By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
A familiar face in Edgewood and Erlanger won’t be seen as much in the future, because Kim Wolking has decided to retire.
Kim’s family moved to Edgewood in time for her to start school in the sixth grade at Hinsdale Elementary, and to this day she lives in her childhood home in Edgewood.
She said she felt that it was time to take a step back.
“You know, I’m not getting any younger!” she joked.
Kim has twin daughters, Christine and Elizabeth, and Lizzy made her mom a grandma early this year, with grandson Brady arriving. Kim definitely wants to spend time with him.
So the stars aligned to help her decide it was time for a change.
Kim became recreation director at the city of Edgewood in 1995, just after her daughters were born. This followed about five years as assistant City Clerk. But Kim really liked the job planning events everyone could enjoy for the residents of the city. She liked working for the city she lives in and felt that she was participating in her community and giving back.
“When I worked as assistant city clerk, I also volunteered on the recreation committee, so after my twins were born, they asked me to be the director of recreation, and I came back and started that position,” Kim remembered. “They had two events in the city, the Fourth of July and Halloween, and I wanted to make them bigger and better.”
Under her guidance in the 16 years she worked at Edgewood, she did indeed boost the Halloween event, Spooky Sunday, creating a haunted forest that the children would walk through. The costume contest grew bigger every year, with a parade before the event, led by June Hedger, a resident and council member, and all the costumed little ones gathered on the basketball court.
“We even got the Cool Ghoul, Dick Von Hoene, who came in a hearse,” Kim remembered. “It was a lot of fun, and spooky, but it was held in the daytime, on a Sunday afternoon, so it wasn’t excessively scary.”
She expanded the Fourth of July event, which now has a 5K run in the morning, a parade, sports tournaments during the day, and in the evening, there is a concert with a band and fireworks.
Kim started the Christmas event in the city.
“I don’t want to say I was the only one,” she laughed. “We formed a committee, and we would meet and brainstorm ideas.”
She recalled how when the McAlpin store in Crestview Mall closed and the Mall was going to be transformed into an outdoor mall, they had several of the animated Christmas figures, and they offered them to Crestview Hills, but at the time, that city didn’t have the ability to store the figures. So Edgewood got them, and put them on display just after Thanksgiving every year in the senior center for their Christmas kickoff.
“The figures were magical, and kids loved watching them move,” she said. “We used to hold a chili cook off at that event, but the health department shut that down after a number of years. People still love the event, with donuts and hot chocolate.”
Santa arrives on a firetruck, and children receive handfuls of glitter to magically light up the tree.
But Kim kept the program going all year round. She started a camp out in Presidents’ Park during the summer months to have families try out camping. She said it was very popular and won an award for innovative programming.
She also initiated the Easter egg hunt in the spring.
When Kim retired from Edgewood, she did spend a couple of years working part time at Kenton County Parks, but when she saw an opening at Erlanger, she applied.
“I mean, you walk a mile down the road from Edgewood and you’re in Erlanger,” she said. “It was an easy extension of my own community.”
Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette had a lot of ideas on an event she wanted to hold at the end of summer. Kim came into the city just in time to help pull all the ideas and people together to make the mayor’s dream come true, and the Summer Sendoff was and is a big hit.
“This event was the mayor’s baby, but there were a lot of moving parts, and I was able to help pull it together,” she said.
She did start Depot Day, which is a one day event that is very popular, and held in Silverlake park. She said they also won an award for best program for that event, because they partnered with the Kenton County Library and the schools. Depot Days was just one of the events in an 8 week program.
“When I was in Erlanger we did partner with the businesses a lot,” she said. “Businesses such as Putt Putt, and the ice skating rink. Edgewood doesn’t have quite as many to partner with, but they have St Elizabeth Hospital, who is a great sponsor.”
Kim found out that the city of Edgewood was looking for someone who could finish the term of council member Nancy Atkinson, and she applied, always eager to try something new to help, and to be involved in her community.
“I just thought I would try it, and I was appointed in 2016,” she recalled. “Then I did three two-year terms. It was much more serious work, making decisions for the whole city, but I did like it, and I tried to think very carefully about the decisions that were made. I took the responsibility of finding out the best decisions very seriously, and I like helping people.”
Kim says at Edgewood, her favorite event was Spooky Sunday, but she really enjoyed all the events. At Erlanger, she said the Summer Sendoff was a lot of fun and a lot of work, but she thinks Depot Days was more of a favorite because she loved watching the children enjoy themselves.
Kim retired last week from everything, and now she can be a full time grandma. The cities are sorry to see her go.
“Kim worked for us on City Council for a number of years, and when she worked as Recreation Director she was instrumental in starting some programs that our residents loved,” said Edgewood Mayor John Link. “We have all benefitted from the programs she started. She was very successful.”
Both Mayors were truly thankful for Kim’s work in their city.
“Kim Wolking has truly transformed the way Erlanger celebrates,” said Erlanger Mayor Fette. “Over the past decade, she has elevated every event, every festival, and every community gathering with her creativity, care, and heart. Having worked alongside her for nearly as long as she has been with the city, I’ve seen firsthand how much thought and pride she pours into every detail. Kim’s work has brought people together and created memories that define what it means to live in Erlanger. We are deeply grateful for all she has given — and she will always be part of the City of Erlanger story.”
It has been bittersweet for Kim, but she has all the memories of the events she helped to create for the people of her community. The looks on the faces of the kids and watching how the families really enjoyed themselves were enough to let her know she did good; she participated in giving back to the community.