The Friday Letter | November 9, 2012

ISSUE

58 November 9 2012

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER OF THE PARK AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT

THE

FridayLetter this issue Park News P.1 Enterprise Services P.2 Nature Preserves & Natural Resources P.4

In The News:

Community & Recreation Center Services P.6

Park Operations ATV Training ATV Safety & Procedures

Last week, Park Operations staff attended safety train‐ ing for use of ATV's. The goal of this training was to educate staff on safety pro‐ cedure when operating an ATV. ATV's will be an effec‐ tive tool that staff will add to their arsenal for main‐ taining and patrolling parks and greenways.

You can watch a video of the training by clicking on the picture below:

Leadership Intensive Training

Park and Recreation Staff Leadership Development This past weekend Park and Recreation Staff from multiple recreation Centers and McDowell Nature Center traveled to Atlanta, GA to attend the Leadership Intensive Training hosted By Outdoor Nation ‐ a national organization dedicated to getting youth outdoors. Kiana Brooks, KD Brown, Olema Edwards, Tari Turner, Chad Moore and Anthony Shaheen came together with 90 other outdoor advocates across the southeast region to address the growing discon‐ nect between today’s youth and the natural world around them.

The weekend’s events included trainings helping reach and engage today’s youth in the out‐ doors through social media as well as grant writing from the perspective of Outdoor Nation’s Grant administrator. Break out groups were formed to discuss the largest barriers youth in our region face to get outdoors. And, each group attending the training created projects that ad‐ dressed an issue in order to compete for grant funding. Read more on page 4.

Did You Know ~ What is a Dual Meet in Swimming

There are several different types and levels of meets.

A dual meet is a meet where each individual event is scored based on how individual swim‐ mers on a team swim. It is generally limited to 2 teams, but different variations can have more.

In a dual meet, there is almost always a limit to the number of events that a certain person can swim and to the number of swimmers that a certain team can enter. Generally, there is only 1 heat in each event and each team alter‐ nates lanes so that each team swims in half the pool, regard‐ less of how fast each swimmer is. While this style of meet is generally uncommon for indi‐ vidual USA Swimming clubs, it is by far the most common of high school (NFHS) swimming, YMCA swimming, college (NCAA) swimming, and sum‐ mer league swimming.

Teams involved are very fast and have exclusively high level swimmers, as is the case with college swimming.

Aquatics Wingate University Hosts Dual Meet

One hundred eighty‐four (184) collegiate swimmers participated in a dual swim meet at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center from 6:30 – 10pm on Friday, November 2nd, and from 12 – 4pm on Saturday, November 3rd . Wingate University hosted the meet which included Catawba College, Gardner‐Webb University, Queens University, and Washington and Lee University.

Adult Athletics News On Thursday, November 8th, the Men’s B Basketball League will start the play off season at Grady Cole. Men’s 30+ still continues league play at Bette Rae on Sundays. Men’s 40+ and Women’s Basketball League will start play in early December. Weekly volleyball leagues are cur‐ rently being played at Tom Sykes, Wallace Pruitt, Bette Rae Thomas, and West Charlotte Recrea‐ tion Centers. Thursday November 8th, concluded Women’s Volleyball League play at the West Charlotte Recreation Center. In addition to the basketball leagues, volleyball, and flag football fall softball games are being played at Renaissance Park and Nevin Park each Monday through Thursday. Softball League play at Nevin Park concluded their season as Vicious and Delicious as 2012 Fall Champions. Thursday Night Champions at Renaissance Park included 300 Plus Men’s in Division C, Wild Wings Men’s in Division I and City Sluggers in Men’s D Division II.

Softball playoff games are still going on at Renaissance Park on Mondays and Tuesdays with double elimination.

Scenes from events: Women’s Basketball

Scenes from events: Adult Baseball

Scenes from events: Flag Football Competitors

Indoor Activities that Help Beat Winters Chill.

There are outdoor winter sports to fit almost any de‐ sire and physical constitu‐ tion. But not everybody likes the cold or has the opportu‐ nity to enjoy traditional win‐ ter sports.

Here are 10 activities for those who don't want to brave the winter cold.

Swimming in a heated in‐ door swimming pool is at the top of my list. You can find pools at recreation and exercise centers in most lar‐ ger towns and cities. Some cities provide a pool at a community center. I under‐ stand rich people have heated pools in their home.

Bowling is enjoyed by more than 70 million people every year . You can choose from more than 6,000 bowling centers across the United States.

