Minnesota Recreation & Park magazine

Celebrating 75 Years

MINNESOTA Official Publication of Minnesota Recreation and Park Association

75

Volume 7, Issue 3

Fall 2012

Recreation and Parks Celebrate 75!

MRPA 75th Anniversary Events in Pictures

Pass the Puck History of Hockey

We Are RiverFirst

A New Vision for the Minneapolis Upper Riverfront

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TABLE OF CONTENTS What’s Inside ....................................................................... 5 From the Board President .................................................. 7 Keeping Up.......................................................................... 8

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MRPA in Action.................................................................... 9 Meet Becky Sola.................................................................. 9 Where Are They Now?...................................................... 10 MRPA 75th Anniversary in Pictures ................................. 12 Pass the Puck: History of Hockey .................................... 14 MRPA Flashback: Whipper Snappers ............................. 17 Blast from the Past ............................................................ 18 Playgrounds Evolution...................................................... 19 We Are RiverFIRST ............................................................ 22 Foundation Corner ........................................................... 26

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4 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks • www.mnrpa.org

MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks

Publisher Minnesota Recreation and Park Association 200 Charles Street NE, Fridley, MN 55432 www.mnrpa.org Tel: 763.571.1305 Editorial Staff Michelle J. Snider Bethani Gerhard Editorial Board Patty Anderson, Maple Grove Jan Ficken, Brooklyn Park Jennifer Fink, Anoka County Chad Ubl, Winona Heidi Sedlacek, New Brighton Advertising & Design Pernsteiner MRPA Board of Directors President: Jack Kirk, Fridley President-Elect: Cindy Walsh, St. Louis Park Past President: Cris Gears, Three Rivers Park District Secretary: Diane Evans, Plymouth Treasurer: Dale McCamish, Rochester RSC Chair: Lyndell Frey, Eden Prairie East Metro: Barry Bernstein, Hastings East Metro: Dan Schultz, Rosemount East Metro: Jason T. West, New Brighton Northwest Region: Brad Bonk, Willmar Northeast Region: Marc Mattice, Wright County Southern Region: Rick Schaber, Saint Charles West Metro: Aimee Peterson, Chaska West Metro: Andy Soltvedt, Golden Valley West Metro: Donna Tilsner, Edina This magazine is the official quarterly publication of Minnesota Recreation and Park Association and is provided complimentary to members as part of their MRPA membership. The editorial board encourages the submission of articles and photos for publication.

Articles of approximately 500-700 words or less may be submitted, but may be edited for length and clarity.

Contact Michelle Snider, MRPA, at 763.571.1305 x100 if interested in submitting an article for a future issue.

Deadlines for Articles and Advertising Spring 2013 issue ......................... February 28 Summer 2013 issue ..............................April 13 Fall 2013 issue........................................ July 30 Winter 2013 issue .......................... October 14 MRPA reserves the right to approve all submitted advertising in MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks magazine. All requests for advertising should be made to Todd Pernsteiner, Account Manager, at 952.841.1111 or info@pernsteiner.com.

Celebrating 75 Years WHAT’S INSIDE

By Heidi Sedlacek, Editorial Board

As you read through this issue, let it pull on your heart strings a bit. Let it remind you of the parks you visited when you were a kid. Let it take you back to activities you played with classmates on or off the field. As professionals, and recreators, we are reminded of our past in our everyday life. How many of you have seen two or even three generations play softball or basketball? Yet, we need to consider the future through challenging times and changing landscapes.

Take into consideration how the game of hockey has changed in the past 20, 15 or even 5 years. More recently, consider how the game of hockey has brought attention to concussions and how it has reshaped training procedures to educate children, parents and volunteer coaches on the signs and symptoms of concussions.

Let’s not forget about the Mighty Mississippi. Once regarded as a form of transportation, the future is bright for this regional resource; a master plan has been put into place to harness its beauty and transform its landscape into a next-generation regional park.

And what about past MRPF scholarship winners. Where are they today? They have become program coordinators, recreation supervisors and even a city administrator.

As we look back on MRPA’s 75 years, it’s fun to reminisce with friends and colleagues. To take a trip down memory lane and really see how our past has shaped our successes. But what’s more exciting, is moving forward into a future where the possibilities are endless.

He’ll soon need new playground equipment. Stay top of mind.

For as little as $350 per issue, MRPA gets you in front of key recreation and park decision-makers.

No other form of advertising gets you so targeted.

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Recreation and Parks

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Fall 2012 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 5

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FROM THE BOARD PRESIDENT

By Jack Kirk, MRPA President

Wow! What a great annual conference!

I hope you got the opportunity to experience one of the best state conferences in our association’s history the week of September 18 – 21 at Cragun’s Resort and Conference Center in Brainerd. The conference committee led by Jason West and Jennifer Fink did an outstanding job.

From the Pre-Conference Institute to the final educational sessions on Friday morning, this conference was jam-packed with learning, networking, socializing, and celebrating. Our opening keynote speaker Jon Gordon really energized the delegates on Wednesday morning and got things going in such a positive direction.

The wide array of timely educational topics throughout the week gave our conference delegates plenty of opportunities to improve their professional skills. It was great to see so many of the educational sessions completely full. I have a feeling that our members will be talking the Adventure Race, Luau, spectacular fireworks display, and our 75th anniversary banquet for years to come. I left the conference pretty tired from a long week, but extremely proud of our association and the hard working members who made this event a reality. I am already looking forward to the next conference at the Earle Brown Center in Brooklyn Center next September.

We continue to celebrate our great Association!

The final activity of the four-event 75th anniversary celebration was the banquet on Thursday night of the state conference. Talk about a

wonderful stroll down memory lane!

There were so many great pictures in the video and having our members narrate our progress through the various decades was a fantastic way to show how far we’ve come in 75 years.

I was so very happy that a number of our retired MRPA members could make the trip to Brainerd and join us for this wonderful night. Many of the retirees in attendance were so instrumental in making the MRPA such a vibrant and successful organization.

A special thank you goes out to Bob Kojetin (MRPA retiree member and former director of Edina Parks and Recreation) for bringing all the MRPA photos and memorabilia to the conference. We really enjoyed looking at a wonderful collection of photos, brochures, and historical documents of our association.

