the friday letter | june 7, 2013
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In The News:
Construction work on the
two I-485 bridges that pass
over Lower McAlpine Creek
and McMullen Creek green-
ways will cause sections of
both trails to close periodi-
cally over the next year.
The section of McMullen
Creek Greenway underneath
the I-485 bridge will close
beginning Monday, May 13,
and will remained closed
through the rest of the year.
It will reopen in early 2014.
The section of Lower McAl-
pine Creek Greenway under
the I-485 bridge will close
later this month and will re-
main closed through early
summer 2014.
Greenway visitors can fol-
low detour signs along low
volume roads to continue on
the greenway and use
nearby Four Mile Creek
Greenway during trail clo-
sures. Detours will be
signed by NCDOT.
Park and Recreation— Park News
this issue
Park News P.1
Enterprise Services P.2
Community & Recreation Center Services P.4
V o l u m e 2 I S S U E
J u n e 7 2 0 1 3
21 WEEKLY
NEWSLETTER OF THE
PARK AND RECREATION
DEPARTMENT FridayFridayLetterLetter THE
Benefit Concert Help Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department and Partners for Parks build a playground. Come enjoy a night of Jazz under the stars at Freedom Park with Nnenna Freelon and The Branford Marsalis Quartet. Saturday, June 15, 2013 - 7:00PMTicket Price: $5 per person - $20 for families of 4 or more
Purchase tickets by donating here
Veteran’s and Reservists Classic
Mecklenburg Nearly 300 active duty and retired military personnel will get to play a free round of golf at the Sunset Hills Golf Course on June 27, but many will get a lot more out of the experience than just swinging the sticks for a few hours. Now in its 8th year, organizers of the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department Veterans and Reservists Golf Classic are honored to provide a day of recreation to America’s he-roes. But in recent years, the event has become a major player in connecting veterans with various agencies that can provide them with benefits information.
For more information contact Robert Anderson at 704-336-3590 or [email protected].
Tournaments & Adult Athletics 10th Annual Volleyball Bash
The 10th Annual Volleyball Bash at Historic American Legion Memorial Stadium was a success . Ninety (90) teams played in three different levels of competition for the volleyball bash (BB- intermediate, A-competitive, and Open- very competitive/professional). Saturday, June 1 there was competition in a men’s division and a women’s division only. Sunday games featured competition for co-rec players only.
30th Annual Tri-Latta Triathlon 30th Annual Tri-Latta Triathlon will be held on June 15, 2013 at Latta Plantation Nature Pre-serve. The start of the event is at 6:30am that will host a 750 Meter Swim Course first which is 1/2 mile. Then a 17 Mile Bike Ride through Huntersville Business Park and a 5K Run Course throughout the Latta Plantation Nature Pre-serve trails. Tri-Latta Tri-athlon is presented by Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville and Meck-lenburg County Park and Recreation Department. The categories are Open Male, Open Female, Masters Open Male, Masters Open Female, Age Group Male, Age Group Female, Clydes-dale, Master Clydesdale, Athena, Novice Male, Novice Female, Novice Masters Male, Novice Masters Female, Male Relay, Female Relay, and Mixed Relay.
30th Annual Tri-Latta Triathlon All participants must com-plete the race in under 2 hours-30 minutes. The minimum age allowed for participating in the Tri-Latta Triathlon presented by Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville is 10. The ca-pacity for this event is capped at 800 partici-pants. this event is sanc-tioned by the USAT and there will be a Champion Chip Timing System being used with all participants .
10th Annual Volleyball Bash During the week of June 3, “All City” won the Men’s softball championship in the Division I Tuesday night spring tournament. Team “Scared Hitless” won the Men’s softball Division II Tuesday night spring tournament. Team “Sons of Pitches” won the Men’s softball Divi-sion I Wednesday night spring tournament. Team “Tilted Kilt” won the Men’s Division II Wednesday spring tournament. All softball tournaments were played at Renaissance Park.
