Parks & Recreation

[From my July 29 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

This past Monday marked the 20th anniversary of the landmark legislation that ushered in a new era of equal access for a large segment of our population. On July 26, 1990 Congress signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which sought to ensure that disabled individuals have every opportunity to live, work, learn and play as the rest of the community. Over the years, it has had a significant and positive impact on how parks and recreation services are delivered and facilities are developed, opening the doors to increased health benefits for a whole new audience.

This far reaching law covers five areas: employment, public services, public accommodations, telecommunications and a miscellaneous category covering a number of areas. In one form or another, each of these sections has had impacted our field, with many examples right here in Colchester.

Perhaps one of most well-known and beneficial effects of this law is to create a level playing field with regards to the hiring process. Since the implementation of the ADA, employers are no longer permitted to discriminate based on disability when selecting candidates. If a potential employee is capable of performing the essential job tasks with reasonable accommodations, then the employer is required to make such adjustments. These accommodations can include such things as making a work site accessible, modifying a piece of equipment, or providing readers or interpreters.

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[From my July 22 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

As proud as I am of our department’s people, parks and programs, one of the things I love about Parks & Recreation is its near universality. Just about anywhere you go you can tap into the local system for some affordable family fun.

This week my extended family and I are vacationing in North Carolina’s Outer Banks. While twenty of us (including ten children) in one house can be a bit crazy, it’s also a great opportunity to reconnect. So far, some of the best times we’ve had have been taking advantage of what the local area has to offer.

Of course, one of the key reasons people come to areas like this is the beach. People do not often give it much thought, but the care and maintenance of a beach can be one of the most demanding tasks of a shoreline community. A close second is surely the multitude of sports fields that are scattered throughout a community, such as the fourteen that now constitute Colchester’s athletic facilities.

Yesterday, we took the whole gaggle of kids to the nearby state park, where they had a free program run by friendly and knowledgeable park rangers teaching the kids about animals indigenous to the sand dunes. They learned how to identify the animals by their tracks and even did castings of the footprints that they could take home as souvenirs. We plan to return tomorrow for one of their shoreline programs to find out about the local aquatic life on the Roanoke Sound side of the area.

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[From my July 15 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

This weekend Colchester is going to the dogs! Well, at least a couple of acres are. On Sunday, the long awaited Colchester Dog Park officially opens to the public. After more than two years of hard work by the dedicated committee, their dream has come to fruition. Of course, this was no small feat.

This Sunday will be a culmination of all of the work, celebrating the park’s completion with grand opening ceremonies and a pet expo, sponsored by Mr. Lockout and others. Beginning at 11:00am, activities will include a ribbon cutting, memorial unveiling (recognizing the generous contribution in the name of Scott Gagnon), a hike led by the Colchester Land Trust, food, giveaways, vendor booths, and more. And, of course, dogs will be permitted to run off leash for the first time in town in the only approved park for this activity.

The new dog park actually sits on a former landfill at 89 Old Amston Road – on the left before arriving at the Transfer Station. It was determined to be a safe and appropriate reuse of what is referred to as a “brownfield” (a previous industrial site).

The new site is freshly landscaped and redeveloped, with a gravel driveway and parking area, nearly a third of a mile of fencing, a memorial brick walkway, plantings, a walkway to the Colchester Spur of the Air Line Trail, signage, and more. In line with “best practices”, handlers bringing their dog to the park have their choice of two areas: one for large dogs and one for small dogs. While small dogs are welcome in either area, handlers are discouraged from releasing larger dogs in the smaller area, for dog safety.

All of the usage guidelines at the park are geared toward protecting the safety of the dogs, handlers and other visitors. The one overarching rule is the town ordinance that requires that all dogs in town be licensed and vaccinated – which obviously would apply at the dog park as well. Other guidelines include: cleaning up after dogs; refraining from bringing sick or aggressive dogs to the park; supervising the dogs; and the like. Ultimately, by State statute the dog owners are responsible for any damage or injury caused by their dogs. However, neither the dog park committee nor the town wants to see anyone get hurt, and encourage adherence to the posted guidelines.

