Frigid temps prove too much for Bartlett parks barefoot fundraiser

Barefoot in the park? Maybe not this time of year.

Bartlett Park District Marketing Manager Stephanie Fitzsimons did what she came out for last Sunday. She stood barefooted in the snow, enduring single-digit temperatures to jump-start the fundraising effort to build an all-inclusive playground in the village.

She had about as much company as the Maytag repairman.

"It was a little too cold for people to come out today," she said afterward while in warm winter boots at Villa Olivia, a multifaceted facility with winter skiing. She said, though, that it hadn't been that horrible. "That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

Fitzsimons promoted the event as part of the effort to continue raising money to fund the building of a new "Free To Be Me" inclusive playground at Bartlett Park, 700 Bartlett Road.

Backers have raised more than $160,000 of the $800,000 needed for the playground that is meant for children of all abilities. And while it turned out not many people want to stand (or hop) barefoot in the snow on Sunday when the temperature is near zero, the fundraising efforts will continue.

The park district will have a wine tasting event, a turtle race and a twilight golf outing later in the year, among other fundraisers.

Meanwhile, Fitzsimons is encouraging donations of any size to Bartlett Parks Foundation, 696 W. Stearns Road, Bartlett, and asking people to post photos of themselves in the snow, using the hashtag #barefootsnowstand, or email photos to her at sfitzsimons@bartlettparks.org.