The Friday Letter | January 15, 2016

The

QUICK FACTS NAME Martin Luther King Jr. OCCUPATION Civil Rights Activist, Minister BIRTH DATE January 15, 1929 DEATH DATE April 4, 1968 EDUCATION Boston

University, Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary PLACE OF BIRTH Atlanta, Georgia PLACE OF DEATH Memphis, Tennessee ORIGINALLY Michael King Jr. AKA MLK Jr. Martin Luther King MLK FULL NAME Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. King, both a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist, had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s. Among many efforts, King headed the SCLC. Through his activism, he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of AfricanAmerican citizens in the South and other areas of the nation, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors. King was assassinated in April 1968, and continues to be remembered as one of the most lauded AfricanAmerican leaders in history, often referenced by his 1963 speech, "I Have a Dream."

Nature Preserves and Natural Resources Natural Resources kicked off the 2016 burn season at the Latta Plantation Prairie!

Each year, the Natural Resources Section conducts prescribed fires on hundreds of acres of Nature Preserve property. The fires are very carefully planned and closely monitored for safety. Fire was an important part of history and a natural way to ensure the health of our grassland and forest habitats.

Fire removes accumulated leaves, needles and woody debris, helps control invasive shrubs, and returns important nutrients to the soil. Small openings allow more light to the forest floor stimulating new growth beneficial to wildlife.

Burning is dependent upon weather conditions like humidity, wind speed and direction, mixing height, days since last rainfall, and others. As weather conditions allow, Natural Resources will conduct burns in Latta Plantation, Cowan’s Ford, Gar Creek, and McDowell Nature Preserves this year.

Community & Recreation Centers Tom Sykes Youth Cheerleading Let’s Go Tom Sykes, Let’s Go! Youth basketball regular season has officially begun and Tom Sykes Cheerleaders are ready to show their spirit. The squad did a fantastic job performing at halftime of the 8U basketball game at Tuckaseegee Recreation Center. Tom Sykes is also offering a NEW Little Rays Mini Cheer for ages 3-5 year olds in February.

For more information about our Preschool programs, contact us at TomSykesRecreationCenter@Mecklenburgcountync.gov or 980.314.1113.

Community & Recreation Centers NDRC Youth Volleyball Skillz Clinic During a Winter Break full of activities, NDRC hosted a Youth Volleyball Skillz Clinic on Wednesday, December 30th. The program was conducted from 10am to 2pm for 4th through 8th Grade girls. The cost for the program was $2 and we had a great response as 14 girls showed up and participated. The group consisted those from the Bulldogs Matter After-School program at Alexander Graham Middle School and Program Director, Rebekah Brunson of the Crossroads Corporation was instrumental in our success to recruit and teach the girls. Participants worked on developing basic skills such as: passing, setting, hitting, serving, blocking and digging in a fun and safe structured environment. We are looking forward to offering additional clinics on Friday nights in the near future.

For more information about our programs, events and outreach opportunities, contact NaomiDrenanRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1100.

Community & Recreation Centers Winter Break Youth Basketball Skillz Camp Starting December 21st and running until December 29th, Naomi Drenan Recreation Center offered a “Winter Break Youth Basketball Skillz Camp.” The 15 registered boys and girls aged 8-12 joined our staff for a basketball camp to up their basketball skills in many ways. Working to improve dribbling, shooting, passing, and simulating game situations from 9am-5pm each day the participants have kept the rust off from the winter break and have helped to prepare themselves for the 2015-2016 youth basketball league games that are only a short while away.

During the camp we gave each participant a certificate for coming to the program and staying throughout the duration, and we also recognized 3 participants for different accomplishments. An award for “Outstanding Leadership,” “Most Effort,” and “Outstanding Sportsmanship” were given out to players who showed those qualities. The participants enjoyed the clinic and were able to develop further as basketball players and in sportsmanship.

For more information about our programs, events and outreach opportunities, contact NaomiDrenanRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1100.

Community & Recreation Centers Winter Break Obstacle Course at Elon Elon Recreation Center hosted a 3rd party winter break obstacle course. Each participant ran through an exciting obstacle course from running, jumping, crawling, hopping, and body control around cones. Fellow team mates counted and cheered on for their team to see who could make it through the obstacle course the fastest.

For more up and coming programming information please contact Elon Recreation Center at ElonRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or at 980-314-1103.

Community & Recreation Centers New Preschool Program Starts off New Year at Berewick A, B, C’s & 1, 2, 3’s is one of Berewick’s new preschool programs that began this week with the children learning their alphabet, singing songs, coloring letters and learning how to write the Letter A. Each week on Tuesday mornings, the children will learn something new and exciting such as numbers, colors, shapes and more.

For more information about Berewick preschool programs, contact staff at BerewickRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or 980-314-1102.

Community & Recreation Centers Little Tykes Art at Berewick Another new preschool program at Berewick Recreation Center began this past week and was over our initial quota having 13 children participating in this art class. The theme was winter weather with snowmen, even with no snow on the ground, it’s been very cold outside. Each week on Thursday mornings, the children will make something creative and fun to take home.

For more information about Berewick preschool programs, contact staff at BerewickRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or 980-314-1102.

Community & Recreation Centers Board Art at Grayson Skate Park Grayson Skate Park just wrapped up their second Board Art session! Participants learned how to create different style lettering such as, bubble letter, graffiti styles, and 3D shadowing. Students are encouraged to think outside the box, create their own unique graphic, and get away from the branding they see on a regular basis, while also learning how to pick out elements from other artwork styles and incorporate them in their own work and still maintaining their own style.

