Marion Park is one of the (or maybe the only) parks in Glidden, Wisconsin, but almost certainly the…read morelargest one. I'm part of a large family on my mom/maternal grandfather's side (there are 43 in my mom's generation; adding the rest of us beyond her generation, there's over 250) so when her cousin decided to plan a reunion, we needed a large spot to gather. Although Glidden is middle of nowhere, Northwoods Wisconsin, it and the surrounding tiny towns where my grandfather and his seven siblings grew up (and where he met my grandma, but I digress). There are several who have never been up here--I visited about a decade ago with my mom and her aunt on another far north tour--but my sister, as well as the Texas group, had never been to the area and I'm glad we did it here. Marion Park has a lot of space, including a large pavilion right in the middle where there's plenty of space for tables, food, and so on. They had it set up with a little bar area, tables for food and then for sitting, an area where there was a table set up with a huge family tree, and there was also a stage on one end of the building.
The pavilion was built in 1938 as part of the WPA projects. As mentioned it's a very large octagonal building, domed, with no interior supports so it's an uninterrupted open space. There are sets of doors spaced around the entire perimeter--probably at least 6 sets of doors. Wooden bench seating spans the entirety of the wall along the interior with the exception of where the stage is located. The building is a great place for community or private events, like bingo, roller skating, dances, and so on.
Besides the pavilion, Marion Park has several other structures--not sure what they're used for but they must have some sort of town fair or something because they have various outbuildings and backdrops and stuff. There's a covered picnic grove with like 30 picnic tables. There are bathrooms with running toilets (thank god), but they don't have soap in them so be sure to bring your own! And I also learned there's a kitchen, which is where my mom's cousin and her daughters prepared most of the food that we ate for the weekend. In talking with that cousin I was astonished to find that the rental of the place was $600 FOR THE WEEK. The cousin was told she could pick up the keys one day and return them the same day a week later. That's truly astounding, an incredible deal. We were the only ones here even though the park allows for free camping all year round. We even were able to have use of the baseball field across the street because the Orioles, Glidden's baseball team (part of the Wisconsin Baseball Association) were not in town that week. There was plenty of space for a softball game in the field, but in the park itself there's a small playground, room for the bean bag tournament that some of the family participated in, outdoor bingo, and just visiting and meeting members of the family we didn't know.
This place was built when my grandparents and their natal families still lived in the area as teens and older, and I have to imagine that some of them attend events here. I wish I could step back in time to know what they got up to here. My mom said she remembers going to the carnival here, though I'm not sure about that! But it was really cool to be able to spend some time here with my grandfather's only still-living sibling (she's younger than some of her nieces/nephews, as at least three of her siblings were in their 20s when she was born) and feel part of a large family briefly, even if many of the folks I won't encounter again. And to see a bit of family history at the same time.