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[From my July 8 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

My favorite time of year is back: the Colchester Summer Concerts on the Green sponsored by Rockville Bank! The six-show series kicks off this Sunday on the Town Green and does not slow down until it wraps up on August 15, barring any rain make-ups. While the entertainers take the stage at 5:30pm each week, we invite you to come on down at 5:00pm to enjoy some fun, family activities as well as the on-site cookout.

The majority of this year’s cookouts will be served up by our very own Summer Day Camp staff, as they volunteer their time to raise money to help support scholarships for children to attend camp. Their menu will include the standard barbecue fare (burgers, dogs, chips, soda, etc); however, in our department’s effort to offer healthy alternatives the menu will also include chicken, yogurt, water and fruit.

The only week that camp won’t be serving is the August 1 show, when Colchester Cougars Youth Football will return for their annual cookout. Regardless of who is cooking, the prices are always reasonable for feeding your family, with the profits going to a great cause.

While most of the pre-concert activities will be a surprise throughout the summer, one that you should mark down on your calendar is the annual favorite Teddy Bear Parade. On Sunday, July 18, kids are invited to gather at the gazebo by 5:00pm to register their cherished stuffed animals. Shortly thereafter, they will march through the crowd while our friends from the Colchester Senior Center give out awards in a wide array of categories, such as friendliest, furriest and most lovable.

Of course, the main feature of the concerts is the top-shelf entertainment that takes the stage each week. And this year’s line-up is no exception.

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[From my July 1 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

Today officially kicks off the 25th anniversary of National Park and Recreation Month, which has been celebrated across the country each July since its inception in 1985. This year’s theme is “Celebrate, Advocate, Recreate!” and I believe that each of those actions is critical, perhaps now more than ever.

With unprecedented budget shortfalls across the country, regular budget “trimming” has turned into massive cutting of entire programs and services. Often, the brunt of these cuts has been taken by parks at the local, county and state levels. The stories of entire park systems being shut down and crucial services being eliminated abound. From New York to Iowa to California, massive numbers of state parks are being closed. Here in Connecticut we were spared a major increase in park entrance fees just prior to their implementation due to the hard work of many concerned citizens.

The irony of the situation is that it is during times like these that our parks are the most vital. Just when families can least afford to travel to exotic or remote locations to experience and enjoy nature, their local public spaces are locking the gates and closing up shop. Luckily, there is a renewed national movement to save parks and conserve open space.

In April, President Obama convened a meeting of stakeholders on the issue, bringing together parks and recreation professionals, government leaders, and numerous other experts to begin the development of a far reaching plan to address conservation. With the last such effort occurring over 100 years ago during Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency, it was long overdue.

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[From my June 24 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

There is nothing constant except change. Once again, our Parks and Recreation family is experiencing turnover. Chris Woodside, our Recreation Specialist for the past two years, is moving on to new opportunities.

When our panel of interviewers first met Chris back in 2008, it was unanimous that he would be an excellent fit for our team. His passion, experience, honesty and humor were just what we were looking for. In fact, we quickly offered him the position that evening, as we did not want to lose him to another town.

Since then, Chris has been a devoted contributor to the Colchester Parks & Recreation Department. Like his predecessors, Chris brought a unique perspective to the position and made it his own. He developed new and exciting offerings to complement the wide variety of programs and events already provided by our department.

From adult sports leagues, such as flag football and basketball, to fun and educational afterschool programs like Sciensational Workshops, Chris sought out new ways to keep the Colchester community active and involved. However, his greatest legacy will surely be the Halloween Trick or Truck event, which was a smashing success in its inaugural year last fall. This year’s event will no doubt eclipse the astounding 90 cars that participated last Halloween.

Over the past year, Chris has been working towards his Master’s degree in Sports Management at UConn. For the upcoming year he has been selected for a Graduate Assistantship, where he will oversee the club sports teams for the school. This will be an excellent opportunity and we wish him will. Our loss is certainly UConn’s gain.

