DIRECTOR REPORT DIRECTORREPORT
NOVEMBER 1 - 30, 2025
Lake Oswego Parks & Recreation’s mission is to Build Community, Enrich Lives and Care for the Urban and Natural Environment. This report is a look back and summary of operations supporting our mission and promise of excellent services to the people of Lake Oswego.
A Season of Collaboration and Community
The 61st Annual Tree Lighting Festival was a truly special community celebration and a powerful example of what makes Lake Oswego shine during the holiday season. In partnership with the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce, this beloved tradition welcomed more than 4,500 residents and visitors to Millennium Plaza Park for an evening filled with music, lights, and holiday cheer.
This event would not be possible without the incredible collaboration behind the scenes. Special thanks go to the Parks team for transforming Millennium Plaza Park with festive décor, lighting, greenery, and wreaths that brought the plaza to life.
NOVEMBER WAS FILLED WITH ENERGY, ENGAGEMENT, AND COMMUNITY SPIRIT ACROSS LAKE OSWEGO PARKS & RECREATION. PROGRAMS, PARKS, AND FACILITIES SAW STRONG PARTICIPATION THROUGHOUT THE SYSTEM, FROM MARKETS AND EVENTS TO FITNESS, AQUATICS, AND ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS.
Our events staff and volunteers worked tirelessly in the weeks leading up to the event and throughout the evening to ensure a safe, welcoming, and seamless experience for all.
Community Events
Lake Oswego Reunion Farmers’ Market: On November 22, a beautiful fall day in Lake Oswego we hosted our annual pre-Thanksgiving Reunion Farmers Market. Millennium Plaza was filled with more vendors than we’ve had in previous years, and market attendees were able to find all of the things they needed to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. We had fresh turkeys, bread, and breadcrumbs for stuffing, loads of fall produce, fresh cranberries, and so much more. We also had several artisans selling beautiful treasures perfect for holiday gifts. As always, the horse drawn wagon rides were a hit. Horse drawn wagon rides were sold out and participants enjoyed a leisurely ride through downtown. Overall, it was a very successful way to end the 2025 market season.
61 Annual Tree Lighting Festival: In partnership with the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce, the events team hosted the 61 Annual Tree Lighting Festival The event featured over 45 holiday themed vendors, food and drink, winery row, live music and caroling, reindeer viewing, letters to Santa with LOPD and visits with Santa. Santa was delivered by our very own fire department too. The festive music included performances from the Oregon Community Choir and Youth Chorale, Overbridge Jazz Band, Lakeridge & Lake Oswego High School Show Choirs, Dickens Carolers and Millennium Concert Band. Over 4,500 people counted down the lighting of the tree at st st 5:30 p.m. It was a wonderful community celebration to kick off the holiday season.
Luscher Farm
Greenhouse Repairs: Our greenhouse was previously a haven for all kinds of unwelcome pests A dedicated crew of volunteers, alongside farm staff, spent a morning rodent-proofing the interior perimeter of the greenhouse. A hundred feet of hardware cloth and 3 yards of gravel later, the greenhouse has been holding up against rodents interested in all the seedlings!
Holiday Wreathmaking: Thanks to an incredibly generous volunteer, flowers grown at Luscher are dried and used as décor in our Everlasting Floral Wreath workshop. Participants spent the morning building a wreath that is sure to be gorgeous for several years to come The leftover dried flowers from the class were used in gifts for Farm and Event volunteers: beautiful glass ornaments that showcase the vibrant colors from the farm.
Seed Starting for 2026: The seed starting planning team has already assembled and is preparing for 2026. There are a LOT of factors to consider when planning, especially if we are going to meet (and hopefully exceed!) our donation goal of 4,800 pounds in 2026. When planting, we also consider the needs of camps, classes, and field trips at the farm.
Holidays at Luscher Farm: The farm has been decorated for the holidays! We host several holiday events, including Gingerbread Workshops and Holidays Around the World camp. Thank you to the Parks team for putting the wreath on the barn!
Adult Community Center
Program Highlights:
Epidemiology of Gun Violence.
The Digital Dive - Spotting Scams Like a Librarian
Handcrafted leather goods crafting class
We sold 32 pumpkin pies.
Served 140 Thanksgiving lunches in our dining room with help from National Charity League, Starship Enterprise (City employees), and the Lake Oswego Police.
Trips:
A lecture at the Patricia Reser Center for Arts, with National Geographic Explorer Babak Tafreshi and the night sky.
