NRPS Newsletter September 2011

The Nevada Recreation and Park Society (NRPS) got its roots in the year 1955. A small group of dedicated individuals from agencies throughout Nevada met in Reno to establish the state's first organization dedicated to the advancement of the recreation, parks, and leisure professions. Though spirited and earnest, this early effort was short-lived, ceasing to function in three years' time. After several years of discussion and organizational meetings, NRPS was reactivated by a group of seventeen professionals who met in Las Vegas in 1963. NRPS gained affiliation with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) in 1964. NRPS has been actively supporting the development of the recreation, parks, and leisure professions from that year forward. The Society filed articles of incorporation with the State of Nevada in March 1974.

NRPS is divided into north and south districts. The NRPS Executive

Board is elected by the Society's membership. The Society annually awards academic scholarships, program and facility excellence awards, and recognizes in-state distinguished professionals with various awards, the most coveted of which is the "Dundee Award“.

Throughout its history, NRPS has consistently contributed regionally

and nationally distinguished leadership to a multitude of professional organizations. The cities of Reno and Las Vegas have both hosted the NRPA National Congress and NRPS has committed to annually offer a Certified Playground Inspector Course.

CONTINUING EDUCATION CEU opportunities Educational sessions and

exhibits at state conference On-line training (through

NRPA) Presentations at luncheons Annual Conference

Materials and Presentations - Online

STATEWIDE INFORMATION Job postings Event calendar Email notifications/updates NETWORKING AND

MENTORING OPPORTUNITIES

Membership Directory Resource Committees Luncheons Committee Work Links to agencies Facility tours Socials LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY

AND AWARENESS

DISCOUNTED RATES State conference Training RECOGINITION Scholarships Awards LEADERSHIP

OPPORTUNITIES Committees Executive Board Pacific Southwest

Regional Citizen members

155 members

to date

President-Dirk Richwine, CPRP

Past Pres.-Sven Leff, CPRP Pres. Elect-Jayne

Mazurkiewicz, CPRP Vice Pres. North-Al Rogers Vice Pres. South-Daniel

McLean Secretary-Sarah Johnson Treasurer-Brady Dehn Members At Large North-

Pandora Bahlman Jennifer Budge Joel Dunn Danny Gleich

Members At Large South-

Nate Jaramillo Nick McLemore Jeannette Palmer Felicia Rivera-Baker

PSP North-Johnathan

Skinner PSC North-Linda Fearnley PSP South-Shelly Gulotta PSC South-Dundee Jones

The NRPS Aquatic Committee is made up of aquatics professionals throughout the southern Nevada area.

Members meet the 2nd Wednesday every other month

to discuss aquatic trends, programming, staffing, operations and hot topics.

In addition, the committee organizes several events

throughout the year; Health & Safety Expo, Southern Nevada Lifeguard Games and a Recreational Swim Meet.

Please visit our contact page on NRPS.org if you would

like to contact our board members to receive additional information on any of our events, attending a meeting or becoming a member.

Board Members 2011

Jessica Laguna, Past Chair Brady Dehn, Chair Trevor Snow, Vice Chair Ericka Taggart, Secretary Dave Castle, Treasurer

National Public Lands Day (NPLD) began in 1994 with three public agencies and 700 volunteers. This day is

the nation's largest celebration of public lands

and volunteerism. Governors and mayors

often sign proclamations declaring their state or

city's support.

Nevada is one of 16 states that have declared 9/24/11

as NPLD. For more information or how

your city or agency can get involved, please visit www.publiclandsday.org

Women's Sports Foundation for Aspiring Female Athletes Fund, Deadline: Sep 23. Funding & Support for athletes & teams who aspire to compete at elite level. Info & app: http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/sitecore/content/home/programs/travel-and-training-fund/how-to-apply.aspx

Tony Hawk Foundation Skatepark Grants, Deadline: Oct 1. $25K & assistance to organizations to build in low-income areas. Info and app: http://www.tonyhawkfoundation.org/skatepark-grants/apply/

Nevada Division of State Parks, Deadline: Oct 1. 50% match with minimum of $25,000 and maximum of $293,874 for local park and recreation capital improvement and acquisition projects. Info & app: http://parks.nv.gov/lwcf.htm

ConocoPhillips SPIRIT of Conservation Migratory Bird Program, Deadline: Oct 1. $600K in grants for migratory habitat & conservation projects. Info & app: http://www.nfwf.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Charter_Programs_List&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=20265

Grant Opportunities

North Face Explore Fund Grant Program, Deadline: Oct 5. $125K to help children connect to nature, for personal & environmental health. Info & app: http://www.explorefund.org/

SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation

Fund, Deadline: Dec 1. $5K to $25K to support wildlife research & habitat protection & education projects. Info & app: http://www.swbg-conservationfund.org/grantInfoA.htm

National Alliance for Accessible Golf for

Individuals With Disabilities, Deadline: Rolling. Up to $20K to provide golf programs for individuals with disabilities. Info & app: http://www.accessgolf.org/grants/alliance_grants.cfm

Grant Opportunities

Advocacy is a process of strengthening public and political understanding and commitment to public parks and recreation. Advocacy involves finding ways to tell stor ies about parks and recreation and how it benefits our communities. In Nevada we have seen a decline in suppor t for parks and recreation at all levels.