The dinner and performance of Hairspray at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, the Minnesota Twins game from the Budweiser deck, the Mississippi River Cruise in Minneapolis, and the anniversary banquet during the conference were some special ways to celebrate a very special organization. Thank You to the 75th Anniversary Committee for planning all of the special events for us this year and thank you to all who joined in on the celebration. The next big milestone celebration for our association is now only 25 short years away...in 2037!!

MRPA members are hard at work…making the Association even better.

The President’s Task Force on Recreational Sports has been really working hard on a potential new direction for the MRPA. They recently

sent out a survey to league directors and department directors to gain input on what is important to the communities and agencies we serve.

The information will be extremely valuable as this Task Force makes its final recommendations to your MRPA Board of Directors at the end of this year.

The Professional Development Committee recently completed a comprehensive study of our current MRPA sections and committees status and how we are positioned to move the association forward. A plan for section and committee realignment was presented to the MRPA Board of Directors in August and will provide us with a template for making this association even stronger and more effective in the future.

These are some exciting times for our state professional association. Thank you to the President’s Task Force on Recreational Sports, the Professional Development Committee, and all other sections and committees that make up our organization. You do some great work.

Enjoy the Theater of Seasons that Minnesota has to offer.

We are so fortunate in Minnesota to be able to enjoy the splendor that each of the seasons provides us. Fall is a favorite time of year for many of us with the spectacular landscape coloring that Mother Nature paints This is a great time of year to get outdoors and enjoy the parks and open spaces that we always encourage others to visit.

I hope all of you are having a great 2012!

Fall 2012 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 7

Keeping Up

Washington County Receives National Award, MRPA Members Find Their Inner Ragnar!

“Keeping Up” is a feature that highlights MRPA member events, news, people and more. To contribute to this section, please send a 125 word or less brief and photos to Michelle Snider at MRPA (snider@mnrecpark.org).

Washington County Receives National Award Washington County received a national award from the National Association of County Park and Recreation Officials (NACPRO) for their lighted ski trails. Washington County improved and expanded winter cross country skiing opportunities at Lake Elmo Park reserve by adding over 200 light fixtures to 5.4 miles of cross-country ski trails. A lighting manufacturer developed an innovative way of lighting the trails. Mounted on a five-foot long pole, the new energy efficient lights focus a LED beam of light down the directional trail making the trails bright with very little light spillage.

MRPA Members Find their Inner Ragnar!

Congratulations to Jason West (and wife Jenny), Jennifer Fink (and husband Chris) and Jared Flewellen on completing the Great River Ragnar Relay race with their team the Roadkill Warriors. The Ragnar Relay is a 200 mile, around the clock, team running relay race. The Roadkill Warriors started the race in Winona at 7 a.m. on a Friday morning and ended in Minneapolis at 2:31 p.m. on that Saturday afternoon.

All three MRPA members were in the second of two team vans and ran nearly 48 miles during their 30+ hours on the road. Jason West says, “The race is a crazy addiction. It’s awesome how you can bond with a team in 31 hours, running miles and miles on only one hour of sleep!”

For more information regarding Ragnar, you can visit www.ragnarrelay.com or find the Roadkill Warriors on Facebook at www.facebook. com/roadkillwarriors or on Twitter at @RagnarRoadkill.

8 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks • www.mnrpa.org

MRPA in Action

Meet Becky Sola

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By MRPA Magazine Editorial Board

MRPA Section and Committee Update The Board of Directors asked the Professional Development Committee to take the lead on the Optimize action item of restructuring MRPA’s sections and committees. At the Board of Directors meeting in August, the following recommended sections were approved: 1. 1. Aquatics - The Aquatics section continues to support the specialized skills needed to operate and staff water recreation facilities and programs such as pools, water parks, and swimming lessons.

2. Facilities, Parks, and Natural Resources - This section is combining Community Facilities with Parks and Natural Resources to create one common section with the intent to learn and share ideas and resources for sustainable practices, and emerging trends in the design, construction, maintenance, and operations of indoor and outdoor park facilities and natural resource management.

3. L.E.A.D. (Leadership, Emerging trends, Administrative, Development) which replaces the Administrative section - This section intends to share best practices and trends, cultivate strategic partnerships, develop initiatives, share industry research, and develop leadership strategies.

4. Programming - The former sections of Therapeutic Recreation, Fitness and Wellness, and Community Recreation Services have been hiatus. The topic areas would be integrated into the Programming section, which will continue to share best practices for programming, resources and trends.

The following recommended committees were approved by the Board of Directors: 1. Annual Conference 2. Awards 3. Communications 4. Legislation 5. Member Relations 6. Professional Development Be sure to check your email for more information about how you can get involved in these section and committees!

Becky Sola has been interested in parks and recreation as long as she can remember.

“I started working for the YMCA’s school-age program part-time from 1998-2000, and then continued into a full-time position from 2000-2008. While I was employed with the YMCA there were numerous collaborations between YMCA’s and parks and recreation programs. As I learned more about the parks and recreation programs, I became interested in exploring that avenue.”

Sola began working full-time with Shoreview Parks and Recreation in 2008. While working for the YMCA, she was involved in a collaborative program with Shoreview Parks and Recreation and knew it would be a great place to work.

Sola has been involved with the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association’s Programming Section since 2008, as a way to network and get connected to others.

She also was part of the Emerging Recreation Leaders Institute in 2008. “I feel like I have gained a tremendous amount by being involved with MRPA,” states Sola. “MRPA has given me an opportunity to network with other professionals in the field, as well as gain an understanding of best practices and how to implement new ideas in my own city.

Sola was the Summer Leadership Workshop committee co-chair in 2010 and 2011. She was on the 2009 Annual Conference Sponsorship Committee and served on 2012 Annual Conference Adventure Race Committee. She is currently the co-chair for the 2013 Annual Conference Program Committee.

“I have had the privilege of forming many friendships and professional relationships by getting more and more involved with MRPA,” says Sola. “Minnesota is fortunate to have such a wide-spread of talented professionals in each area of the field and in turn I am fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from them.”