Vine & Vibes: Two Bit Brothers at Aurora Vineyards.
Grand Holiday Escape, a trip to the Portland Holiday Market.
Human Services:
Class on stress and anxiety.
We took 19 older adults to shop at Hunger Fighters.
We served around 600 meals in the dining room in November.
Recreation Management
Active Net Training on Captivate - New Public Facing Registration and Activity App
Thanksgiving Holiday Hours Success at LORAC
Staff received video training from Active Network training staff on how-to’s for updating and entering information into the back end of the new app, Captivate It can be uploaded to iphones through Apple App Store and androids on Google Play Store. This ap connects directly with our members with custom push notifications right to their phones. Members can reserve classes, check into the facility and receive alerts. The ap also produces info on member analytics such as top classes, usage patterns and predictions for programs and insights to help drive our marketing strategies.LOPR maintains the app through our portal and updates can be added as needed. Look for future fitness challenges coming in the New Year!
CAPRA Update
In November, there was a conference meeting with IT team to plan approach and organization for placing CAPRA in Laserfiche for future reference
We are ahead of schedule for updating end of year 2025 documentation. We completed final edits and Director approval for 18 documents. Some of our documents in original form used Publisher templates and we are working on replacement of those documents in new program that will be discontinued at end of 2026.
For the first year in operations, the holidays are unpredictable for planning the LORAC building hours and activities Challenges are also staffing, as students are off from school but many vacation with their families, and the Oregon rainy weather for golf tee times. Our first Thanksgiving was busy with fitness classes, open swim with lots of families including children, and a constant stream of cardio and weight room users. Golf was not as busy due to rain and cold but there were some driving range customers. All in all, we closed at 2 p.m., the range balls were picked up by 3:15 p.m. and the last staff member was able to leave the building by 4 p.m. in time to make it home with her family for dinner.
Recreation Management
Deep Dive FY 24/25 Presented at November Parks Board Meeting
November marked the end of year for FY 24/25 Department financials. At the Parks Board meeting, the annual report was presented with information about the Departments overall standings. The report serves as one of the Department’s key performance indicators and includes financial data for each of our divisions. The goal of the presentation was to provide a snapshot of how the Department is performing within the financial and budget framework. By examining performance across divisions and connecting those results to property tax support, the Deep Dive illustrates both how each recreation area is performing and the overall cost of Parks & Recreation services to the average Lake Oswego homeowner. The end result is that Department costs each household taxpayer an average of $724.50 for FY 24/25 and that amount includes new Divisions operations of Aquatics and the new LORAC. It was the year that startup costs, including newly hired positions affected expenditures. It is expected that revenue generation from LORAC and Aquatics programming will help to narrow the gap between expenses and revenues for investment and bring cost recovery percentages will increase.
The Capital Improvement Plan information was also presented Information on selection criteria for projects, completion of bond project updates, and in-progress funded projects was discussed. Also presented was information about the unfunded long list of projects and the demolition tax projects that have been completed and are planned for future.
LORAC Recreation & Aquatic Management
Aquatics Superintendent Report:
November was a productive and steady month at the Lake Oswego Recreation and Aquatics Center (LORAC). Operations remained stable, key maintenance projects progressed, and staff prepared for the upcoming holiday season and winter programming.
We operated with modified hours on Thanksgiving Day, with the building open from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and on-call coverage from 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. to support the golf course. The day after Thanksgiving also followed a modified schedule, with building hours set for 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on-call coverage from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. to support both the building and golf operations.
Routine facility upkeep continued without major disruptions, and preventative maintenance tasks were completed on schedule.
Water polo season concluded with strong results: the Lake Oswego High School boys team took first place in state, the Lakeridge boys placed second, and the Lakeridge girls team also finished second in state. With the season wrapping up, we have transitioned to high school swimming through mid-February. This change has opened more public swimming opportunities during evening hours, where availability had previously been limited due to
e Aquatics team held a Red Cross Water ety Instructor (WSI) course for six employees, enabling them to teach all lesson levels moving forward. In addition, staff hosted a lifeguard training class for eighteen new employees over Thanksgiving weekend. We anticipate these new hires will help reduce schedule gaps and expand available swim times
Enrichment
Fitness Programs:
We held free Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving fitness and yoga classes at LORAC that were a huge success!
Officially launched our Captivate App which has already proven to be an excellent tool for Member Fitness Class participants to manage their own schedules.
