A walk in the park by Asheville Parks and Recreation

Volume 1, Issue 2

October , 2014

A Walk In The Park Asheville Parks and Recreation

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In This Issue What’s Happening In Parks and Rec

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Falling Into Fall

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The Holidays Are Coming!

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To Your Health

Out And About

Milestones

The Sporting News

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Congratulations to William Hoke of the Montford Center, recipient of the Innovative Program Award for the development and implementation of his program, “Developing Future Male Leaders “. š  st On October 31 Shiloh Center will host a “Halloween Movie Spookfest” from 7-9pm; where families can enjoy a night of spine tingling excitement! Come gather in the field to watch “The Ring” while enjoying punch and popcorn; or skip

a t Our Mission The Asheville Parks and Recreation Department is dedicated to enhancing your quality of life by providing diverse cultural and recreational experiences.

Enjoy shopping at the vendor tables, demonstrations, raffles and food. Event is free for patrons; vendors $15 per booth space.  Did you know…that the Montford Park Players host North Carolina’s longest running Shakespeare festival? (cont’d on Page 2)

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The days are getting cooler and the nights getting colder. It’s a dead giveaway that summer is drawing to a close, bringing the eventual riot of color that is Fall and Riverside Cemetery offers a front row seat to stunning views of the North Carolina mountains as they change color. Riverside Cemetery is actually a certified treasure tree preserve; meaning that it contains some of the older, more unique trees in the area, and that in the event of loss, there is a replacement plan in place. In the past year (cont’d on page 2)

the flick and come trick or treat for delicious treats! š th On Nov. 20 , come to Shiloh Center for their annual “Thanksgiving Community Pot Luck” from 6-8pm; and on Nov. 22nd you’re invited to Shiloh Center’s first “Small Business Expo” from 12-4pm; an opportunity for small businesses to set up shop and share their skills and promote their trade to the surrounding community.  Saturday, November 15th, 8am-2pm kick off the holiday shopping season with a visit to our first Holiday Craft Fair at Montford Center.

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W h a t ’ s h a p p e n i n g i n P a r k s R e c r e a t i o n ? ( c o n t ’ d ) (cont’d from page 1) Founded in 1973, the theatre presents the works of Shakespeare and other playwrights free to the public in the Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre each weekend during the summer, as well as an annual production of A Christmas Carol in December. A volunteer-based organization, the Montford Park Players provide top-quality, educational and entertaining productions of classic drama in a pastoral outdoor setting. For more information, visit their website at www.montfordparkplayers.org.  Get your inner Jet Li on at the Montford Center with Martial Arts - Gong Fu on Tuesdays, 6:30-8pm. Join instructor Mark Small of the Carolina Wushu Association for this adult class. Fee: $10/class. Or come test your skill and coordination with Table Tennis on Mondays, 5:30-8pm and Saturdays, 11am-2pm, - or how about Badminton on Thursdays, 5:30-8pm and Fridays, 5:30-7:30pm. Both are great ways to stay in shape as the weather gets cooler. And speaking of cool weather, it’s just about time for the Fall Festival at Montford Center. Saturday, October 25th, 57pm, Come celebrate the arrival of fall with game booths, crafts, a cupcake walk and food. Lots of fun for the whole family! Fee: $5 per child. š At Harvest House, things are cooking for seniors! On Octo-

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ber 16th at 12 noon, there will be an Octoberfest Potluck meal with Brats and Krauts! Wear Fall colors and get ready to Polka. November brings a new 6 week Fine Furniture Making class beginning on November 4th…”Make a Corner Cabinet” with Bob Haase. The class is on Tuesdays 9 – 2 / Nov 4th – Dec 9th. The cost is $175 / $10 discount for City of Asheville residents. This class is VERY popular so it’s limited to six students.  On Nov. 20th Harvest House will host a Thanksgiving potluck luncheon with turkey and all the fixings. There will be music by Jack Dillen and Robert Reeves, as well as a program by Four Seasons Healthcare on Advance Directives.  On Dec. 18th there’s the Harvest House December Potluck at 12:00 noon. Ham and Roasted Root Vegetables are on the menu, and there will be Holiday Music by Jess Mills @ 12:30pm. ** Many of you may know a senior who may not have family around this holiday season; if so, please pass this on.

Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees. ~Faith Baldwin, American Family

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(cont’d from page 1) Riverside has been named “The Best Cemetery in Western

NC” by the Mountain Xpress, received the Trip Advisor Award of Excellence, and was featured in American Cemetery Magazine with an article on W.O. Wolfe’s angels. Cemetery Manager Josh Darty and his crew make sure that Riverside is managed with sensitivity and professionalism and feedback is positive. “With respect to my crew, they are absolutely some of the best employees who work for the City of Asheville.” says Darty. “They really take pride in Riverside Cemetery and in keeping it as pristine as possible. I’ve gotten dozens of letters and thank you cards from cemetery patrons thanking them for their hard work and saying that the cemetery looks better than they’ve ever seen it. And that’s not even touching on their attitude. It’s rare to find four people who get along and each carry an equal share of the load cheerfully...they are really a great group of guys. (And they would be embarrassed to death if they heard me say a word of that.)”

