I want to plant an idea seed for when we (obviously) grow into a larger park.
This is something that I've seen used to great effect. New members are assigned an official mentor, who is essentially anyone who is playing the same class (and obviously has more experience). The Mentor is responsible for helping with rules, weapons and garb. Newbies are always assigned to the same battlegame team as their Mentor, who helps them with combat, tactics, and not dying. This mentorship remains until the newbie reaches level 2, at which point the mentor gets a free credit for all their good work.
Mentorships helps make initial friendships, and it helps with retention of new members. The mentor calls and encourages given newbie to come out. Parks are inherently cliquish, and dorky newcomers may not be able to bust into these cliques too quickly.
I remained friends with and was loyal to my mentor for years.