By Andrew Walsh
awalsh@wbcowqel.com
It was none other than William Shakespeare who asked the question: “What’s in a name?” In the case of Galion it’s both a game and a group to support it. The name by the way is Galion Disc Golf.
This project was spearheaded by locals Nathaniel Shifley, Jeremy Makeever, and Councilman Eric Webber. It was this trio that laid the ground work for Tuesday night’s resolution at the Galion City Council meeting, and they were on hand to discuss some of the opening moves at Wednesday’s Parks and Recreation Committee meeting.
The three have been disc golf enthusiasts for some time, and Makeever reflected, “We were always going over to Bucyrus to play and thought, with all the reservoirs out there (Amanns and Amick), it’d be nice to have a course in town.”
So the three smashed their heads together and put together proposals for installing a course at the Amanns-Amick reservoirs.
The resolution from Tuesday night’s council meeting may not seem like much, but an official “show of support” from the City goes a long way toward legitimizing this project, and lends credence to the words of those working in its favor.
After providing a name for the group, the next item on the agenda was to discuss funding. Webber has done a lot of work shopping layouts and supplies for a course, and preliminary number of 24 holes was decided. By having this show of support, Galion Disc Golf is on much better footing as they look to the community for funding on this project. They have a sponsorship program drawn up whereby local businesses can sponsor holes and have advertisements placed along the course as a way of funding its construction.
Also in the finance realm, Parks and Rec Chairperson Shirley Clark described how a partnership with the Galion Community Foundation would work wonders on this front. This partnership would allow for transparency and centrality in the collection of donations, making sure everyone knows where the money is going in and coming out.
The projected cost of construction is currently estimated at about $15,000 to $16,000 This number would provide for the baskets/hole for each hole, as well as the sponsorship signage, and, in the second phase of the project, concrete “tee pads” for each of the holes. It has been gleaned from other course construction that the construction of the tee pads is best left until after the course has been played for year to see which areas of the course players naturally gravitate toward when playing.
Mayor Tom O’Leary was in attendance and quite high on the project. He offered some of his visions as to how this project, in conjunction with some others such as the cross country meets held at the site, could work together to provide and enrich the community.
“Improving the quality of life, in a community like ours, is what we’re talking about here,” O’Leary said.
The committee scheduled an open forum for 7 p.m. March 12, in Council Chambers to give community members, local businesses, and anyone interested in the project to hear and provide input about what potential this has for the community.