The Friday Letter | January 24, 2014

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Fitness centers are located at the following recreation centers. For information on rates, contact the fitness center at the number provided below: Aquatic Center (MCAC) 800 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 704-336-3483 Bette Rae Thomas Fitness Center 2921 Tuckaseegee Road, 704-432-3048 Mallard Creek Fitness Center 2530 Johnston Oehler Road, 704-548-8234 RAY's Splash Planet 215 N. Sycamore Street, 704-432-4729 Revolution Park Sports Academy, 1225 Remount Rd, 704-432-4963 Southview Fitness Center 1720 Vilma Street, 704392-7452 West Charlotte Fitness Center 2401 Kendall Drive, 704-432-6474

Park News

Start 2014 off the Right Way: Get Fit at a Park and Rec Fitness Center If getting in shape is your New Year’s resolution, a Park and Recreation fitness center is the place for you.

Park and Recreation operates seven fitness centers throughout the County, making it easy for you to start your journey to a healthier, more fit you.

Fitness centers offer cardiovascular, weight resistance, and free weight equipment at a great value as well as instructional classes for all skill levels.

Free first time visit!

Drop by the fitness center closest to you now through Feb. 28, 2014 for a free visit! Simply mention the fitness center ad in the Winter Get Going Guide and enjoy a great workout.

Latta Plantation Fairy House Festival February 8, 10-4 Come spend an afternoon discovering the joy and magic of fairy houses! Storytelling, face painting, crafts, activities, pony rides and food will be available. Prizes for best fairy or gnome costume and best fairy house will be awarded. Learn how to build your own fairy house on one of our nature trails! Enchanting fun for all ages!

FREE! No registration required.

Schedule of Events Fairy House Building: 10am to 4pm Fort Building: 10am to 3pm Pony Rides: 10am to 3pm ($2 fee) Story Telling: 10:30, 11:30, 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 Costume Parade: 2pm Fairy House Judging: 2:30pm Fairy House Awards: 3:30pm Craft Activities: 10 to 4 Fairy Boats: 10 to 4 Gnome Geocaching: 10 to 4

Therapeutic Recreation Services Therapeutic Recreation—School’s Out Club Teens: 9 teens participated in the School’s Out Club Teens program on Monday, January 21, 2014. The teens had a blast visiting the Charlotte Nature Museum and explored a variety of exhibits from baby animals to the indoor butterfly garden. They also saw the Barred Owl eat during feeding time. As well, the teens spent the afternoon swimming at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center. The TR Section offers School Day Out programs for Teens, with disabilities, on days when CMS is out of school and during CMS spring break. For program information contact Ariel.Kliem@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or Jana.McMullen@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

School’s Out Youth Club: The Therapeutic Recreation Section youth traveled to Southview Recreation Center for a fun-filled morning in the indoor playhouse! We then traveled to Latta Plantation for a Nature Program with Anne Stevenson. She educated the youth on snakes, frogs, turtles & more. We even got to make our own slime! The day was concluded by a short nature hike! If you would like more information about School’s Out Club for Youth please contact: Abgail.Wilkerson@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or Stacey.Thomas@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Community & Recreation Center Services Albemarle Road Recreation Center: “See Charlotte” at Main Library!: The seniors of Albemarle Road Recreation Center took a “See Charlotte” trip to the Mecklenburg County Main Public Library on January 21st. During the visit, they were educated on the rich history of Charlotte through several exhibits. In addition, several of them upgraded their library cards and checked out a few books. Afterwards, they had lunch at a popular family restaurant in the downtown area. See Charlotte trips are offered at the Albemarle Road Recreation Center on the third Tuesday of each month. For more information on this and other programs, contact Ivan Jones at 704-567-1941 or ivan.jones@mecklenburgcountync.gov.

5K Trail Run to Raise Awareness of Prescribed Fire in Mecklenburg Nature Preserves Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation’s Natural Resource Division will recognize Prescribed Fire Awareness Month with a 5K trail run on Feb. 15, 2014, at Latta Plantation Nature Preserve.

The trail run will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Nature Center, near the entrance of the preserve, and will take runners through eight different areas that have been burned in different years. One area includes the Latta Prairie, which is burned annually to reduce the encroachment of trees in order to protect populations of two federally endangered plant species in the prairie.

The race is $25 until Feb. 5 and $30 from Feb. 5 until Feb. 12. A kids’ race will also take place and cost $5 per entrant. Register online here. Registration includes a t-shirt and post-race refreshments. Packet pick-up will take place at REI-Northlake on Feb. 14 from 4-6 p.m.

