Neenah Memorial Park

This is try number 2 to post this blog. Last Sunday when I was writing this post I found that the SD Card that stores my photos had broken in my camera and all of the photos I thought I had taken had been lost. Please enjoy this post and remember the photos where taken this week but it was written last week.

So this week I decided to take a shorter walk. My foot is still recovering from a large blister earned at Newton Blackmour, and the out side temp was 5 degrees before the wind chill. So I took a short walk on the trails at Memorial Park in Neenah WI.

Key Features

• Sports facilities: basketball and baseball fields
• Playground
• Picnic tables
• Wheelchair accessible
• Dog-friendly

Review

While this was not the 9 mile walk I took last week, it still measured out to 1.33 Miles using the measuring tool on Google Maps. So it turned out to be a nice leisurely walk, if you ignore the wind chill. Wisconsin winters have become some what bipolar. Last week the temps were in the mid 40s. This week the temp was as I said 5 degrees but the wind chill made the temp feel like -7. So I have set the scene, sore foot and cold temperature and I still enjoyed the walk.

Memorial Park in Neenah, WI is a medium sized park set behind the Neenah Middle School. I went to school here when it was the Neenah high school. When I was at this school it was in two separate buildings. The Conant building and the Armstrong building were separate back then. We needed to cross between buildings for different classes. There were a few winters that we had which were very cold crossings.

I remember this park being the place kids would go to skip classes and smoke cigarettes, along with other things. In the center of this park is a wooded area that some of the trails run though. The woods was dedicated as the Swatscheno Nature Woods as the plaque indicates below. However a web search did not uncover the history of the dedication. This is where kids would hide and hang out. I always thought it was silly but that was along time ago.

Now the park is much more developed. A link has been created between the two buildings and the high school has moved to a new building. Many of the paths have been paved and more houses have been built up around the park. But that stand of trees is still there.

Yesterday I parked in the lot on the north side of the park off of Gay Dr. The plan was to walk the western path of the park down to Apple Blossom Drive then walk over to the eastern path to walk back to return to my car.

The walk south was not as cold as the walk north. The wind was at my back and the winter sun was in my face. The sun was still hanging low in the southern sky only two weeks after the winter solstice. Making positioning my shots more tricky than I wanted on a cold winter day. I took my normal shots of the trails and a few of the trees.

On the east west path at the south end of the park were dozens of trees with small red berries. These looked like wild cherries but due to them not being eaten, they may have been something else. So I took a few photos of them as I walked east.

On the south end of the park there are a couple of pavilions, a playground, sledding hill, basket ball court and baseball diamond. The wind really started to cut through my gloves so I decided to walk up to one of the pavilions and rest. The wind still coming from the north west I stood on the south side of the pavilion to block the wind and soak in some of the suns warmth. This is the one time of the year that I will stand in the sun and enjoy its rays.

After I warmed up a little I started along the eastern path again. Walking to the east of the trees I looked into the grove to see if there were any animals to photograph. And while I did see some animals it was just a couple walking with their golden retriever. I try not to take unsolicited pictures of people. Today it seemed that the wildlife were hiding in warmer spots.

Once I passed the woods and entered the northern area of the park, I decided the cold was too much and I was done with my walk. I cut across the field and returned to my car.

Neenah’s Memorial Park is much different today than I remember. Unlike the place for kids to skip school and smoke, its become more of a place for kids to have fun on play grounds. Two Base ball diamonds, a playground, generous parking and a Pavilion on the north side of the park.

This place is more to my family than that though. One of the baseball diamonds is dedicated to a man named Michael Wautlet. Mike was a dedicated husband and father of five. He coached middle school football, high school track, and refereed for summer softball leagues. However in 2007 he was cut down by a drunk driver while on his way to pick up his mother-in-law for dialysis. Mike should be here teaching his grand kids sports, instead we have a baseball diamond to remember him by.

So if you ever feel like taking a walk here please enjoy. And let me know what your experience is in the comments below. Thank you again for reading my blog. And please visit my merch site, link in the menu bar.