As Year of the Park continues, we will be documenting every park in Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy, Champaign County Forest Preserves, along with other odds and ends between July 2020 and more like August or September 2021. You can see what has been covered thus far by clicking here. If you have suggestions or ideas or feedback, feel free to contact us at info@smilepolitely.com.
NAME
Colbert Park
LOCATION
203 E. Church St, Savoy
Photo by Maddie Rice.
HISTORY AND FEATURES
This is Savoy’s finest park, and one that is worthy of commendation, indeed. The Colbert Family saw it fit to honor the legacy of their family members by helping to create a place that has lots for families of all kinds to do in all seasons, and that’s worthy of praise.
Like in a few other instances, my dear friends at Chambanamoms.com has already done the heavy lifting on really showcasing what the place has to offer, so let’s just link to their article about it and I’ll give my tired fingers a little rest instead of regurgitating a mildly plagiarized version of whatever it is Emily Harrington already wrote.
Have I told you already how much I appreciate that website? I am so serious when I state that it has been such a life boat for me and my family over the course of almost eight years of (pretty good but not always great) parenting in Champaign-Urbana, and I adore them for the work they put in week in and week out.
Hey, are you a business or organization that is looking for a lot of eyes on your interesting programming or cheeseburgers or whatever lessons you provide? Well, please consider advertising with them. They do such a great job at it, and trust me, the engagement is better than a wildly expensive billboard that distracts people from the road while they are driving or a spot on a Stevie Jay radio station where he will mix your promotion in with a side of racism and xenophobia. Stevie Jay is truly a bad person, it appears.
Trust me on this: Chambanamoms!
Anyhow, three cheers for Colbert Park! It has an awesome hill for rolling down in the summer and sledding in the winter. And I can assure you, it is a hot spot for teenagers to crush a few White Claws when none of us adults are watching. We used to crush Zimas at Hackberry Hill in Orchard Downs, and I bet a few years before that the kids were sneaking Bartles & James wine coolers at Cannonball Hill at Centennial Park. That’s what some rapscallion teenagers do around here: they drink bubbly fruity alcohol drinks lifted from a neighbor’s garage at hills.
This is our culture.
Photo by Maddie Rice.
ASSESSMENT
Look, I am on vacation for the first time in a very long time with some of my best buddies from growing up in Urbana. I can’t spend a lot of time on this today. My assessment of this park is that it is a pretty decent park. I like it. You should go there some time and roll down that big ass hill, or catch a few fish with a friend and talk about anything but politics or vaccination rates. You can do this. I can do this. I know it’s hard, but sometimes, we just have to talk about something else, like tacos, or the history of nachos in America.
Ohhhhh nachos. Thems are some good eatin’ in most any form they arrive!
Top image by Maddie Rice.