In The News:

Construction work on the

two I-485 bridges that pass

over Lower McAlpine Creek

and McMullen Creek green-

ways will cause sections of

both trails to close periodi-

cally over the next year.

The section of McMullen

Creek Greenway underneath

the I-485 bridge will close

beginning Monday, May 13,

and will remained closed

through the rest of the year.

It will reopen in early 2014.

The section of Lower McAl-

pine Creek Greenway under

the I-485 bridge will close

later this month and will re-

main closed through early

summer 2014.

Greenway visitors can fol-

low detour signs along low

volume roads to continue on

the greenway and use

nearby Four Mile Creek

Greenway during trail clo-

sures. Detours will be

signed by NCDOT.

Park and Recreation— Park News

this issue

Park News P.1

Enterprise Services P.2

Nature Preserves & Natural Resources P.6

Community & Recreation Center Services P.8

V o l u m e 2 I S S U E

M a y 1 7 2 0 1 3

18 WEEKLY

NEWSLETTER OF THE

PARK AND RECREATION

DEPARTMENT FridayFridayLetterLetter THE

2013 Hats Off to Parks an Annual Success The Third Annual Hats off to Parks Luncheon fundraiser occurred on Friday, May 10, 2013 in the beautiful Freedom Park, Charlotte. Proceeds from this years event will, as in previous years, benefit Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation projects. This year's event contributions will help fund a playground that will be built at Park Road Park in memory of those lost in the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown. View the Flickr Photo Gallery of Hats off to Parks here

Tournaments & Adult Athletics Mecklenburg County Senior Games Senior Games – From April 13th to May 18th, Mecklen-burg County Park and Recreation held the 2013 Senior Games. Individuals who signed up are 55+ and partici-pate in a wide variety of games. Seniors compete against other individuals of the same gender and similar age. Age brackets are constructed in increments of 5 years. The locations for the games were held around Mecklenburg County.

The 2013 Senior Games saw a turnout of nearly 300 participants. Depending on how each player placed in their age bracket, they have the oppor-tunity to travel to Raleigh to participate in the State games against the best seniors from all 100 counties. At the conclusion of the Senior Games, participants attend a “Champions Breakfast” to celebrate all that they have accomplished. All in-dividuals 55 and older are encouraged to partici-pate in these games. Registration for 2014 opens in February. If you have any questions please contact Preston Buckman at Preston.Buckman @mecklenburgcountync.gov, call 704-529-3273 or visit www.cmseniorgames.org.

Pickelball - Every Tues-day, at Jeff Adams Ten-nis Center, Pickleball is played from 10a-12p. The event is free and balls/paddles are pro-vided. Please visit USAPA.org for more information about the sport. Also, contact Pre-ston Buckman at Pre-

In The News:

Park and Rec Hosts Free

Golf Classic for Veterans

and Active Duty Military

All military veterans

(including National Guard

and Reserves) and active

duty military personnel are

invited to sign-up to play in

the 8th annual Veterans &

Reservists Golf Classic at

Sunset Hills Golf Course,

800 Radio Road, on June 27,

2013. This event features a

free round of golf on a fine

course plus lunch provided

by Texas Land & Cattle

Steak House at no charge

for those who qualify to

play.

The Golf Classic is pre-

sented by Mecklenburg

County Park and Recreation

Department and Mecklen-

burg County Community

Support Services-Veterans

Services Division to show

appreciation to men and

women who serve and have

served our country in the

armed forces.

Powerade State Games of NC May Update If you haven't already reg-istered, then don't miss this opportunity to com-pete for the GOLD at the 2013 Powerade State Games of North Carolina Gymnastics competition. Online registration is un-derway for individuals and teams. This year's event will take place on Satur-day, June 22, at the Lake Norman YMCA in Cornelius, NC. Anyone at the amateur level is encourage to com-pete, including Parks and Recreation gymnasts, NCAAU, USA gymnastics, etc. Participants will compete in all four events: vault, bars, beam, and floor. Click here to visit the 2013 Powerade State Games Gymnastics web-page for additional de-tails.

