New picnic shelter dedicated at Rock Creek State Park

The family of Raymond Parker wanted to honor his memory by giving back to the Rock Creek State Park, the area in which he grew up. An avid fisherman, he spent a lot of time out on the Jasper County waters.

The family designated some seed money to help build a picnic shelter on the south side of the park in honor of Raymond and his wife Doris Parker. This started a project that took the Friends of Rock Creek State Park several years to bring to completion, according to the group’s treasurer Pat Patty.

On Saturday, members of the Parker family were on hand during the dedication ceremony at the newly constructed shelter. Larry Parker, Ray’s son, spoke in appreciation for the work done by the Friends organization to make the shelter happen, according to a press release.

Patty said with donations and grants, Friends raised in excess of $20,000 to purchase the materials for the project. The labor was donated by an anonymous contractor.

“What we ended up doing was buying a kit that was approved by the (Iowa Department of Natural Resources) and met their specifications. Then the contractor ran the footings and the concrete floor and put the kit up free of charge. All we had to do was buy the materials he used in addition to the kit,” Patty said. “It was wonderful.”

Before its construction, there was no shelter on that side of the park. The new structure is located near the south boat dock. A grill has also been installed near the shelter with two wheelchair-accessible tables and sidewalks for easy access. The structure is situated close to the water for a beautiful view of the lake.

“It’s lakeside. It’s very close to the water. It’s being heavily used,” Patty said.

All those who contributed to the project, in addition to the Parker family include: The American Legion Foundation, Friends of Rock Creek State Park, Grinnell College Foundation, James Joseph Harris Memorial, Jasper Community Foundation, Outdoors Without Boundaries and the Rock Creek State Park Staff.

The Friends of Rock Creek State Park has been working to improve the park since being established in the early 2000s. The south side picnic shelter is one of many projects members of the nonprofit worked to complete. They have helped raise funds to build a large shelter on the east side of the lake and add a universally accessible fishing pier on the west side. They also helped erect a bandstand near the north boat dock and concession stand. The bandstand features live entertainment every Friday evening from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The Friends groups have also worked on smaller projects around the park. Those include things like replacing the fire rings in the campgrounds, hosting clean-up days, establishing nature trails and helping collect redeemable bottles and cans from the camping area.

The nonprofit’s main goal is to simply help keep the park looking its best and helping it continue to be one of the most visited lakes in Iowa.

“We support the park staff in their endeavors. We plant trees with them,” Patty said. “We have written grants so that they could receive paint to repaint sign posts.”

Patty also said the group helps the Iowa DNR with their projects around the park. One of those includes helping with the movie nights the IDNR has established on Friday and Saturday nights at the campground.

“We have purchased the licensing for those movies,” she said.

The nonprofit will continue its work to help the park continue to enhance it features for park guests. For more information about the Friends of Rock Creek State Park, visit its Facebook page, facebook.com/pg/rockcreekstatepark.

Contact Pam Pratt at 641-792-3121 ext. 6530 or pampratt@newtondailynews.com