Sola adds that she loves working for parks and recreation. “We have such a great opportunity to positively impact families and the lives of young children a daily basis,” she says. “I love seeing the smiles and hearing the laughter of children that are having a great time learning and playing in our programs. It makes you feel like what you do each day really makes a difference.”

MRPA members are the heart of our organization. They are involved and committed to advancing the parks and recreation programming. MRPA in Action is a new magazine feature which will highlight one section/committee and one professional per issue.

Fall 2012 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 9

Where Are They Now? Recipients of the Foundation Student Scholarship

By Bethani Gerhard, Minnesota Recreation and Park Association

Brad Martens

2003 Scholarship Recipient

“The Minnesota Recreation and Park Foundation provided me with a great deal while in the recreation field,” states Martens.

“The scholarship helped me to afford an apartment while interning for Jody Yungers with Ramsey County Parks and Recreation.

Casual Connections and other events gave me an opportunity to meet people in the field I normally would not have a chance to speak to. I was able to continue using those connections made through MRPF to help me through some of the more trying situations, both professionally and personally.”

Martens’ first job in the parks and recreation field was working at Flandrau State Park in New Ulm for Tom Schmitz, who is now the park and recreation director for the City of New Ulm. He was a seasonal buildings and grounds employee responsible for park maintenance including the swimming pool.

Martens is currently the city administrator for the City of Winsted.

“However,” says Martens, “I can still claim recreation status as I am also considered the park director, along with finance director, community development director, public works director, and airport manager. Parks and recreation will always be a part of me as quality facilities and programs will continue to be in high demand in any city. It’s what makes a city a community.”

Eric Anderson

2001 Scholarship Recipient

Not only did financial assistance help Eric Anderson in his career in parks and recreation, but he also had a chance to work on interview skills through the scholarship selection process.

“As a scholarship recipient, it was the start of getting my name out there in the parks and recreation field,” states Anderson. “Support of the parks and recreation professionals who were part of the MRPF and those I met on the MRPF scholarship selection committee.”

Anderson’s first job in the parks and recreation field was recreation programmer for Redwood Falls Parks and Recreation Department.

Currently Anderson is the recreation supervisor for Owatonna Park and Recreation Department.

10 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks • www.mnrpa.org

Erin Mayberry

2001 Scholarship Recipient

The Minnesota Recreation and Park Foundation has helped Erin Mayberry’s career in many ways. “While in college, I was a recipient of an MRPF student scholarship,” says Mayberry. “Since college, MRPF has supported my career by providing training opportunities and funding new initiatives.”

Mayberry’s first job in the parks and recreation field was for the City of Marshall as a recreation specialist, overseeing youth recreation programs.

Mayberry currently works as the recreation coordinator for Northfield Community Services. “I oversee recreation programs for the City of Northfield and Northfield Public Schools,” says Mayberry. “I have been in this position for eight years.”

Dan Lauer

1996 Scholarship Recipient The Minnesota Recreation and Park Foundation awarded Dan Lauer a grant for $600 for education.

“At that time I was working towards my master’s in education with a focus on recreation and leisure studies at the University of Minnesota,” says Lauer.

“My first full-time job was with the City of St. Louis Park as a recreation program coordinator in 1997,” says Lauer. “Prior to that, there are many part-time jobs dating back to 1982.” Since 1999, Lauer has been with the City of Plymouth as a recreation supervisor

Jenny Davis

2001 Scholarship Recipient

Jenny Davis received a scholarship from MRPF late in her senior year at Minnesota State University, Mankato. “When I received the scholarship I was on my way to starting my internship with MRPA, and I was living alone in Minneapolis,” states Davis. “The money from the scholarship helped ensure that I did not have any financial burdens while living away from friends and family. At that point in my college career I no longer needed books and manuals for my classes, I needed money to live! I am very grateful to the Foundation for their generosity.”

Davis’ first job in the parks and recreation field was with community education in Waconia. “I was the recreation supervisor and was in charge of youth programming and recreation,” says Davis. “It was a great first job and I met some very nice people with the school district.”

Currently, Davis is the recreation program supervisor with Albert Lea Parks and Recreation. Not only does she run youth programs and adult sports and recreation, but she is also in charge of the aquatic center and the warming houses.

Steve Gulenchyn

1986 Scholarship Recipient

Steve Gulenchyn says, “The Foundation helped give me the confidence that I could be successful and find a career in the field of recreation and parks by receiving the scholarship at that point. It was a very exciting moment as I remember it now in my life, because I was not a straight A student. But I had a lot of diverse part-time experience in the field while going to school, which must have weighed into the reason I received it.”

Gulenchyn’s first job in the parks and recreation was an ice guard at the new Brooklyn Park Community Activity Center. He currently is the program supervisor for Brooklyn Park Recreation and Parks. “I celebrated my 25th year at Brooklyn Park this summer,” says Gulenchyn. “It’s been a true blessing. I love my job and those I work with and serve. Thanks MRPF!”

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Fall 2012 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 11

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MRPA MEMBERS TOOK PART IN NUMEROUS EVENTS THROUGHOUT 2012 TO CELEBRATE THE ORGANIzATION’S DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY. HERE IS JUST A PARTIAL SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE EVENTS. MANY MORE PHOTOS CAN BE FOUND ON THE MINNESOTA RECREATION AND PARK ASSOCIATION FACEBOOK PAGE. THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US OUR FIRST 75 YEARS; HERE’S TO 75 MORE AND BEYOND!

APR 13

Minnesota Twins vs. Texas Rangers Game on Target Field’s Budweiser Deck A whopping 250 members and guests attended the Twins game - making it a sold-out MRPA event!

12 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks • www.mnrpa.org

ersary

AUG 28

SEPT MRPA 2012 Annual Conference 18-21 in Brainerd

Chaired by Jennifer Fink and Jason T. West, the conference was packed full of learning, networking and teambuilding events. Highlights included: the MRPF Golf Tournament, a first-ever Adventure Race, the Musco Lighting Luau with fireworks by RES Pyrotechnics, the Exhibit Hall sponsored by Flagship Recreation, MRPFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Silent Auction, the 75th Anniversary Celebration Banquet featuring speaker Don Shelby (sponsored by Landscape Structures), and a sunset cruise.

