Friends of Carlisle Parks

10/29/2026

Swing out to North Park on Saturday at 1 pm! Lots of fun things happening!

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Early this summer, the Carlisle Parks department was awarded $35,000 in a grant from the Iowa DNR Urban Forestry program. This program will help Carlisle address numerous failing trees in North Park and support replanting of nearly 30 trees over the next few years! The first phase this fall/winter will include the removal of 8 trees and planting of 5. Join us for our tree planting day on Nov 7th at 1pm and some fun nature themed activities! We hope to see you there!

10/14/2026

🎃🍁 ONE BIG DAY OF FALL FUN IN CARLISLE! 🍁🎃

Mark your calendars for Saturday, October 24th! Our community is coming together for a FULL day of family-friendly activities, and you won’t want to miss it! 🧡

From farmers market shopping and PumpkinFest festivities to hayrides, s’mores, and a little Carlisle history, there’s something for everyone!

🛍️ 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM | Carlisle Farmers Market
📍 Morning Glory City Parking Lot – Downtown Carlisle

It’s the LAST farmers market of the season! Come support our local vendors, shop your favorites, and enjoy the festivities downtown!

🎃 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM | PUMPKINFEST
📍 Downtown Carlisle
🏡 Hosted by the Carlisle Chamber of Commerce

Bring the whole family for an afternoon packed with FUN!

🍬 Trunk or Treat

🚂 Kiddie Train Rides

🎃 Pumpkin Painting & Pumpk

🥁 Parade & Marching Band

🎉 Food, Vendors & Entertainment

👕 Shop Local Shirts

🏆 Best Decorated Trunk Voting

Parade lineup begins at 12:45 PM on Wildcat Way at Carlisle Central School. Kids are encouraged to dress in their Halloween costumes and participate!

And the best part? PumpkinFest is FREE for the entire family!

🚜🔥 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM | HAYRIDES & S’MORES!
📍 Southridge Trail near Peoples Bank
🌳 Hosted by Friends of Carlisle Parks & Heart of Carlisle Hometown Pride

After enjoying PumpkinFest downtown, head over for a relaxing hayride and some delicious s’mores!

This event is a wonderful example of our community organizations and local businesses working together!

🚜 Friends of Carlisle Parks along with Killen Construction are providing the tractors, wagons, and fire to make the fun possible!

🙌 Heart of Carlisle Hometown Pride is providing volunteers to help families safely get on and off the wagons and assist everyone with making their s’mores!

🍫 Sinful Pastries has donated the supplies for the s’mores!
🌳Jenkin’s Garden Market is providing the set up for that perfect fall family photo! 📸

A HUGE thank-you to everyone helping make this FREE family activity possible! ❤️

🏛️ 5:00 PM | Carlisle Historical Society Annual History Program
📍 Randleman House

Wrap up the day by celebrating 175 years of Carlisle history! The Carlisle Historical Society will honor our community’s founding families, with the Carlisle High School Drama Club bringing stories from the past to life through reenactments!

🚒 5:00 PM | Pumpkin Carving
📍Carlisle Fire Department

🍂 ONE COMMUNITY. ONE SATURDAY. SO MANY REASONS TO COME TOGETHER! 🍂

We love seeing our local organizations, businesses, volunteers, and neighbors come together to create special memories for our community.

Friends of Carlisle Parks is excited to be part of the celebration, and we can’t wait to see everyone on October 24th! 🚜🔥🎃

❤️ Help us spread the word! SHARE this post, TAG your friends and family, and make plans to spend the day enjoying everything Carlisle has to offer!

09/25/2026

Make sure to stop by Scotch Ridge Nature Park after attending the Farmers Market, trunk or treat and all the great activities going on downtown Carlisle.

07/22/2026

💚 A Lasting Legacy in Our Parks 💚

Today, Friends of Carlisle Parks is honored to recognize and record the generous memorial donations from Kerri Warren and Krysta Wyckoff in memory of their mother, Esther Hertz Gooding.

Their family’s generosity has allowed us to order beautiful memorial benches that will provide a place for visitors to rest, reflect, and enjoy the beauty of our parks for years to come. One bench has been placed at North Park, while another bench and a matching memorial table have been placed at the playscape within Scotch Ridge Nature Park.

Memorial gifts like these create more than park amenities, they create lasting tributes that connect loved ones with places where families gather, children play, and nature is enjoyed every day.

