NRPA Online Town Hall Meeting: Strategic Solutions for Managing Budget Cuts
from NRPA
What happens when your budget gets cut by 20 percent? 50 percent? Or even more? Do you lay off staff? Can you justify raising fees? Are you able to creatively trim services? Unfortunately, this isn't an imaginary case study--these situations are real and they are occurring all across the country in communities of every size. But you're not alone. NRPA is a community 21,000 strong and many of our members are facing similar challenges as you. On Dec. 17-18, NRPA is proud to present a special blogging event. Moderated by some of the profession's most experienced leaders, this open forum will allow you to share challenges and capture solutions. Bookmark this page, mark your calendar and join the discussion. We'll see you here on Dec. 17. More

Pataskala, Ohio, Group Aims to Save Parks Programs
from the Pataskala Standard
Some Pataskala, Ohio, residents have not given up on saving Parks and Recreation programs in 2009. "(Parks programs) are vital," Ann Walther said this week. "They are vital to development, to the community base, children. They make a community. They bring a community together through thick and thin." More

Thanks to Volunteers, New Playground Rises in Mississippi Town
from The Mississippi Press
Until Saturday, the 12th Street Recreation Center playground in Pascagoula, Miss., had just the basics: a swing set, a tire swing and a slide. In just eight hours Saturday, the aging equipment was gone, and more than 150 volunteers had turned the area into an inviting place for children to enjoy themselves. More

Arizona City Unveils Unique Toddler Playground
from the Daily News-Sun
Little Glendale, Ariz., residents will have a healthy way to have a ball at Sahuaro Ranch Park, with the addition of a new playground designed to keep kids fit while having fun. The new playground was recently installed and is now open to the public. More

NRPA’s Dirty Dozen: A Checklist for Safe Playgrounds
from the Daily News-Sun
NRPA’s National Playground Safety Institute (NPSI) has identified twelve of the leading causes of injuries on playgrounds, and published The Dirty Dozen - A Checklist for Safe Playgrounds. The Dirty Dozen Online Guide is now available for FREE and is an excellent service to share with employees and park advocates, parents, educators and the general public. To access the Dirty Dozen Online Guide More

Parks Department Helps Disabled at Christmas Party
from the San Antonio Express-News
A grinch -- or someone on the order of very, very forgetful -- stole a Christmas dance for hundreds of disabled San Antonio residents Sunday. But in the end, people whose disabilities have taught them to adapt did just that, with aplomb, thanks to the San Antonio parks department. As it has for each of the past 10 years, the advocacy group Door in the Wall Inc. had spent months carefully planning this year's Therapeutic Recreation Country Christmas Dance. The popular event in the handicap-friendly La Villita Assembly Building downtown was to be replete with home cooking in the big kitchen, Santa Claus, face-painting tables, door prizes and a live band. More

Cyclists May Ride where Locomotives Roared
from The Oxford Press
The usefulness of forgotten railroad rights of way have been shown nationwide. Many have been reborn as hiking and biking trails. In Ohio, the Dayton, Lebanon & Cincinnati line was once a vital rail link. And like many abandoned rail lines throughout the nation, efforts are now afoot to turn it into a bike path. More

Pool Operators Rushing to Install New, Safer Pool Drains
from The Enterprise
With high school swim season at full stroke, operators of public pools are racing to meet a federal deadline for installing safer drain covers, unsure what will happen if they come up short at next week's finish line. The Virginia Graeme Baker Act requiring the covers took affect last December and is named after former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker's 7-year-old granddaughter, who drowned after getting stuck on a spa drain. Public pools and spas must comply by Dec. 19 or risk civil and criminal penalties. More

Mom Built It, and 400 Kids Came
from Florida Today
Theresa Steelman and other parents were worried about the explosive growth of Palm Bay's youth football program. An overflow of players in some of the Pirates' youth football league divisions meant that some children wouldn't get enough playing time. It also would strain parents' already complicated schedules. More than a year later, the problem is solved because of the leadership of Steelman and a core group of volunteers. More

More Tennessee Parks Get Friends Groups
from The Tennessean
New friends groups were approved last week by the Metro Board of Parks and Recreation at two parks, Shelby in East Nashville, Tenn., and Parmer in Belle Meade, Tenn. "They're having to cut their budget, and a lot of things are going to get cut," Eleanor Willis, executive director of Friends of Warner Parks, said of the Nashville parks department. "It will be imperative and helpful to have friends groups, and almost every park is getting a group." More

California City Works to Bring Families Back to Park
from The Press Enterprise
The brand new forest-green playground equipment in Lake Elsinore, Calif., City Park sits unused most days, save for a few sparrows that hop along the slides. City Park, one of a handful of downtown parks in Riverside County, has long been dogged by its reputation. Lake Elsinore officials are trying to bring people back to the park, envisioning families someday having barbecues and birthday parties at the 102-year-old park, and couples getting married under the gazebo like they did in years past. More

'Green Team' Teens Target Blight, Sloth in Massachusetts City
from The Republican
Fourteen-year-old Katrina Edwards is enthusiastic about making her city a better place. So, she recently joined the Green Team, part of the environmental activist group Groundwork Springfield. "It's about helping the community and its environment, which really needs some attention right now," she said this week. The program started last spring in collaboration with Renaissance School students, the city's Parks and Recreation Department, and the Springfield Housing Authority. More