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In The News: Weekly Minute Recap:
Last Weeks Story, page 5
Beginning with the Friday
Letter Issue 59 , Park Opera‐
tions will weekly provide a
“Park Ops Weekly Minute”
information segment for
Park and Recreation em‐
ployee and partners. .
Be sure to stay abreast of
the happenings in Park Op‐
erations by following the
weekly minute. It is conven‐
iently located on YouTube
and can be accessed by
clicking the links or pictures
posted with the current
weeks story.
Last week’s weekly minute
is full of informational tid‐
bits. Get you weekly minute
in now!
Park News—Ryan Newman Celebrity Bass Tournament
this issue Park News P.1
Enterprise Services P.2
Park Operations P.5
Community & Recreation Center Services P.6
I S S U E
D e c e m b e r 1 4 2 0 1 2
61 WEEKLY
NEWSLETTER OF THE
PARK AND RECREATION
DEPARTMENT FridayFridayLetterLetter THE
The Ryan Newman bass tournament took place on Saturday, De‐cember 8, 2012 at Blythe Landing on Lake Norman in Huntersville, NC and was sponsored by Bass Pro Shops. Emcees for the weigh‐in were 4‐time Bassmaster Champion and 7‐time Angler of the Year Kevin VanDam alongside Mark Zona, Elite Series host and star of Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show. The 2011 event was the largest tournament to date with 197
boats registered to compete for the top honors, but was topped by this years turnout. This year, teams competed for the grand prize ‐ a 2012 Nitro Z9 boat equipped with a motor and electron‐ics. Other prizes included cash awards, trolling motors, GPS systems, depth finders, rod and reel combos, gift cards and more with a value totaling over $60,000
Aquatics Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Dual Swim Meet
Two hundred twenty‐nine (229) swimmers took part in a Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools dual swim meet on Friday, December 7th. The meet took place from 6:30 – 9:30pm at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center. Charlotte Catholic High School, Myers Park High School, Phillip o. Berry High School, and South Meck High School participated in the meet. On Saturday, December 8th, Charlotte Country Day hosted a dual meet with Cannon Middle School, Charlotte Latin Middle School, and Providence Day School. The meet took place from 1:00pm – 3:00pm and 121 swimmers swam in the competition.
Grady Cole/American Legion Memorial Stadium In the News This Week
The annual Good Friends luncheon was held Tuesday, December 11th, at the Grady Cole Center. The largest turnout ever in the 26‐year history of the event resulted in record‐breaking donations. Nearly 1,000 women gathered and contributed $156,613.83 in just eight minutes. The amount of giving exceeded the stated goal of $140,000 and was $36,000 more than last year’s event. Atten‐dees listened to speakers Jane Lockwood, Rabbi Judy Schindler and Junior League of Charlotte President Whitni Wilson‐Wertz tell about three women the organization helped in 2012. Outgoing president Patti Norman, a founder of the organization, is stepping down after five years, but she exits with a record‐setting event. As a dozen Santas passed around large sacks during
the all‐female charity’s yearly event at Grady Cole Center, nearly 1,000 members and guests – its largest turnout – threw in $156,613.83 in eight minutes. Read more here
Adult Leagues: How Do I Start One or Join One? We’re glad you asked. For Citizens (or yourself) ‐ when asked, they can be referred to the Adult Athletics page on ParkandRec.com In summary, however, Fall Men's 30 and over League will start October 7th, 2012. Games will be played on Sundays at the Bette Rae Thomas Center. The Winter Women's League will begin December 9th. For the players who would just like to join an already existing team fill out Free Agent form and email [email protected] For those wishing to register a league, Aaron Cheeks is still the best contact and they may use the informa‐tion above to obtain the documents and information packet needed to register. They can also be downloaded a parkan‐drec.com (adult athletics)
Adult Athletics News—League Play
On Sunday, December 9 the Adult Women’s Basketball League will start play at the Tuckaseegee Recreation Center. On Monday, December 3rd the Men’s B league started play at the Grady Cole Center. Sunday, December 16th will kick off the Men’s 30+ playoff season at Bette Rae Thomas Recrea‐tion Center. Men’s B Basketball league will play each Monday and Tuesday at the Grady Cole Center. Men’s 40+ will begin play on January 6. Weekly volleyball leagues are currently being played at Tom Sykes, Wallace Pruitt and the championship game for the Co‐Rec AA (Advanced level) volleyball league was played on December 11 at Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center.
