QIC: Polaroid
PAX: E85, Vanilla Ice, Bald Eagle, Rocket, One Star, Flying V, Pony Express, Stella, Othello, Button Fly, Break Room, Smashmouth, Good Lookin’, Black Lung, Buns of Steel, Polaroid
Polaroid welcomed the PAX to the 55 acre expanse that is the “wild and romantic” Elmwood Park. Opened in 1889 Elmwood Park is one of the oldest in the city. Mission Statement and Principles were shared as we set off on a mosey to the Grotto.
Warm’A’Rama
Tappy Taps x 12
Sun Gods x 10
Windmills x 10
Merkin x 10
The Thang:
The Grotto
In its early days, Elmwood Park was known for its natural mineral spring that bubbled water out of a hillside. The water was said to be cooler, tastier and more pure than the city’s water supply, and some thought it contained the power to heal. People flocked there to collect it in giant jugs. This practice slowed in 1947 when pollution became an issue and the water was no longer safe to drink. In 2000, the Peter Kiewit Foundation funded the refurbishing of the grotto. The renovation included bringing back a nature trail through the ravine, new concrete work, lighting and the removal of vegetation to make it more visible from the street. If you’re looking for a quiet place to read, think or enjoy the wonder of nature, stop by for a visit. For the low low price of $75/hr you can now hold your wedding here.
Step Ups x 20
Bropees x 10
Water Wheels x 20
Mosey to 5912 Leavenworth Street followed by Mosey to original 1st tee box.
Golf
First proposed in 1909, the city recreation board approved construction in 1915 and the 18-hole course, designed by Happy Hollow Club professional Charlie Johnston, opened the following summer.
The course measured 4,869 yards with par of 76 — 40 on the front nine with a par-6 seventh hole and no par 3s on the back.
“I hope you will remember that this is a public park as well as a golf course and if picnic parties happen to run across the course when you are playing don’t lose your temper,” Parks Commissioner Joe Hummel said on opening day.
Elmwood’s clubhouse wasn’t inside the park at first. Golfers bought and remodeled a house at 5912 Leavenworth (still standing) in 1916. They installed 100 lockers and six large showers.
Bear Crawl to First Cone – 18 Merkins – Mosey Back
Bear Crawl to Second Cone – 18 LBC’S – Mosey Back
Bear Crawl to Third Cone – 18 Groiners – Mosey Back
Mosey To Monument – BASEBALL
In 1927, the Omaha Amateur Baseball Association spent $3,500 for the first monument given to the city, in recognition of the city’s support to the sport. A life-sized bronze statue of a baseball player, said to be modeled from the swing of batting champion George Sisler, sat atop an 8-foot tall granite base.
The figure drew widespread ridicule. World-Herald sportswriter Robert Phipps in 1942 wrote that no one knew whether the statue was a right- or left-handed batter; whether it represented a hit or strikeout; or who famous player the statue represented, and if it were Sisler, he “would shoot anyone with that kind of swing.”
Known derisively as Bosco, the statue went into the World War II scrap drive in 1942.
The base of the monument still stands in Elmwood — and inside should be a copper box containing the names of 37,891 amateur baseball players and others from the baseball association’s first 14 years of operation.
Seven of Diamonds : 7 x Burpees
Monkey Business
Monkey Island opened in July 1933. After seeing monkeys in Minneapolis, Parks Commissioner Frank E. Frost spent $901.43 for a 20-by-40-foot island guarded by a 3-foot-deep, 15-foot-wide moat — because it was believed monkeys wouldn’t cross the water.
But rhesus macaques will.
It only took one peanut, tossed to “Jim,” the oldest of the 10 primates relocated from the Riverview Zoo, to show the moat was too shallow. Jim waded to the shore, to the wire-fence enclosure, and the other nine followed.
Several more escapes ensued. One rhesus macaque was on the loose a couple days until found on top of a chimney at 6705 Dodge St. Frank Frost seriously thought of placing alligators in the moat to keep the primates at bay. A deeper moat and a stronger barrier were the solutions until the colony was returned to the zoo after three years.
Howling Monkey’s x 5 (Circle with each leading)
Monkey Drill – Slides with Palms to the ground
Monkey Jumper’s x 20
Omaha was called at 6:09 and we mosey’d back to the flag.
COT: Honor Tradition and History while Embracing Change
Polaroid closed in prayer.