Enterprise Services News

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton held his School Pride event at Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, May 7. Over 700 middle school students from 38 CMS schools par-ticipated in the event. Students had to meet certain academic, attendance and behavioral goals to be eligible. School teams rotated through 10 recreation and academic-themed stations, with Newton walking from station to station and offering advice and encourage-ment, even joining in for a game of “Simon Says.” The next event at the Grady Cole Center will be this Saturday, May 18, when the Charlotte Roller Girls are back in action. The Charlotte All-Stars will take on the Charlottesville Derby Dames at 6:00 p.m. and the Charlotte B-Dazzlers will follow with a 7:30 match against the Derby Dames.

Aquatics Five hundred eighty (580) of the best swimmers in the country competed in the Char-lotte UltraSwim at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center, May 9 – May 12. Ryan Lochte, Dana Vollmer, Cullen Jones and Ricky Berens were some of the talented swim-mers who participated. This is one of 5 Grand Prix events held each year in the United States. Swimmers were in top form as many Ultra Swim meet records were broken during the event.

Six on Six Volleyball Classic – Benefiting A Child’s Place On Thursday, May 9th, Jeff

Adams Tennis Center

hosted the 6 on 6 Volleyball

Classic. 48 Teams partici-

pated in 8 team pools.

Teams were comprised from

the Charlotte real estate in-

dustry to form camaraderie

and networking.

100% of the proceeds went

to benefit A Child’s Place, a

local non-profit organization

providing education, medi-

cal care, food and clothing

to area homeless children.

The top 2 teams from each

pool advance to the 16-team,

single elimination, champi-

onship bracket. Trinity Part-

ners walked away with 1st

place while EastGroup were

the 1st runner-ups. For more

information about volleyball

please contact Pre-

ston.Buckman@mecklenbur

gcountync.gov.

In The News: CPRP Awarded

It’s more than just letters

after your name – it’s an

investment in your career

that demonstrates your

practical knowledge and

that you have the current

real-world skills necessary

in today’s changing park

and recreation environ-

ment.

Congratulations to all our

recent honorees!

______________________

Newly Recognized Certified Park and Recreation Professionals (CPRP) Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation congratulates the following employees on recently bestowed with the earned honor of CPRP. (pictured in order below) Pat Daly—Aquatics/Enterprise Services Joel Kent—Community & Recreation Center Services (NOT PICTURED) James Alsop—Senior Administration/Enterprise Services Katie Robinson—Community & Recreation Center Services (previously not pictured) Tasha Owens— Park Operations (NOT PICTURED) Genni Reel—Aquatics/Enterprise Services Stephen Hutchinson—Nature Preserves and Natural Resources (NOT PICTURED) Bryan Joyner—Community & Recreation Center Services (NOT PICTURED)

Pictured left, UOC Youth Participant

News from McDowell— Part 1 of 2:

Exciting additions and

changes have been under-

way at McDowell Nature

Center. In January, the cen-

ter underwent extensive

cleaning and organizing,

especially in our animal

care area and our base-

ment (yes, we have a base-

ment!). We’ve updated our

children’s area with new

storage shelves, a forest

themed rug, and new na-

ture-based activities and

toys. In our classroom,

we’ve added hooks for our

camper’s backpacks, a

great storage cabinet for

our microscopes and a

beautiful hand-carved

wooden bench. In our ex-

hibit area, a wall was actu-

ally taken down and now

visitors experience a won-

derful open view as they

enter and are immediately

greeted by our Large-

mouth Bass in his large

aquarium.

Be sure to read next week

of more new additions and

changes at McDowell!

Urban Outdoor Con-nection (UOC) gives chil-

dren, who do not normally have the opportunity, the chance to explore nature and partake in recreational activities. Three local Title 1 schools were chosen for the 5th grade UOC’s in-school initiative for the school year. All programs correlated with state stan-dards ranging from learning about force and motion through fishing to heat

transfer by roasting marshmallows. The students were given hands-on activities to make science more tangible and fun. This was the last week of programming until the next school year. Kristen Haas and Amber Plantz with McDowell Nature Center enjoyed work-ing with the children and are saddened that the lessons are completed.

The MeckTeens Plant Sale did it again this year! We raised over $2,100, sold over 1,100 plants, and gave roughly 300 plants to three recreation centers for vegetable and native gardens. Plants were sold through the County’s three Nature Centers as well as at the Yorkmont Farmer’s Market. Teens assisted in both the cultivation and sales of the plants. Vegetable gardens located at Southview recreation center and Naomi Drenan will be used to help their community with access to fresh local produce, and native wild flow-ers at Ivory Baker make better wildlife habitat in the heart of the city. Only in its second year, the plant sale almost doubled the amount raised last year, making the opportunity for outdoor programs within recreation centers even more of a possibility! There are a few more plants left over, if anyone is interested please email Anthony Shaheen at McDowell Nature Center (ashaheen@mecklenburgcountync.gov).