Scenes from events: Senior Winter Invitational
Aquatics Senior Winter Invitational Three hundred thirty‐seven (337) swimmers took part in the NSS 13‐14/Senior Winter Invitational at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on November 30‐December 2. The swim meet started Friday afternoon at 3:30 pm and ran through Sunday evening. The meet featured preliminary ses‐sions in the morning and finals at night. The meet featured Senior Circuit swimmers, generally the fastest kids in the state ‐ AA times in 2 or more strokes in order to participate.
Did You Know ~ Richard Hunt News Release
Richard Hunt Selected as Public Artist for Romare Bearden Park 12/11/2012 Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation and the Arts and Science Council announced Tuesday that renowned African‐American sculptor Richard Hunt has been selected as the public artist for Romare Bearden Park. The artwork is scheduled to be installed in the park, currently under construction in Third Ward, by September 2013. “We are thrilled to have an artist of Richard’s caliber pay tribute to Romare Bearden,” said Public Art Commission Chair Sabrina Brown. “This new piece of public art will be a landmark in Charlotte and a brilliant centerpiece for the park.”
Hunt’s sculpture, tentatively titled “Memory Place,” will be made of welded stainless steel, and is intended to create a sculptured collage containing references to Romare Bearden’s artistic practice, traditions and inspirations. Within the referential frame of Bearden’s life, the sculpture conjures up the Eiffel Tower, county churches, and roots in land and water associations.
“Together I hope the material of the sculpture, its craftsmanship, its associative possibilities and its lively presence make my homage to Romare Bearden a diversion of both substance and delight to visitors to Romare Bearden Park,” Hunt said. A Chicago based artist, Hunt began his career in 1955 as a student at the Art Institute of Chicago. His first large scale public art commission came in 1967. In the 45 years since, Hunt has received more than 100 commissions across the United States and has been the recipient of Guggenheim, Ford and Tamarind Fellowships. He was appointed by President Lyndon Johnson as one of the first artists to the governing board of the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2009, Hunt was the re‐cipient of the International Sculpture Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Hunt’s artwork is displayed in museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the National Museum of Israel in Jerusalem. Charlotte’s Mint Museum Uptown at Levine Center for the Arts is home to one of Hunt’s sculptural pieces. Hunt and Bearden share the distinction of being the first two African‐American artists to have solo exhibitions at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The two exhibited at the museum in 1971. “As a friend and contemporary of Romare Bearden, having Richard Hunt’s work in the park is a special honor,” said Jim Garges, director of the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Depart‐ment. Funding for the artwork was made possible through Mecklenburg County’s 1% for Art Ordinance, contributions from Duke Energy and ASC’s board of directors, and grants from the National En‐
Richard Hunt, Sculptor
Richard Hunt (born Septem‐ber 12, 1935) is an interna‐tionally renowned sculptor. He was born in 1935 on Chi‐cago's South Side. From an early age he was interested in the arts, as his mother was an artist. As a young boy, Hunt began to show enthusiasm and talent in artistic disci‐plines such as drawing and painting, and also sculpture, an interest that grew more and more as he got older. He developed his skills at the Junior School of the Art Insti‐tute and later at the Art Insti‐tute of Chicago. Hunt also acquired business sense and awareness of social issues from working for his father in a barbershop.
Park Operations
Introducing the “Park Ops Weekly Minute” ‐ December 7, 2012 “There’s no such thing as an offseason in Park Operations!” This week, learn of the excellent
partnerships in learning taking place between Park and Recreation Park Operations, Charlotte
Fire Department and the Boy Scouts of America as vital training and learning takes place
around Search and Rescue .
Don’t miss the holiday decorating of Little Sugar Creek Greenway. Park sites are decorated to
encourage you to have a festive, happy and safe holiday season.