Most popular Specialty Series this month include Mobility & Fitness, Resistance Training and Strength & Balance, all of which are at capacity.
Our Winter/Spring 2026 Activity Guide that went to print offers over 50 types of fitness classes for our community
Teen Programs:
Teen Lounge hosted a Saturday field trip! Participants headed to Portland to participate in an arcade themed escape room! The 10 person crew escaped with seconds to spare!
The Lounge is doing well, we started a new collection of clubs for November and December, including the beloved cooking club. We also hosted a Star Wars themed Jedi Night which was a beloved event by all, including several parents who tried to participate in our lightsaber duels. The Lounge has started a hygiene station in both bathrooms. We are now offering single use hygiene products for visitors who may want or need to use them.
The Youth Action Council is busy!! After their October retreat they kicked into high gear to plan their activities for the remainder of 2025. First, they raised over $900 for the Covers for Kids Program that helps purchase fleece yards to make blankets for the Clackamas Children’s Center. The blankets get made in December at both high schools during lunch breaks and are then donated over Winter Break. For December, YAC has planned the Magpie Market, a holiday market geared towards tiny trinkets, collectibles, jewelry and more! The event will be held at Oswego Hall on Saturday, December 20 from 2-6pm and is a free, allages holiday market! Also on the docket for YAC – the YAC Book Swap in January and applications are open for the Outside the Art Room show in April!
YAC member Jashn Pande donned everyone’s favorite snowman costume –Olaf! – for the Annual Treelighting
Enrichment
Enrichment Programs-
Students in the Oils and Acrylics painting class as well as Beginner Watercolor class wrapped up the season with some beautiful paintings to take home! Both classes are taught by popular instructor Louisa Moutos who has taught for LOPR for 2 years!
Mr. Hoo gave his second performance of the year on Tuesday, November 18 –applause all around! Mr. Hoo plays monthly concerts for the littles in Indoor Playground, his next show is December 16.
Outdoor:
Hikes and Rambles hosted their annual potluck at CCP on November 18 . Over 70 people attended and celebrated another great year of hiking. We were able to honor some of our top hikers like Anne Sievers who went on 47 (!!!) hikes this year and hiked well over 200 miles as a part of the group. Anne is also a leading volunteer collaborating with staff to create a weekly newsletter for the group Thank you Anne and all other volunteers for making this special program function.
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Hikes and Rambles was able to provide 95 hikes to 1,073 participants for a total participation hours total of 6,301. All in all the program also generated 2,576 hours of
Parks Planning & Projects
CAPITAL PROJECTS
LORAC:
Ongoing warranty issues being tracked and resolved.
Released ½ of retainage to Triplett Wellman.
Continuing to negotiate with TW for settlement of Liquidated Damages.
Driving Range:
Security fencing to be completed next week.
Golf Course:
Finalizing contract with Geo-Tech consultant to determine if golf course ground water is going into cemetery. Ground water monitoring will take place throughout the winter to obtain data.
Oswego Hall:
HVAC under contract. Waiting for contractor to obtain required parts that are on order.
Willamette River Greenway:
LUA has been resubmitted for planning review.
Preliminary cost estimate by Paul Brothers Contracting to be prepared for comparison to the Engineers Estimate previously obtained.
Rassekh Park Phase 2:
The last element of this project still underway is construction of the on-site maintenance equipment storage building, which is estimated to be complete in late 2025 or early 2026.
Willamette River Greenway Trail:
A submittal for Metro Local Share funds for this project is being prepared for Lake Oswego City Council and Metro Council review and approval. The land use application has been resubmitted and is awaiting determination of completeness by the Planning Department. Per the pre-application conference, the land use application is expected to be reviewed under ministerial review and will not require a land use hearing or a formal neighborhood meeting; however, regular project updates have been shared with the Old Town Neighborhood Association (OTNA) board and the property owners along the easement throughout the process The project is expected to go to bid in late winter/early spring 2026 and begin construction in late spring/early summer 2026.
