The Friday Letter | August 5, 2016

The

Sports & Fitness and GC/ALMS P.12

Economic Impact of Golf on

North Carolina Direct, indirect & induced economic Output $4.2 billion

Number of golf Courses 537

Direct Golf Economy $2.6 billion

Total Wage Income $1.7 billion

Total Jobs 68,667 - See more at: http:// wearegolf.org/economy/state-bystate/#sthash.PgvW8FF0.dpuf

Nature Preserves and Natural Resources Celebrating National Moth Week The fifth annual National Moth Week was held from July 23 to 31, 2016. This week long celebration of moths was designed to promote the beauty and diversity of these often overlooked insects. Through “mothing” events, people had an opportunity to learn about, observe and document moths in a variety of places, including parks, nature preserves, neighborhoods and backyards throughout the country. With moth-related events occurring in all 50 states, as well as in many countries around the world, National Moth Week has now become a global celebration of moths and biodiversity.

Natural Resources staff partnered with Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill to hold a public National Moth Week event at the Greenway on Friday, July 29th. This well attended event provided many in attendance their first ever introduction to these jewels of the nighttime world. The next night, on Saturday, July 30th, Natural Resources staff spent a night of serious “mothing” at West Branch Nature Preserve and West Branch Rocky River Greenway, where over 110 species were documented.

The more we can learn about our local moths, the greater our knowledge will be on this diverse group of insects that play extremely important roles in our natural areas, including the parks, greenways and nature preserves that we all enjoy.

Community & Recreation Centers Albemarle Road Recreation Center: Bump! Set! Spike!

Albemarle Road Recreation Center is now opening up registrations for its’ second round of youth volleyball! Taught by experienced college players and coaches, this upcoming program will advance participants on the basic skills, drills, positional, and technical training for the sport. Starting now until August 31st, we will hold registrations for ages 10- 14yrs. Players will start on September 5th and practice twice a week and for two hours. This program will be doubling the time and doubling practice week hours to ensure the advancing of development for the sport through the skills taught each week. The program will run September through the end of October. Also, we will hold agility clinics on a Saturday morning to focus more on footwork. The cost of this program is only $12.00!

To learn more about Albemarle Road Recreation Center Programs, please contact us at 980-314-1101 or via email at AlbemarleRoadRecreationCenter@mecklenburgcountync.gov

Community & Recreation Centers Mallard Creek Recreation Center: Organic Garden Under the loving care of our seniors, the organic garden at MCRC is blooming and booming. Our newest harvest is mini eggplants. While the rest of the garden has produced an amazing 75 pounds of vegetables and 54 quarts of lettuce.

For more information: Call 980-314-1121 or e-mail MallardCreekRecreationCenter@mecklenburgcountync.gov

Community & Recreation Centers Sugaw Creek Recreation Center: U.O.C at Sugaw Creek The second half of the Urban Outdoor Connection Camp kicked off at Sugaw Creek Recreation on July 25th. The six days included a tour of Charlotte Speedway, foot golf at Sunset Hills, a trip to Ramsey Beach, Botanical Gardens on the beautiful campus of UNCC, a behind the scene tour of Sea Life. The lively group of eight pre-teens call themselves "The Elite Eight". This five-week session is led

by Ivan Jones and Amanda Payton.

For more information, contact us at 980-314-1124 or email at SugawCreekRecreationCenter@mecklenburgcountync.gov.

Community & Recreation Centers Naomi Drenan Recreation Center: Charlotte Housing Authority HEART Honors & Awards Ceremony Gabe Hackney, Recreation Specialist from Naomi Drenan Recreation Center, attended the annual “Charlotte Housing Authority HEART Honors and Awards Ceremony� to cheer on the winners of the program and to give out information on Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation on Saturday, July 30th. Staff arrived early to Carowinds theme park at 7:30AM to get breakfast with the participants and to set up an information booth. After the ceremony, patrons who stopped by the table were able to take flyers for programs and an infographic detailing the many facilities and parks in Mecklenburg County that details impact that they have on the economy on a local level. Patrons were also treated to a recyclable and reusable water bottle, and entered into a free raffle to receive an insulated volunteer bag and assorted Park and Recreation gear. Pictured below is the winner, Tia, and her grand prize. Patrons to the park were very interested in finding their closest recreation center for mentorship programs and youth sport registrations. Stay tuned to see how we are getting involved with the community outside our center!

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

Community & Recreation Centers Berewick Recreation Center: “Bringing the Outdoors In” On Monday, we celebrated a part of a $20,000 grant Berewick Recreation Center, one of three rec. centers, received from NRPA, The Walt Disney Company and ESPN. This grant provided the necessary equipment for year round naturebased programming and education to preschoolers, their parents, and youth starting this fall. Preschoolers who visited RAY’s Playhouse this past Monday were introduced to the water table, a science table to look at real life nature specimens and expose them to new experiences. Some even enjoyed making a yummy treat called “dirt cups.”

