The Friday Letter | January 13, 2017

The

Accounting Tips for the week: Credit Honoring the legacy Balances of should not be Dr. Martin left on Customer Luther accounts.

King, Jr

“When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind.

When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men seek to perpetrate an unjust ‘status quo’, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice.”

Natural Resources Birthday Parties at McDowell Nature Center: Have a nature loving child between the ages of four and twelve with a birthday coming up? Consider hosting their birthday party at McDowell Nature Center!

For a nominal fee, your young one and up to fifteen of their friends can take part in their very own one-hour nature-based program with a Nature Center Educator, filled with lots of hands-on learning and exploration, and a project that they can take home! Your child and their friends might enjoy discovering one of the many species of reptiles native to the North Carolina piedmont region, meeting some of McDowell Nature Center’s animal ambassadors, searching the trails for animal signs, learning all about insects, or exploring McDowell Nature Preserve. Also included in the birthday package is use of McDowell Nature Center’s classroom and access to the kitchen, for a total of two additional hours scheduled around the program. Theme options include Scale Tales, Nature Detectives, Wild Woodlands, and Insect Mania. If your family doesn’t have a birthday coming up, not to worry: McDowell Nature Center hosts a variety of naturebased programs, open to the public, all year! Additionally, members of the community are always welcome to arrange private programs for their families and groups.

Call McDowell Nature Center at (704) 588-5224 for more details!

Community & Recreation Centers

Community & Recreation Centers Wallace Pruitt: Kwanzaa On Friday, December 30th, 2016, Wallace Pruitt hosted the fifth day of Kwanzaa, “Nia”. Many gathered at the recreation center in traditional African clothes and open arms, to practice and celebrate this principle’s purpose “to make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.” Multiple performances were held by Wallace Pruitt’s own programs such as Strength in Brothers, and Drills of Hope. Artifacts were passed around to keep the crowd engaged and words of wisdom were passed on by those knowledgeable on Kwanzaa.

For more information about our programs, contact Wallace Pruitt Recreation Center at 980-314-1114, or email WallacePruittRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

Community & Recreation Centers Sportsmanship at Tuckaseegee: We at Tuckaseegee have been promoting Good Sportsmanship this week. Staff and Coaches have been concentrating on ways to show Good Sportsmanship during sporting events, open gym and youth basketball practices. As a reminder of the importance of Good Sportsmanship, staff at Tuckaseegee Recreation Center decorated our bulletin board with words that describe what Good Sportsmanship is.

For more information on this program and others please contact Tuckaseegee Recreation Center at 980-314-1115 or TuckaseegeeRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Community & Recreation Centers Tyvola Senior Center: Holiday Celebration Continues‌ Kwanzaa is a festival observed by many African-Americans from December 26th to January 1st as a celebration of their culture heritage and traditional values.

Tyvola Senior Center participants celebrated this holiday by being a part of a Head Wrap demonstration. During this demonstration, participants were able to learn the meaning behind various head wrap styles throughout history. It was a fun experience mastering these styles with our participants.

For more information about special events at Tyvola Senior Center contact us at (980) 314-1320 or email at TyvolaSeniorCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Community & Recreation Centers Tom Sykes Recreation Center: Senior Basketball Tom Sykes has many special groups that visit the center on a weekly basis. One of those groups is the ladies who participate in our senior basketball program.

Every Monday night at 5:30, these ladies strap on their sneakers, tie up their shorts and come to play! Our staff looks forward to working with them as we often help them stretch, warm-up and run drills. After a quick workout, they played some 5 on 5. It’s truly phenomenal how much energy these ladies bring to the gym every week! We are honored to have them at Tom Sykes and look forward to working with them in the future.

For more information about Tom Sykes Recreation Center Programs, contact 980-314-1113 or email TomSykesRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Community & Recreation Centers Methodist Home Recreation Center: Welcome Chris Meeks!

Methodist Home Recreation Center is glad to welcome Recreation Assistant Chris Meeks to the team! Chris was previously with the County having worked at Latta Plantation. He also has previous experience with the Charlotte Hornets and the YMCA. His background includes a Sport Fitness/Management degree from Catawba College and has a love for basketball. He is a native of Charlotte and has fond memories of his youth playing basketball and flag football at Albermarle Road Recreation Center. Chris jumped right in working the popcorn machine at last week’s Youth Basketball League Bash! event. Look for big things from this dedicated young professional.