Mississippi River Cruise Members and guests enjoyed a narrated cruise down the Mississippi, leaving from Boom Island in Minneapolis.

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Exhibit Hall

Fall 2012 â&#x20AC;˘ MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 13

It truly is amazing how far hockey has come with the equipment and facilities. Rochester now has six sheets of ice at indoor rinks. We used to flood our own ice at outdoor rinks.

Roy Sutherland | retired director for Rochester Park and Recreation

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By BEThAni GERhARD Minnesota Recreation and Park Association

History of Hockey in Rochester ICE HOCKEY is one of the most popular youth and high school sports in the state of Minnesota. Many cities now have at least one indoor arena with multiple sheets of ice, but it didn’t used to be that way. “The Mayo Civic Auditorium in Rochester was one of the first indoor rinks built in the entire state,” says Ron Bastian, director of Rochester Park and Recreation. “Each youth hockey team got to play one game there per season.

It was the highlight of our season.”

Bastian started playing hockey during the 1950s at age eight or nine, and later played youth hockey. Once in a while members of the Rochester Mustangs, a senior semi-pro league from 1961 to 1970, would join their practices. “We were in awe of them,” says Bastian. “Famous names like Billy Richert, Tom Yurka-

vich, Jerry Nichols, Gene Campbell, Kenny Johansson, and the Brooks brothers.”

Herb Brooks went on to coach the U.S. Olympic hockey team to a gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics.

Roy Sutherland, the retired director for Rochester Park and Recreation, also started playing hockey at age eight or nine and played high school hockey as a goalie from 1960 to 1963. “Hockey games at the Auditorium were always sold out with at least 2,500 spectators,” says Sutherland. “Before the state made it mandatory, I was the last goalie that didn’t wear a helmet. It truly is amazing how far hockey has come with the equipment and facilities. Rochester now has six sheets of ice at indoor rinks. We used to flood our own ice at outdoor rinks.”

14 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks • www.mnrpa.org

Bastian also recalls how hockey has changed. “All the fathers of the hockey players would shovel the ice rinks, while both teams would pack into the warming house to warm up,” he states. “Following each practice or game, we would sit in front of the furnace vents at home trying to warm up our feet. During that time, I used a baseball glove for the catching glove, a hockey glove for the blocker and wore a simple leather helmet with no mask.”

Bastian has coached youth hockey for 25 years, including coaching his three sons in Rochester Youth Hockey. “I’m still a huge hockey fan, seldom miss the high school tournament, and attend as many Gopher and Wild games as possible,” he states. “Hockey has been a huge part of my life.”

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Todd Lecy of the John Marshall Rockets facing off against an Edina East player in the championship game of 1977. Todd went on to play hockey for the University of WisconsinMadison Badgers.

Hockey has also been a huge part of Terry Just’s life, the director for Maple Grove Parks and Recreation. Just played high school hockey from 1969 to 1972 at John Marshall High School in Rochester.

“During my junior year in 1971, the hockey team lost in the section finals to go to the state tournament to Hastings on a last minute goal by Dean Talafous,” he says. “Talafous is a former NHL, Minnesota North Star hockey player.”

Just states that John Marshall High School was fortunate enough to have a great hockey coach, Gene Sack, who also happens to be his father-in-law.

“He coached at John Marshall from 1962 through 1985 and coached a state tourtour nament team from Thief River Falls in 1960,” says Just. “He also won the Cliff Thompson Award for the 1985 to 1986 season. This award was given for longterm outstanding contributions to the sport of hockey in Minnesota.”

Just adds, “In 1977, John Marshall High School won the State High School Hock-

ey Tournament, 4-2 against Edina East.

Even though I was no longer playing high school hockey, I was a huge fan.”

This was John Marshall’s first state championship, and it was before a record breaking crowd of 17,083 at the St. Paul Civic Center Arena.

The history of hockey is important to the City of Rochester. Bastian says, “Rochester Park and Recreation built

and maintained the ice rinks, and was instrumental in working with the hockhock ey program and seeing it grow.” The Mayo Civic Auditorium has since been renamed the Mayo Civic Center and is managed by the Rochester Park and Recreation. It no longer serves as an indoor ice hockey facility.

Fall 2012 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 15

Hockey in Minnesota

By BEThAni GERhARD Minnesota Recreation and Park Association

MaRk paRRIsH Growing up playing hockey in Bloomington, Mark Parrish went on to have a 15-year career with the National Hockey League (NHL).

Parrish also happens to be the son-in-law of Gerry Turnberg, USSSA state director for the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association (MRPA).

“My older brother started playing hockey at age five or six, and I wanted to be just like my brother,” states Parrish. “I started skating at age three, but I didn’t like my skates that much. I preferred to stand in front of the net and tip goals in - which later became my specialty in my professional career.”

Parrish was in his senior year at Bloomington Jefferson High School when he was approached by hockey scouts and family representatives about the possibility of being drafted into the NHL. Upon graduating from

high school, Parrish joined the St. Cloud Huskies, part of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). “After two years of playing hockey at St. Cloud State,” says Parrish, “I went on to play in the Western Hockey League (WHL) in Seattle and was drafted to the NHL.” Parrish was selected in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche in round three, number 79 overall. He played for the Florida Panthers, the NY Islanders and the Los Angeles Kings. Parrish signed as a free agent for the Minnesota Wild on July 1, 2006. He played two seasons with the Wild before moving on to other NHL and American Hockey League (AHL) teams.

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16 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks • www.mnrpa.org

About HGACBuy HGACBuy is a nationwide government-to-government procurement service operated by the Houston-Galveston Area Council. HGACBuy is active throughout the United States offering the simplest way to buy.

All HGACBuy contracts have been awarded by virtue of a competitive bid or RFP process in accordance with government purchasing statutes.

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Celebrating 75 Years

Moss backs and Whipper Snappers

By Bethani Gerhard At the 25th Anniversary of MRA (Minnesota Recreation Association at the time), members were divided into two groups, the “moss backs” or the “whipper snappers”. Members wore a big button at the 1962 conference to designate the group they were in.

