Humans of Schiller Park: Emily Fletcher

Emily Fletcher found a 14-passenger golf cart on Facebook Marketplace and briefly imagined a new future for winter Pokémon GO meetups.

She was joking. Mostly.

When you’re helping organize a community of roughly 1,150 Pokémon players, you start getting creative about how to keep everyone together.

A year ago, Emily and fellow group leader Terry were sitting in the Schiller Park parking lot asking a much more basic question: How were they going to get people to come play with them?

They knew there were players who wanted a group closer to this side of Columbus. They hoped they could build one.

Now, they call it their “Poké family.”

“We’re here to play Pokémon. We’re here to make friends,” Emily said. “We’re here to have that sense of community and family.”

Emily wasn’t always a Pokémon person. In 2017, she was working third shift at a bakery when her friend Taryn suggested a late-night trip to Schiller Park to play Pokémon GO.

It was around 3 a.m. Emily was in her early twenties, keeping her overnight schedule even on days off, and knew almost nothing about the game. She downloaded the app anyway.

The two walked the outer path, catching virtual creatures on their phones. Then they came back. And came back again.

For Emily, who grew up in Cincinnati, the park itself became part of the attraction: mature trees, summer shade, a pond where she could sit for a while. A little pocket of nature in the middle of the city.

Today, she can explain the game while playing it. Sitting near the Schiller monument, she pulls up her phone, points out the nearby landmarks that serve as gathering spots in the game, and catches a little creature called a Poliwag.

Some parts of Pokémon GO are that simple. Others take teamwork. During raids, players join forces to battle Pokémon, then get a chance to catch it. Having people beside you helps.

Emily has put plenty of thought into who gets to be beside you.

The group welcomes all ages, including children who arrive with their parents. She brings Pokémon card packs to hand out during activities and gets excited about giving younger players something extra to take home. The park’s connected paths help members with different mobility needs join the fun.

And while everyone is there to play, Emily expects them to remember that other people are enjoying the park, too. Members step aside on the paths, watch their surroundings, and make room.

Keeping this much fun going takes work. There are calendars to coordinate, permits to arrange, and funds to raise. Fortunately, Emily has another useful skill: tie-dye.

She runs a tie-dye business and has hand-dyed ComFest shirts for years. She still gets a kick out of spotting someone wearing one she made. For the Pokémon group, she has created shirts featuring the game’s teams, turning something players enjoy wearing into a way to support their gatherings.

Trivia nights and local business partnerships help, too. One partnership is with a running and walking shoe store, which makes sense when a major event can mean eight hours on your feet.

The group also organizes food drives. As a mother of two young children, Emily knows how much food assistance can matter to a family. Their November gathering will include a canned food drive to help neighbors ahead of Thanksgiving.

Pokémon GO Wild Area, planned for November 14 and 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, will also bring Pokémon art vendors and food trucks to the park. It’s the group’s first major event with vendors, and Emily is excited to see it come together.

In between the big events, they keep meeting throughout the year. When winter weather makes walking difficult, members have teamed up in cars, with passengers handling the game while someone drives.

The golf cart remains an idea.

For now, Emily has something she wasn’t sure she would have a year ago: a whole community ready to come out and play.

To join Pokémon GO Schiller Park, scan the Campfire or Facebook QR code on the group’s flyer. Upcoming meetups and announcements are shared on Campfire, where Emily can also be reached at @MISSMARVEL1106. Scan the event flyer’s Campfire QR code to RSVP for the November gathering.