1

2013 Annual

Collierville Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts

it’s a lifestyle

COLLIERVILLE

PARKS

30 yrs

COLLIERVILLESOCCER

1983 - 2013

2

LIVELIfE LocaL - tourIsm InItIatIVE

Table of Contents

Table of Contents 2

Department Review 3

2013 Goals/Advisory Board 4

Mission Statement/CIP Projects 6

Master Plan overview 7

Hall of Fame/30th Anniversary 8

Athletic Division 9

Maintenance Division 10

Special Events/Tourism Division 11

Recreation, Education & Instructional Division 12

Cultural Arts Division 13

Animal Services Division 14

softbaLL tournamEnt crowd

tEnnIs camp

cuLturaL arts productIon crEw from ELEphant man

LakEs of GrEEnbrIEr GIft drIVE

3

Department Review

With over 100,000 users of the Towns Park system each year, Collierville Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts continues to be a leader in offering its citizens a wide variety of leisure time activities and state of the art facilities.The department provides over 750 acres of park land in regional, community and neighborhood Parks! Included in those are 34 practice and game fields, 10 tennis courts, 350 seat community theatre, 10 play structures, 2 spray parks, 2 nature areas, 9 fishing lakes, an off-leash area and over 15.28 miles of Greenbelt trails including the W. C. Johnson boardwalk and the primitive Wolf River Trail. The department is responsible for maintaining all Town property including: parks, trails, open space, medians, right-of-ways, landscaped areas, and all public building and grounds.During 2013 the Department purchased additional Parks acerage (4.2) at Progress Road Park for athletic fields, added new poured in place surfaces to both sprya parks, and completed electrical installation at Estanaula Park. The Department planted in excess of 4,500 bulbs; mowed, trimmed and cleaned 10.7 miles of medians; maintained over 94,000 square feet of landscaped beds, renovated the south east section of Town square, landscaping beds, and mainted 7.5 miles of fencing.The Department started a review of it comprehensive Park Master Plan in 2013. The results are expected to be presented to the Board in March 2014. Parks design work for the new Hinton Park at Flemingand Holmes began in fall 2013. Design work also began on Phase 2 of Tom Brooks Park as well as engineering for additional athletic fields at Progress Road.In 2013, our seniors traveld over 8,000 miles, scheduled over 2000 athletic games, provided classes and programs for over 2,400 participants, and hosted 25,257 partons at Harrell theater events. The Department hosted __ sanctioned USTA events adn 11 major special events with over 26,000 spectators. Plans for 2014 included construction of the new Hinton Community Park, completion of work at Tom Brooks Park, opening of new athletic fields at Progress Raod, opening additional 2,5 miles of trails along the Wolf River, and completion of the Park Master Plan update.

chrIstmas trEE on thE squarE town haLL faLL pLantInG dEpartmEnt pInk rIbbon wEEk InItIatIVE

4

2013 Goals

Enhance Special Events Town Wide * “Welcome” and “Schedule of Events” signage posted for bus riders coming into park for Independence Day Celebration * Provide additional planters and decorations for stage with surround sound to cover larger park areas not currently served * Provide a Children’s Wall of Fun to provide messages and paintings to send to military personnel overseas * Relocate Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt to Suggs Park * Increase and improve decorations to Town Christmas Tree and surrounding Town properties.

Increase Tourism Visibility * Partner with Memphis School of Art, Brooks, or Dixon Gallery to use works of art to attract visitors to Tom Brooks Park * Book Two to Three Motor Coach Tours * Work with Tourism Commission and Morton Museum to develop additional day tour itineraries.