Smokey the Bear will attend the race to encourage runners and present awards.

Free nature tours will be led

by Latta Plantation Nature Center staff following the race.

For more information, contact Christa Rogers, natural resources manager, at 704.948.4504 or christa.rogers@mecklenburgco untync.gov.

Aquatics Citizens Looking for things to do?

There is no shortage of things to do in Mecklenburg County! Throughout the year Park and Rec hosts many popular athletic events, aactivitioe and programs that offer great things to do on idle weekends. You can find out what programs are available to you at www.parkandrec.com in our Get Going Guide. You can even register for the programs online at eParks .

Beneficial Programming.

Developing Character.

Enriching Lives.

Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center : The South Piedmont conference held their championship swim meet at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on Friday, January 17 from 6:30pm - 11pm. Two hundred seventy-five (275) swimmers from South Rowan, Cox Mill, East Rowan, Concord, Hickory Ridge, Jesse Carson, Northwest Cabarrus, West Rowan, and Central Cabarrus High Schools competed for a chance to qualify for the State Championship in Raleigh.

The Frosty Invitational Swim Meet took place from 8:30am – 5pm, January 18 and 19. Thirteen (13) teams and four hundred thirty-two (432) swimmers participated in the two day meet. Teams from Hickory/Catawba, Gaston, Mt. Airy, Rutherford, Lenoir, Watauga and the Charlotte area competed. The Frosty Invitational is open to all levels of swimmers that are members of the Blue Ridge Swim League.

Athletics Men’s B Basketball Winter Season will start on February 4. Games will be played at the Grady Cole Center on Tuesday evenings.

Men’s 30 and Over Basketball Winter Season will start on January 26. Games will be played at Bette Rae Recreation Center on Sunday evenings. There are a total of 10 teams participating this season.

As of Sunday January 26 Women’s Basketball will be played at Naomi Drenan Recreation Center. There are a total of 8 teams participating during the Winter Season.

Nature Preserves and Natural Resources Chainsaw Safety Training: Nature Preserves Operations staff participated in chainsaw safety training on January 21. Chainsaw skills are a necessity in the nature preserves, as staff frequently need to remove unsafe or fallen trees from trails, roadsides and picnic areas.

New Greenway in North Mecklenburg County Phase I, the first section of Long Creek Greenway to be developed, will extend approximately one mile from I77 to Target along Dixon Branch Road. Phase II, extending the greenway farther west to Primm Road, is expected to receive funding in 2018.

Urban Outdoor Connection Program at McDowell Nature Center This week, participants from West Charlotte Recreation Center’s afterschool program spent a day off school participating in outdoor activities and a service project with McDowell Nature Center staff. Anthony Shaheen has been overseeing the program, including greenhouse operations, which are expanding into a year-round operation thanks to funding from Blue Cross Blue Shield, Arts and Science Council, and Partners for Parks.

The service project portion of the day included painting of pots which will later be planted with herbs for the annual plant sale in the spring. All money from the plant sale provides scholarships and funding for at-risk youth programs such as the MeckTeens ski trip and other opportunities to connect urban youth to the outdoors.

Adam Herre (shown) and Stephanie Hedrick, Natural Resource Assistants, spent a nice winter day spreading and raking in seeds for native warm season grasses and flowers at Evergreen Nature Preserve. The ½ acre site had been used for temporary spoil storage for the past several years. The new seed will restore habitat and prevent non-native invasive species from encroaching.

Once complete, Long Creek Greenway will connect the future extension of Mallard Creek Greenway to the Catawba River at the U.S. National Whitewater Center.

The completed greenway will provide an east-west corridor across Mecklenburg County.

For more information on Mecklenburg County greenways, click here.

5841 Brookshire Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 336-8840

Recreate All Year!

Subscribe to the Park and Recreation E-Newsletter to learn of new and exciting way sto continue recreating during the spring and summer 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 Please submit all news for the Friday Letter to your Division Director for review and routing.

Park Partners may contact The Friday Letter Team at Kier. Harrison@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

for publication assistance.

The Friday Letter Volume 3 • Issue 4• January 17, 2014

Summer Camp Registration Summer camp registration begins on February 1, 2014 at 9:00 am. To ensure your child’s spot in one of the wonderful summer camps offered by Park and Recreation please register early! Visit parkandrec.com to view the summer camp listing. Register online by utilizing our Eparks system or call 311 (704-336-7600) to register by phone.

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 and Recreation Center Services Jeff Robinson, Park Operations