“Anyone who was a member of MRA prior to 1962 was a moss back and anyone who was a member 1962 and on, was a

whipper snapper,” says Bob Kojetin, retired Edina Parks and Recreation Director. “I fell into the whipper snapper category since I started in 1962.”

“A few members that are considered moss backs are Dick Yates, Tommy Johnson, Gaius Harmon, George Muenchow and Fay Miller,” adds Kojetin. “They are all people that were young in the 1950s and members prior to 1962.”

Kojetin remembers the mossback and whipper snapper terminology fading in the mid-1970s, since there were fewer members that were actually moss backs.

But there are still one or two buttons floating around, although they are hard to come by.

Fall 2012 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 17

from the

By Bethani Gerhard, Minnesota Recreation a nd Park Association

Past

Playgrounds from prior generations consisted mostly of fast metal slides and a certain level of danger. Some unique playgrounds from the past were gigantic robots, rockets with sliding poles, and spaceships reaching 30-feet in height - looking like they were ready to blast into space.

Rocket Park

River Park in Brooklyn Park used to be known in the late 1960s as ‘Rocket Park.’ “It was referred to as Rocket Park, mainly because the large playground structure was in the shape of a tall rocket ship,” says Jan Ficken, recreation services manager for Brooklyn Park Recreation and Park. “And people today still refer to River Park as the old rocket park.”

River Park was funded by the first park bond referendum in Brooklyn Park’s history. “The rocket playground structure was eventually replaced by newer equipment,” says Ficken. “Landscape Structures, Inc. employees, along with city parks maintenance crew members, spent the day assembling the new park. It was the first completely handicap accessible playground in Brooklyn Park with separate areas for both younger children ages 2 to 5 and older ones ages 6 to 12.”

River Park was significant to the City of Brooklyn Park because it was a featured community park, and its proximity along the Mississippi River. It is now complete with the updated playground, ball fields, tennis courts, walking and biking trails, and a large pavilion.

Silver Lake Park

Three generations of kids have slid down the spiral slide at Silver Lake Park, North St. Paul. The large slide, made primarily of metal and long wooden steps, has an interesting history. It was originally built as a fire escape, to save lives from the third floor window of the Standard Conveyer Company. In 1955, it was removed and placed at Silver Lake for beach goers.

The slide was removed in June of 2012 because of safety and insurance concerns. There were growing gaps in the slide ribbing, which tended to catch on clothing and shoelaces. And the slide itself was not meeting code, according to North St. Paul city council

18 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks • www.mnrpa.org

PHOTO: New Elm Creek Park Reserve play structure INSET: Old Elm Creek Park Reserve wooded structure Below: Old Rocket Park playground

member Terry Furlong. It is too tall to meet the new requirements. If somebody was to fall from that height it would be dangerous. There is nothing on the ground to absorb their fall.

As of now, the slide is being stored at the city works building. Since the city can’t fix the slide, they’d like to put something in its place that is compliant with state standards, according to Furlong. They are looking at the possibility of another spiral slide, shorter in length.

hyland Lake Park Reserve

By the time the 1980s rolled around, wooden structures with fast metal tubes became a popular playground style. Hyland Lake Park Reserve in Bloomington, part of Three Rivers Park District, is multigenerational playground.

“It used to be known as ‘Shoots and Ladders’ - a maze of wood decks and super long (100’) slides and climbers,” says Stephen Shurson, landscape architect for Three Rivers Park District. “We just finished an expansion of the play area which was renovated in 2001. A lot of people who knew ‘Shoots and Ladders’ historically are now coming back to Hyland with their kids to play.”

Elm Creek Park Reserve

Another 1980s playground that has recently been renovated is Elm Creek Park Reserve in Maple Grove. “Originally built in 1981, the playground was comprised of wooden decks, railings, metal slides and a few plastics slides, and a large zip line,” states Shurson, who was also the project manager for the Elm Creek Park Reserve playground.

“Because it was largely made out of wood, the playground had a lot of maintenance issues. There were modifications made in 1995 for accessibility and safety.”

When the new playground at Elm Creek opened in June of 2011, it was one of the largest outdoor playgrounds in the metro area. “We diversified and went with 24 different sub-contractors and suppliers, including six different playground manufacturers,” adds Shurson.

If you haven’t been to Elm Creek Park Reserve, it’s worth taking the time to check out the amazing playground that has something to offer people of all ages.

Playgrounds

Evolution

Steve King Founder, Landscape Structures Inc.

Minnesota Made: Landscape Structures, Inc. Nearly 42 years ago, Steve and Barb King founded Landscape Structures Inc. and, to the delight of millions of kids, began creating playsystems based on the revolutionary notion of continuous play. Today, the Delano-based company has six manufacturing facilities, more than 300 employees, and has designed and installed nearly 90,000 playstructures at city parks and schools around the world. We sat down with Steve King to listen to his story and gain his insights into how the playground has changed over the last five decades.

Can you take us back to 1966 when you were in your final year at iowa State University studying landscape architecture and describe what you’d see at a typical city playground?

Steve: A city playground in 1966 typically consisted of a high independent metal swing, high independent metal slides, merry-go-rounds and see-saws. These were clustered loosely together within a fairly large area of grass or asphalt. At this time, playground surfacing was selected to reduce the amount of maintenance, not to reduce injuries.

Who would you see playing on these playgrounds?

Steve: Because there was so much more independence for children at this time, you would see more kids playing and they

would be a little older – lots of 8 to 12 year olds. The playgrounds would draw kids from a wider area because moms didn’t worry as much if their children rode their bikes a mile or more. These kids would come and hang out for hours. They stayed outside for hours and would make up games to play on the equipment and physically challenge each other on the monkey bars or other apparatus.

When did you hit upon the notion of continuous play?

Steve: I was working on my very last student assignment that focused on the design of a housing project with a central green space. I had already observed how kids played on playgrounds, but when I went to the child development department I learned how kids wanted to play. And that’s what really sprang the idea of a composite play structure, a system that linked play activities together to provide a continuous challenge. I envisioned that this one playstructure could challenge kids to use their gross and fine motor skills, social skills and cognitive skills. My premise was that if you put all these kids together, they will learn things they’re going to learn in real life. Who’s the leader, who’s the follower, who’s the bully? How do we get around the bully? We can even make up our own games – play underneath things, on top of things, go across ladders, go across balance beams without touching the ground.

