The Friday Letter | September 30, 2016

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Join us this year for Race for the Cure on Saturday, Oct. 1 at Marshall Park (6 a.m. – 10 a.m.).

Race packets will be available to pick up Race morning on site at Marshall Park, beginning at 6:00am.

Nature Preserves and Natural Resources Field Tripping at McDowell Fall is here! For McDowell Nature Center, that means school field trips are back in session. Schools come to us to get something students just can’t get in the classroom. Experiencing nature outdoors opens a whole new world for some students. Being in the middle of it all, learning, and holding it in your hand helps students truly appreciate the importance of nature. It helps them fully grasp the lesson. Most of our school programs meet school standards that are required for that grade level. It is a great way to achieve learning standards while instilling something in the students that they will remember. A second grade teacher who is also a parent told me today, “This is their favorite field trip.

My boys still think it is their favorite, and they are in middle school now.�

Nature Preserves and Natural Resources Natural Resources and Nature Preserves – Friday Letter Natural Resources staff have recently put the finishing touches on a new Dirtway just outside of Huntersville. The McDowell Creek Dirtway is now open, and is accessed through the Wynfield neighborhood. The Dirtway totals to 1 mile, and will eventually connect to the McDowell Creek Greenway. Signs have been placed at each entrance to the path from the neighborhood. This Dirtway takes you on a walk along McDowell Creek, which was recently the site of a stream restoration project. We encourage you to go and walk the new portion. More information about Dirtways, as well as maps, can be found at http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/ParkandRec/dirtways/Pages/ default.aspx .

Nature Preserves and Natural Resources McDowell Nature Preserve: Waterfront Parking Renovation The McDowell Nature Preserve waterfront parking area is getting some muchneeded improvements, with new surfacing and water management features.

Due to this construction, the lower waterfront parking area will be closed through the end of the year. Visitors can still access the waterfront area by parking in the upper lot and following the directions signs.

Community & Recreation Centers Ivory Baker Recreation Center: Basketball Skills and Drills Camp Preparation for basketball season has started at Ivory/Baker with coaches from the Hill Bobcats leading a high-energy regimen consisting of conditioning and drills designed to mentally and physically prepare the player. Clinics are held every Saturday at 10am for 13-16 year olds.

For more information about our programs, events and outreach opportunities, contact IvoryBakerRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1112.

Albemarle Road Recreation Center: District 8 Thursday, the seniors headed to Sugaw Creek Recreation Center to attend their District 8 meeting. Seniors from all over district 8 came together and enjoyed each other’s company. Ariel Henderson, Cynthia Perkins and the rest of the Sugaw Creek staff did a great job on throwing a Hawaiian- Luau themed meeting.

There were games, nutritional smoothies, dancing, food and of course prizes. Announcements, newsletters and flyers of all upcoming events at the different Park and Rec Centers were also vocalized for the senior’s consideration.

For more information about programs going on at Albemarle Road Recreation Center, please contact the center at 980-314-1101 or by email at AlbemarleRoadRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Community & Recreation Centers Tom Sykes Recreation Center: Dilworth Elementary Basketball & Cheerleading Partnership Tom Sykes Recreation Center is halfway through their 6-week Basketball and Cheerleading clinics with Dilworth Elementary School. There are 20 Basketball players and 20 Cheerleaders to complete this year’s Dragon teams. Basketball participants learn basketball basics, the importance of teamwork and experience game simulation through scrimmages. Cheerleaders learn basic arm motions of cheer, a variety of jumps, chants, cheers and a dance. Teams will be showcased during the student/teacher basketball game at Dilworth Elementary on October 27th and will also be featured as the official Dilworth Elementary teams in the school’s yearbook.

For more information about Tom Sykes Recreation Center programs, contact staff at (980) 314-1113 or email TomSykeRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Community & Recreation Centers Naomi Drenan Recreation Center: Achieve 225 Naomi Drenan Recreation Center’s Shamel Akins has been programming at Shamrock Gardens Elementary School every Tuesday from 10:45am-2:00pm. Youth from grades K-5 are exposed to varying games and activities that are age appropriate, focus on building the fundamentals of fitness and emphasize group play and fun. Games are interchangeable and can be modified to accommodate all ages and skill levels. This program is a collaboration with CMS and MCPRD as a part of the Achieve 225 grant.

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

Community & Recreation Centers Mallard Creek Recreation Center: 9/11 Remembrance On Monday September 12th the seniors painted wooden star ornaments in remembrance of the 9/11 first responders. Then on Wednesday September 14th they gathered around MCRC’s Senior Tree to hang the stars ‌ and remember.

Community & Recreation Centers Berewick Recreation Center: The Abundant Garden As we have mentioned last month that our garden, started from the summer campers at Berewick Recreation Center, has been providing us with healthy vegetables. Just look at the tremendous amount of green beans and tomatoes that are finally ready, plus we keep getting more cucumbers! Continuously, our REC Mentees (pictured Terry Waller) and staff (pictured Darius Christian) have been caring for the garden by watering and pulling weeds to continue producing more vegetables in the garden beds we have.

For more information about our upcoming preschool and youth programs, contact: BerewickRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1102.

Community & Recreation Centers Elon Recreation Center: Elon and Cross Country For Youth Program Elon has partnered with Cross Country For Youth (CCFY) program. This program is geared towards 2 components: 1) nutrition and 2) character building- allowing children the opportunity to hear positive messages and see presentations about building great self-esteem. This program is designed for kids to become physically fit in everyday life. It also gives the youth the opportunity to take part in an organized cross country meet with other youth their age.

Elon’s Cross Country for Youth team has been dedicated to practice on Mondays and Wednesdays for 12 weeks. Each member comes prepared and committed to the CCFY program with cross-country training, promoting healthy lifestyles for the prevention of obesity among North Carolina children aged 8-14 years and to the character development and the nutrition education portions.

