New Ulm Area Foundation Executive Director John Illikman, right, and past board president, and current board member Kathy Van Roekel, standing behind in sunglasses, present an $1,800 ceremonial grant check to Hanska Park and Rec organizer Rhonda Froehling, back middle in pink, and local youth at their park lemonade stand on Tuesday, July 21. (Photo by Amy Zents)

HANSKA — The New Ulm Area Foundation (NUAF) awarded an $1,800 grant to the City of Hanska to support its summer Park and Rec program for children.

The grant will pay for materials and supplies, including a new storage cabinet.

NUAF Executive Director John Illikman acknowledged, the program’s impact. 

“One of the things that our grants committee really liked when we read the application that Rhonda Froehling submitted was the goal, which is to reduce time on cell phones for the kids,” he said.

Kathy Van Roekel, board member and past president of the NUAF, which is currently led by board President Shannon Hillesheim,  said the grant will help provide materials for arts and crafts as well as other physical activities. 

“They do things like arts and crafts and physical activities out here, trying to keep the kids engaged in a variety of things throughout the day,” Van Roekel said. 

Rhonda Froehling, organizer of the summer program, said that the program makes efficient use of its resources, but the grant provides much-needed relief.

She said that a new cabinet was purchased to replace the old broken one so they have proper storage for materials.

“Otherwise, we reuse a lot of things, and make crafts from things in nature or recycle things,” Froehling said. “So it’s super cool, but you know, there’s still costs involved. So this helps them out with that right now.”

Froehling, who relies on her extensive background in child care and community volunteering to run the program, has organized it for the past 12 years. 

Her daughter, Kristi (Andersen) Loose, a current New Ulm High School softball coach and former teacher, started the program about 30 years ago at age 16 after presenting the idea to the city council. 

Froehling’s grandchildren, Casley (named after Caswell Park) and Talon (whose middle name is Adler, German for eagle,) were among the participants.

Froehling  took over the program approximately 12 years ago because her daughter was pregnant with twins and was placed on bed rest. 

When Loose was concerned about what would happen to the program, Froehling stepped in to ensure it continued.

The program runs five weeks each summer for approximately 20 days, unless there is a holiday on one of the four weekdays.

Sessions are held Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 

It is open to children entering kindergarten through 12th grade. 

Daily attendance typically ranges from six to 25 children, with roughly 35 unique participants this summer, many of them boys.

Activities include arts and crafts and ping-pong in the air-conditioned yellow building, kickball, capture the flag, gaga ball up on the bandstand, and playground games. 

Children earn stars for attendance that can be redeemed at a “Star Store” for small rewards, such as donated toys, including plushies.

On Tuesday the children operated two lemonade stands during their annual fundraiser. The first lemonade stand was set up for younger kids in front of the park and one for older ones a couple of blocks up along Boadway, a spot Froehling teasingly called the “busy corner.” 

Proceeds this year are being donated to Santa’s Closet and the Brown County Humane Society. 

The total from the lemonade stands came to $431.11

Zion Church in Hanska also contributed more than $200 through a “noisy offering,” a church tradition in which congregants drop loose change into metal buckets. 

“We also received a separate donation from our church, Zion Church,” Froehling said. “They had a ‘noisy offering,’ and all of a sudden, they donated, I think, around two hundred dollars that came from that.” 

This is the final week of the summer rec program and to cap it off, there will be an art showing.

Froehling said, “On Thursday, we’ll have a small art show from 10 am to 12 pm in the yellow building. The kids invite their parents, grandparents, or whoever they’d like, and they come in to be served a light lunch and show off their artwork.” 

Froehling, who also assists at the library and with other city youth activities, called the program “a beloved tradition.”

After the presentation the whole group present  of kids and adults shouted a big ‘thank you” to NUAF for their generous contribution.”

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