The Friday Letter | February 5, 2016

The

One this date in Black History Henry "Home Run King" Aaron, baseball superstar was born February 5th, 1934

The NFL is celebrating Super Bowl 50 this week.

The league’s biggest game of the year has produced some outstanding highlights, teams, players and coaches over the last five decades.

The biggest moment for Black quarterbacks was Super Bowl XXII in 1988 when Doug Williams led the Washington Redskins to a 42-10 victory over the Denver Broncos. Williams became the first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

He threw four touchdown passes in an exciting second quarter leading the Redskins to their second Super Bowl win, passing for 340 yards, which was a Super Bowl record at that time. Washington was trailing 10-0 in that quarter when Williams engineered a 35-point explosion en route to his finest day on the gridiron.

He sparked an impressive scoring rally with an 80-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Sanders in the second quarter. Williams was named the Super Bowl MVP that day.

His play was sensational, but even more important were his leadership and trailblazing effort. For many years, there were a number of African-American quarterbacks who had the ability to become an NFL signal caller, but only to be moved to wide receiver or defensive back. Williams clearly eliminated the myth and stereotype that African Americans couldn’t play quarterback effectively with his brilliant play at the position.

Aquatics Marion Diehl Swim Team: Marion Diehl Swim Team hosted the Jewish Community Center Jaws on Saturday Jan 30th. With close to 200 swimmers ages 3-18 and spectators we had a full house. The meet was enjoyed by all and gets the Hornet’s Nest Swim league season off to a great start.

Nature Preserves and Natural Resources Cocorahs is at McDowell Nature Preserve!

Cocorahs (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network) is a community based network of volunteers working together to measure and map precipitation by using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive website. The goal is to provide the highest quality of data for natural resource, education, and research application. McDowell Nature Preserve now has its own rain gauge, where the staff takes daily measurements of the precipitation that has fallen in the preserve and records the data on the Cocorahs’ website, www.cocorahs.org. The staff was trained by the local Cocorahs’ coordinator, Matthew Eastin and he assisted in finding the best possible location for the rain gauge. The rain gauge has been set up by McDowell Nature Center’s Ozone garden. In the future, McDowell staff hopes to build upon the weather station, adding a barometer, wind vane, and other easy to operate weather instruments to further the knowledge and importance of local weather, and to create more interactive environmental education programs around the topics of weather and climate.

Community & Recreation Centers Therapeutic Recreation Section This past weekend, the Therapeutic Recreation Section had a Wilderness Bunch "camping" trip for the Northern towns of the county. We had a fun weekend at Morrow Mountain State Park and stayed in warm cabins. Over the weekend, we visited different historical sites including Town Creek Indian Mound, and we also explored Lake Norman State Park. We also built and painted birdhouses and birdfeeders, and played a lot of games. This was a great experience and everyone had a lot of fun.

For more information on Wilderness Bunch camping trips, contact Melissa Johnson at Melissa.Johnson@mecklenburgcountync.gov.

Community & Recreation Centers Challenger Basketball The Therapeutic Recreation Section is deep into their 2016 season of Challenger Basketball! This program is for youth and teens aged 6-21, and is an introduction to basic basketball skills. For six weeks, 22 enthusiastic players practice dribbling, passing, and shooting with the assistance of TR Section staff, interns, and volunteer coaches. For the last 3 sessions, youth and teens engage in scrimmages, showing off the skills they have been practicing!

Community & Recreation Centers Tom Sykes Recreation Center: Start Smart Golf We’re finishing strong for the last week of Start Smart Golf here at Tom Sykes Recreation Center. We’ve had a great 8 weeks of learning and developing our skill in this lifelong sport of golf. It was time to acknowledge the best of the best as we awarded some of our top performers with medals and certificates. The competition was intense as our golfers competed in the longest drive, bulls-eye putting and most accurate chipper contests! We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the golfers as they apply their skills moving forward. We are looking forward to next year as we look to develop the skills of more young golfers!

For information on additional programs we offer contact us at TomSykesRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or (980) 314-1113.

Community & Recreation Centers Naomi Drenan Recreation Center: Ping Pong Club The Naomi Drenan Teen Ping Pong club has kicked off and is in full “swing.� Every Tuesday and Thursday the teens meet from 4pm to 5pm to work on the basics of ping pong to increase their skill level and knowledge of the game. Forehand, backhand, and serving strokes are taught during each class with different trills and paddle types used. The participants are preparing for a tournament among each other as they work to increase their skill.

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

Community & Recreation Centers Elon Recreation Center: Private Music Lessons Elon Recreation Center offers music lessons through our partner “Community School of the Arts.� Community School of the Arts envisions a future in which Charlotte leads the nation in making outstanding arts instruction available to all children. We offer violin, piano and guitar lessons for any age at any skill level.

The instructors work one on one with each participant to ensure confidence and bring joy through the art of music.

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

Community & Recreation Centers Albemarle Road Recreation Center: Monthly Meeting Gatherings On Tuesday February 2nd, our wonderful “Sensational Seniors� showed up at Albemarle Road Recreation Center to come together for their monthly meetings. At our biggest meeting yet coming in at almost fifteen seniors, they discussed new and exciting upcoming trips, programs and events! There was laughter, debates, scheduling and fun, as they conversed over a two hour time span! Word through the grapevine, our seniors are even planning a day trip to North Carolinas very own capital, Raleigh!

For more information about this or our other programs at Albemarle Road call 980.314.1101 or email AlbemarleRoadRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Community & Recreation Centers Hickory Grove Recreation Center: Hickory Grove Enjoys Toddlers Hickory Grove Recreation Center has undergone a major make over for the toddler program. Every Wednesday a group of mothers and care givers enjoy coming to the Play House to help the children learn social skills, listen to stories and be creative with all the wonderful toys that we have in the room. The idea of coming to the Play House is to help encourage a safe environment for the children and caregivers to come for developmentally appropriate activities.

For more information regarding programs contact Hickory Grove Recreation Center at 980-314-1122 or email us at HickoryGroveRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Community & Recreation Centers Ivory/Baker Recreation Center:4-H Gardening On Thursdays, Ivory/Baker partners with the Nature Center to teach kids with the Anita Stroud afterschool. This week the kids learned about Ground Hogs Day and talked about mammals. After we read a book, each kid had the chance to use clay and made footmark tracts.

For more information about our upcoming programs, contact the staff at IvoryBakerRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1112.

Community & Recreation Centers Mallard Creek Rec Center: Seniors Celebrating Panthers Pride On Friday January 29th Carolina Blue, Black and Silver could be seen everywhere at Mallard Creek Rec Center.

The Seniors were celebrating their team and not holding back. There was food, fun, music, dancing in the aisles and then some posing in front of the “Panthers Trees� in the lobby. Rumor has it, that they are already planning their victory party!

For more information about this or our other programs at Mallard Creek call 980.314.1121 or email MallardCreekRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Community & Recreation Centers Sugaw Creek Recreation Center: Ray Play Super Bowl Party The Sugaw Creek Ray Play participants got their blood pumping for the NFC Champion Carolina Panthers! The kids had fun as they took part in a mocked NFL Experience. The events included Carolina Panthers crafts, Dab Dance, Cam Newton Quarterback Challenge, Coca Cola Football Run, Autographs Sessions and more! A special thanks to SCRC Recreation Center Attendant Allie Butler and the Coca Cola Refresh Crew for conducting the reading program, taking pictures, operating activity booth and providing everyone with PowerAde Drinks.

For more information on the Ray Play program contact: SugawCreekRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov Go Panthers!!!!!

Carolina Panther Pride

Carolina Panther Pride

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 04 • February 5, 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