Club highlighted the work they do in the community showcasing their work collecting used eye glasses.
One of the things that make the event special is many Crown Point Community School Corporation elementary and middle schools also contributed to making the golf course a lot more fun. The schools' holes were decorated with kid favorite book characters or book series including Dogman, Creepy Carrots and Creepy Underwear, the Lorax, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and related books, and the classic Harold and the Purple Crayon. “This event is amazing. Getting kids to read is my number one goal in life,” Angie Ogrentz, Media Specialist at Eisenhower Elementary. “When they see all of these books come to life at these golf holes, it just brings me so much joy.” Some of the schools were inspired by other kid favorites like Pokémon and Willy Wonka. Wheeler Middle School used their one school/one book We Dream of Space for its hole's inspiration. "Part of the magic of the event is the collaboration between the Crown Point Library and its community schools for a mutually beneficial event. Participating schools receive a donation from the Friends of the Library for the purchase of books for their school libraries with the top 3 vote getters getting additional prize money." said Julie Wendorf. She also shared that the event takes place in April to celebrate both National Library Week and National School Library month. “It’s great to see so many families come out to the library and have an interactive day,” said Cassidy Niewiadomski, Reference Assistant at the library. “It’s great that they get to see the whole library. It’s different from a lot of the events we do, and it’s really hands-on. They get a taste of all our different departments.”
Parts of the golf course were created by library staff and featured Alice in Wonderland, Candyland, and the Peanuts gang. While other holes were decorated by some of the event's largest corporate sponsors including Ozinga’s construction toy-filled course sporting one of their signature Ozinga toy concrete trucks and Shirer Insurance Services sporting the familiar Flo from Progressive Insurance and Garfield. Other sponsors included Arctic Engineering, Bloom Boutique Salon, Centier Bank, CertaPro Painters of Northwest Indiana, City of Crown Point, Crossroads Chamber of Commerce, Crown Point Chamber of Commerce, Geisen Funeral Home, Julie Wendorf, Lake County Historical Society, Liss Carstar, Novel Neighbors Book Club, O'Drobinak & Nowaczyk, On the Go Therapy Mobile Massage, Peoples Bank, Professional Building Services, Purdue Federal Credit Union, Tavern on Main, Tri Electronics, Wallace Consulting. "We are very thank for the many sponsors as it represents a large part of the fundraising efforts." shared Wendorf.
This is the first year that the mini-golf fundraiser is a multi-day event. On Friday night, the library hosted an event for adults over 21 called Puttin’ Through the Stacks. It featured food and a cash bar provided by Tavern on Main. Attendees snacked on items ranging from buffalo chicken dip to Italian meatballs. They also got to see a demonstration of some of the programming funded by the event, including the Charlie Cart, the library’s mobile kitchen. “Our culinary programming is for all ages, from the youngest toddlers to adults,” Wendorf said. “Our culinary programming teaches math skills, early literacy skills, and culinary literacy skills. The mobile kitchen makes it allows kids learn how to make bread and try new ingredients and foods. I’ve seen toddlers make guacamole and sample ingredients. Recently adults attended a program on Super Bowl snacks and dips. Some of the funding from today will go to funding our culinary programming.”
The library also hosted Putt & Play: Special Edition on Sunday afternoon. It was a sensory-friendly and accessible experience, designed to ensure no one missed out on the mini-golf fun. The mini golf course was much quieter on Sunday and had the lights lowered. Many families with children with mobility and sensory sensitivity were very appreciative of the opportunity to experience the event with less crowds and stimulation.
Many sponsors made the weekend possible, including: CertaPro Painters of Northwest Indiana, Purdue Federal Credit Union, Centier Bank, the City of Crown Point, Levin Tire & Service Center, and more. The City of Crown Point also contributed by shuttling attendees to the library on its famed trolley, while Crown Point High School’s woodshop built the wooden courses used for the event years ago.
“Collaboration is something that’s really important to me. Last year we won the Indiana Library Federation Collaboration Award because collaborating with our community is what we do best,” Wendorf said. “Whether it’s companies, the city, or the other organizations, we love to work with groups to amplify what we do. Working together makes for better results, and this whole event is a celebration of our many partners.”
To learn more about Crown Point Community Library and its upcoming events and programming, visit crownpointlibrary.org.