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Published each Monday, P&R Weekly is an opportunity to share job changes, retirements, agency awards, etc. Send your good news to john@cprs.org.
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 NEW CPRS WEBINAR Series
Monthly training delivered to your desktop! Begins January 2013
Registration now open!
If you've ever wished you had the time or money to get you, your staff (or even your boss or commissioners) to more CPRS workshops/conferences, then here's some news you can use! Topics will include: Preparing for the Future, Priority Management, Marketing Planning, Staff Performance, Social Media Strategies, Contracting for Maintenance, Revenue Development, Staff Motivation, Conflict Resolution and so much more. Learn more here.
Maintenance Management School sells out for Nov. 12
"So why a Maintenance Management Plan? Who has gobs of money laying around? Who has executive management and residents who have no expectations? Guessing all of us are in the same boat. Creating a maintenance management plan helps our policy makers make good, informed decisions; it enables us to explain where money is spent and how; it allows us to fully disclose expectations; and the best of all, it helps us justify our requests for more resources!"
— Tara Gee, Regent Emeritus, Graduate Forum
Plan to learn all about creating a maintenance management plan through the CPRS School in November 2013 — budget now, register in early September to be sure you get in! Join us on Facebook to understand what we do during this school.
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| CPRS DISTRICT/SECTION HIGHLIGHTS |
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Nov. 15, CPRS District 9 Charting the Course Fall Training, click here for more information
Nov. 15, CPRS District 12 November Workshop, click here for flier
Nov. 15, CPRS District 13 Meeting: Special Events Tips from a "Parks" View, click here for flier
Nov. 16, CPRS District 7 Central Valley Workshop, click here for details
Nov. 16-18, CPRS Educators Section CalSPRE, click here for registration form
Nov. 28, CPRS District 10 Training, click here for flier
Dec. 5, CPRS District 13 Holiday Cheer Social, click here for flier
Dec. 7, CPRS District 3 The "Yes... and" Approach to Recreation, click here to register
March 5-7, Certified Playground Safety Inspector Course & Exam, click here to register
March 5-8, California & Pacific Southwest Recreation & Park Training Conference, early-bird registration now open
March 8, Teen Leadership Academy, click here for "Call for Sessions"
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Barbers raise funds with pushups
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
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You get more than just a good haircut at City Barber Shop in Gardner these days. You get a front row seat to an impressive display of physical fitness. After your fallen locks have been swept away, it's time for pushups on the same floor space. Lots of pushups. Since July, barbers Steve Landry, Scott Cordeiro, Ron Savoy and Tina Gemborys have done more than 30,000 pushups in a fundraiser for playground renovations in Gardner. Instead of a cappella harmony from this barbershop quartet, it's "one, two, three," up-and-down counting, in sync with deep breaths during the most demanding of basic calisthenics exercises.
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Contracting: Not just in parks and recreation
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
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"Contracting out" park maintenance and recreation services has been escalating due to the continuing economic recession. Interestingly, it's not just happening in parks and recreation. Read this story about trends in contracting out police/public safety in a number of California cities.
'Walk with a Doc' kicked off at McKinley Park Walks planned each month at different parks around town
Valley Community Newspapers
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Walk with a Doc is a national program developed by cardiologist David Sabgir in Ohio. The California Medical Association Foundation held a kickoff event for bringing the program to California at the State Capitol. The program is being piloted in Sacramento, Fresno, and Humboldt counties. Locally, the Sierra Sacramento Medical Society is now in charge of organizing these events.
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We have been providing a cost effective alternative method of providing security and maintenance services in city and county parks for over 30 years. Current and past clients include a wide variety of local, state and Federal agencies, private companies and non profit land trusts. For information call 6500-322-1181 or email clm@clm-services.com.
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Santa Ana park aims to lift area's fitness
The Orange County Register
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It used to be just a patch of dirt, a wide spot in the Pacific Electric Bicycle Trail, a spot where on occasion you'd see a car being worked on. Now it's the Maple/Occidental Exercise Park, a tiny (0.41 acres) but peaceful spot full of native plants and clusters of shiny green, purple and yellow outdoor workout equipment.