Expand Recreational and Educational Programming * Add instructional and tennis programs to online registration * Provide recreation and sports newsletter through utility bill mailing * Form Seniors Advisory Committee * Installation of ADA ramp and interior upgrades at W. C. Johnson House * Survey community for interest and components for an outdoor nature play area

Expand Cultural Arts Programs

* Develop and implement an Arts Contest with the middle schools to feature paintings or other art pieces in various Town buildings * Organize and control equipment rooms for maximum storage * Work with Arts Council to insure quality programming at the Harrell Theatre * Secure a sponsor for wireless Internet at the theatre

Expand Greenbelt System along Wolf River and Wolf River Boulevard * Hire a design and engineering firm to layout trails; prepare easements; and provide specifications for construction. * Develop plan to connect new trails with existing W. C. Johnson and Wolf River Greenway * Complete design and engineering for Wolf River Greenway Bridge * Identify and solicit county, state and federal grants for funding of the proposed River Crossing

Reach Competitive Baseball Agreement * Work with coaches, parents, and Parks Advisory Board to identify the issues

H. W. Cox Jr. Park - 2013

Historic Town Square

Greenway

5

Goals cont./Advisory Board

2014 park adVIsorY board mEmbErs:sEatEd from LEft: carL swEarInGEn, rochELLE stEVEns, rachELLE maIEr and chuck LEsnIck

standInG from LEft: maurEEn frasEr, dr. dan LattImorE, curt VauGhan and stEVE maddEn. not pIcturEd campbELL hawkIns.

* Review and develop options for Parks Advisory Board for implementation * Develop plan for implementation of competitive team elimination * Provide Collierville fields for all Collierville competitive teams, through proper reservation process

Enhance Recreational Youth Sports * Implement rules to ensure participants have the opportunity to “Have Fun” * Coach the coaches in Town of Collierville recreational philosophy * Provide coaching clinics to instruct coaches and managers in best practices in all recreational youth sports * Eliminate all competitive aspects of recreational sports

Improve Landscape and Bedding Areas in Town * Increase the number of flowering shrubs in beds, specifically knockout roses and encore azaleas * Plant correct number of flowers in each bead according to plant type and square footage * make every crew member responsible for weed control in landscape areas

Improve Appearance of ROW’s, Open Areas, and Non-Irrigated Medians * Establish written standards of appearance guidelines for all areas * Establish spray and fertilization programs for all areas * Work with TDOT representatives about appropriate ROW spray programs

Improve Fertilization Program * Use improvements in fertilization technology with Polyon or Methex nitrogen sources * Establish written standards for appearance and growth regulation on all athletic fields

Improve Online Services Including Surveys and Practice Systems * Develop online surveys for each program allowing participants, coach, and officials feedback for convenience and confidentiality * Speed up weekly process for schedules, coach and field information * Train all staff personnel in operations of system

Historic Town Square

6

Mission Statement/CIP Projections

Mission StatementsIt is the mission of the Collierville Parks, Recreation, & Cultural Arts Department to serve, educate, and enhance life for all of our citi-zens. To plan and provide a wide variety of affordable recreational, athletic, educational, and cultural activities and opportunities. To acquire, develop, improve, beautify, and maintain a variety of parks, trails, and recreational facilities that provide all Collierville residents with leisure opportunities.

2013 Capital Investment Projects • Infield Renovation – $75,000 – This project is the complete renovation of W. C. Johnson East Complex infield surfaces - completed.

• Park Maintenance Equipment – $80,000 – Replace older Parks department equip-ment that is costly to repair and unsafe for personnel - replace 1998 mowing unit - completed.

• Greenbelt System – $130,000 – This project includes the construction of new greenbelt trails as outlined on Collierville Greenbelt Master Plan - Wolf River Trail (start trail to St. George’s High School and around TD lake) and overlays of Crosswind Trail (Shelton Rd. to CHS) and the Byhalia/Market Trail- underway.

• W. C. Johnson Athletic Lights (Multi-Purpose fields) – $260,000 – This project is for the replacement of the athletic lighting system at the W. C. Johnson Park Multi-Pur-pose fields. The project encompasses two (2) fields, six (6) poles, sixty-four (64) fixtures and all supplies, materials, and support equipment for the installation of a new system - completed.

• Progress Road Park Development – $285,000 – Purchase 4.2 acres of property adja-cent to the current soccer fields for the future construction of additional lighted multi-purpose fields with parking. Phase I includes purchase of proposed property. Phase II includes construction additional multi-purpose fields - completed.