Sons of Pitches
Scared Hitless All City
Baseball Prep It & They Will Come!: As the 2013 Regular Baseball Season wines
down, the Youth Sports Development Division extends our 'shout-outs', via a pictorial-Caught Doing Good, to the maintenance crews that put in work, weekly, to make sure our baseball fields were Gold Medal worthy! Come out & catch the last regular sea-son games, Saturday, of America’s favorite spring/summer pastime-baseball, in its purest form!
Crochet Club Gives Back at Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center: The Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center's Crochet Club and the Senior Nutrition pro-gram, crocheted and knitted blankets, hats, mittens, and footies for the children of the Levine Children's Hospital. For more information on Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center Crochet Club contact 704-432-3048 or [email protected].
Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities
Horticulture News: Partnership Up-dates Internal County Partner-ships with Enterprise and Real Estate Services helped to finance Hort in-house design and install of a brand new landscape at St. Mary’s Chapel. And with CMPD and many others to develop the Offi-cer Sean Clark Memorial Garden at Blythe Landing Park. With Charlotte Housing Authority and McColl Vis-ual Arts creating an envi-ronmentally sound and very functional Native Plants’ Garden at Anita Stroud Park. Carolinas’ Healthcare Sys-tem volunteers to beautify the Little Sugar Creek Greenway . (pictured in order below) As a member of the TreeCharlotte collabora-tive, planting new trees at Shuffletown and South-side Parks at no cost to the County. With our friends at the City of Charlotte, partner-ing to add much needed trees at Flat Branch and Mallard Creek Parks at no cost to the County.
Beneficial Programming. Developing Character. Enriching Lives.
Elmo Visits Tom Sykes Recreation Center: Last Thursday, Elmo visited with preschoolers Tom Sykes Recreation Center. During this program, pre-schoolers interacted with Elmo, enjoyed story time, colored pictures and made two special arts & crafts project. Families from all over the county now attend these preschool themed programs! For more information about upcoming preschool programs, contact [email protected] or 704-432-4803.
Princess Day at Ivory/Baker Recreation Center: Last Friday, May 24th, Princess Day was held at the Ivory Baker Recreation Center for 8 princesses and their parents/guardians. A special appearance by Batman, who wanted to make sure all the princesses were safe, stopped by for the fun. Activities included deco-rating crowns, listening to stories of other princesses, played Pin the Kiss on the Frog, Fill-In a Fairy Tale Story and Guess Which Princess. Each princess also received their very own wand to take home. Both adults and children had a great time. For more information on programs happening at Ivory/Baker call 704.432.4580 or email [email protected] .
Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities
Hort news cont...Also, partnerships with several Recreation Centers and the fine carpentry work of the North County Jail inmates to develop gar-dening programs like Lil’ Sprouts and expose the children to Going Green!
Horticulture: Memorial Tree, Brick & Bench Pro-gram
Make a gift in honor of a loved one, organization or event by dedicating a tree or brick in a park, greenway or nature pre-serve (natives only in the preserves). The gift represents a last-ing tribute as it grows and flourishes for years to come. Trees are an im-portant resource, offering habitat, oxygen and beauty.
...and with partner-ships with many of our patrons, fulfilling their Memorial wishes. For more information on Horticulture and volunteer opportunities, call Tim Tur-ton at 704-336-8840.
Wallace Pruitt Gardening Club
On Wednesday, May 15, 2013 the Wal-lace Pruitt Gardening Club got a sur-prise visit from Mr. Wallace Pruitt, af-fectionately called the "Mayor" by the Seversville residents. He was accompa-nied by Mr.Edward Brown, the Servers-ville Block Captain Chairman and Head Garderner. The gentlemen shared their gardening knowledge with participants and the participants were really atten-tive and respectful to our guest. The club meets once a week and they are anxiously waiting to harvest the garden and share the vegetables with the residents of the Seversville Community. For more information regarding Community Out-reach Events or programs, please con-tact [email protected]
Tee Ball at Winget and Berewick: A big congratulations to the tee ball team at
Winget and Berewick Recreation Centers! Their sea-son concluded with an awards program on June 3rd. Parents and players enjoyed refreshments as the players received their trophies. For more information about youth sports and other activities, contact Berewick Recreation Center at 704.432.4934.