Scenes from Events: Nature Center Fun

Trails Workshop Sponsored by Private Donor: Staff and Volun-teers learned tech-niques for building sustainable trails over a three day (April 25 – 27) Trail Building Workshop presented by one of the foremost trail experts in the Country – Woody Keen. The work-shop, held at McDowell Nature Preserve, was made possible with a private dona-tion to Partners for Parks. Trail improvements will be a priority in the nature preserves over the com-ing years. All full time Operations staff in the nature preserves now have a solid understanding of cutting-edge trail building and maintenance.

The Sugaw Creek Recreation Center "Young At Heart" Senior Club On Thursday, May 9, the club attended and participated in the District 8 “Seniors in the Park Day” at Rankin Lake Park in Gastonia, North Carolina. The activities they enjoyed were fishing, bingo, paddle boat rides, corn toss, card games, line dancing and listening to inspirational poems. Entertainment was provided by the Silver Foxes Cheerleaders along with gospel singing performed by the Gastonia Seniors Club.

Sugaw Creek Recreation Center

For more information, contact Brett.Krizanik@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Indoor FUN Soccer League This Saturday the Indoor FUN Soccer league will conclude another successful season, with 125 participants. This year Arbor Glen, Ivory/Baker, Sugaw Creek, Tom Sykes, and Tuckaseegee Recreation Centers participated in this instructional 3-4 and 5-6 yr. old league.

Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities Powerade State Games of NC May Update Online registration is un-derway for the Powerade State Games Swimming Competition! This year's event will be June 29-30 at Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center, the same site that was recently home to Ultra Swim 2013 which featured Olympic caliber athletes from across the country. Competition is open to swimmers of all ages and abilities and registration is just $25, regardless of the number of events. Click here for more infor-mation.

Baseball and Disc Golf reach Mid-season in Full Stride: The 2013 Youth Baseball and Inaugural 2013 Youth Disc Golf Leagues have both reached week 4 of their 8 week Regular Sea-sons. 705 Participants from 46 Youth Baseball Teams (Countywide) and 31 Youth Disc Golf League Partici-pants (2 Regions – North @ Reedy Creek Park and South @ Elon Park) have found their stride and will begin the second half of their seasons this Saturday at 7 different parks throughout the County. Both programs will run through early June and conclude following their post-season county-wide tournaments. Good luck to all the partici-pants. Youth Soccer and Flag Football registration begins July 1! For more information about youth sports leagues, email Youth-Sports@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov or call (704) 432-4963.

Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities

Revolution Park Sports Academy

Karate with Leaders of Tomorrow: Revolution Park Sports Academy, in conjunction

with Super Kicks Black Belt Leadership Academy, offered multiple free karate lessons for 40 youth ages 5-17. Special emphasis was placed on increasing leadership, confidence, discipline, fitness, and focus. After completion of these free classes, participants were able to test for a yellow belt, with the option to advance further if interested. With the help of the Tackling Obesity Using Conditioning Hobbies Education and Diet (TOUCHED) program, Revolution Park Sports Academy continues to offer non-traditional avenues of increased physical activity among our youth. For more information on this or other pro-gram opportunities, please contact Revolution Park Sports Academy at (704) 432-4963.

IAAF World Youth Championships Coaching Selection: Mecklenburg County

Park and Recreation Department’s Anthony James, Recreation Coordinator/Supervisor and Head Coach for the Charlotte Flights Track and Field Club has been selected for the 2013 IAAF World Youth Championships as a Coach. Team USA looks to continue its per-formance as the World’s #1 Team while in Donetsk, Ukraine at the 8th IAAF World Youth Championships, taking place July 10-14, 2013. USA Track & Field athletes ages 16 and 17 will be considered for the team based on performance at the World Youth Track & Field Trials to be held June 25 – June 26 in Edwardsville, IL. Below pictured from the Charlotte Flights., May 4 meet and special presentation to Anthony James; Left to right: Sgt. Le Braun Evans, Charlotte Flights Vice President; Doug Youngblood, Partners for Parks Presi-dent; Lionel Leach, USATF National Youth Chair (made presentation to Anthony James for his selection to this 2013 World Youth Coaching and Medical Staff); Anthony James, Charlotte Flights Head Coach and Mecklenburg County Park and Recrea-tion Employee; Alvin Woods, Charlotte Flights President and Partners for Parks Board Member. Congratulations to An-thony James (AJ) for this prestigious ap-pointment.