7

Masters Plan

During July 2013 the Department began updating its 1997 compre-hensive Park Master Plan. The plan provides a road map of where the Town’s Liesure opportunties, open space, trails, parks, programming and maintanence operations want to be. The 2013 update involves Park Staff, Parks Advisory Board members, elected officials, various other Town Staff such as planners, community focus groups, and community wide surveys lead by Lose and Associates, Inc. out of Nashville, the plan is expected to be presented for adoption to the Board of Mayor and Alderman in March 2014.

Camp Smile

2014 Adult Bingo

Senior Exercise and CHS special needs students

A couple of residents hanging out at WCJ Park

Adult San Antonio Trip

Tennis Clinic

Adult Trip to New York City

Tennis lessons

8

Hall of Fame/30th Anniversary October 2013 marked the 30th anniversary of the Collierville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department. In conjunction with this milestone, the Department established a Hall of Fame to recognize and honor individuals who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the Collierville Parks System. The inductees for the Class of 2013 are Mr. Randy Lowry, Dr. Dan Lattimore, and Mr. Preston C. Carpenter, Sr. They were selected by the Hall of Fame selection committee for their outstanding contributions to the Collierville Parks System through their service in a volunteer capacity. “The committee selected three outstanding individuals.” said Chip Petersen, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Community Services. “We are looking forward to celebrating our 30th anniversary and establishing our Hall of Fame with this distinguished class of inductees.” This inaugural group of inductees were honored at an induction ceremony on Tuesday, October 29, 2013 at the Harrell Theatre at H. W. Cox Jr. Park. During the program, Collierville Town Administrator James Lewellen highlighted the contributions of each inductee. The Parks Department has dedicated a wall in the Cox Community Center where all inductees will be honored with a framed portrait style photo accompanied by a summary of their contributions.

9

Athletics Division Mark Ellis - Recreation/Sports Manager Brad Heacox - Athletic Coordinator

Complete Athlete Sportsmanship Awards CookoutI held a sportsmanship awards cookout for all of our athletic participants in July 2013 where we cooked hamburgers and hot dogs. There were over 300 in attendance. At the conclusion of the evening, we gave out our sportsmanship awards, which were nominated on by coaches, parents, players, officials, etc. in our athletic programs. This was a way for our department to thank our vol-unteers and participants that went above and beyond in their demonstration of sportsmanship.

New Athletic ProgramI added the 9th-12th Grade Coed Volleyball program in the spring 2013. We had six teams this first year, and are expecting more in the fall 2014. I received a lot of positive feedback from the partici-pants. Since this worked out so well, we are looking to offer 9th-12th Grade Coed Softball in the spring 2014.

Collierville Night With the RedbirdsI organized the participant events at Collierville Night with the Memphis Redbirds. I was able to get eighteen youths to participate in the Field of Dreams. This consisted of two youths per player who got to take the field once the player was announced during the start of the game. I also got forty youths to participate in the High Five Tunnel. These participants got to high five each player at the dugout as the players took the field.

Successful Athletic ProgramsOur department developed an online survey for each of our athletic programs. This allows for better convenience to the participants in their ability to relay information about what worked well during the season, what needs to be worked on for next season, and relaying general program in-formation. Upon completion of each survey, the participant satisfaction ratings in all our programs in 2013 were very high. With this information, our department can better serve our participants in our athletic programs.

10

Maintenance Division Neil Wiseman - Parks maintenance Manager

11

Special Events/Tourism Division Sheila Moody - Special Events/Tourism Coordinator

Town Square magically aglow for the Christmas Season. This year orna-ments and a new star adorn the Tree along with all white Christmas Lights. Lights were also hung across Rowlett. It’s truly a WONDERFUL life!