West Waluga Neighborhood Connector Trails:
This project, which is anticipated to be funded through the Metro Local Share program, is planned to be initiated in 2026 Based on recent feedback from the neighborhood and Friends of Waluga Park group, this project is expected to involve working with the community and a team of environmental consultants and landscape architects to identify multiple trail alignments that would enhance connectivity to and through the park while avoiding impacts to the highest-value habitats within the park’s natural area, and then identifying the highestpriority alignments for the neighborhood Staff anticipate being able to construct the highestpriority alignment using Local Share dollars; constructing additional alignments would require additional funds
Parks Planning & Projects
PLANNING AND POLICY PROJECTS
Luscher Area Master Plan Implementation:
Preparation of a land use application package including narrative, traffic impact analysis, local park master plan, a summary of feedback from local area farmers, and numerous maps and exhibits is currently being reviewed by City legal support and will be finalized in December 2025 Following submittal to and a determination of completeness by Clackamas County the application will be reviewed at a series of public hearings with the County Planning Commission, Board of County Commissioners, and Historic Review Board.
Parks SDC Methodology Update:
Parks & Recreation staff met with the consultant team to review the list of projects and discuss preliminary concepts for updating the methodology, including alignment with recently-adopted citywide housing studies and exploring a phased implementation strategy. The consultant team is updating the draft methodology and calculating preliminary maximum fees based on the adopted project list from Parks Plan 2040. Following this exercise, the draft concepts will be shared with internal staff from the Planning, Finance, and City Manager’s offices.
Tennis, Golf & Sports
TENNIS CENTER
Youth & Program Updates:
November continued the strong momentum of the Fall session. Class attendance remained steady across youth and adult levels, with instructors maintaining consistent lesson quality, even as we moved into the holiday week. ·Saturday youth classes concluded on 11/22, wrapping up smoothly with positive parent feedback.
All other youth and adult weekday programs continue into December.
Coaches remain aligned on weekly progressions, providing stability and continuity for players finishing out the session.
Leagues & Team Play:
City League and USTA fall league matches continue.
Winter 2026 teams: Interest tracking continued throughout November, with strong participation across levels.
Facility & Operations:
General facility conditions have remained reliable heading into winter Daily cleaning routines, court checks, and lobby upkeep helped maintain a consistent guest experience
Concessions Update: Wine was officially added to the LOTC concession menu this month Implementation went smoothly
Looking Ahead:
Planning for Winter/Spring remained a major focus as the month closed.
Registration & Communications: Winter/Spring program information is being finalized, with registration set for early–mid December. Front desk staff is prepared for increased inquiries as players plan their schedules.
Seasonal USTA preparations will continue into early December to keep team formation timelines on track.
Tennis, Golf & Sports
SPORTS DIVISION
Youth Sports:
This month, all sports youth classes concluded for the season. Skyhawks finished up with preschool football, preschool soccer, and preschool basketball, as well as youth volleyball and basketball for a total of 6 programs and 37 participants. Oregon Fencing Alliance closed their class season with 8 intermediate fencers.
Adult Sports:
LORAC Gym:
This month, we offered over 50 hours of open pickleball, 22 hours of open volleyball, and 20 hours of all other open sports. This resulted in open play sports for volleyball, pickleball, backyard games, and basketball having more than 200 players throughout the month. During busy times, the gym sees up to approximately 40 players at a single time, utilizing the portable pickleball net and every hoop. Gym staff reported that our Monday open play volleyball numbers have increased to an average of 30 players a night, with highest number of participants at 41. Whoo!
We concluded the Mixed 35+ division of Adult Soccer League with a total of thirty-six (36) 90minute games resulting in approximately 3,240 minutes played across the division. All 156 players finished the season with no forfeits and no cancelled games due to weather or otherwise. Our second season of Adult Basketball League (Men’s 18+) also concluded with 42 total games played across 87 players and 11 teams. This season, we introduced a forfeit fee to help decrease the number of forfeited games and increase the chances of all teams playing the number of games advertised, and it paid off well!
Tennis, Golf & Sports
GOLF
We reintroduced drivers to the driving range on November 1, amid concerns from neighbors about errant balls landing in their yards. As of November 25, our golfers have hit 91,360 range balls without one landing beyond the back net. That translates to 1,250 buckets of balls, and $12,148 in revenue.
Lake Oswego golfers booked 879 tee times in November, bringing $14,389 in green fees.
PICKLEBALL
This month we held 2 pickleball classes and 1 pickleball mixer event, totaling 8 hours of instruction and court use for 33 participants The mixer night was a hit as people were able to mingle and listen to music while playing. This was our last pickleball mixer of the year!
Parks
Department Highlights:
Staff focused their efforts of holiday lights and decorations display installations at Millennium Plaza, Sundeleaf and the LORAC. Ongoing holiday light monitoring, repair, and troubleshooting.
