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.

Park and Recreation— Park News

this issue

Park News P.1

Enterprise Services P.2

Nature Preserves & Natural Resources P.5

Community & Recreation Center Services P.6

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

A p r i l 2 5 2 0 1 3

15 WEEKLY

NEWSLETTER OF THE

PARK AND RECREATION

DEPARTMENT FridayFridayLetterLetter THE

Memorial Garden dedicated in Honor of Slain Officer Sean Clark More than six years after Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Sean Clark was shot to death in the line of duty, he was honored Sunday with the dedication of a memorial garden in Huntersville. The new garden and park, located on nearly a quarter-acre in Blythe Landing, features walking paths, a wooden eagle and a granite plaque dedicated to Clark, who was killed along with his partner, Jeff Shelton. In later phases of the park, Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation hopes to install a cedar swing, a cabin playhouse and a bronze statue of deer to honor Clark’s love of hunt-ing, said Peter Cook, park operations superin-tendent for Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation. “This has been a long time coming,” Clark’s widow, Sherry Lancaster, said after the cere-mony at Blythe Landing. “I couldn’t be hap-pier with what Parks and Recreation did.” A park named in honor of Shelton opened in Locust in October 2007. Read the complete story here

Pictured below, Peter Cook, MCPRD

Tournaments & Adult Athletics Adult Athletics Volleyball: The championship game for win-ter women’s Co-Rec B volleyball league was held at Wallace Pruitt Recreation Center on Monday, April 22. Plan B was the league winner. Tuesday night grass volleyball at Nevin Park is finishing up its third week and adult softball at Nevin Park and Renaissance Park is nearing the season halfway point.

Powerade State Games of NC April 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 participat-ing in 19 different sports across more than 30 venues in a true Olympic-style sporting event. Please read this information carefully to ensure you won't miss out on all the FUN in Charlotte this June!

In The News: CPRP Awarded Enterprise Services — Jason (Jay) Tryon recently received the distinction of Certified Park and Recreation Profes-sional (CPRP).

Congratulations to Jay and to the Department!

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

environment.

Mecklenburg County Event Highlights: Powerade State Games Softball Information Youth Fastpitch Softball June 22-23 Mallard Creek & other area fields Click Here for Info Adult Slowpitch Softball June 22-23 Nevin Park Divisions: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Recreation Entry Fee: $275/team ($225 for Rec) High School Showcase June 24-27 Wingate University Try-outs are currently un-derway with upcoming dates as well. See the website for information. Try-out fee: $15

Enterprise Services News

Registration is underway for the Powerade State Games Softball Tournaments. This year we will be offering both Youth and Adult Divisions in addition to the High School Show-case. For the Youth Tournament this year we have partnered with Top Gun Sports Soft-ball. Click here for more information. This year's High School Showcase, as in the past, will feature a high school senior East-West series and an eight team underclassmen tournament. Try-outs for the various re-gions have already begun but it's still not too late to sign up! We have partnered with NSA for the Adult Tournament this year, which will feature Gold, Silver, Bronze and Recreation divisions. To register and for more information, please visit www.carolinansa.com. Click here to visit the 2013 Powerade State Games Softball web-page for additional details.

Service Awards Congratulations to Preston Buckman (Recreation Coordinator, Supervisor) who is accepting his 5 year length of service award from Director Jim Garges. Online registration for the Powerade State Games is ongoing for all sports at www.ncsports.org. Registration deadlines are approaching quickly, so make sure you sign up today to guarantee your spot in the event of your choice!

Aquatics 13 Special Needs Teachers got recertified at the Meck-lenburg County Aquatic Center on Tuesday, April 23 from 1 – 3pm. The American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation conducted the re-cert. Students from Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools participated 193 Special Olympic Swimmer participated in the local games at the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center on Wednesday, April 24 from 10am – 2pm. The top 3 swimmers in each event will move on to the regional’s in Raleigh.

Citizen Information Outdoor Pool Season begins Memorial Day Weekend. Citizen Information FREE SWIM LESSONS AT THE OUTDOOR POOLS Registration for swim lessons will be accepted, beginning on Wednesday June 13, at the pool you wish to attend. Regis-tration will be taken every Wednesday beginning at noon for the following week only. Registration for lessons is done week-by-week and must be done in person. No phone res-ervations will be taken. All res-ervations are first come, first

served and spots are limited. The outdoor pools will also have daily programs through-out the summer, so contact each pool to see what exciting event is happening that par-ticular day.

Cordelia Pool2100 N. Davidson St.Charlotte, NC 28205704-336-2096 Double Oaks Pool1200 Newland Rd.Charlotte, NC 28206704-336-2653

In The News: CPRP Awarded Enterprise Services — Ven-tress Williams recently re-ceived the distinction of Certi-fied Park and Recreation Pro-fessional (CPRP).

Congratulations to Ventress and to the Department!

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

environment.

Scenes from Events: Coastal Adventure Trip

Coastal Adventure Trip: Reedy Creek Nature Center staff took a group of 12 partici-

pants to the North Carolina Coast last weekend. Participants hiked the Croatan National Forest and were lucky enough to spot Red-cockaded woodpeckers, a threatened species mainly due to habitat loss. Participants also had the opportunity to see wild horses at Shackleford barrier. Everybody helped to collect trash from the island and we ended up with 6 large bags that were too large to bring back to main land with us.

The Sugaw Creek Recreation Center and it’s YWCA program partnership hosted their First Annual “Tea Party” on Tuesday, April 23. Staff provided lessons and discussed the importance of etiquette in which approximately (26) participants arrived dressed in styl-ish attire. The girl’s wore colorful dresses with pearls while the boys were suited with bow ties. The kids enjoyed themselves and experienced how to properly prepare a vari-ety of tea, sandwiches, and scones. The YWCA program partnership sites also include West Charlotte and Tuckaseegee Recreation Centers. For more information, contact each facility site coordinator.

Sugaw Creek Recreation Center

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

Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities Powerade State Games of NC April 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 Power-ade State Games will fea-ture over 12,000 athletes participating in 19 differ-ent sports across more than 30 venues in a true Olympic-style sporting event. Please read this in-formation carefully to en-sure you won't miss out on all the FUN in Charlotte this June! Powerade State Games 2013-14 Charlotte 2015-16 Triangle 2017-18 Piedmont Triad 2019-20 Charlotte

Awards & Recognition ________________ Park & Recreation Receives the NC DOL Silver Safety Award Several members of our Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Safety Committee were present to receive a Silver Safety Award from the North Carolina Department of Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry on Friday, April 26, 2013. The Silver Award is for a substantial reduction of injuries and illnesses and the promo-tion of safer working con-ditions in 2012.

Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities

Revolution Park Sports Academy

Youth Baseball in Full Swing: April showers (as they came in such downpours on Friday, April 19th), brought on Satur-day morning games, t-ball, coach pitch & player pitch! Thanks to the field maintenance crews & the Youth Sports’ staff, most fields were ready for play at game time on Saturday morning, to the pleasure of all the players, coaches & parents-alike. The ‘ting’ from the aluminum bats, the ‘crack’ from the wood bats & the ‘phiff’ from the t-ballers swinging at the ball on the tees, ‘Play Ball’ was the order of the day. Come out & catch a game or two of America’s favorite spring/summer pastime-baseball, in its purest form! For more information about youth baseball or our other countywide youth sports leagues, please visit your closest Recreation Center, go to www.parkandrec.com or email us at YouthSports@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 15• April 25, 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! As the weather changes, look forward to new and exciting way to continue recreating during the late winter and spring 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.