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[From my June 17 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

As the 2010 class of Bacon Academy departs our school system today for the many opportunities that lay ahead, I would echo the sentiment that they will undoubtedly hear from well-wishers many times over the next several weeks: do what you love and everything else will fall into place. Whether the coming months and years hold additional schooling, entering the workforce, traveling the world, or some other exotic alternative, the key is to find something that will be truly fulfilling. Often, this is driven by the feeling that you are making a difference in the world.

Of course, this does not mean that you have to change the entire world. Any impact, regardless of the size, can have significant and far reaching influence. Improving the life of just one person in your community can have a ripple effect that ultimately transforms a nation. It is analogous to the theory that a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world can contribute to a weather system that becomes a storm halfway around the planet.

Nor does this necessarily mean that you have to become professionally involved in an organization that seeks to do good work. In fact, independent and/or volunteer efforts quite often can have even more impact, possibly due to their personal or direct nature. This summer my family will once again be taking part in the Fresh Air Fund, where a child from the inner city comes to stay with us for two weeks. We previously had a young boy join our family each summer from the age of 6 to 13; having reconnected with him recently it is clear that our relatively small contribution to his life had a profound and lasting effect.

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[From my June 10 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

On Saturday, June 19 the story of Cody Camp will begin a new chapter. The Cody Camp Memorial Field Foundation and Colchester Parks & Recreation will be opening a very special field, dedicated in his memory, in grand style. From 9:00am until 2:00pm at Jackter Intermediate School, the home of the new field, community members are invited to take part in a bevy of fun activities.

The day’s line up will include free food and refreshments, a bounce house, face painting, opening ceremonies at 10am, a chance to meet Wally, the Boston Red Sox mascot and more. Perhaps most fitting of all, however, will be a special baseball game to be played by kids who would have been Cody’s peers – two squads of children who are just finishing fourth grade.

This journey began a little more than three and half years ago, when Cody Camp, only 6 years old at the time, passed away from Burkitt's Lymphoma. Soon after, family friends decided that a fitting way to memorialize Cody would be to recognize his great love of baseball by building a ballfield in his name. Within no time, the Cody Camp Memorial Field Foundation was born and fundraising took off.

Over the next few years, arrangements were made with the town to provide the site for this extraordinary gift – one that would leave an incredible legacy for all of the community’s children to enjoy. The Foundation planned for, and ultimately built, a first class facility. Cody Camp Memorial Field is now one of the premier fields in town, and the only diamond to have irrigation. When the finishing touches are installed, it will include a solar-powered scoreboard along with many other amenities.

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[From my June 3 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

Since 1993 the American Hiking Society (AHS) has sponsored National Trails Day on the first Saturday in June. Each year organizations and individuals across the country produce events and activities that spotlight the many wonderful trails that meander through our parks, towns and cities. Over the years it has grown to encompass well over 1,000 events on that single day, brining much needed and deserved attention to the campaign to expand the trail system.

According to the AHS web site, this national effort was actually developed as a response to the report produced in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan’s Commission on Americans Outdoors. A key piece of the report’s recommendations advocated that all Americans should be able to reach a trail system within fifteen minutes walking from their front doors. It actually went even further to say that these trails should wind through our cities and towns and bring us home without retracing our steps. This is an incredible vision, and one that is close to being realized in many progressive cities across the country.

With over 200,000 miles of trails already in service, and more being added every day, these trail networks have become a vital part of our country’s infrastructure. Far from simply recreational venues (a critical role in and of itself), trails have transitioned into vital routes for commuting. From serving as bike paths for business people to alternatives to children being bussed to school, the trails are now as valid a route of transportation as roads and rails.

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[From my May 27 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

As always, Memorial Day Weekend is a celebratory kick-off to the summer season, with many excellent traditions here in Colchester. And from this point forward, the activities only pick up steam, taking us straight into the fall and the annual 57 Fest.

Of course, the primary event of this weekend honors the reason for the holiday: the Memorial Day Parade. This perennial event, coordinated by a team of dedicated volunteers on behalf of the town, draws large crowds to remember those who sacrificed their lives for us to be able to enjoy all that America has to offer. Numerous organizations develop impressive floats and march en masse to show their support and respect. You won’t want to miss this year’s parade, which is themed: “Colchester Remembers and Honors Its Citizens Who Fought In The Revolutionary War”. It kicks off from William Johnson Middle School at 12:30pm sharp before heading toward the center of town, and looping around the Town Green.