Through teamwork and perseverance, the team is prepared to excel at their first meet on October 3, 2016 at McAlpine Greenway Park. They look forward to interacting with their combined teammates of Sugaw Creek Recreation Center.

For more information about our programs or outreach opportunities, please contact ElonRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or 980-314-1103.

Community & Recreation Centers Naomi Drenan Recreation Center: HUB Homeschool Trip to Latta Plantation The HUB Homeschool Group at Naomi Drenan ventured out into nature on Tuesday for their first field trip of the school year. Fifteen participants arrived at Latta Plantation to get hands on learning about reptiles. Snakes, turtles, and other animal materials were inspected by the kids, followed by a “Bug Hunt.�

The kids were given tweezers and cups and instructed to roll over any logs they see to collect specimens before releasing them home. A special thank you to Shelby, our wildlife leader for the afternoon. The program was a blast, and the kids are excited for future trips to come!

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

Community & Recreation Centers Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center “So you think you can ball”… Bette Rae Thomas’ Lil Ray Stingrays had a great season opening game. Developing skills as they go, the toddlers understood offense and defense and played to the best of their ability. Although this was a game, the kids had fun experiencing the court. For more information on programs at Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center call 980-314-1111 or via email at BetteRaeThomasRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Community & Recreation Centers Wallace Pruitt Recreation Center: The Student Garden The students at Bruns Academy took a break from their books, to plant kale, lettuce, and cabbage, in the Student Garden! The organization called, PopUp, came out and taught the students the importance of gardening, and presented tips on how to create their own garden at home. The students learned how to water the garden, and the type of plants that can grow in the fall and winter, versus in the spring and summer. The students were very excited and cannot wait until they see the fruits of their labor! For more information about gardening and other programs, call Wallace Pruitt at 980-3141114.

Community & Recreation Centers BIKE RIDE AND BASKETBALL CLINIC The event was for kids ages 10-15 years old. We had 28 participants. 10 from the community and the rest from McClintock Middle School. The kids were broken off into two groups. Half did the bike ride and the other half di the Basketball clinic. They switched after completing each event. The basketball clinic was lead by Trudy Lacey, who was the first African American woman to earn a full four year basketball scholarship @ NC State University. She was an intricate part of the 2000 Olympic gold Medal Women's Basketball Team in Sydney Australia.

For more information about this and other programs at Southview Recreation Center, You can email the center at SouthviewRecreationcenter@Mecklenburgcountync.gov .

Community & Recreation Centers Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center On Wednesday September 14, Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center and Tyvola Senior Center Seniors took a trip to the Mint Museum Uptown. The participants were able to experience oil and water based paintings, along with wood and glass exhibits. While on the tour the participants were exposed to some highlighted exhibitions by John Bigger and Romare Bearden; African American visual artists who have earned national reputations. It was nice to see Romare Bearden, an individual who has had quite a significance with Charlotte, in which there has been a park named after the him because of his impact through his work. The seniors had a wonderful time.

For more information on programs at Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center call 980-314-1111 or via email at BetteRaeThomasRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Community & Recreation Centers Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center On Thursday September 15,, Nature Preserve Staff visited Bette Rae Thomas to conduct the Animal Adventures program. This program consisted of learning about different animals, along with their environmental and eating habits. For this particular day, the program animals consisted of a snake and a tortoise. The participants were able to discuss the anatomy of the animals along with feeling their texture. The kids were very engaged having Q & A throughout the event.

For more information on programs at Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center call 980-314-1111 or via email at BetteRaeThomasRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Community & Recreation Centers Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center “So you think you can ball”… Bette Rae Thomas’ Lil Ray Stingrays had a great season opening game. Developing skills as they go, the toddlers understood offense and defense and played to the best of their ability. Although this was a game, the kids had fun experiencing the court.

For more information on programs at Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center call 980-314-1111 or via email at BetteRaeThomasRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Sports & Fitness and GC/ALMS Navratri Garba 2016 The Hindu Center of Charlotte will be hosting their 1st weekend of Navratri Garba worship festivals beginning this Friday, September 30. Navratri is a festival of worship to the goddess Durga, the goddess of Motherhood and victory over evil. It is believed that Durga is the mother of the universe, creator of existence.

During the festival, thousands of worshippers dance Garba around a statue of Durga in celebration of truth and good prevailing over wickedness.

The festival begins this Friday at 9:00PM and will continue on Saturday at the same time. For more information, please visit the Hindu Center of Charlotte’s website at: www.hcclt.org.

For more information on the Grady Cole Center and American Legion Memorial Stadium, as well as a calendar of upcoming events, please visit our webpage at: http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/ParkandRec/Facilities/ EventFacilities/Pages/

Volunteer Services and Special Events Cajun Fest Last week on Saturday September 24, 2016 was our last event at Romare Bearden for the season. We had our annual Cajun Fest. Despite the rain earlier that week Saturday ended up being great sunny weather. After the events that occurred that week in Charlotte this event was a great opportunity to bring the community together, listen to music, and enjoy food. We provided two Cajun food trucks which provided delicious options like lobster mac and cheese and shrimp and grits. We appreciate the band C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band for performing at Romare as they did travel from Louisiana. C.J. Chenier is known to only perform happy music that will get the crowd up and dancing. C.J. is also known for playing funk, soul, and jazz music compared to artists like James Brown. We enjoyed our Cajun Fest for the year and hope to have it again next year. So in case you missed this year’s Cajun Fest consider coming out next year.

5841 Brookshire Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28216 (980) 314-1000

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

The Friday Letter Volume 6 • Issue 37• September 30, 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 Peter Cook, Park Operations Chris Matthews, Nature Preserves and Natural Resources