Page 7 - TR What Women Want May 2016

Sunday, May 1, 2016 • An Advertising Supplement to the Three Rivers Edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette • What Women Want • 7SS
“I made a brag when I was hired here. During the interview,
they asked me what I would do with my time here, and I said, ‘I want to put Jacksonport back on the map.’”
VICKY SCHOENEWEIS
PARK INTERPRETER AT JACKSONPORT STATE PARK
it’s railroading or medicine or poisonous plants or reptiles, or whatever it happens to be, so I am really good in trivia games,” she said.
She also works to engage the local community, and she has presented programs for various civic organizations, including the Rotary Club, the Kiwanis Club and the Lions Club.
“We really do want to do the best for our community as a whole,” she said. “Not just me, but as a park — we want to be a member of this community, and we want to contribute as much as we can to the community.”
She also works closely with the Jackson County Histor- ical Society, which will partner with the park for Arkansas Heritage School Days on May 5 and 6. The event will detail the art and science of 19th-century skills. Schoeneweis will demonstrate the lap loom, while others will demonstrate soap making, treadle sewing, hunting and trapping, toma- hawk throwing and more.
“Hopefully, the kids get a lot out of that,” she said. “The whole idea is to let them know that in today’s world, not everything comes from Walmart.”
Schoeneweis has a knack for connecting with the local community, office manager Sandra Jones said.
“Whatever project she’s working on, they seem to really want to help her,” Jones said, adding that Schoeneweis’ workshops have brought attention to the park. “It’s really in- creased our visitation numbers and our revenue numbers.”
One of Schoeneweis’ greatest contributions to the park is her positive attitude, Jones said.
“She is very upbeat. She keeps things lighthearted and fun,” Jones said. “We needed that energy that she brings.” Jones first met Schoeneweis during a guided tour at Mammoth Spring State Park and said she was
impressed with Schoeneweis’ program.
KELVIN GREEN/THREE RIVERS EDITION
After realizing she could not advance further as a park interpreter without a college degree, Vicky Schoeneweis attended Ozarka College before earning a Bachelor of Science degree in recreation and parks administration from Arkansas Tech University.
“She was passionate, she was animated, and I just wanted to know more,” Jones said. “You got just enough that you’re excited, too, and you have to know more.”
Igniting people’s interest is exactly Schoeneweis’ goal.
“I really am hoping to strike that little spark and get them interested in something, and maybe they can fan that little ember up into a flame,” Schoeneweis said, adding that both children and adults have told her that after attending her program, they wanted to be park interpreters.
“I think that I finally am actually putting Jacksonport back on the map,” she said. “That’s been one of the things that I want to do as far as the community.”
Schoeneweis is set to retire in four years, and she and her husband are considering moving near Historic Washington State Park, where her stepdaughter lives, Schoeneweis said, adding that she’s made many friends there.
For now, though, she is happy at Jacksonport State Park. It is quiet enough for her to listen to the music of the birds and frogs, and anytime she wants, she can sit on the levee and watch the sun go down over the White River.
“The sunsets are gorgeous at this park,” she said. “They look like fire.”
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