For more information about this particular upcoming fall preschool program, contact BerewickRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1102.

Community & Recreation Centers Tom Sykes Recreation Center: Aerospace 4-H Summer Camp 3-2-1 Blastoff!! Tom Sykes soared to new heights as our young campers explored the many machines that fly the open skies. Camp began with learning about the different clouds in the sky. Afterwards, our future pilots built their own airplanes and learned how to be an air traffic controller. Next, Rocket Ryan paid us a visit with some awesome tricks that wowed the crowd! To end the week, we visited the Schiele Museum and Planetarium and found out just how big the universe really is! After a fun week of exploring space and the skies we are confident we have future astronauts in the making!

For more information on Tom Sykes Recreation center programs, please contact us at (980)314-1113 or email us at TomSykesRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Community & Recreation Centers Elon Recreation Center: Adventures in Play Summer Camp Elon Recreation Center staff took their summer camp to Cane Creek Park in Waxhaw, NC for a field trip last week. Our camp had a great time experiencing another park in a neighboring county. The kids enjoyed swimming in the manmade lake, riding the paddle boats and playing miniature golf. They also had a tremendous time on the playground zip line, especially pushing the staff!

For any information on summer camp or other programs at Elon Recreation Center, please call us at 980-314-1103 or email at ElonRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Community & Recreation Centers Elon Recreation Center: Introduces the New Crave- Geocaching Participants in Geocaching Adventures at Elon Recreation Center went on a quest to find several hidden geocaches around Elon Park. Using teamwork, the geocachers solved puzzles in order to retrieve the GPS coordinates for the next hidden treasures. Anticipation was great! The final destination was Rita's in Ballantyne where the geocachers were rewarded with cool and creamy treats!

For more information about our programs, events, and outreach opportunities contact ElonRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or 980.314.1103.

Community & Recreation Centers Berewick Recreation Center: Campers Learn about Bees & Honey Park and Recreation’s own bee keeper, Ken Carlson, dropped by Berewick Recreation Center’s Summer Camp this week to discuss about bees, honey, beekeeping and to answer any question the campers had. The children also took part in a taste test to see which is better: store-bought honey or Ken’s own local honey. Majority of Group 1 liked the store bought honey best while the majority of Group 2 actually liked the local honey best.

Thank you Ken for coming out to Berewick and chatting with our campers about beekeeping and bringing some of your bees and honey for the children to taste.

For more information about upcoming fall programs, contact BerewickRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1102.

Sports & Fitness and GC/ALMS Charlotte Hounds Professional Men’s Lacrosse The Charlotte Hounds wrap up their regular season this Saturday, August 6th as they host the top-ranked Chesapeake Bayhawks. Saturday night’s bout may be the deciding factor as to whether the Hounds make the Playoffs this season.

GateSs open at 6:30PM and face-off is at 7:30PM. Come out and enjoy the fastest game on two feet with the entire family! Tickets start as low as $10.00.

For ticket information for Hounds games, please visit: http:// www.charlottehounds.com/ For information on all upcoming events at the Grady Cole Center and American Legion Memorial Stadium, please visit us at: http://charmeck.org/ mecklenburg/county/ParkandRec/Facilities/EventFacilities/Pages/Events

Sports & Fitness and GC/ALMS Women’s Basketball The Women’s Basketball league finished off their Spring season on Sunday July 24th. Games were played at the Tom Sykes Recreation Center on Sunday afternoons starting at 2pm. There were a total of eight teams that competed for the championship in the league this season. The “Charlotte Fever” won the championship.

For more information on adult sports please visit our website at www.parkandrec.com, or call us at 980-314-1117.

Sports & Fitness and GC/ALMS Women’s Volleyball The Women’s Volleyball league finished off their spring season on Thursday July 28th. Games were played at the Wallace Pruitt Recreation Center on Thursday evenings starting at 6:30pm. There were a total of five teams competing in the league this season for the championship. The “Smokin Aces” won the championship.

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

Frist Ward Fridays: Fridays at First Ward Park is an event that everybody should stop by and check out. The park was closed earlier this summer for renovations but it has come out looking better than ever. Besides having great entertainment such as bands the event focuses on a friendly fun game night that is great for all ages. First Ward Park on Fridays is filled with games such as connect four, cornhole, ping pong, giant jenga, and plenty more. Also feel free to bring your children as the fountain area is a huge hit. There’s nothing like running through fountains on a warm evening and playing your favorite games. We also have craft beer for adults to enjoy and don’t forget about the awesome music bands that can leave you dancing all night. First ward Fridays happens every Friday from 6pm to 9pm. See you there!

5841 Brookshire Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28216 (980) 314-1000

Recreate All Year!

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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 Richard . McNeill @MecklenburgCountyNC.gov for publication assistance.

The Friday Letter Volume 6 • Issue 29• August 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