Lastly Don’t Miss the Ryan Newman Celebrity Bass Event Update
Click Here to
Park Operations
Jeff Robinson, Division Director
Greg Clemmer, Superintendent
Chris Hunter, North Park Region
Michael Campbell, Central Park Region
Patricia Poteat, South Park Region
The Feast at Arbor Glen Outreach Center Over 400 people enjoyed an evening of entertainment, socializing and a hearty Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings at the Arbor Glen Outreach Center. This fantastic evening was in partner‐ship with six churches, a local PTA and local businesses within and around the community. In addi‐tion over 50 volunteers helped with registration, serving and assisted those with disabilities. A local artist and the youth of the community performed songs and dances that would have earned them awards. At the end of the celebration bags were distributed with canned goods and school supplies.
Arbor Glen Recreation Center For more information contact us at 704.432.1531 or ArborGlenOutreachCen‐[email protected]
Where are all the Ballers?! At NDRC: Friday, December 7th was the official Basketball Kick‐Off Pep Rally at Naomi Drenan Recreation Center for all of our youth basketball participants. The evening was packed with fun‐filled activi‐ties for parents and players with introductions of players/teams, contests, a slam dunking contest featuring the Southern Tech Prep School, and to top it off….a game of coaches/staff vs. 16U NDRC basketball team. Everyone enjoyed music and popcorn while getting a small glimpse of the tal‐ented individuals signed up to represent Naomi Drenan Recreation Center in the 2012‐2013 bas‐ketball season.
Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities
Marion Diehl Rec‐
reation Center
Holiday Dinner:
On Sunday, December 9th,
family and friends of Marion
Diehl’s Recreation Center’s
staff came together for a
Holiday Celebration of good
family fun, music, and to
express holiday cheer to‐
wards one another during
this special time of
year. Staff prepared their
favorite foods to share as
they celebrated “Senior
Claus” thru a partnership
with the Charlotte Senior
Center which provides gifts
for less fortunate senior
adults. The gifts will be dis‐
tributed on December 19th
by Senior Center staff and
Marion Diehl staff.
For information about our
programs and events, con‐
tact MarionDiehlRecrea‐
tionCenter@MecklenburgC
ountyNC.gov or call
704.432.0237.
6th Annual Cross
Country For Youth
Banquet The event was held on Fri‐
day, November 30, at
Friendship Missionary Bap‐
tist Church with over 200
participants in attendance.
There was a dynamic world
class female distance runner
present who encouraged the
youth to focus on the impor‐
tance of character educa‐
tion. All of participants en‐
joyed the dinner and they
received certificates and a
team picture. Julianna Mat‐
thews from Sugaw Creek
Recreation Center was the
first place winner in the ele‐
mentary school division es‐
say contest. She did a great
job in reciting her essay at
the banquet and she re‐
ceived a $50.00 gift certifi‐
cate for her outstanding es‐
say presentation.
.
A Celebrity visits Grayson SkatePark! Saturday, December 8th, a young celebrity skateboarder, Steven Pineiro, visited Naomi Drenan Rec‐reation Center/Grayson SkatePark to host a Demo for local skate‐boarders. The fans enjoyed rock‐ing music, tricks, and chatting with the young superstar. They also went home with autographed shirts, boards, and more from him. Steven also enjoyed our park and loved the crowd and was ex‐cited to show off his moves and says he would love to come back to Grayson to host future skate events.
Naomi Drenan Recreation Center For more information about our programs and events, contact NaomiDrenanRecreationCen‐[email protected] or call 704.432.5231.
NCDT Reach! Parent Observation Night at Naomi Drean On Tuesday evening, over 60 parents and friends watched 30 kids perform in the North Carolina Dance Theatre program at Naomi Drenan Recreation Center ending their mid‐year class. The young dancers performed their warm up routines, stretches, flexibility, and snippets of dance pieces they will be performing in greater detail at the end of the year. After the presentation, the program participants and spectators enjoyed a wonderful reception with the director of the pro‐gram April Berry, NCDT Instructors and Naomi Drenan Recreation Center staff . Ms. Berry also spoke about the “Power2Give” Campaign to help fund this wonderful program, allowing the chil‐dren to participate at no cost next year. For more information about keeping this great program in place, please visit www.Power2Give.org .
Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities
Revolutions Park Sports Academy
NFL Punt, Pass & Kick Competitions Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department hosted the Sectional competition of the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick event on Saturday, October 27 at Memorial Stadium. 70 boys and girls com‐peted in the age groups: 6/7, 8/9, 10/11, 12/13 and 14/15 for the best scores in the skills of punt‐ing, passing and kicking a football. Ten, first place finishers had their scores compared against the top finishers from other Sectionals in the NC/SC Region, to see if their scores would allow them to advance to the Team Championship Competition (TCC). The TCC will be held Sunday, December 9 at the Carolina Panthers practice facility, with all the participants showcasing their skills as the halftime entertainment of the Panthers vs. Atlanta Falcons game. Out the ten, first place finishers from the Mecklenburg County competition, NINE qualified to the Team Championships! Should the nine, again, have the top scores, from across the nation, they will earn an all expense paid trip to the NFL‐PPK Championship Finals to be held during a yet to be determined Playoff game. Let’s wish them well!
Revolution Park Sports Academy For more information about our youth sports pro‐grams, please visit our website at www.ParkandRec.com, call 704‐432‐4963 or email us at Youth‐[email protected].
Youth Sports – Girl’s Youth Sports Initiative: The Youth Sports Development staff at Revolution Park Sports Academy has launched a new Girl’s Youth Sports Initiative to increase the number of female participants on a countywide level. With the help of the Girl’s Youth Sports Focus Team, the group will design and implement a sustainable marketing plan, as well as a variety of programs and special events to decrease the currently high attrition rate. The Focus team is comprised of female staff members who collectively bring sev‐eral years of both high school and collegiate level sports experience to the table.
Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities
Holiday Events: Aquatics SWIM WITH SANTA at Ray's Ages: All ages welcome 5pm‐7:30pm Dates: Friday, December 14th & Thursday, December 20th 2012 Time: 5:00 p.m. ‐ 7 p.m. Fee: $10 (includes swim‐ming with Santa
Holiday Events: Recreation Centers Christmas Creek Holiday Celebration Sugaw Creek Rec To provide a fun filled and enjoyable holiday atmos‐phere for families. Door prizes, games refreshments and entertainment will be provided. Holiday Workshop Hickory Grove Instructions provided for a seasonal craft that partici‐pants can 'Make and Take'.
.
Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities
4th Annual A Walk for Education at Ivory Baker Recreation Center On Saturday, Oct 20th, The 4th Annual A Walk for Educa‐tion (AWFE) Event took place at the Ivory/Baker Recreation Center. The event was sponsored by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) to promote engineering education through entertaining hands‐on science experiments, such as Balloon Towers, Slime, and others for children, teens and adults. The event included many volunteers that handed out bags filled with information regarding local col‐leges and job skills information in the neighborhood. One engineering club brought in a robot they built that could play basketball. In all, there were over 100 people in atten‐dance.
Ivory Baker Recreation Center For more information on programs at Ivory/Baker, call 704‐432‐4580 or email IvoryBakerRecrea‐[email protected]
Outdoor Adventure Group and RAY Jr. Explorers at Ivory Baker Recreation Center The Outdoor Adventure Group and RAY Jr. Explorers were amazed when they were able to see and touch a live Eastern Box Turtle, which was brought in by Anthony Shaheen from the McDow‐
Holiday Events: Recreation Centers Holiday: District 8 Celebra‐tion Albemarle Road Members of the District VIII North Carolina Association of Senior Citizens Clubs will meet and fellowship with food, games and dance
Find more events at ParkandRec.com
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
for publication assistance.
The Friday Letter Issue 61 December 14, 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
Recreate All Year! As the weather changes, look forward to new and exciting way to continue recreating during the fall and winter 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
National Gold Medal on Display at Recreation Centers The 2012 Gold Medal Grand Award will be making its rounds to all of the Recrea‐tion Centers “Stanley Cup” style. Presently it is on display at Mallard Creek Recrea‐tion Center. See it on display next at: Central Region: Arbor Glen Recreation Center (November 26—December 7) South Region: Southview Recreation Center (December 10—Decembler 21)
