Bellevue has a fun and informative way to beat some boredom this summer.
Bellevue’s Summer Bucket List kicked off Thursday and offers a way for families to spend some time having fun and getting to know their neighbors and city officials better.
The bucket list, which the city’s marketing and communications director, Melissa Morandi, told LINK nky was the most successful program they ran all year, features a literal bucket that families can pick up, full of DIY activities and information on the program’s events.
Morandi said he came up with the idea when driving her kids to daycare, she was trying to come up with a family bucket list and “most of the things on our bucket list seemed like they would be in Bellevue. So I got this crazy idea. I’m like, ‘what if Bellevue had a bucket list?’”
She said Mayor Charlie Cleves was immediately on board, and then they were able to get the police and fire departments plus public works and other community leaders and business owners, to join in on the fun.
“The public really enjoyed getting to know the community leaders in such an approachable way,” said Morandi.
Bellevue-Dayton Fire Chief Brent Schafer, who also dresses up as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny for the city, told LINK he enjoys getting out in the community.
“Anytime we get out in the community, we just love it, because nobody calls the fire department on their best day ever,” said Schafer. “So it’s nice getting to see somebody when you can be lighthearted and not as serious, and on a more positive note than when we would normally see them.”
During the “Lunch at the Firehouse” bucket list day on June 18, attendees get the chance to check out the firehouse and see some of the trucks.
“We just enjoy sharing our house,” said Schafer. “We’re proud of showing it off and letting people see what we have and how we live and what we do.”
The bucket list has three non-event activities that can be done all summer: the “Park Hop Until You Drop Family Scavenger Hunt,” the “Bellevue’s Little Library Crawl” and some rainy day activities.
The program will host thirteen events around the city.
The events range from popsicles with police to a book bus tour and petting zoo, plus a riverboat-themed farmer’s market, a visit from The Cincinnati Observatory, and more.
This year, Morandi said they are adding some events for seniors, including a concert in the park and a picnic.
“We thought it would be fun to expand it, because a lot of kids, their grandmas or grandpas would bring them to the event while their parents are at work,” said Morandi. “So it’ll just be a little something for everybody this year.”
Morandi works diligently to market her community. She and Cleves have put together a marketing initiative that capitalizes on everything from the Taylor Swift Eras Tour coming to town to an eclipse watching and cocktail sipping party and more.
While these are great for the city, things come at a cost and Morandi said that for the bucket list program, a lot of what they’re putting on comes from sponsorships.
Fessler’s is sponsoring pizza for the “Pizza Party in the “Park,” Gold Star is giving the first 100 people who come to “Lunch with the Police” a free lunch and The Pretzel Place is providing pretzels and tea for “Tea Time with Tom.”
“We have a lot of partners that help us make this possible,” said Morandi.
Last year was the first year of the bucket list, and Morandi said they were shocked by the participation.
“We just had such a good response to our kickoff event last year,” said Morandi. “We didn’t know what to expect, so we bought 100 buckets, and we had over 300 families come to that event, so we had to quickly restock.”
This year, they’ve started with 300 buckets and will plan to have more available at locations after the kick-off event.
Morandi said this time around they’ve worked to include all the public works because “the public really enjoyed getting to know the community leaders in such an approachable way.”
They’re also including a few things requested by the community, such as a movie night at the beach park, which Morandi said has happened in the past, and people were hoping to get back.
Buckets can be picked up at various places and times. Find out where you can pick up bickets and get more information about the Bellevue Summer Bucket List and keep up with all the city’s events by following their Facebook page.