september 7, 2012 | mcprd friday letter
DESCRIPTION
The MCPRD Friday LetterTRANSCRIPT
In The News: Volunteer Opportunity
4th Annual Charlotte Area
'Know Your Farms' Tour:
Volunteers Needed at Meck‐
lenburg County Farms
Four Mecklenburg County
farms will be featured in the
fourth annual Know Your
Farms Tour on September
15 and 16 from 1 p.m. – 6
p.m.
Volunteers are needed to
coordinate farm tourists at
East of Eden in Huntersville;
Old Store Produce in Hun‐
tersville; Renfrow’s Urban
Farm in Matthews; and
Rivendell Farm in Hunters‐
ville. Read more
For More information about
Volunteer Opportunities,
please contact:
Lori Saylor
or Margaret Brown
at 704‐336‐8840
Parks and Volunteers — A Winning Combination Two volunteer projects helped improve local parks and engage citizens with Park and Recreation this week.
On Little Sugar Creek Greenway along the one‐mile Westfield corridor, Amwins insur‐
ance brokers came out and worked hard before the DNC began. They mulched large
tree rings and many beds. Twenty adults and twenty yards of mulch. Each person
greatly contributed toward this effort. The second group worked at Naomi Drenan also
mulching, but also limbed up trees, pruned unsightly growth, and prepared beds for
mulch. Womble Carlyle Sandridge and Rice deserve a great deal of thanks for the
facelift to the front and sides of the recreation center.
Thank you to all Park
and Recreation staff
and volunteers who
helped with this very
successful event!
this issue Park News P.1
Enterprise Services P.2
Community & Recreation Center Services P.4
I S S U E
S e p t e m b e r 7 2 0 1 2
52 WEEKLY
NEWSLETTER OF THE
PARK AND RECREATION
DEPARTMENT FridayFridayLetterLetter THE
Volunteers from Amwins Insurance assist at the Naomi Drenan Recreation Center
Adult Athletics News
The Adult Athletics Fall Men’s B league will begin league play at the Grady Cole Center on Thursday, September 13. We are continuing with regular season games in basketball Men’s 30 +, Men’s 40+ and Women’s League. The weekly volleyball leagues are currently playing at the Tom Sykes, Wallace Pruit, and West Charlotte Recreation Center. September 28th will start the Co‐Rec AA, the most competitive volleyball league at the Better Rae Thomas Center. In addition to the volleyball, flag football and basketball leagues, softball games are being played at Renais‐sance and Nevin Park Monday through Thursday. On September 29th we are starting a 7v7 and 11v11 Men’s Soccer League at Elon Park.
McAlpine Creek Park Cross Country Events Cross Country season has kicked off at McAlpine Creek Park. Races began on Saturday, August 18 with the Run For Your Life Kickin’ Grass Preseason Meet. Over 300 runners from 15 different schools in the area competed in the preseason warm‐up event. On Saturday, August 25 Provi‐dence High School hosted the Providence Invitational. Over 40 schools from North and South Carolina competed in this annual event. The event consisted of four races and over 1200 run‐ners. McAlpine Creek Park will play host to over 20 High School and College cross country meets this fall. High School events will include the Wendy’s Invitational, Footlocker Invitational as well as CMS and CISAA regular and postseason conference meets. Queens University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte will each host a regular season meet as well as the NCAA Division II and NCAA Division I Regional meets respectively. For more information on the upcoming cross country schedule contact [email protected].
Senior Softball The Men and Women’s Senior Softball leagues have kicked off there fall seasons. The Men have 20 teams and over 230 players 45 years young and over. The Men play on Tuesday nights at Park Road Park on fields 2, 3 and 4. The Women’s Softball League, known as the Sassy Soft‐ball Sisters, have five teams and over 60 participants and play there games on Thursday nights
on field 2 at Park Road Park. For more information on Senior Sports contact Pre‐[email protected] or visit www.charlotteseniorsports.com.
Senior and Adult Softball — Caught at Play! Senior and Adults from around Mecklenburg County enjoy Senior and Adult League Softball play with MCPRD.
Flag Football Fun...
Adult AthleticsAdult Athletics——Flag Football Flag Football
Therapeutic Recreation Services —
Challenger Flag Football and the TR Spirit Squad The Challenger Flag Football league along with the TR Spirit Squad began its 7th season last Friday, August 17th. The league is a partnership between the Carolina Panthers, Pop Warner League and the Therapeutic Recreation Section; and provides individuals with disabilities ages 8‐25 the opportunity to play football and participate in cheerleading. The group began the season with an invitation to attend the Carolina Panthers pre season game against the Miami Dolphins. Players and cheerleaders ran through the tunnel before the Panthers, stood alongside of the team during the National Anthem and took part in the coin toss. The group had a great time attending the game and we are looking forward to an exciting sea‐son!
It’s All About INVOLVEMENT.
The Therapeutic Recreation
vision is ...
