Please note, the Searcy conference has been canceled.

Upcoming events:
October 7, 2010
Arkansas Trails Council Meeting
Pinnacle Mountain State Park Visitor's Center
www.arkansastrailscouncil.com

October 25 - 29, 2010
2010 NRPA Congress & Exposition
Minneapolis, MN
www.nrpa.org

November 14 - 17, 2010
American Trails National Symposium
Chattanooga, TN

Registration Now Open!

Member to Member Questions
The Nashville Parks and Recreation Commission was recently asked to consider the entire park going Smoke Free. Our Commission would like to know if any other parks in Arkansas have done this. If so, was it successful and how did you enforce it? See the answers>>

Join ARPA in welcoming Jodie Adams, Director of Parks for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board to Little Rock. Adams, who has been with the parks department for 36 years and has served as its director since 2006, oversees a metropolitan park system of 92 park sites, 40 facilities, more than 80 miles of linear park greenway trails, a zoo and a $34 million operating budget. She received her bachelor’s degree in recreation administration from Missouri State University. Adams is also the current past president of the National Recreation and Park Association and is a former executive officer of its Board of Trustees. In June 2009, Leadership Springfield awarded Adams its most prestigious leadership award, the O. Franklin Kenworthy Award.

Please come to Little Rock and meet Jodie. A reception will be held from 10am-noon for ARPA members and guests. Adams will then speak at the River Market Pavilion from Noon to 1pm. The speaking engagement presented by the Clinton School of Public Service is free and open to the public but reservations are required. Email execdir@arkarpa.org to reserve your seat.

ARPA Commercial Member, Southern Aluminum, receives the 2010 Bloom Award for Occasional Furniture. The Bloom Award is presented by Interiors & Sources in partnership with the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). The award recognizes commercial products that combine sustainability and innovation in the interior design of commercial spaces.

Latest News

LWCF Call to Action
Call both Senator Lincoln’s office and Senator Pryor’s office and let them know you want a bill that guarantees a 40% split for the stateside LWCF Program to grant to local park projects, a 40% split for the federal LWCF program, and the remaining 20% for other types of projects including a discretionary fund available to the Secretary of the interior. Keep phone call brief and don’t debate. Share your past grant project successes with them or what you need grant funds for in the immediate future. Invite them to tour your facilities.

For Senator Lincoln’s office ask for Bart Kempf 202-224-2035. Following your phone call go to her contact form and send her an e-mail stating your request. Next call Senator Pryor’s office. Ask for Stephen Lehrman (202) 224-2353. Then send him an e-mail, stephen_lehrman@pryor.senate.gov, stating your request. Do not mail your requests as all mail has to go through a security screening process that can take weeks and months. If you want to send a letter to your Senators or Representatives write it and fax it to them and then drop the original in the mail. For more information contact Bryan Kellar at 501-682-1301 or bryan.kellar@arkansas.gov.

With Labor Day behind us and the kids back in school, most recreation professionals may find that the pace slows and we have some extra breathing room that we did not have for a few hectic months. Swimming pools are closing, the extreme summer heat has slowed the growing of grass and need for mowing and most summer programs have come to an end. This change of pace allows us to re-focus our priorities and workloads. It is also a good time to “feed the brain” with some upcoming professional development opportunities. I have always felt that the major benefits of being a member of professional organizations are professional development opportunities and networking. There are a few upcoming events that will provide opportunities in both of those areas.

ARPA will be hosting a series of mini-conferences at the end of this month. The event will be held at two locations throughout the state. The multiple locations were chosen as a way to encourage participation and to ease travel restrictions. These events have been set up so that both management and maintenance personnel will find benefit in attending. Seminars and discussion forums will be held as will be a maintenance rodeo. The maintenance rodeo is a great event for those starting to consider equipment purchases for the next year. We have held similar events in the past and they have been well received by those in attendance. That covers the professional development aspect, but what about networking? Being able to meet and discuss issues with other professionals is indeed networking. Seeing maintenance professionals discuss mowers and their likes and dislikes of various equipment is not always something that is easily accomplished. It will happen at these events. As a parks director, I found that some of the best networking occurs with my staff on the way home as we discuss what we learned. At a similar event in 2008, we were introduced to a piece of equipment that we did not know existed, but we definitely needed. We purchased one within six months and have found multiple uses for it since that time. Every time I have taken maintenance staff to a professional development training, we have walked away with valuable information that spurred discussion and action in our department. I encourage all directors to make attendance at one of the min-conferences a priority for you and your staff. If you have not already registered, do so today!

Another, much larger, professional development opportunity is the upcoming 2010 NRPA Annual Conference. This year’s event will be held in Minneapolis, MN. While the cost is sometimes prohibitive, the benefits are endless. The trade show, educational seminars, and networking opportunities are top-notch. If you attend the NRPA conference, you will walk away with more ideas for your department than you can implement in a year. If you are not planning to attend this year, I encourage you to begin planning now to attend the 2011 conference in Atlanta, GA.

And while a few months away, I must mention the 2011 ARPA Annual Conference. The conference will be held January 31-February 2 in Little Rock. The planning has been underway and registration and program information is available at arkarpa.org. Past-President/Conference Chair Darren Austin and the conference committee are hard at work to make this conference a success. Mark your calendars now!

Joseph Gaa
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