Community Corner

St. Charles Woman Named Finalist in National Dog Park Contest

Susan Caraway is one of 12 people in who could win a $500,000 make over to a dog park near their home.

St. Charles resident Susan Caraway and her dog Sydney could help win a $500,000 makeover for a local dog park. 

Caraway is one of 12 finalists in a national Beneful Dream Dog Park Contest. The winner of the contest wins a $500,000 makeover for a dog park in his or her community. 

Caraway was researching local dog parks this summer in an effort to find one with a splash pad of some sort when she stumbled across the contest. Beneful has put in splash pads and other features in dog parks for previous winners.

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"It was so hot this summer," she said, adding that she couldn't find any sort of place to take Sydney where she could play in the water. 

Caraway submitted an essay that described how a makeover could benefit the community and was chosen from among more than 800 submissions to create a video. 

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In the video, Caraway talks about different ways to improve DuSable Dog Park, located in Ed Bales Memorial Park. 

The 2.5 acre park has off-leash spaces for both large dogs and small dogs. Caraway said there's plenty of space for various features in a makeover. She said she'd like to see patchy grass replaced with various play surfaces, a splash pad, hills and tunnels. 

The video and essay make up 80 percent of the contest. Public voting counts for 20 percent. Community members can vote once per day, per email address. Head here to vote. 

St. Charles Parks and Recreation staff members are spreading the word about the contest opportunity, in the hopes that DuSable Dog Park might receive a makeover. 

Currently DuSable Dog Park is one of just three dog parks in St. Charles County. Another is located at Broemmelsiek Park ,which is located off of State Road DD, in western St. Charles County. The third is at Quail Ridge Park, located off of Duello Road in Wentzville. 


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