For more information about our programs, events and outreach opportunities, contact MethodistHomeRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1123.

Community & Recreation Centers Naomi Drenan Recreation Center: 14 Under Basketball Practice With the season opener at Hickory Grove Recreation Center just days away, Naomi Drenan Thunder 14 Under season is under way as practice picked up again at Naomi Drenan Recreaction Center on Monday at 7pm. Competitions heat up, and athletes work hard to improve their performance for regular season basketball games.

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

Community & Recreation Centers Naomi Drenan Recreation Center: Homeschool Group The homeschool group is back from winter break! This Tuesday we created a Turkish Dancing Bear and started learning how to play the tin whistle. The kids also had their gym time back with Rec Specialist Gabe Hackney and enjoyed playing Mr. Fox, a variety of relay races, and a workout too. Everyone was excited to be back, and we look forward to having them every Tuesday. For only 5 dollars a week your child can participate in this program as well through the school year!

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

Community & Recreation Centers Shamrock Senior Center: Come, Play with Clay!

Shamrock Senior Center partnership with Arts & Science Council (ASC) & Mecklenburg County Public Library for the Senior’s program: Come, Play with Clay!

Using their fingers to pinch and poke a single lump of clay into any shape. While rolling the clay into flat sheets to cut apart and assemble. Rolling out long snakes of clay and twist them into coils and shapes allowed them to create session of stamping, texturizing and shaping wet clay into their very own functional mug. Their mugs will be glaze and melted at a high temperature and turns into the coatings that will be a finished pottery piece. The Seniors feedback about the program were great, fun and enjoyed playing with the clay.

For more information about upcoming senior programs, please contact staff at the Shamrock Senior Center/Methodist Home at (704) 531-9101.

Community & Recreation Centers Methodist Home Recreation Center: Youth Basketball League Bash!

Methodist Home Recreation Center held its annual Youth Basketball League Bash which is a special event for its youth basketball participants and the community we serve. The program ran from 6:00pm to 8:00pm last Thursday, January 5th and approximately 250 people came out and enjoyed a great time (especially the free popcorn). Activities throughout the evening included a scrimmages between the age groups and a Coaches/ Staff vs. Community Teens Game (which the Coaches/Staff team won, of course). Hugo Hornet and RAY mascots were there to celebrate and gave away prizes as one lucky winner of Hugo’s Number of the Night contest received a Hugo autographed Charlotte Hornets basketball. Our 3-Point Shooting Contest for 10 & Under and 12 & Under winner walked away with a Kyrie Erving book bag and t-shirt, a Cleveland Cavaliers basketball, a pretty nice trophy AND bragging rights until next year. We can’t forget about the Norm’s Nugget Count contest; our winner received a free pair of tickets to a UNC Charlotte 49ers Men’s Basketball game. The likely highlight of the evening was the Half-Court Shot Bicycle Giveaway, which had a winner on ONLY the fourth attempt. Special thanks to our Nike Factory Store partner, DJ Magic That Don and Justin Clarke, Recreation Specialist at Tom Sykes for their support.

For more information about our programs, events and outreach opportunities, contact MethodistHomeRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call 980.314.1123.

Community & Recreation Centers

Community & Recreation Centers Elon Recreation Center: Prepares for Spring with Tennis This is the time of year where teams across the globe begin training to compete in summer sports. The same holds true at Elon Recreation Center! Children between the ages of 4-12 gather every Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 5:30PM to learn the game of tennis from tennis expert, Coach Julianna. Coach Julianna incorporates a multitude of fun games in her regimen that makes learning the fundamentals of tennis enjoyable for players and parents. We love finding creative ways to help our community recreate all year!

For more information regarding programs and activities at Elon Recreation Center please call 980-314-1103 or email ElonRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

5841 Brookshire Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28216 (980) 314-1000

Recreate All Year!

Subscribe to the Park and Recreation E-Newsletter to learn of new and exciting way stop 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 Richard . McNeill @MecklenburgCountyNC.gov for publication assistance.

The Friday Letter Volume 7 • Issue 02• January 13, 2017

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