Park staff, Josh Burgess and Michele Thaete, attended a NRPA Certified Playground Safety Inspector Class, and are both now Certified Playground Safety Inspectors. Facility winterizing has been completed in various areas on irrigation, drinking fountains, and restrooms.
Parks:
Various electrical outlets were replaced at Millennium and Sundeleaf for holiday lighting needs.
Bucket Truck training while setting up wreaths at Foothills.
Two Roehr restrooms received fresh coat of paint due to extensive vandalism.
Daily pathway blowing and ongoing leaf control efforts in various park areas. Leaf mulch has been applied in various native landscape parks as weed suppressant, fertilizer, and to benefit wildlife.
Shrub bed maintenance including hedge trimming, deadheading, clearance pruning, and weeding, with perennials being cut back for the season. Winter pruning projects are starting in shrub beds and trees in various park facilities.
A new memorial plaque was installed on a memorial bench at Millenium Plaza.
Natural Areas:
Staff focused on blowing trails at various locations.
Staff assisted with a work party on November 22 . Over 20 volunteers planted camas at West Waluga. nd
Athletic Fields:
Staff posted and closed Westlake and George Rodgers park athletic fields to insure new growth in our natural turf for upcoming spring sports and activities.
Routine yearly maintenance has begun on our large and small area mowers and turf tractors to ensure they’re working properly for the next season in the spring Mowing and using leaves to mulch in our Parks and athletic fields.
Reservations:
We are currently in the winter field closure for natural grass athletic fields and ballfields (George Rogers & Westlake Parks) Fields closed on November 10 and will reopen the first business day in March (March 2) weather pending The East Waluga ballfields and Hazelia are currently open to reservations during the winter Requests to permit a field can be made on the loparks website and now on our new Captivate App.
Boy Scout Troop 127 is currently holding it’s annual tree sales at George Rogers Park. They are open W-F, 5-7pm and Sa/Su, 9am-7pm through December 19.
The next Special Event will be the Chabad of Lake Oswego’s Chanukah Celebration at Millennium Plaza Park on December 16.
Urban Forester:
Courtney Wilson, completed her first month as the city’s first Urban Forester. This is a shared position between Parks & Public Works. She has been working cross departmentally with parks, public works, and planning
Providing tree risk assessments, applying for tree permits, and tree construction oversight for public works. Was introduced to tree code amendment project.
Did various ride alongs with parks crew to become familiar with their work and the parks they maintain Attended a Heritage Tree dedication and the Lake Oswego Urban Forest Summit. Worked with city contractors on right of way tree maintenance.
Communication & Sponsorship
Social Media:
Park&NaturalAreaProjects
In November, Parks & Recreation’s social media efforts highlighted a wide range of events and initiatives, including First Sunday Markets, the Reunion Farmers’ Market, Lifeguard Recruitment, the 61st Annual Tree Lighting, Tree Lighting preparation, and the Hunger Fighters Collection Partnership. A total of 12 posts and stories were published, generating a combined reach of more than 64,931 accounts with Stories contributing significant additional visibility.
Website Management:
Maintained and updated the Parks & Recreation website with timely information, including park updates, upcoming events, project milestones, and pool schedules.
Email Communications:
Targeted Active emails were distributed to members and patrons for schedule changes, pool closures, and operational updates, ensuring timely and accurate communication.
LORAC Support Materials:
Continued development of facility support materials, including signage, brochures, digital assets, and print collateral to enhance member experience, promote programming, and support daily operations.
Community Inquires:
Responded to a high volume of inquiries related to the Lake Oswego Recreation and Aquatics Center (LORAC), ensuring community members received accurate, timely, and helpful information
Publications & Outreach:
Produced content for HelloLO and LODown, including the December insert.
Met with Bonnie to coordinate use of the FlashAlert system and website ticker for winter weather notifications.
Worked with Hunger Fighters to collect donations at LORAC.
Sponsorships:
Continued development and refinement of the 2026 sponsorship decks, ensuring updated content, accurate program details, and alignment with departmental goals.
Attended First Sunday with sponsors on site and also assisted with the 61 Annual Tree Lighting with day of operations and any on site logistics that were needed from event team.
Banners:
Partnered with FastSigns for the installation of new holiday banners throughout the city
Completed a post-installation inventory along Boones Ferry Road and A Avenue to verify placement, quality, and accuracy
Parks Board:
Attended the Parks Board meeting on November 19 and supported discussions related to upcoming programming, events, and communications.