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Off-road state park near Livermore debated
San Francisco Chronicle
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State park officials plan to turn a swath of hills southeast of Livermore — regarded by conservationists as historic and ecologically sensitive — into a motorcycle park, even as off-road vehicle use has declined and the state struggles to keep traditional parks open. The state is midway through the planning process to open the 3,400-acre Tesla area between Livermore and Tracy for off-road use by motorcycles, ATVs and other vehicles. The parcel would be a significant expansion of the adjacent Carnegie State Vehicular Recreational Area. The move by the state has angered conservationists but given hope to off-road vehicle enthusiasts.
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In today’s world, Richard Fisher Associates believes it’s vital for Municipalities to hire Landscape Architectural firms that create complete and accurate Park Design Construction Documents.
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Playgrounds are designed to meet age appropriate challenges. Playground safety is paramount and ReadyPlay can be part of your safety program. Installation services available.
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Proposed federal budget cuts would deal blow to Americans' beloved parks
Fox News
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As many as 200 parks across America could greet visitors with "Sorry, but we're closed" signs come January unless Congress reaches a deal to stop automatic, across-the-board cuts to domestic and military spending — including an estimated $218 million less to the National Park Service, according to a conservation group. Most of the attention on the so-called "fiscal cliff" has centered on the defense side of the ledger. But the proposed park service cuts is one example of how everyday Americans might feel the pinch.
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Seattle switches from bike lanes to bike tracks
NWCN-TV
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 Move over, bike lanes: Bike tracks are gearing up in Seattle. The city has spent $35 million over the past five years on bicycle lanes, but now officials are changing direction. Bike tracks will be installed in some sectors, and the city will study a bike track running through downtown. Cycling advocates say tracks are the future.
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Childhood obesity declines in several states, cities
USA Today
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Nutritional improvements made in the foods served at schools could help reverse the nation's childhood obesity epidemic, and the first evidence of success is in places that have implemented changes early. Childhood obesity rates have declined slightly in several cities and states that are tackling the issue, including Mississippi, California, New York City, Philadelphia, El Paso, Texas, and Anchorage, Alaska, according to two groups that are tracking the trend.
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Orchard Heights Park has variety of amenities
Statesman Journal
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Orchard Heights Park in West Salem is a true community space because it offers something for just about everyone seeking recreation. Located off Orchard Heights Road in West Salem — and just a five-minute drive from downtown — the park is basically split into thirds. There are athletic facilities closest to the road, playground equipment near the parking area and, along Glen Creek, a surprisingly large wooded area home to a half-mile loop of trails, picnic tables and an off-leash dog park.
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Providing landscape architecture and park design services to public agencies for over 20 years. MORE
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TrueLine now does complete renovations and building of courts. See our splashpad surfaces! We continue to offer tennis court, basketball and other game court surfacing. MORE
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California coast's best surprise view — 33 pictures, video
San Francisco Chronicle
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From the Lookout Bench at Garrapata State Park, it might seem you could take a flying leap into the vast white pool of fog that stretches into a pearlescent sea. Nearby, atop a crag at Rocky Ridge, you tower over the Monterey coast. It can feel like you are on top of the world. Rocky Ridge at Garrapata is the best surprise lookout on the Pacific Coast.
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Secrets to discovering national parks this fall
Fox News
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Maybe your children aren't in school yet. Or maybe you want to plan a getaway for the two of you or with a group of your best buddies. Consider the national parks — they're a great bet in fall and a treat for the eyes during a road trip. The weather is cool and delightful, the crowds are gone, and you should be able to get a good spot, whether you're at Yellowstone or a more local park.
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Back to their roots in local parks and recreation
La Habra Journal
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Pete Dangermond, former Director of the the California State Department of Parks and Recreation, came to La Habra to receive a distinguished award from the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration. So did Joe Crookham, president of Musco Lighting, and Roger Brown, a parks and recreation director for seven different departments over 50 years.
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| BRANDING CAMPAIGN IMPLEMENTATION |
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 Each week CPRS will be sharing a new idea of an easy way to implement the branding campaign in your agency. Add the Parks Make Life Better!® logo to your agency/department website. Include a letter from your mayor/department head and testimonials from your staff and customers.
The City of Davis sent us the following note and picture:
"We added this to our van over a year ago and our van gets around!
- Before summer registration, our 'Rec Squad' took the van out to our local schools. The squad played music, had activities ready, and distributed fliers from it to kids and parents.
- During the summer, this van goes on weeklong car camping trips with our junior high population to local state and national parks.