– Continued on page 20

Fall 2012 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 19

Sibley Park, Mankato

The Impact of Parks from a User's Perspective

Brooklyn Park Parks and Me

First playg round cr Landscape Structu

By Mandy Traaseth, Youth Director

The second I enter the city limits of Brooklyn Park, the weight of the world rises out of my body and I know: I’m home. Growing up in Brooklyn Park, there are so many places that bring back sweet memories of laughter, pride, achievement, and teamwork.

So many people to thank for a childhood filled with a supportive, loving family, childhood friendships that have endured through time, teachers and coaches that have brought me to my best, and a church that has rooted my heart in God. If I could sit you down and tell you all the good that has come out of Brooklyn Park, you’d run towards our city and want to be a part of it too.

Some of my favorite moments bring me back to the softball fields; the Brooklyn Park parks that have watched me swing my bat, watched my brother tackle his components, seen servant hearts give back to their community and listened to numerous children laugh and play as their proud parents watch on.

My family has deep ties to the Brooklyn Park parks, where I played softball, my brother played baseball and football, where my dad and I have coached, and where many learning moments have taken place. They are the parks (Central, Hartkopf, zane, etc.) that enabled my love of softball.

They have allowed me the space to grow as a team player and athlete and also become a softball coach to young girls who will also one day understand the loving touch that has been put into these places for years and years.

I’ve made new friends on these fields - cried tears of joy and of sadness on these fields - gathered as a group to sled in Central Park in the winter taken walks with our family dog- and so many more wonderful memories.

I love this city, and I’m so thankful for all the love that has gone into making it a great place to live!

From what materials did you construct your first composite playstructure?

Steve: Pressure treated pine; primarily 6 x 6 and 4 x 6 timbers.

Where were your earliest playsystems installed?

Steve: I was working as a landscape architect for a developer with several show houses and I suggested that he put a small composite playstructure in the back yards so when they are trying to sell the parents on buying a house the kids could go out and play. We built one at the first show house, and the developer loved it. The kids loved it. Soon other developers ordered some and then the city started buying them for their parks. In 1971, St. Louis Park became the first park department to purchase a composite playstructure, and in 1971 Barb and I formed Landscape Structures. We worked like crazy, 18 hours a day for months on end, building composite playstructures as fast as we could.

We would even take the phone off the hook because we really could not handle another order.

Did you always stick with the same materials?

Steve: We went from pressure treated pine to high quality, old growth, all-heart redwood in 1974 and at the same time began making it more modular so you could build upon your playstructure in a variety of ways.

For the next decade or more we just kept adding options, new components and new ways of putting them together. In 1984, we acquired Mexico Forge, a metal playground equipment manufacturer in Pennsylvania, and began the transition to metal post-anddeck systems with our PlayBooster® line, which we still have today.

20 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks • www.mnrpa.org

When did the notion of inclusive play begin to enter the field of vision of your park and rec customers?

Steve: When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1991 it forced a lot of new thinking about playgrounds here in Minnesota and nationwide, and that’s why the 90s were such a go, go era for our industry. We had both new safety standards and new accessibility standards, and no existing playgrounds conformed to current standards. I was a committee chairman at the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) for nearly 20 years, and it was my committee that developed the first standards for playground accessibility.

I was also on the Federal Access Advisory Committee that established the federal guidelines for accessibility on playgrounds.

Did it take a period of time for parks and recreation departments to fully embrace accessibility and inclusivity?

Steve: Access and inclusion are two very different things. Access is more of a mechanical challenge – here is all the stuff you must do to call your playground accessible. Big deal. A lot of kids still can’t use the playground equipment. They could get to it, but they couldn’t really play.

And so when you get into inclusive play you are prescriptively including activities in which children of all abilities can participate.

Inclusion is therefore more of a social approach for designers of playground equipment and for parks and recreation professionals. At Landscape Structures we realized many years ago that our industry had a long ways to go to really satisfy children with disabilities, so we made a conscious decision to lead the way with new inclusive play products and new ways

Two years ago, we also constructed an entirely new manufacturing facility that builds play structures out of concrete, and that aspect of our operations has really taken off. Playground designers can envision anything out of concrete – a giant dragon or a whale or a space ship – and we can create it in vibrant, life-like colors and integrate it into any of our playsystems.

have the colors of playgrounds also evolved over time?

reated by ures, Inc.

Play Booster® Vibe

of designing playgrounds that enabled all children to play together. We have had a strong partnership with Shane’s Inspiration that goes back more than a decade, and together we have transformed the very idea of what’s possible in inclusive playgrounds.

The City of Los Angeles has led the way in working with Shane’s and Landscape Structures, but we now have Shane’s Inspiration playground projects in eight other states and this business is booming.

how has safety surfacing evolved in the last four decades, and has that evolution enabled greater access?

Steve: The simple answer to that question is “yes.” Playground surfacing started with asphalt, grass or dirt, and then it moved into sand, which was not accessible at all.

Wood fiber came on the scene in the late 80s and 90s, and that, by test standards, was accessible, but in my opinion, it’s not because you can’t maintain it enough to keep it accessible. Rubber tiles and poured-in-place surfacing came along next and they set the standards for accessibility.

Today, I would say that our PebbleFlex® surfacing system is the premiere product in the industry from a safety, visual creativity and accessibility standpoint.

now, if we were to visit one of your recent playground installations anywhere in the U.S., whether it’s Los Angeles, Dallas or here in Minnesota, what would we see? how would it compare to the playgrounds of 1966?

Steve: Well, the playground of today would be a much more refined and colorful composite play structure with a much greater variety of activities or components on it. It would be made out of metal and plastics, with an emphasis on recycled material. You would see a greater degree

of accessibility with poured-in-place surfacing, and some of them would even be considered inclusive.

Who would you see at the playground nowadays? is it the same independent 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds riding their bikes to play?

