Geneva Park District Awarded For Santa's Special Delivery Program

GENEVA, IL — For the second time, the Geneva Park District has received an Outstanding Program and Special Event Award from the Illinois Park and Recreation Association. This time, the program recognized is Santa's Special Delivery.

As a way to safely spread holiday cheer, the program was created during the pandemic in 2020. Santa's Special Delivery was developed as a substitute for the park district's annual Polar Express event, which was canceled because of the pandemic.

During the five-night event, park district staff dressed as Santa and elves to deliver gift bags to families and take outdoor photos — families got a printed photo as well as a frame. The park district also partnered with Aurelio’s Pizza of Geneva to deliver pizza to families.

Each year, a public agency is chosen to receive the "Outstanding Program" award based on "outstanding and unique achievements in program development, implementation and special event planning," park district officials said in a news release Monday.

"The goal of Santa's Special Delivery was to bring a sense of normalcy during a time in which, truthfully, nothing was normal," Nicole Vickers, superintendent of recreation at the Geneva Park District, said in a statement. "At the Park District, we aim to provide an outlet and escape for our community. Our community members are used to coming to our facilities for various programs, classes or events, and since the pandemic made that impossible, it felt great to go the extra mile and provide safe programming directly to them."

Escape the Mansion — an escape-room-style event that took place at Madame Klara's mansion in 2019 — was the first Geneva Park District event to win the "Outstanding Program" award, received in 2021, district officials said.

The park district also received distinguished agency accreditation from the IPRA and the Illinois Association of Park Districts for the fourth consecutive year. The recognition, which staff announced in November, is for "exceptional" park and recreation services between 2016 and 2021.

"2020 was one of the hardest years we've experienced as a community and as a park district," Sheavoun Lambillotte, executive director for the Geneva Park District, said in a statement. "The Park District listened to our community and worked tirelessly to find ways to best support every way we could while also being safe during an extremely uncertain time. Creating Santa's Special Delivery allowed us to bring a sense of holiday spirit in a time when people needed it."