On behalf of Friends of Carlisle Parks, thank you, Kerri and Krysta, for trusting us to help honor Esther’s memory. Her legacy will continue to bring comfort and enjoyment to our community for generations.

If you have ever considered honoring a loved one through a memorial donation, we’d be happy to visit with you about the opportunities available in Carlisle’s parks.

💚 Thank you to everyone who helps make our parks a place where memories are made and remembered.

07/04/2026

🌼 Keep an eye out during the parade… we won’t just be tossing candy! 🌼

Friends of Carlisle Parks will also be handing out pollinator seed balls—but don’t worry, we thought this one through! 😊

To help keep our community looking its best (and to avoid surprise wildflower gardens in parking lots and sidewalks), each seed ball has been placed in its own little bag. We did our best to make sure they don’t accidentally start growing where they shouldn’t!

So… what exactly is a seed ball?

A seed ball is a small ball made from natural clay, nutrient-rich compost, and a mix of pollinator-friendly wildflower seeds. The clay protects the seeds until rain softens it, allowing them to germinate naturally.

🌸 Where can you toss them?
• Your own flower beds
• Bare spots in your yard
• Along a gravel road or country ditch (where planting is appropriate and permitted)
• Around pollinator gardens or other approved sunny areas

Simply toss them onto bare soil, no digging required! Mother Nature will do the rest.

These little seed balls help provide food and habitat for bees, butterflies, and other important pollinators that keep our parks, gardens, and communities thriving.

We hope you’ll catch one, plant one, and help us grow a little more beauty throughout our community. Happy parade day from Friends of Carlisle Parks! 🐝🦋🌼

06/16/2026

🌿 A Lasting Tribute to Those Who Made It Possible 🌿

The Friends of Carlisle Parks are proud to share the newest addition to the North River Bridge at Scotch Ridge Nature Park recognition plaques honoring the many individuals, families, businesses, organizations, and community partners who helped turn this vision into reality.

What started as an idea years ago has grown into a beautiful destination for our community to enjoy, and it would not have been possible without the incredible support we received along the way. From donations and grants to volunteer hours and advocacy, every contribution helped bring Scotch Ridge Nature Park to life.

These plaques now serve as a permanent reminder of the people who believed in this project and invested in creating something special for Carlisle for generations to come.

The next time you visit the park, take a moment to stop by the bridge, enjoy the view, and recognize the supporters whose generosity helped make this dream a reality.

💚 Thank you to everyone who played a part in the journey. This park belongs to all of us, and your legacy is now forever a part of it.

05/14/2026

You’ll soon start seeing the beautiful flowers and hanging baskets around town! 🌸🌿

A huge thank you to our amazing volunteers who spent their time helping get everything planted and put together. Your hard work helps keep Carlisle looking beautiful all summer long, and we truly couldn’t do it without you!

We’d also like to give a special thank you to the City’s Public Works Department for helping get everything hung up around town. We appreciate all the work that goes into making Carlisle look its best for the community to enjoy! 💐

05/11/2026

WOW! Can’t believe it’s that time of year already!

Here is our summer watering schedule for the hanging baskets and planters around town!

We want to take a moment to recognize and thank all of our incredible volunteers. 🌸💧

Your time, dedication, and care help keep Carlisle looking beautiful all summer long. From watering in the early mornings or evenings to helping maintain the planters throughout the season, your efforts truly make a difference in our community.

Friends of Carlisle Parks is proud to provide and maintain these flowers and other beautification projects for the city, and we couldn’t do it without the support of our amazing volunteers and community members.

Thank you for helping make Carlisle bloom! 🌺🌿

04/19/2026

🌿 This is such an incredible opportunity for our community! 🌿

We love seeing items like this being offered through the Warren County Conservation Board. Opportunities like this give residents a chance to connect with nature, learn something new, and truly experience all that this park has to offer.

These are the kinds of initiatives that make a lasting impact encouraging outdoor exploration, supporting education, and strengthening our connection to the spaces we all share. 🌳

👏 A big thank you to everyone involved in bringing this to life. Your work continues to make Warren County an amazing place to live, learn, and explore.

Be sure to check this out and take advantage of everything our local conservation programs have to offer!

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01/25/2026

Thank you to Carlisle Iowa Parks and Recreation for collaborating with us to put on this event!