The Special Events/Tourism Division has been very busy this past year with events and Tourism promotions for the Town of Collierville. Among the accomplishments for this division was the enhancement of the Town’s Indepen-dence Day Celebration. This division added “Welcome” and “Schedule of Events” signage, planters and decorations to the stage along with surround sound to cover larger areas of the park not covered in past years, as well as a Children’s Wall of Fun Patriotic mural that was colored and sent to Bagram Air Force base in Afghanistan. To the right is an ad that was placed in the Chamber Magazine to help promote local tourism. The bumper stick picture on page 2 was developed and introduced in December to also help in our tourism promotions. This di-vision also placed ads in the Tennessee Tourism Magazine, Memphis Visitors Guide and Memphis CVB website. Leads are received from each of these ads and brochures are sent to those individuals that made the request. As you can see below the Town Square was enhanced with additional Christmas ornaments on the tree and lights were hung across North Rowlett to give the square that home town feel for Christmas.

IDC 2013

Our departments 30th Anniversary started off with new banners for each of the our sports and pro-grams and were hung in the parking lots associated to that particular venue. The department selected a Hall of Fame committee that took application for the inaugural Hall of Fame inductees. In October, the department inducted Dr. Dan Lattimore, Randy Lowry and Preston Carpenter as our first inductees (pictured on the cover of this report).

12

Recreation, Education & Instructional Division Lisa Gaither - Recreation and Program Coordinator

The Recreation Programming division’s responsibility is to provided a variety of educational and leisure opportunities for the citizens of the community. This last year over 18 instructional programs were offered with a program participation of 2,408 participants ranging in ages from 5 to 55+. Programs offered were Young Champions, Pitner Driving School, Safe Sitter Workshop, Smartycat Kids Educational Science and Technology programs, Bricks4Kidz Technology, Photography, and etc. A total of 14,269 hours of instruc-tion and education was provided to area residents.

Another area of the Recreation Programming division is the department’s tennis program. We had ap-proximately 435 instructional tennis clinic participants (approximately 600 hrs of court time instruction) and 40 youth and adult tennis teams (510 players) with Recreational Adult Leagues, USTA Adult Leagues, and USTA Jr. Team Tennis. Our USTA Jr. Team Tennis Program is growing and producing younger players with skills and match play experience. Cox Park Tennis Facility is also the home courts for CHS Tennis Teams practice and match play from February – May.

Senior Adult programs consisted of Senior Exercise with an average of 20 participants per class three times per week, Bingo & Lunch with an average of 50 participants monthly, and Senior Adult Leisure Travel. This last year a total of 86 Senior Adults traveled approximately 8,000 miles to the following locations: Spain, New Madrid/Sikeston (MO), Lancaster/Hershey/Gettysburg (PA), New York City (NY) and San Antonio (TX).

This was the 17th year for the Camp Smile Summer Program (camp for special needs youth). Camp is hosted for two weeks in July each year with approximately 12 – 14 participants per week ranging in age from 14 – 25 years old. Grants and sponsorships totaled $4,000 with the assistance from Collierville Civitan Club, Collierville Kiwanis Club, and the Collierville Lions Club. It is with these clubs assistance that the par-ticipants can participate and enjoy time away at summer camp experiencing hands-on activities, events with special on-site visitors, and fun field trips!

This last year saw the addition of two more tennis courts with Quick Start Lines at Cox Park Tennis Facili-ties (acquired $500 in grants to cover cost of Quick Start Lines) which now provides Town residents with 6 Quick Start Lined courts for 10/under instruction and the promotion of court/match play, resurfacing of courts 5 & 6 at Cox Park and Frank Road Tennis Courts, installation of logo windscreens at Cox Park Tennis Facilities, as well as, the purchase and installation of a handicap accessible ramp at the WC Johnson House. Great improvements for future usage and programming!