Recreational News from Mecklenburg Communities
Romare Bearden Bad weather has forced Park and Rec to push back the opening of Romare Bearden Park in Third Ward until September. Park officials now hope to open the park around La-bor Day, which would coin-cide with what would have been the 102nd birthday of the park’s namesake.
Beneficial Programming. Developing Character. Enriching Lives.
Southview's Dance Team Has Another Great Performance!: The Sister's With Amazing Gifts Dance Team, also known as S.W.A.G., was in-vited to perform at the Mount Sinai Baptist Church Spirit of David Dance Event. The 15 young ladies, ages 9-17, wowed the crowd with three dances, one of which they created them-selves! This dance team allows young ladies to express themselves through dance and is made possible through a partnership with City Dive
Inc., a non-profit agency. West Virginia University Basketball Standout Visits “The View”: West Charlotte High School Alum and West Virginia University Women’s Basketball standout Christal Caldwell stopped by Southview Recreation Center to speak with the teens about college life. Christal shared her story about staying focused on her academics and basketball throughout high school, affording her the opportunity to earn a college scholarship. She spoke with the teens about the importance of making their education a top priority while balancing their social life and extracurricular activities. The teens listened intently and asked some very good questions. Thanks to Christal for giving back to her community! Community Activist and Motivational Speaker Stops by "The View": DeVondia Roseborough, a community advocate with a passion for helping young women build their self-esteem and recog-nize their self worth, visited the teen girls group at Southview Recreation Center. DeVondia con-ducted a workshop on "Relationships", having an in-depth conversation with the 12 young ladies present and discussed overcoming family isssues and engaging in healthy relationships. The young ladies received great advice and were really attentive to what Ms. Roseborough shared. Creativity Has No Age-Limit at "The View": Southview's senior arts and crafts program is booming! Seniors meet every Thursday to engage in various craft projects and get their creative juices flowing while socializing with their peers and having a good time. Stop by Southview and check out some of the artwork on display! Occasionally, staff will throw in activities to fire up some friendly competition. The seniors love and look forward to it! For more information on Senior programs at Southview contact [email protected].
Baseball and Disc Golf reach Mid-season in Full Stride: The 2013 Youth Baseball and Inaugural 2013 Youth Disc Golf Leagues have both reached week 4 of their 8 week Regular Sea-sons. 705 Participants from 46 Youth Baseball Teams (Countywide) and 31 Youth Disc Golf League Partici-pants (2 Regions – North @ Reedy Creek Park and South @ Elon Park) have found their stride and will begin the second half of their seasons this Saturday at 7 different parks throughout the County. Both programs will run through early June and conclude following their post-season county-wide tournaments. Good luck to all the partici-pants. Youth Soccer and Flag Football registration begins July 1! For more information about youth sports leagues, email [email protected] or call (704) 432-4963.
Southview Recreation Center
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 Volume 2 • Issue 21• June 7, 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
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www.parkandrec.com
Upcoming Events:
Benefit Concert: Park and Recreation and Partners for Parks are holding a
Jazz concert to help build playgrounds. Come enjoy a night of Jazz under the stars at Freedom Park with Nnenna Freelon and The Branford Marsalis Quartet. All proceeds from Donations, Tickets and Alcohol sales will go to Partners for Parks to build a Playground at Park Road Park in Memory of the victims of the New-town, CT tragedy. Saturday, June 15, 2013 - 7:00PM—$5 per person - $20 for families of 4 or more 7:00PM—Nnenna Freelon 8:30PM—The Branford Marsalis Quartet Tickets are available at partnersforparks.org
Golf Classic: 8th Annual Veterans & Reservists Golf Classic will be held on
June 27, 2013 at Sunset Hills Golf Course
Tri-Latta Triathlon: 30th Annual Tri-Latta Triathlon will be held on June 15,
2013 at Latta Plantation Nature Preserve. Tri-Latta Triathlon is presented by Presbyterian Hospital Huntersville and Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department. All participants must complete the race in under 2 hours-30 min-utes