Of course, the fun starts earlier that morning with the Lion’s Club’s annual Memorial Day Breakfast, where they serve up the food from 7:00-11:00am, followed by a lunch menu at 11:30am. The Lion’s Club gets no time to rest, however, as they soon begin setting up for the Carnival, which transforms the green into a wonderland for the following Wednesday through Saturday.

Memorial Day Weekend also serves as the traditional opening of the Recplex Spray Park – everyone’s favorite part of the park. Kids and adults alike can enjoy the variety of water features, which randomly turn on and off throughout the ten-minute cycles. To activate the system, simply lay your hand on top of the blue post at the entrance to the park, and enjoy! The Spray Park is open, free of charge, every day from 8:00am to 8:00pm. So grab your bathing suit and join in the fun.

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[From my May 20 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

Last week Colchester Parks & Recreation took a major step forward in increasing our capacity to work with volunteers by joining Operation TLC2 – a volunteer management program developed by the National Recreation and Park Association. Beginning this summer, we will be implementing this program as part of our Volunteer Brigade, which will create many exciting opportunities for community members to partner with our department to increase the quality and quantity of services that we can provide.

The crux of the program is a significant commitment to train, support and recognize our volunteers through a structured process. The key is realizing the critical role that volunteers play and the value that they bring to our organization, and sharing a mutual understanding that in many instances they represent our department to the community. Consequently, any and all investments made in volunteers, whether through time, money or other resources, is repaid ten-fold.

Of course, a well developed volunteer program can be just as beneficial to the volunteers as the organization with whom they partner. Structured opportunities give volunteers the opportunity to: contribute to their community; share an expertise or learn a new skill; increase potential career options; meet diverse people and make new friends; improve health; feel a sense of achievement; and serve as a role model, among others.

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[From my May 13 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

Creating a healthy community through people, parks and programs. No, it’s not déjà vu – you’ve actually seen this before. However, this phrase has taken on new meaning and purpose with the approval of our department’s 2010-11 Strategic Plan at the May meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission.

For many years, our department had a descriptive and appropriate mission statement that spoke to our goals for serving the community. However, it was a bit long and cumbersome – difficulty to memorize and use as a daily tool and guide. Working hand in hand with that mission was our motto which was similar to, but not exactly like, the one above.

As you may have noticed, we have inserted the word “healthy” into the phrase, recognizing the significant efforts we strive to make in that vein. It is not enough to work towards building a close-knit community of friends, neighbors, businesses and organizations. In our ever more sedentary world we must all make a concerted effort to address the growing health concerns of our residents.

So, when our Parks & Recreation Commission and department staff met to draft our current strategic plan, it seemed appropriate to not only recognize this increased focus, but officially replace our lengthy mission with that succinct and impactful statement.

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[From my May 6 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

Flip a coin. Heads: we’re working on town property. Tails: we’re working on school property. There’s a fifty-fifty chance that our Parks Maintenance Crew is at one or the other, as that is roughly the split of the vast amount of acreage and fields that we actively maintain. Of course, it is even more likely that our crew is split among the two, as they typically work at multiple sites each day.

Once in a while I am asked why our crew spends so much time at the schools if we’re actually a town department. The answer is simple: we’re not only a town department. Like the Facilities Department and the Finance Department, we are actually a shared service between the town and the schools. In fact, my salary is partially paid by each of the two budgets. I report to both the First Selectman and the Superintendent of Schools.

This arrangement is actually fairly recent. The process of combination began about seven years ago, when Parks & Recreation was given responsibility for grounds maintenance at the schools. At that time, the schools had their own grounds crew of three people who continued to focus entirely on the schools. The four-member parks crew continued to devote their time to town grounds.

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[From my April 29 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

With the renewed focus that our department, and our entire community, has had on health and wellness, I was particularly drawn into the recent TV show that just wrapped up: Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on ABC. If you missed it, the celebrity chef spent time in Huntington, WV (which was apparently called out by the CDC as the fattest area in the country) in an effort to change their eating habits and improve the town’s health.