- It also transports kids to a local equestrian site used for our Horse Camp program.
- Goes on a weeklong college exploration trip during spring break called So Cal Safari that takes high school students to tour six to seven colleges in the Southern California area.
- It most recently transported our talented recreation staff to a district training in Orinda.
We indeed make life better!"
Send any samples of how you or your agency is incorporating the brand promise and key messages to Jane H. Adams, jane@cprs.org.
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Congratulations to Idris Al-Oboudi for his interview with the National Recreation and Park Association and his connection to the Parks Make Life Better!® branding campaign. Click here to read.
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The CPRS Forums are the place for members to exchange ideas and to ask questions. The forums area currently has 200-plus threads. The value of forums increases when you share your knowledge and resources. Increase the value of your membership by answering or posting a question in the forums. Visit CPRS Forums. You can also pose your own question.
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Responsibilities of contracted instructors during an emergency/disaster
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Anna Bielecki, City of Gilroy, asks, "I am looking for any language in contracted instructor contracts/handbooks pertaining to responsibilities of contractors regarding students/participants during a disaster (earthquake, fire or flood in a building, etc.). As city employees, we are mandatory disaster service workers, but we are looking for anything in writing pertaining to contracted instructors obligations to participants in an emergency/disaster.
Thanks so much for any assistance." Please post your answer here.
Scholarship program
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Olivia Lemen, City of Calistoga, asks, "We are looking to establish a new scholarship program for our entire department. I am curious about other scholarship programs out there:
- What is your criteria?
- What is your approval process?
- Do you have a guiding policy on how funds are spend?
Currently, we provide sponsorships for sports teams — dwindling in support — and various programs ask for money directly. I want to consolidate and centralize 'asks' to minimize impact to our community." Please post your answer here.
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Making communities safe
Active Design Supplement: Promoting Safety — This guide shows how to incorporate safety and injury prevention while designing active environments. It serves as a companion to the original Active Design Guidelines. Practitioners involved with building design, urban planning, injury prevention, behavioral science, or health education will find this guide useful in creating places and communities that are safe for walking and biking.
Are you doing innovative work to reduce childhood obesity? You can earn a cash prize!
Round 2 of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine's Childhood Obesity Challenge seeks submissions focusing on innovative policies aimed at reducing childhood obesity, as well as strategies for getting these policies adopted and applied to schools, institutions, municipalities, or other organizations. The first-place winner will receive a $2,500 cash prize and will be featured in AJPM (website and print). The deadline to submit is Nov. 30.
Free online course on assessing the built environment
The Built Environment Assessment Training Institute has launched a free online course to instruct people in assessing the built environment for physical activity. The course is geared toward anyone with an interest in learning how to assess the extent to which different environments support walking, biking, and others forms of physical activity.
Steps to a Walkable Community: Guide for Citizens, Planners and Engineers, released by America Walks in partnership with Sam Schwartz Engineering, is a collection of innovative, multidisciplinary tactics that successfully have improved and encouraged walking in communities around the country. Over the past month, 1,700 copies have been downloaded. Spread the word and download your free copy today!
The National Association of Regional Councils released their latest livability resource last month, Livability Literature Review: A Synthesis of Current Practice. This comprehensive report describes how livability is understood, provides examples of livable communities in practice and adds clarity to several concepts. This new report will help local governments and their regional planning organizations, both urban and rural, better understand the resources available to create more livable communities. In order for regions to build stronger, more livable communities, NARC is seeking additional case studies of regional planning organizations and their communities. These case studies will showcase the important work in which your community is engaged and help future communities create more livable communities.
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New training from CPRS right at your desk
Introducing: DEPR – the 2013 CPRS Desktop Education Webinar Series
What is CPRS Desktop Education? This is a NEW monthly webinar series beginning January 2013 for park and recreation agencies to keep staff skills sharp without leaving the office! This webinar series includes monthly 60-minute, substance-heavy, "Make and Take" webinars, all for one annual price. The subscription price is for single Internet access that allows YOU to schedule as many staff as you desire to attend the webinar! CEUs are available.
CPRS members or member agencies $199 per year
CPRS nonmembers or nonmember agencies $299 per year
Space is limited for the first 40 people OR agencies who register. CPRS Members and Member Agencies are given a priority registration window. Learn more here.
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7701 Las Colinas Ridge, Ste. 800, Irving, TX 75063
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