Advocacy is a process of making others aware of who we are and what we believe, what are the contributions we make to a community, and why we are an important part of a community. It involves building a case for our presence and growth in city, county, and state government. It is built on an understanding that what we do positively impacts our communities, the members of our communities, and the resultant quality of life of individuals and the community as a whole. It is also about knowing. understanding, and engaging other groups that are linked to the parks and recreation profession and understanding how linking with those movements can improve our own position and simultaneously contribute to their advocacy efforts. Over the next several newsletters I wills share information about potential partners for the parks and recreation profession and discuss how they contribute to our own advocacy efforts. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) is one of those organizations we may want to partner with. The ACSM is the creator of the American Fitness Index (AFI), an annual report that was started in 2007 and looks at fitness levels of communities across the United States. It is a tool that allows local communities, and park and recreation professionals, to identify community needs. It is restricted to the 50 most populous metropolitan areas, which includes Las Vegas. The AFI "links communities, government agencies, health promotion groups, health care providers, and others with best practices and partner organizations to improve a community's score/rank.“ The AFI has their own advocacy component, which NRPS can draw upon. While the report is primarily Las Vegas based, it can be extrapolated across the state and data comparisons can be made. It is not a far reach to suggest that the fitness issues facing Las Vegas are not unique just to Las Vegas, but to much of Nevada.

What does it tell us about fitness in Las Vegas? First, Las Vegas ranks 43rd nationally among the top 50 cities. That puts us in the bottom 15% of all reporting cities. The report identifies key indicators and shared here a just a few of those indicators. Strengths and advantages and include: • Higher par-related expenditures per capita • More recreation centers per capita, and • More dog parks per capita On the opportunities and challenges side the report suggests: • Higher percent of people currently smoking • Lower percent of parkland per capita • Lower percent bicycling or walking to work • Fewer ball diamonds per capita • Fewer park playgrounds per capita • Fewer park units per capita • Lower levee of state requirement for physical education classes The report is available at www.americanfitnessindex.org. How can we use the AFI? This report probably doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know, but having an additional external organization validate what we know, or suspect, is an important contributor to our credibility. The presence of external data that supports and explains the challenges facing our communities is one of the most important reasons to look outside our profession to improve the sharing of our case. As an organization NRPS will build coalitions with other nonprofits in our effort to improve the quality of life for Nevada residents. Whether we do it locally, regionally, state-wide, or nationally, it is the coalition of like-minded citizens and support groups that strengthens our position.

The presence of reports such as the AFI reinforces the need for broad based public involvement and a call for action. This knowledge is a spring board that links us to other public park and recreation agencies and nonprofits for examples of what is being accomplished. In San Francisco the Institute at the Golden Gate has created the "Parks and Health Guide" (http://parkshealthguide.org) to bring national attention to the importance of parks and health. It highlights a number of case studies focusing on local, regional, state, and national parks. GP Red, a nonprofit based in Boulder, CO is creating a database to evaluate parks as community health providers. Called the Healthy Communities Project, its focus is to assist community agencies in assessing, analyzing, documenting, and evaluating the repositioning of parks and recreation as a primary preventative community public health provider (www.gpred.org). Advocacy is an ongoing process of understanding our communities, building coalitions with groups, individuals, and organizations, and creating a process that allows us to share that case with key decision makers at the local through the national level.

WHAT I S YOUR EARLI EST M EM ORY OF PARKS & RECREAT I ON ? SUM M ER M AGI C AT GORDON M CCAW-FOUR SQUARE, BOARD GAM ES, TOE TAG, FI ELD TRI PS TO THE POOL & WET N WI LD. WHAT M OTI VAT ES YOU TO STAY I N THE PARKS & RECREAT I ON FI ELD? THE ACCOM PLI SHM EN T S OF STAFF I WORK WI TH. I T I S VERY REWARDI N G TO SEE WHAT GOOD PEOPLE CAN ACCOM PLI SH WHEN THEY ARE EM POWERED WI TH RESOURCES. WHAT WAS YOUR FI RST CON CERT ? M ETALLI CA AT CASHM AN FI ELD. WHAT I S SOM ETHI N G YOU CAN ’T LI VE WI THOUT ? I HAT E TO SAY I T…BUT M Y DROI D!

WHAT I S YOUR EARLI EST M EM ORY OF PARKS & RECREAT I ON ? PLAYI N G BASKETBALL AT SI LVER SPRI N GS RECREAT I ON CEN T ER WHEN I WAS 8 YEARS OLD. N AM E THREE PEOPLE YOU WOULD LI KE TO HAVE D I N N ER WI TH AN D WHERE? AN YWHERE WI TH AARON RODGERS, VI N CE LOM BARDI , AN D CHI P FOOSE. WHAT I S ON E THI N GS THAT M AKES YOU SM I LE? THE SOUN D OF A BABY LAUGHI N G. WHAT I S YOUR FAVORI T E SPORT ? FOOTBALL. WHAT I S SOM ET HI N G YOU CAN ’T LI VE WI THOUT ? CHI CKEN FI N GERS!