To provide therapeutic recrea‐
tion services for individuals
who have disabilities that fo‐
cus on abilities, rather than
disabilities and encourage
people to attain their highest
level of independent leisure
functioning by increasing lei‐
sure skills, improving social
and communication skills,
increasing independent living
skills and increasing their
awareness of and involvement
in community recreational
activities; to advocate for and
ensure inclusive opportunities
in all program services; to act
as advocates for individuals
with disabilities by promoting
accessibility at all Department
parks, facilities, programs,
special events and classes.
Don’t Forget to… MAKE CHILDREN SMILE.
Go the extra mile, with a smile!
Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities
Tom Sykes Recreation Center For more information about programs at Tom Sykes Recreation Center, contact TomSykesRec‐[email protected] or 704.432.4803
Solar Camp at Tom Sykes 12 youth spent their last week of summer vacation learning about Solar Energy. Using the 4‐H TechXcite curriculum the group constructed solar ovens, cars, thermometers and sun dials. They saw solar energy in use when they toured the Duke En‐ergy Explorium and Metrolina Greenhouses. .
On August the 28th, Albemarle Road Recreation Center held the
Annual MeckSeniors Luau. The event was attended by over 200 seniors from all areas of the county. The Luau featured Hula dancers, Limbo Contest, Arts & Crafts, Food, Prizes, and Give‐aways!! We would like to thank everyone who participated and all of our vendors that shared valuable information about health, programs, and more!
Albemarle Road Recreation Center For more information on programs and events at Albemarle Road Recreation Center, please email [email protected] or call 704.567.1941.
DID YOU KNOW ~ Senior RecreationSenior Recreation Recreation in the form of active living helps people live longer. This kind of rec‐reation reduces coronary heart disease, combats os‐teoporosis and diabetes, and rehabilitates back problems. Getting active also contributes to mental health and enhances over‐all well‐being. If you are a senior, activity may also prolong your abil‐ity to live independently. The bottom line: Regular physical activity will make you feel better, help you carry out daily tasks more easily, think more clearly and handle stress much more productively.
RPSA Youth Sports – 2012 Soccer and Flag Football:
The 2012 youth soccer and flag football seasons
will commence this Saturday at several parks
throughout Mecklenburg County. Participants
ages 4 to 12 from 28 flag football teams and 40
soccer teams will continue regular season play
every Saturday for approximately eight weeks.
The post season single elimination tournament
play begins in early November.
Revolution Park Sports Academy Celebrates Back To School: Friday, August 31, 2012
marked the end of the first week of the school year for CMS students . The Revolution Park
Sports Academy hosted a small celebration to keep the kids excited about the return of school.
Activities included a coloring contest, a fitness challenge, a miniature golf course, corn‐hole and
ladder golf. While the children were in between games and activities they snacked on some snow
cones and freshly popped popcorn. At the end of the night the Revolution Royalty Step Team
shared their back to school experiences with a brand new routine, and the Charlotte Flights Track
and Field program passed out school supplies to the kids in attendance. A Special thank you goes
out to all who made this event possible.
Revolution Park Sports Academy Teen After‐School Program: The Revolution Park Sports
Academy is expanding its programming for teenagers to meet the needs of teens in our commu‐
nity. Starting Monday September 10, 2012 the teen club will meet Monday through Friday from
3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. The Revolution Park Sports Academy Teen After School Program is a free
program open children ages 12‐17. Teens, we invite you to come and join us as we Empower,
Motivate, and Travel with the thought of Excellence and Excitement, through tutoring, motiva‐
tional speaking and a variety of other activities.
Revolution Park Sports Academy is Located at 1225 Remount Road for more information about the Teen After School program or
the Revolution Park Sports Academy come by and visit or call (704) 432‐4963.
What Are the Benefits of Playing Flag Football — Flag football is a version of American football or Cana‐dian football that is popular worldwide. The basic rules of the game are similar to those of the mainstream game (often called "tackle football" for contrast), but instead of tackling players to the ground, the defensive team must remove a flag or flag belt from the ball carrier ("deflagging") to end a down. In most organized play, players wear a belt. Flag football is a safe sport for youth which provides all the physical enjoyment of contact football, minus the contact! Flag football is also an excel‐lent co‐ed sport, allowing both young boys and girls to compete and recreate to‐gether.
Volunteer Pictures— Story on Front Page Local Volunteers Team Up With Park and Recreation
Submissions for the Newsletter
Please submit all news for the
Friday Letter to your Division
Director for review and routing.
Park Partners may contact
Kesha Meads at
for publication assistance.
The Friday Letter Issue 52 September 7, 2012
Mecklenburg County
Park and Recreation
Senior Leadership Team
Jim Garges, Director
Michael Kirschman, Deputy Director
James Alsop, Enterprise Services
Renea Barber, Human Resources
Mario Chang, Budget Administration
Lee Jones, Capital Planning
Lola Massad, Community Services and
Recreation Centers
Jeff Robinson, Park Operations
5841 Brookshire Blvd. Charlotte, NC 28216 (704) 336-8840