Basketball is one of the great indoor team sports played by millions of people.

City or community gymnasi‐ ums are available in larger towns.

Others include Indoor Ten‐ nis, Table Tennis, Martial Arts, Handball, Dancing , Zumba and Weightlifting.

Outdoor Nation : History

In 2005 Richard Louv published a book titled, Last Child in the Woods. In his book Louv coined the term, “Nature Deficit Disorder” and used it to describe the growing divide between children and nature. Last Child in the Woods raised awareness about the problems associated with too much time spent indoors, and people around the country took notice. They began creating projects and initiatives aimed at re‐connecting children with nature.

These movements were revolutionary and inspiring, but they spoke to young children and their parents.

No one was speaking for those of us left in between‐ the Millennial Generation.

In June 2010 the first Outdoor Nation Summit was held in New York’s Central Park, with the support of a coalition of retailers, outdoor educators, and conservation groups. 500 delegates between the ages of 18 and 28, representing all 50 states, attended the summit. They left the two‐ day event committed to breaking down the barriers to the outdoors.

(Cont’d) Cover Page Story: Park and Recreation Leadership Development Key speakers at the event were Kit DesLauriers and her team of North Face athletes that told their powerful stories about how the outdoors help them realize their potential and overcome adver‐ sity in their lives.

With perfect weather Saturday night all of the training’s attendees stayed at Stone Mountain campground enjoying the wonders of sleeping outside which was a first experience for some of Park and Rec’s staff.

Sunday morning was the opportunity for Projects to be presented, and in “GOLD MEDAL” style the project created by Park and Recreation staff not only won $1000 in grant funding, but was the highest voted project of the event. #1 yet again! Overall it was a great experience for park and rec staff to come together and celebrate diversity in the outdoors while winning the funding necessary to pass it down to the children we impact every day. A big thanks to those who stretched out of their comfort zones and worked creatively to make it possible to win our grant. .

Protecting Garden Pots During the Winter — Excerpted from Simple Steps: Containers for Patios

Bring Tender Plants Inside Bring plants that need a frost‐free minimum winter temperature into a mildly heated greenhouse or con‐ servatory, or cool room in your home, before bad

weather sets in. Water occa‐ Commonwealth‐Morningside Neighbor Association & Horticulture Staff sionally.

The Commonwealth‐Morningside Neighborhood Association came out on Saturday, November

10th to display their many gardening talents at Veteran’s Park. Spearheaded by Neighborhood Wrap Up Delicate Pots member and Park and Recreation Horticulture employee Brian Conroy, the volunteers re‐ Many pots, especially orna‐ landscaped the park sign and a new stone planting bed. The sign and planting bed are part of a larger $25,000 City of Charlotte Neighborhood Matching Grant the Neighborhood was awarded to mental containers that aren’t designed to stand construct a needed pedestrian entrance from Central Avenue into the park. outside in freezing tempera‐

A big thanks to everyone who participated. tures, need winter protec‐ . tion. Wrap them up in bur‐ lap (possibly double layers), and secure tightly at the top and bottom with strong gar‐ den string.

Keep Tender Plants Warm Wrap potted plants that need protection in low tem‐ peratures in layers of horti‐ cultural fleece before freez‐ ing weather strikes. Move To learn of volunteer opportunities with the pot to a sheltered spot, Park and Recreation, such as a shed, away from contact Lori Saylor or flaying winds. Remove the Margaret Brown at fleece when the weather 704‐336‐8840. improves.

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Volunteer Ops

Youth Sports – Soccer and Flag Football:

Congratulations to all of our 2012 Countywide Champi‐ ons! Post season play ended this past weekend at E.B. Moore Park and Harrisburg Road Park as the top twenty (20) teams competed in sin‐ gle elimination style tourna‐ ments to decide the champi‐ ons for each sport and age division.

Elon Recreation Center took home the gold in flag foot‐ ball while the Police Activi‐ ties League (PAL) and Winget Recreation Center secured the championships in the 7‐8, 9‐10 and 11‐12 age divisions for soccer.

For more information about the tournament or other youth sports programs, email YouthSports@ MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call Revolution Park Sports Academy at (704) 432‐4963.

Champions pictured at right of page.

Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities

“Bionic Arm” TechXcite at Naomi Drenan: On November 6th, Naomi Drenan Recrea‐ tion Center’s BioMed Tech class finished their course on the “Bionic Arm.” During the course, they’ve con‐ structed a simple device out of household items to build a Bionic Arm with homemade touch sensors and learning the difference between Hydraulic and Pneu‐ matic, the definition of Compression and how protrac‐ tors can help them determine how much range their arms can extend. For the next session, we will begin our course on “Imaging the Human Body.”