While Jamie worked with the community at large, his focus and the majority of his time was spent on changing the food served in schools. His goal was to replace processed foods with fresh, homemade offerings as well as introduce more fruits and vegetables to the menu. His rationale was that if kids were offered more nutritious foods then they would simply eat that and automatically be healthier.

After many battles against the “we’ve always done it this way” attitude, along with successful efforts to raise necessary funding, Jamie was ultimately successful in implementing a policy across the entire school district of nearly 30 schools.

As you might expect, the younger children were fairly receptive, particularly when they were guided and supported by their teachers and other school staff. Surprisingly, however, even the teenagers got on board with the healthier food, willingly forgoing their regular diet of french fries and pizza.

This is a classic example of the national effort, of which I have written numerous times, to improve health through changes in policies and environment as opposed to offering programs. When an institutional change such as this is put into place, it becomes the natural default – the easiest thing to do. Despite the increased costs for these healthier foods, the change appears to be sustainable – a key ingredient in policy change – due to the overwhelming support it received by the conclusion of the effort.

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[From my April 22 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

With the warm weather returning, our thoughts naturally turn toward summer fun. Running through the sprinkler, playing ball, bike rides, picnics and more. And, of course, that includes one of the highlights of summer for kids and parents alike: summer camp.

Far from simply a babysitting service or child care provider, a good camp seeks to make a positive impact on each child every day. Caring and enthusiastic counselors nurture campers’ budding interests and talents by spending quality time with each child and fostering friendships and relationships among the campers and staff.

The wide array of activities and events that occur at camp are simply vehicles for achieving those goals, creating endless opportunities where staff and campers can build connections. From archery and arts & crafts, to sports and field trips, to camp songs and relay races – each unique interaction gives a child the chance to shine.

Here in Colchester, I am proud to say that our Summer Day Camp and Kindercamp experiences are among the best at focusing on these important goals. Rather than planning activities for the sake of activities, schedules are carefully crafted to infuse numerous scenarios with opportunities for personal interaction.

Of course, nothing tells us that we’re doing a good job as well as our campers. We view our record participation throughout the summer last year as a serious vote of confidence in our fantastic staff. And we are happy to say that we are bringing back nearly all of our staff from last year, including our Camp Director, Shannon Tamosaitis. And returning after a short hiatus, Deanna Stella is back as our Kindercamp Director. With a handful of new recruits, most having gone through our two-year counselor-in-training program, we are excited to have yet another top notch team to work with our community’s children.

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[From my April 15 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

Last week the Town took a significant step toward decreasing expenses, increasing productivity and improving efficiency. At their April 7th meeting, the Board of Finance approved the expenditure of approximately $42,000 for the purchase of a new wide-width mower for the Parks & Recreation department.

Unlike home lawn tractors, or even our two commercial landscape mowers, this industrial mower allows our Parks Maintenance Crew to do much more with less. While our landscape mowers cut relatively wide swaths with their 60” decks, our new mower will cover more than twice the ground at twelve feet across. While the industrial mower costs more than twice each landscape mower, when factoring in the cost of another crew member to operate the equipment it is clearly more cost effective and certainly more efficient.

And with our limited crew size, and having already lost a full-time staff member through the budget process, our ability to maintain the vast array of fields, parks and grounds under our purview is shrinking. We must take advantage of technology to be as productive as possibly.

Unfortunately, after fifteen years of service, the old Toro Groundsmaster finally surrendered. Of course, it would be misleading to say that it was in top shape until the end. Over the second half of its life, it required significant maintenance, increasing the money and labor sunk into it on an annual basis to keep it up and running. Ultimately, at the end of last season, the engine called it quits.

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[From my April 8 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

Perhaps no event throughout the year does more to fulfill our department’s mission of “Creating Community Through People, Parks and Programs” than the annual Spring Clean-Up Volunteer Day. The sense of mutual ownership and town pride that is generated by hundreds of Colchester residents coming together to beautify our parks, schools and grounds is magical. Now in its sixth year, the Clean-Up has become an annual rite of spring.

