Cyrkiel’s civic engagement leads to flourishing Tag-A-Long Dog Park

The Tag-A-Long Dog Park at 605 Michael St. is a product of volunteerism around Morris, first springing up as a Girl Scout project from Emily Lamaze before it took on a life of its own, becoming the pet project of Jerry Cyrkiel.

Cyrkiel, a U.S. Army veteran who served in the 1970s, said the real credit for improving the dog park goes to the surrounding community. He just happens to be the person who enjoys talking to elected officials and people in charge of decision-making like Morris Elementary School Superintendent Shannon Dudek.

“They want improvements,” Cyrkiel said. “They want things done, but nobody wants to meet with the city and make the proposal. The most they can say is no.”

It started in the winter, when daylight becomes shorter so people at the park wanted lights. He spoke to the city of Morris but it as deemed too expensive for the city do on its own. So, Cyrkiel went to Ayers Electric and asked them for some old light poles.

Ayers donated the light poles, and the city of Morris had the LED lights, and Grundy County Concrete donated the concrete. Then Cyrkiel, along with his friends from the dog park, kicked around the idea of putting some shelters in the park for the hot days when the sun gets to be a bit much.

The Lions Club donated $500 for the lumber, and Grundy County Concrete again stepped up to provide the concrete. The city provided the labor.

“We have people come from as far east as Tinley Park, as far north as Yorkville and as far west as La Salle-Peru because it’s a wonderful dog park,” Cyrkiel said. “Morris is a good town to come visit while you’re here.”

Cyrkiel spends much of his time at the dog park with his four-legged children, two Shiba Inu named Libby and Saki. He joked that the people at the dog park know each other more by their dog’s names than their own names.

The dog park isn’t the only place Cyrkiel’s influence can be seen: He approached Dudek several years ago about potentially bringing an air asset to the school district for a landing, so the kids could see what it’s like. What Cyrkiel had brought in, thanks to contacts within the military, was a Black Hawk helicopter. He’s done it multiple times now, including near the end of the 2023-24 school year.

“I thought it would be an incredible opportunity for our kids to see something both really cool and acknowledge that there’s some really great things happening with our military and our veterans,” Dudek said. “I really underestimated the impact our kids were going to have on the veterans who came in the helicopter, too. It was cool to see the helicopter land, and that’s neat, but the veterans stuck around the school and interacted with the kids all day. It was neat to see them talk and how the kids could get a sense of the pride the people who protect us have.”

Dudek said Cyrkiel is modest, and not one to self-promote. He made sure everything was done correctly because that’s how he is, and that’s the expectation in the military. Dudek said by the end of the day, Cyrkiel didn’t want any recognition. He just wanted the kids to enjoy it.

“It says a lot about his character,” Dudek said. “I’m glad we’ve been able to partner on this over the years and become really good friends. I have a lot of respect for him as a veteran and what he’s doing for our community.”

Dudek is an Army veteran, as well, and he said Cyrkiel embodies the selflessness required to be in the military. Dudek comes from a military family with three siblings that served and a father who served, and he said it’s in the fabric of the families that it’s not about notoriety or attention.

“I’m embarrassed whenever my wife wants me to stand up at church when they ask veterans to stand,” Dudek said. “I don’t need the attention, but Jerry gave me a good comment one time. He told me when you’re standing, you’re representing the other veterans who can’t, who don’t have the chance to be and feel proud. That’s kind of our duty, is to do those things.”