Teens Game Night at Naomi Drenan: On November 6th, Naomi Drenan Recreation Center began it’s first “Teen Game Room Night.” This program for ages 12 to 18 will take place each Tuesday night. They will participate in various games and activities, learn‐ ing new games in addition to the traditional ping pong, foosball & board games as well as having a team tournament.

Naomi Drenan Recreation Center For more information about this or other programs or events, contact NaomiDrenanRecreationCen‐ ter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or 704.432.5231

2012 Countywide Champions

Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities Yoga at Elon Recreation Center The active adults at Elon Recreation Center take an hour three times a week to stretch their bod‐ ies and relax their minds. During the yoga sessions the instructors teach the active adults differ‐ ent yoga moves. Most moves are low impact. You are welcome to bring your own mat, but we always have mats to borrow. This class caters to our active adults in the community ages 55 and up, but all are welcome. There is a small fee of $5 per class, if younger than 55.

Elon Recreation Center To learn more about active adults, contact ElonRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 704‐540‐2426.

Did You Know ~ Yoga

Yoga has been practiced for more than 5,000 years, and currently, close to 11 million Americans are enjoying its health benefits. Yoga can hardly be called a trend.

Most Westernized yoga classes focus on learning physical poses, which are called asanas. They also usu‐ ally include some form of breathing technique and possibly a meditation tech‐ nique as well. Some yoga classes are designed purely for relaxation. But there are styles of yoga that teach you how to move your body in new ways. Choosing one of these styles offers the great‐ est health benefits by ena‐ bling you to develop your flexibility, strength, and bal‐ ance.

Quick Tips: Don't try learning yoga on your own. Work with an ex‐ perienced and credentialed instructor to learn the proper way to perform the exercises and avoid injury.

Yoga is not a substitute for medical care. Yoga offers many health benefits and may even be included as part of some treatment plans. But it's still important to work closely with your regular health care provid‐ ers and get proper treat‐ ment when you need it.

Park and Recreation News: 5841 Brookshire Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 336-8840

Submissions for the Newsletter Please submit all news for the Friday Letter to your Division

Recreate All Year!

As the weather changes, look forward to new and exciting way to continue recreating during the fall and winter months. Subscribe to the Park and Recreation E‐Newsletter to stay up to date on activities that may be available to you.

www.parkandrec.com

Director for review and routing.

Park Partners may contact Kesha Meads at Kesha.Meads@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

for publication assistance.

The Friday Letter Issue 58 November 9, 2012

Come Celebrate the Carolina Thread Trail’s Fifth Anniversary & 100th Mile!

Saturday, November 17, 2012 10‐11 a.m.

West Branch Nature Preserve Trail 18229 Shearer Road, Davidson, NC free to public, mile‐marker unveiling, nature hikes, photo contest kick‐off, & refreshments! see carolinathreadtrail.org for more info

Join us in celebration of our Fifth Anniversary, with a 100th Mile Marker unveil‐ ing, nature hikes led by Davidson College professors, and a photography contest kickoff!

Driving Directions from 77: Take exit 30 toward Davidson College. Follow Griffith Rd. to the inter‐ section with N. Main Street and turn right onto Main. Turn left onto Concord Rd. Approximately two miles down Concord Rd. follow the roundabout to E. Rocky River Rd. Follow E. Rocky River Rd. approximately 2 miles and turn right onto Shearer Rd. Follow the Carolina Thread Trail direc‐ tional signs to the parking area at 18229 Shearer Rd. Pedestrian/ Biking Directions from Davidson: Follow the South Prong Rocky River Greenway from Davidson Elementary to Davidson Concord Road. Turn left on Davidson Concord Road and right onto Robert Walker Drive (near athletic fields). Follow event signs through the River Run neighborhood to the West Branch Rocky River Trailhead along River Ford Drive. Follow the trail to the event location off of Shearer Road. Please note that bikes are not allowed on the West Branch Nature Preserve Trail.

Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Senior Leadership Team

Jim Garges, Director Michael Kirschman, Deputy Director James Alsop, Enterprise Services Renea Barber, Human Resources Mario Chang, Budget Administration Lee Jones, Capital Planning Lola Massad, Community Services and Recreation Centers Jeff Robinson, Park Operations