Gettysburg/Hershey/ Lancaster 2013 Adult Trip

New Windscreens - USTA Team Tennis Players

Young Champion Cheer

13

Cultural Arts Division Wayne Warren - Theatre Manager

Best Christmas Pagent EVER Christmas Cards for Military Troops

The Harrell Theatre had a stellar year in 2013. By building on the partnerships with the Collierville Arts Council, the Morton Museum and New Day Theatre, 10 full length stage

shows were presented for our citizens, in addition to record number of camps and workshops for youth and children. Here are just a few of the highlights:

* New On Line Ticketing System

* New Community Art gallery* Sold out GREASE for the entire run

* New record high for volunteer hours* A revitalized Collierville Arts Council

* New record for contributions and sponsorships to underwrite shows

The arts are alive and well in Collierville. Come see what all the buzz is about. A great town deserves great art.

14

Animal Services Division Nina Wingfield - Animal Services Director

Here are all the wonderful accomplishments our staff and volunteers were able to achieve with the support and guidance of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen and our Collierville community:

CAS is a Tennessee certified animal control facility and a certified veterinarian medical facility. Shelter Director, Nina Wingfield, certified animal control officer and cruelty investigator, serves on the Board of Directors for the Animal Control Association of Tennessee (ACAT), as past president and a member of the National Animal Control Association (NACA). John Robinson, Shelter Manager, certified animal control officer is also a certified euthanasia technician as well as Stephanie Iacobucci. In 2013, SPCA of Memphis gave CAS employees, Sandy Kraemer and Greg Wilkins, a grant to attend the NACA animal control training level 1. They both finished with top scores in their class, Greg Wilkins also received a SPCA of Memphis grant to get his certified euthanasia technician license at the start of 2014. Sandy and Greg will complete their NACA level 2 in 2014, giving CAS four certified animal control officers.

Collierville Animal Services Outreach Programs:

New! Shelter Dogs for Veterans. CAS provide dogs to be adopted by veterans who suffer from PTSD, financial assistance for train-ing is provided by the SPCA of Memphis donations.

• 2013 Kids Camp – helped teach children about care, compassion and responsibility for animals during the camps. Summer and Winter Kids Camp are held.

• Animals for Adoption is an offsite adoption program at the Carriage Crossing Shopping Center that has promoted hundreds of adoptions and fundraising events, including FALL PAW FEST in October. In December, we reopened Carriage Crossing’s Animals for Adoption as Paw Print Pet Adoption Center with new habitats for the animals and fresh ideas for increasing adoptions.

• CAS has cats for adoption in the Collierville Petco on Shelby Drive at Houston Levee. This wonderful partnership will open many opportunities for grants and donations through the Petco Foundation. We were able to increase our cat adoptions and the community support. We have created a wonderful partnership with Legg Up Cat Rescue, who has helped us lower our cat population.

• The PPAWS program is in its fifth year and producing great results. In this program dogs are placed with inmates at the Mark Luttrell Women’s Correctional Facility where they live with the inmates for 6 weeks of obedience training. After completing the training, the dogs are offered for adoption. A certified trainer and CAS staff will supervise the program. In five years, 320 dogs have successfully completed the training. 2014 will see a lot of changes in this program and CAS will be using the PPAWS program more as a foster home for puppies, rotating the dogs every 2-3 weeks.

• We are working on our 9th year with our PET OF THE WEEK on Saturday mornings with Channel 5. This show has brought our shelter pets into people’s homes all across Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, helping us to find more homes for animals.

Facts about CAS• More than 6,000 people visited the shelter in 2013.• More than 3,000 people visited the Animals for Adoption at Carriage Crossing• CAS has microchipped more than 9,000 animals since July, 2005.• Volunteers donated over 40,000 hours of service to CAS, including our foster homes which has allowed us to rescue more injured and orphaned animals

How to see our pets for adoption, learn more about volunteer training and opportunities, kids camp 2013/2014 schedule, fundraising events, and TOC animal laws:• www.collierville.petfinder.com• Town of Collierville’s website, look under Animal Services Department• FACEBOOK – Friends of the Collierville Animal Shelter• Channel 5 Saturday morning 9:15am Pet of the Week

15

Town of Collierville Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts and Community Services Department

440 West Powell RoadTel 901-457-2770 Fax 901-457-2771

www.colliervilleparks.org