POLAND — The township park had a busy 2023, and park Manager Ken Filicky is looking forward to carrying the momentum into the new year.

According to Filicky, three major projects were completed last year: the sand volleyball court, the cornhole court and the bocce court. The latter two are open year-round while the volleyball court is seasonal and is closed December through April.

The volleyball and bocce courts were paid for by Poland Township. The Gaga Pit was funded through a donation from the Dwyer family of Poland.

Besides the three big projects, the park saw many other improvements as well.

“We upgraded our electric service at the Oak Grove Picnic Pavilion with 10 more outlets and stadium lighting,” Filicky said.” We also purchased 126 tons of gravel for maintenance of our 1 1/2 miles of nature trails and special projects.”

To assist in the daily maintenance of the park, Filicky said the park acquired a new maintenance building with an electrical hookup and a John Deere Gator to assist park crews in daily maintenance.

“Poland Township police also use it in their patrol duties at the park,” he said.

On the conservation side, Filicky said a lot of work was done to benefit wildlife, mostly the bird population as the park has become a top spot for bird lovers.

“We are a birding hot spot for many local birding enthusiasts,” Filicky said. “Over the last 10 years, we have identified 189 species in the park. We are one of the best places in Mahoning County to bird watch.”

The park added 12 bluebird nesting boxes last year and placed eight bat houses and eight insect and bee hotels. The park is home to over 100 nesting boxes for bluebirds, swallows, sparrows, wrens and one special nesting platform for eagles. Birds in the park are fed from November to April each year.

Brush piles also have been set up in the park to provide a shelter for wildlife. Recycled Christmas trees help in those efforts.

The park also had an influx of trees planted in 2023 as 100 evergreens were planted around the park on Earth Day. The planting involved Serbian Spruce trees that are part of the forest restoration program. The trees were planted in the Bluebird Meadow across from the wetlands.

Besides trees, the park also is known for its flowers. Over the past several years the park has been developing a botanical garden and is continuing to plant daffodil bulbs. Each year since 2009, the park has planted 1,000 bulbs.

“To date, we have planted 17,000 bulbs,” Filicky said.

For the future, the park’s capital improvement projects include an expansion to the botanical garden, developing pickleball courts, constructing a pergola, adding porch swings under the trees at the Oak Grove Pavillion, building a preschool playground, a wildlife blind, establishing a warming station for the sled hill and additional nature and historical signage.

Another continuing program this year will be the memorial bench program. This program enables township residents to sponsor a park bench in memory of someone. To date, four benches have been placed at the park.

“The public has an opportunity to purchase a memorial bench that would be placed in the park,” Park Advisory Board member Laurie Fox said. “It’s a great way to honor a loved one while helping supply benches throughout the park. My husband and I donated one last year for our 50th anniversary in memory of my parents and his parents.”

The benches are part of a partnership between the township and Applegate Furniture in Canfield. The purchaser can choose the size and color of the bench to commemorate, honor and remember friends and relatives. An appropriate location in the park is agreed upon through working with park personnel. For information on the bench program, contact the Poland Township Government Office at 330-757-0733 or Applegate Furniture at 330-533-3464.

Filicky said seating also was increased in the park thanks to the assistance of Mahoning County commissioners, who provided four accessible picnic tables.

All these improvements from last year and the proposed ones for 2024 add to the attractions Poland Township Park offers. Township officials are very pleased with the progress of the park and continue to fund it each year.

Poland Trustee Eric Ungaro said the township has kept the same budget for the past 12-14 years as it averages between $7,000 to $15,000 per year.

“Obviously, during the COVID years we used a lot of the COVID money for big projects,” Ungaro said.

He said while the COVID-19 funds helped, it is more the partnership with youth sports, the schools, the public and private industry that has made the park what it is today. Donations and grants have supplemented the budget to make things happen at the park.

Ungaro attributed the progress of the park to Filicky, who he said is “a rock star of the park.”