Steve: No. I see smaller, younger kids with parents or grandparents. Many of the playgrounds produced today simply don’t appeal to a kid over 10 years of age. They appeal to 2 and 3-year-olds to maybe up to 10-year-olds. It’s just not challenging enough for them. And the parents on the playground are much more involved in the play. So, it’s dad that’s setting the 1-year old child up as high as he can reach on the slide and mom is down at the bottom going to catch the child. I don’t see a lot of kids riding bikes more than a block or two to the playground. Most parents just don’t allow that kind of stuff.

it seems that more and more playgrounds are now designed to be unique or customized for their setting. is this a trend that you see here in Minnesota?

Steve: About 10 years ago our customers started seeing the same post and deck playstructures over and over again, and they were frustrated by the lack of options.

So we challenged our design team to come up with something new - no vertical posts and no decks. No vertical and horizontal lines whatsoever. The result was our Evos® playsystem with its sweeping arches, and then later Weevos®, which was for younger kids. We have installed many Evos playsystems here in Minnesota, and the kids love it because it provides a more freeform unstructured style of play, and a very different look.

Steve: When we first transitioned from wood to metal playsystems, customers had two colors – brown and blue. Today, we offer 26 colors, and our customers can now choose a palette for their playground that is entirely unique, and fits into any creative theme. Through computerization and CAD design, we also make the playground design process more engaging for the customer. We can now easily produce a very accurate, colored 3D rendering of their playground that they can use to present the playground to their constituents. Whatever they can imagine, we can now create.

What threats to play do you see emerging?

Steve: When kids arrive at a playground they behave today much like the kids of the 1960s. Kids are trying a variety of play events. They’re running around. They’re chasing each other. They’re playing tag.

They’re doing all kinds of things that they’ve always done. But in some regions, society is changing that. We hear that some schools have eliminated recess, that another has a problem with kids playing tag and so they eliminated tag. Another has a problem with kids pushing the swings too high so they yank out all of their swings. That’s what’s happening and it really ticks me off. Forces are pushing us to dumb down and sanitize our playgrounds to the point where they don’t have the challenges that kids want and need. The kids play less exuberantly, they become less fit and more become obese. Safety standards have swung too far, and have really hurt the child development aspects of the playground.

However, I do think – and I certainly hope – that all these voices out there doing all this research on child development and the playground will be heard. I hope that 10 years from now child development will be a much more important part of the playground. Maybe we can then do something to help our kids develop like we did 40 years ago when children had more freedom and independence to just be kids.

Fall 2012 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 21

WE ARE THE

RIVERFIRST A bold new vision for the Minneapolis Upper Riverfront is the leading edge of regional park development.

By Jayne Miller, Superintendent, Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board

22 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks â&#x20AC;˘ www.mnrpa.org

I

It’s no accident that Minneapolis is known as the “City of Lakes.” Horace Cleveland, William Folwell and other early Minneapolis Park Board leaders identified the natural significance of Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet and made them a focal point in a visionary plan for a system of interconnected parks and parkways. They also recognized the mesmerizing beauty of the Mississippi River, and Riverside Park (just north of the I-94 bridge on the West Bank) was one of the first four properties purchased and protected by the newly-formed and independently-elected Board of Park Commissioners in 1883.

Today, 16 of the 22 miles of riverfront within our city borders are parklands owned by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board on behalf of the public. Among them are Minnehaha Regional Park, first established in the 1880s, and today one of the region’s most popular destinations with nearly 1.4 million visits in 2011 to one of the few, if not the only, urban parks in the country with a natural 55-foot waterfall. Similarly, the Central Riverfront Regional Park, created a century later and featuring the iconic and historic Stone Arch Bridge and Mill Ruins Park, drew 1.6 million visits in 2011, the majority of which were nonlocal.

So it’s fitting that as the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board embarks on the largest expansion of public and green space since “horse power” referred to actual horses, it’s along the Mississippi Riverfront.

Harnessing the Power of the Mississippi Fast-forward 100 years: Horses are banned except by permit, streetcars have come and gone, and our economy, climate and demographics have all changed. But the Mississippi River is still an economic engine and cultural icon in equal measure; still one of the four great rivers of the world; still “America’s fourth coast”; still central to our collective identity and vitality.

In 2012, the Minneapolis Park Board approved RiverFirst: A Park Proposal and Implementation Guide for the Minneapolis Upper Riverfront, a leading edge urban design Vision and development guide that over 20 years will harness the natural forces and real and symbolic power of the Mississippi River as the last stretch of the Minneapolis riverfront is transformed into next-generation regional parks.

This RiverFirst Vision is the outcome of the 2011 Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative, a nine-month communitybased vetting of the winning landscape and urban design

Fall 2012 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 23

concept submitted by the RiverFirst Design Team of Tom Leader Studio and Kennedy & Violich Architecture to the 2010-11 Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition, the largest in the state’s history.

The Board’s approval of RiverFirst set in motion a five-year initiative to create several miles of new Mississippi riverfront walking and biking trails, three new multi-functional parks and multiple connections along 5.5 miles of the Upper Riverfront from the Stone Arch Bridge to the city’s northern limits.

RiverFIRST well fulfills the three goals of the design competition: ■■ Establish parks as the engine for economic development along the river ■■ Knit both sides of the riverfront together with their surrounding communities, thereby transforming the river from a barrier to a connector ■■ Re-focus the city toward one of the three great rivers of the world, an extraordinary environmental amenity that defines Minneapolis’ civic identity—past, present and future RiverFirst Priority Project Areas While full realization of the RiverFirst vision will take decades, five phase one priority projects have been identified to meet the city’s needs today and build momentum for overall completion of the RiverFirst vision over time. These projects will be pursued simultaneously, with participation from multiple agencies and stakeholders, to create destination parks on both riverbanks: Riverfront Trails: A combination of pedestrian and bicycle trails

24 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks • www.mnrpa.org

along the river’s banks and “Knot Bridges” attached to existing bridges—will complete critical connections in the Grand Rounds and other regional trail systems.