Earth Day at Ivory/Baker Earth Day was celebrated at the Ivory/Baker Recreation Center when several children from the Anita Stroud After School program and a handful of moth-ers from the S.T.A.R.S. (tutoring) pro-gram took some time from their busy schedules and came outside on a great day to pick-up trash, weed, plant vari-ous flowers & plants, and add fresh mulch to the courtyard area and in front of the facility. We were able to do this with the assistance from Ken Carl-son (Horticulture) and Anthony Shaheen (McDowell Nature Center) who were able to provide us with plants, mulch, and tools to get the job done. Also, Heidi Kitterman , FMII, joined us in helping the children in planting flowers around the courtyard. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves as they got dirty and beautifying the Ivory/Baker Recreation Center.

Ivory/Baker Recreation Center

For more information on programs happening at Ivory/Baker call 704.432.4580 or email IvoryBakerRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Career & Health Fair Ivory/Baker Recreation Center hosted a career and health fair on Wednesday, April 24th. Over seventy employer and health vendors were present to distribute information and accept job applications. The fair lasted from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and served over 700 people that day! For more information on programs happening at Ivory/Baker call 704.432.4580 or email IvoryBakerRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov. Event Pictured in Column to Left—

Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities Scenes from Events Ivory/Baker Recreation Center Career & Health Fair photos of engaged citizens

Community Day 2013 at Wallace Pruitt Recreation Center

Staff, along with the Char-lotte Alumnae Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta and Psi Mu Zeta Sororities hosted Community Day 2013 on Saturday, April 27. Over 250 people attended this event and had a chance to gain valuable health information to as-sist with living a healthier life. Participants received information on how to eat and live a healthier from the 30 plus vendors that attended the event. There were nutrition classes conducted through-out the day. Each partici-pant received a bag with healthy snacks and nutri-tional information. For more information re-garding Community Out-reach Events or programs, please contact Wallace-

Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities

Breast Cancer Screenings at Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center

Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center partnered with the Presbyterian Mobile Mammog-raphy Unit to provide mammography screenings to our Bette Rae Thomas Senior and En-derly Park community. We try to raise awareness for Senior Breast Health. During this event, services included: digital mammography technology, Senior Breast Health Educa-tion, Senior Nutrition Education, and Healthy Food Giveaways.

Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center

For more information on future health events contact 74-432-3048 or BetteRaeThomas-RecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.Gov

Soccer Shootout at Ivory/Baker Seventeen kids participated in a soccer shootout at Ivory/Baker Recreation Cen-ter. Participants had to show power and accuracy in this competition as soccer balls were placed in various locations in the gym. Congratulations to Israel Moore and Karen Shon-ganie for winning the boys and girls division! For more information on programs happening at Ivory/Baker call 704.432.4580 or email IvoryBakerRecreationCenter@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov.

Park and Recreation News:

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

Kesha.Meads@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov

for publication assistance.

The Friday Letter Volume 2 • Issue 18• May 7, 2013

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 and Recreation

Center Services

Jeff Robinson, Park Operations

5841 Brookshire Blvd.

Charlotte, NC 28216

(704) 336-8840

Recreate All Year! Subscribe to the Park and Recreation E-Newsletter to learn of new and exciting way sto 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

Upcoming Events: Powerade State Games of NC February Update The Powerade State Games is returning to the Charlotte region in 2013 and we want YOU to be a part of the largest sports festival in North Carolina! Held throughout the month of June, the Powerade State Games will feature over 12,000 athletes participating in 19 different sports across more than 30 venues in a true Olympic-style sporting event. Please read this information carefully to en-sure you won't miss out on all the FUN in Charlotte this June! Online registration for the Powerade State Games is open for most sports at www.ncsports.org. You can save up to $20 on registration fees by registering online through the step-by-step Powerade State Games registration system.