Quinn Davis created this stunning stencil of the Golden Gate Bridge on his grip tape and put his letter styles to work on the back of the board. Two brothers had their own idea of how to make their boards edgy, as seen in the second photo. Grayson Skate Park is proud of their Board Art program and are looking to expand the program with air brushing and potentially Photoshop. We are looking forward to plenty of great new Board Art projects in the future!

For more information about our programs, events and outreach opportunities, contact NaomiDrenanRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1100.

Community & Recreation Centers NDRC Youth Basketball League Bash On Friday, January 8th, NDRC held its annual Youth Basketball League Bash for the 2015-16 Youth Sports Basketball League. The program included scrimmages between Naomi Drenan and Methodist Homes, contests & prize giveaways, a live DJ and a host of volunteers from the Nike Factory Store in Steele Creek. We kicked off with the team parade featuring custom banners created by staff and the 11 teams walked into the gym to a huge ovation from the packed crowd of almost 200 spectators. The kids had a blast getting in some quality court time the night before their first official games. The 3-Point Shootout Contest consisted of participants from NDRC’s 10U & 12U divisions. Juan Travis, one of two 10U contestants wowed the crowd with his clutch shooting to defeat 12U contestant Will Ham Jr. in a quadruple sudden death out of 10 total participants and win the KD Bookbag & Cap Prize Pack. Our next activity was a special presentation to Corey Gaines, a plaque and a donated gift card from The Home Depot, recognizing his dedication and support of Naomi Drenan programs and its surrounding community. Before our last event, the Coaches/Staff vs. Kids and throughout the evening, we held our Half-Court Bicycle Giveaway Contest for the 6U & 8U divisions. Over 30 players’ parents, relatives and friends attempted to make the half-court shot to no avail but the gym sure was buzzing on every attempt. Overall it was a great night and we can’t wait to do it again.

For more information about our programs, events and outreach opportunities, contact NaomiDrenanRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1100.

Community & Recreation Centers 6 & Under Basketball Games at Elon Elon Recreation Center had our first 6 and under basketball game(s) of the season. Our first game was the Elon Hornets vs Berewick Wooten and our second game was the Elon Bulls vs Berewick Lindsey. Each team played strong and worked really hard to score a few points. We even had one participant try and score a point for the other team. With great success each team came out winners since no score is kept.

For more up and coming programming information please contact Elon Recreation Center at ElonRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or at 980-314-1103.

Sports and Fitness, GCC/ALMS Charlotte Mini-con at Grady Cole Center: Charlotte Mini-Con is coming back to the Grady Cole Center on Saturday, January 30th! Come meet the writers, pencilers, and creative team of your favorite comics including the creative team of Hellcat! There will be a costume contest with prizes for the winners, and every paid admission comes with a goodie bag which includes one random copy of a Heroes Exclusive Comic. Admission is $5.00 and a donation of a non-perishable food item is encouraged.

For tickets visit: cltminicon2016.eventbrite.com. For more information on Grady Cole and Memorial Stadium visit us at: http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/ParkandRec/Facilities/ EventFacilities/

Sports and Fitness, GCC/ALMS Adult Volleyball: The Women’s Volleyball league kicked off their winter season this past Thursday January 7th. Games are being played at Sugaw Creek Recreation Center on Thursday evenings starting at 8:15pm. There are a total of five teams participating in the league this season.

For more information on adult volleyball leagues please visit our website at www.parkandrec.com, or call us at 980-314-1356.

Sports and Fitness, GCC/ALMS Adult Softball: The Thursday night Men’s Division II league finished off their fall season last Thursday January 7th. Games were played at Renaissance Park starting at 7:30pm. A total of six teams competed for the Division II league championship.

“Empty Pitchers” won the championship this season.

For more information on adult softball leagues please visit our website at www.parkandrec.com, or call us at 704-432-3095 or 980-314-1355.

Sports and Fitness, GCC/ALMS Adult Basketball: The Men’s 30 & Over Basketball league started their winter season this past Sunday January 10th. Games are being played at Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center on Sunday afternoons starting at 1pm. There are a total of nine teams participating in the league this season.

For more information on adult softball leagues please visit our website at www.parkandrec.com, or call us at 704-432-3095 or 980-314-1355.

Keep Pounding

Keep Pounding

5841 Brookshire Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28216 (980) 314-1000

Recreate All Year!

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Park Partners may contact The Friday Letter Team at Richard . McNeill @MecklenburgCountyNC.gov for publication assistance.

The Friday Letter Volume 5 • Issue 02 • January 15, 2016

CHARMECK ALERTS The CharMeck Alerts Notification System relays accurate and timely emergency notifications. You control how you’re contacted— whether it’s on your cell, work or home phone, via text, email or voice message. You can receive up-to-the-minute notifications about events and emergencies that may affect your home, workplace or other points of interest—anywhere in Mecklenburg County. Sign up here or call CharMeck 311. To receive CDOT-specific alerts, you must sign up for that item in the list.

Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Senior Leadership Team Jim Garges, Director Michael Kirschman, Deputy Director Renea Barber, Human Resources Mario Chang, Budget Administration Lee Jones, Capital Planning Terri Stowers, Community and Recreation Center Services Jeff Robinson, Park Operations Chris Matthews, Nature Preserves and Natural Resources