This year’s event is scheduled for this Saturday, April 10, and participants will gather on the Town Green at 8:30am to don their t-shirts and join our sponsors for a quick pep rally before dispersing to sites around Colchester. Helping to produce the Clean-Up this year are Dunkin’ Donuts, Harry’s Place, State Farm of Colchester and the Colchester Rotary. They will be joined by participants from numerous town organizations, sports leagues, businesses and families, as we weed, rake and mulch throughout the morning.

The best part is this one event has numerous benefits. Not only do disparate members of our community come together, developing new bonds and friendships, but it is done through a healthy, active program that gets us all outside and interacting with nature. In an age when our children spend more time in front of a screen in one form or another than outside, every opportunity that we have to balance this schedule is significant.

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[From my April 15 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

Last week the Town took a significant step toward decreasing expenses, increasing productivity and improving efficiency. At their April 7th meeting, the Board of Finance approved the expenditure of approximately $42,000 for the purchase of a new wide-width mower for the Parks & Recreation department.

Unlike home lawn tractors, or even our two commercial landscape mowers, this industrial mower allows our Parks Maintenance Crew to do much more with less. While our landscape mowers cut relatively wide swaths with their 60” decks, our new mower will cover more than twice the ground at twelve feet across. While the industrial mower costs more than twice each landscape mower, when factoring in the cost of another crew member to operate the equipment it is clearly more cost effective and certainly more efficient.

And with our limited crew size, and having already lost a full-time staff member through the budget process, our ability to maintain the vast array of fields, parks and grounds under our purview is shrinking. We must take advantage of technology to be as productive as possibly.

Unfortunately, after fifteen years of service, the old Toro Groundsmaster finally surrendered. Of course, it would be misleading to say that it was in top shape until the end. Over the second half of its life, it required significant maintenance, increasing the money and labor sunk into it on an annual basis to keep it up and running. Ultimately, at the end of last season, the engine called it quits.

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[From my April 1 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

Pssst! Want to know the best kept secret in Colchester? There’s a fantastic restaurant in town that you’ve probably never heard of, let alone actually visited. Tucked away on the far end of the first floor at Bacon Academy is the Academy Café – a fully functioning restaurant where students learn and practice the trade throughout the year.

For those “in the know”, it’s a weekly treat, as it only serves lunch once per week, currently on Fridays. And orders must be placed at least two days in advance, based on the specially-themed menu that has been developed by the selected student that week. Themes range from holidays to food styles to regional tastes, but they are always fantastic. The menus follow a simple format, listing one option each for soup, salad, sandwich and desert.

In recent weeks, the menu has included: chicken parmesan; crab-stuffed Portobello mushrooms; pasta fagioli soup; turkey, bacon and tomato paninis; chicken cordon bleu; tiramisu, and more. Making you hungry, isn’t it?

The vast majority of customers order their meals to go, usually sending a representative to pick up food for their group. However, after a year or so of enjoying “take out”, I decided to submerge myself in the full experience and eat at the restaurant. Since then, I’ve been hooked. The family-style seating affords me a chance to meet new people each week, from teachers to community members.

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[From my March 25 article in the Colchester Bulletin]

Pesticide application rules. Playground safety regulations. Background check policies. Funding to support land conservation and access to recreational and athletic facilities. These are but a few of the areas where laws and policies developed and implemented at the state level have a direct impact on the citizens of Colchester and the way our department operates.

While it may be apparent that legislation has a profound influence on our lives, what may not be as clear is the magnitude of impact our citizens can have on crafting and molding that legislation. The old adage that one person can make a huge difference is borne out on a daily basis each year during the legislative session. Well-placed phone calls, emails and letters with thoughtful, and sometimes passionate, requests backed by solid information and personal examples can easily change the course of the discussion on a bill.

The amazing thing, and the reason that one person can have such influence, is the fact that our state legislators hear from relatively few people on any given subject. And when they do, it is often from lobbyists and professionals, who, while well intentioned, usually have a vested interest in the issue. What really makes legislators take notice is when they hear from their constituents – the people who got them elected and whom they represent at the capitol.

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