The heavy lifting for ornaments and decorations at Enchantment in the Park are now in place thanks to a group of volunteers who have been involved in the initial setup the past 10 years.
Dan Geiser, 29, is a 2005 graduate of Random Lake High School. He flew in from Oklahoma to help. “We’re the heavy equipment and muscle,” he said with a bit of a southern drawl.
Geiser and his team say the set up normally gets easier every year because they’ve found a way to perfect it. “We’re more organized and we label things now so we’re not running around looking for pieces,” he said.
On a sunny, Saturday morning the fellas gathered at Regner Park just behind Carl Kuss Field.
Clay Schneider, 26, is a 2009 graduate of Random Lake High School. He comes in from Fredonia to help with Enchantment. “This is fun for us,” Schneider said. “It’s like a man’s weekend out.”
The Schneider team of Joel, Clay and Grant were joined by Kenny Morris, Lloyd Reams, and Jim Fleming to put up the big archways at the entrance to Enchantment.
Joel Schneider with SEEK Careers and Staffing said getting together with the fellas each year means a lot and combined with the volunteer effort, it couldn’t make for a better weekend. “This is for Rotary and we like doing stuff for the community,” said Joel Schneider. “Mostly this is the same crew of 10 or 12 and we’ve been doing this since the event started at the Fair Grounds.”
This weekend Slinger High School Skills USA and volunteers from St. Luke’s Hospital will be putting up the mega trees behind the beach house. The trees are 25 to 30 feet tall.
Kat Trago and her team will also be putting up the 1900’s village. They donate the funds from their work to Molly’s Mission at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Tuesday, Oct. 18, the West Bend Fire Department will put up the wall to the Santa area.
Each year more than 5,100 volunteer hours are invested at Enchantment in the Park as local Rotary and Kiwanis groups team up on the holiday light display.
The annual event at Regner Park raises money and donations for area food pantries.
Enchantment in the Park is powered by Westbury.