Scherer Park: With the restoration of Hall’s Island and the creation of a river beach cove, Scherer Park will serve as a recreational entry point to the Mississippi trail and park system for kayaks, bikes, skiers, runners and walkers. It will be the center of a riverfront destination flanked by Boom Island and Sheridan Park and surrounded by a vibrant mix of development that will energize the riverfront.

BioHavens: A network of floating islands made of robust, lightweight geo-textiles and 100% recycled PET materials will clean the water and provide habitat for migratory birds.

Downtown Gateway Park: A dramatic gateway to Minneapolis at the historic gateway site of the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, linked to the new Public Library via a proposed signature park and to Nicollet Mall via a linear park. This project is led by Trust for Public Land and downtown interests.

Northside Wetlands Park: A molded alluvial wetland landscape is reclaimed to create a civic-scaled climate change eco-infrastructure, providing bio-filtration for storm water flows, increased flood protection, and new riverfront habitats.

The RiverFirst “VIPs” Critical to the success of the Vision is the RiverFirst Initiative, an interagency partnership of the Minneapolis Park Board, City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Parks Foundation – in

Minneapolis Milestones 1870s-80s ■■ ■■

■■

1900s ■■

■■

■■

City of Minneapolis is founded Citizen vote establishes the independent Park Board of Commissioners Horace Cleveland’s suggestions for a system of park and parkways for the City of Minneapolis plans an encircling network of parks, parkways and boulevards, connecting the lakes to the riverfront

■■

Riverside Park is created on the west bank

■■

Minnehaha Falls Park is created

Mississippi River Gorge Regional Park is created Great River Road is established 1938 North Mississippi Regional Park is created

1980s ■■

Central Riverfront Regional Park in downtown Minneapolis transforms a dilapidated Mill District abandoned by industry into one of the region’s most visited attractions.

2000s

2010 collaboration with community and agency participants and the public – to realize the RiverFirst Vision and support the implementation of RiverFirst Projects over the next five years. Together, these three components – the VIPs – of RiverFirst form a dynamic approach that will spur development, retain and attract talented people, and enrich the region’s culture – necessary ingredients for a thriving 21st century river community.

Back in 1883, Horace Cleveland advised us to “look forward for a century, to the time when the city has a population of a million, and think what will be their wants. They will have wealth enough to purchase all that money can buy, but all their wealth cannot purchase a lost opportunity, or restore natural features of grandeur and beauty, which would then possess priceless value.”

■■

Learn More The RiverFirst Vision and many more resources are available online at www.RiverFirst.com.

Minneapolis Park Board and its partners announce the Minneapolis Riverfront Design Competition.

More than 50 landscape and urban design teams from 14 countries vie for participation.

The Above the Falls Master Plan envisions an Upper Riverfront where parks and residences replace industry.

Significant achievements mark the decade.

2011 ■■

Four nationally recognized awardwinning teams present Upper Riverfront visions at a sold-out event at the Walker Art Center. TLS/KVA is announced as the winning design team.

2011-2012 ■■

In RiverFirst, the Minneapolis Park Board takes hold of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fully protect the public’s relationship with the Mississippi Riverfront, as we have the Chain of Lakes. For, even as we are the “City of Lakes,” we are also the RiverFirst.

■■

Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative refines the winning design with extensive input from more than 60 agency partners and thousands of community members.

2012 ■■

Minneapolis Park Board approves RiverFirst

2020s ■■

RiverFirst Visionary Projects

Fall 2012 • MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks 25

FOUnDATiOn CORNER Minnesota Parks and recreation FoUndation W s a ProUd Pa Wa P rtner at the state t tate conFerence in Brainerd and Wa W s invoLv L ed With severaL Lv F the M rPa P MeMPa asPects. thank yoU to aLL oF Bers that sUPPorted the FoUndation in the diFFerent avenUes.

the conference, including nancy Lyons and Meghan Wilker, dr. kristi hoff, erika Weymann, and Michelle kellogg.

MrPF continued to host the annual Golf to t urnament at the Legacy Golf course, which was a great opportunity for members to get one final round before the season ended. Thursday morning, MrPF President Mark Themig and Board member Jack kirk hosted the 2012 new initiative Grant session featuring members from cities of Burnsville, chanhassen, chaska, and eden Prairie who presented the details of their award winning projects to attendees.

Why become A member of mrPf?

The Foundation silent auction was once again a successful event which featured many fantastic prizes including four disney Parkhopper passes, Jared allen autographed jersey and Minnesota science Museum passes. MrPF Board members were overwhelmed by response to the Foundation Membership drive by welcoming 56 new members who registered at the conference. congratulations to kelly Mertes from Brooklyn center for winning the Gophers tickets in the Members only raffle.

MrPF was proud to bring the week’s celebration to a close with “Foundation Friday”. MrPF sponsored all of the Mini-keynote speakers on the final day of

once again thank you to everyone who supported the Minnesota Parks and recreation Foundation during the 2012 MrPa P state conference. We look Pa forward to supporting you in the future.

Minnesota recreation and Park Foundation is the only non-profit organization solely dedicated to promoting excellence in the Parks and recreation profession. We might not sell fantastic cookies, wreaths, or little candy bars but we take pride in supporting our members and the profession. The Foundation provides several annual scholarships and grants for our members, organizations and students. Professionals seeking continuing education opportunities can apply for grants and organizations trying to develop new initiatives are eligible for financial support to start the programs. student members in a recreation field are encouraged to apply for the scholarships opportunities. Most of all, the Foundation’s primary objective is to support the education, innovation and training for all members in our profession!

For as low as $25 you can become a member of the Minnesota Parks and recreation Foundation and be eligible for these programs and the benefit they bring to your state, your community, your department and your profession.

congratulates MrPa on 75 years of supporting Minnesota parks and recreation.

You Make our State a Better Place!

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IllumInatIng Generations

You’re not just buying lights. You’re buying the support of the Musco team, committed to getting it right by providing service and support you can rely on today and for the next 25 years. That means you won’t have to worry about maintaining your lights until she’s your age.

To learn more visit: www.musco.com/generations

For Your Budget For The Environment 28 MINNESOTA Recreation and Parks • www.mnrpa.org

Local area representative: Craig Gallop 763/533-2030 (office) 800/825-6030 (toll free) craig.gallop@musco.com