Getting to Know…Linda Fearnley Linda’s story begins in Brooklyn, New York. Although from New York, she spent most of her time in Milford, Connecticut. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation she taught Health and Physical Education for 17 years. In the mid 80’s she made a career move to Recreation. In Milford, she was a Recreation Supervisor over activities such as Women’s Softball and Volleyball, Pop Warner Football, Girl’s Basketball, Summer Camp Programs, and Community Gardens. Making a move to the West Coast, Linda joined the City of Henderson Parks and Recreation team as a Recreation Supervisor in the Youth Enrichment Section where she was responsible for the growth and administration of the Safekey Program since its inception in 1990. Linda considers NRPS to have been an integral part of her recreation career. She joined in 1990 and has been an active member ever since! She served as the Membership Chairman for eight years and was part of the conference planning committee for two conferences. Currently, she is serving as the Pacific Southwest Representative – Citizen on the NRPS Executive Board. She is also a recipient of the coveted Citation Award!

In May of 2006, Linda retired from the City of Henderson and began to tour the country starting in Yosemite. On her way to Connecticut, she stopped along the way to visit her children. Linda never thought of living in a retirement community prior to 2008 but feels it has turned out to be one of the best decisions she has made. She found a place to call home in a Del Webb community in Sommerset. She says one of the reasons she decided to move back to Nevada was to continue some of the relationships she developed over her 20 years in the state and she could always get involved again with NRPS. Within her development she has many activities to choose from and is busy every day! In the summer of 2008 she experienced her first white water rafting trip and thoroughly enjoyed it. Linda is also very involved in doing church activities and charity work. When Linda is not busy with her active lifestyle, she is spending time with her grandchildren. She travels a lot as her children and grandchildren are located in five different states from the east to the west coast! When asked for some words of wisdom, Linda offers the following, “don’t save for tomorrow what you can do today. Take advantage now of the traveling or activities that you are interested in, as you do not know what lies ahead in the years to come.” Well said Linda…well said!

Park Ranger Department of Agriculture

Salary: $31,315 year www.usajobs.gov

Recreation Assistant Department of Agriculture

Salary: $15.00 hour www.usajobs.gov

Coming Soon!

• CPRP Prep Course • Paradise Rec Center • 8:00am-12:00pm

10/20/11

• Parks Professional Appreciation Day • TBD • 11:30am-1:00pm

11/17/11

• Kick off NRPS Action Advocacy Network • Look for details in the next newsletter!

12/29/11 • The After Christmas Before New Year’s Party

1/19/12

• Happy New YOU! • Desert Breeze Center • 11:30am-1:00pm

Afterschool is the Road to Success October 3-5, 2011

Atlantis Casino, Reno www.ShowcaseNevada.net

The conference strands include: Academic Success, Culture/Community Engagement, Health & Fitness, Enrichment

Opportunities, Program Management, Technology, and Youth Leadership.

Master Course: Professional Program Development & Funding Certificate

September 27-29, 2011 Las Vegas

http://napppaPrograms.org Interested development professionals, researchers, faculty, and

graduate students should register as soon as possible, as demand means that seats will fill up quickly.

Inspector’s Clinic—New Site in Sparks!

Wednesday, October 19, 9:00—noon. (field session) Complete a BMP inspection exercise Learn what happens during SWPPP compliance inspections Get tips and techniques for BMP inspection and documentation Develop an inspection form and review sample forms Learn how to communicate inspection results to clients and contractors

Construction Site BMPs and Creeks: The Importance of Addressing the Source of

Sediment Inputs Clear Creek Development Site, Carson City

Wednesday, October 12, 8:00—11:30 a.m. OR 1:00—4:30 pm Drainage way protection though onsite design and installation: Practical solutions (local experience, small equipment, and committed contractors) A detention basin and its challenges and possible solutions: Understanding the need for local knowledge vs. textbook designs The outcomes of an unpermitted roadway project and its associated BMPs Permit responsibilities and current economic situation Route 50 erosion and sediment control plan

April 18-20 @ BMRC

NRPS

The 2012 NRPS conference is on the horizon. We encourage all members and local professionals to join us at conference and even assist in the planning process. If you would like to assist with a committee, please email

Jayne.Mazurkiewick@cityofhenderson.com or gulottms@co.clark.nv.us.

Conference Committees & Chairs:

*Speakers/Education- Dirk Richwine & Jessica Laguna *Playground Safety Institute-Felicia Rivera-Baker *Exhibitors-Shelly Gulotta & Doug Guild *Fundraising- Sarah Johnson *Registration-Jeannette Palmer *Socials/Food-Nate Jaramillo *Technology/Logistics-Nick McLemore