Riverside Cemetery is the perfect place to take a run, a contemplative walk, a guided “who’s who” tour, and most important...a great place to watch as fall “falls”.

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So, what are you doing for the holidays? What traditions make you say..”Yeah, THIS is why I love this season!” What is it about this time of year, and how did this all start?. It began with one key figure who advocated for the turkey to be served on Thanksgiving — Sarah Josepha Hale (1788-1879). Not only did Hale, a well-known writer (she penned “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” among other works), urge families to adopt certain foods like turkey, but she was also the driving force behind pushing the U.S. government to adopt Thanksgiving as an official holiday. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln obliged — and here we are today. Snapping the Wishbone “The custom of snapping these bones in two after dinner came to us from the English, who got it from the Romans, who got it from the Etruscans, an ancient Italian civilization,” Mental Floss explained. The Etruscans apparently thought chickens were oracles, so they used the birds in an attempt to predict the future. After a chicken was killed, it was laid out to dry so that citizens still had access to its alleged powers. The wishbone was then picked up, stroked and revered; people allegedly made wishes on it, hence giving it its current name. In Medieval Europe, though, a Knoxville News Sentinel columnist said that it was a goose bone that was used. The Macy’s Parade For many families, watching the “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” is

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an annual tradition. While most Americans tune in on television, millions flock to the streets in New York City each year to see the giant floats in person. The parade started 87 years ago and has been a staple of the Thanksgiving holiday ever since. It was in 1924 that the parade, originally called the “Macy’s Christmas Parade” and started by company employees, first kicked off. Rather than using giant floats, live animals from Central Park Zoo were marched through New York City’s streets, a Macy’s history timeline recounts. By 1927, Macy’s was already using floats. The event became so popular that the company decided to make it an annual tradition. But when war struck in 1942, the parade was put on a hiatus until 1944 due to a national helium shortage. The balloons were donated to the U.S. government at the time to offer up scrap rubber. When WWII ended, the tradition simply grew in popularity, with Macy’s claiming that up to 3.5 million people now arrive in person to see the floats each year, with an additional 50 million watching on their television screens. Football For many, turkey and football go hand in hand. As much as Thanksgiving is about acknowledging what one has been given, it is also about tuning in — or even playing — one of the nation’s most popular sports. According to The Pro Football Hall of Fame, Thanksgiving Day football was once a tradition among colleges and high schools, but that practice has since subsided and the NFL has picked up the torch. The modern-day tradition, it seems, dates back to

1934, when the Detroit Lions decided to play on Thanksgiving Day. The Eagles-Cowboys game on Thanksgiving in 1989 was known as the “bounty bowl”, when a Cowboys player said the Eagles had bounties out on Troy Aikman. The team’s owner, George A. Richards, knew scheduling a game on the holiday was risky, but he decided to do it anyway in an effort to bolster the team’s standing in Detroit. The Lions played the Chicago Bears in a duel that inevitably attracted 26,000 people to the University of Stadium, selling out two weeks before the game. Hence, the football and Thanksgiving tradition was born. The Pro Football Hall of Fame noted that Detroit has had a game every year since, aside from a brief hiatus from 1939 to 1944. The Dallas Cowboys, too, have played every year on Thanksgiving since 1966, only missing two years in 1975 and 1977. Black Friday Thanksgiving traditions don't end on Thanksgiving Day. In the 1950s, the day after Thanksgiving was called Black Friday by factory managers be cause so many workers called in sick, according to Harvard historian Nancy Koehn, on Marketplace.org. (cont’d on page 4)

“Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.” ...Erma Bombeck

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“Shoppers on Black Friday will block and tackle better than your football team did on Thanksgiving.”

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In the 1960s, the Philadelphia Police Department took to calling the day Black Friday to describe the traffic jams, crowds and shoplifters during the start of the holiday shopping season. It wasn't until the 1980s that merchants tried to recast the name as something positive. "They did so by pointing to all the 'black ink' that showed up on balance sheets as a result of the day," according to Koehn. Source: TheBlaze.com

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Y o u r H e a l t h : C o l d a n d F l u S e a s o n h e r e … s o w h a t ’ s t h e d i f f e r e n c e ?

What is the difference between a cold and the flu? Both are respiratory illnesses but they are caused by different viruses. Because these two types of illnesses have similar flu-like symptoms, it can be difficult to tell the difference between them based on symptoms alone In general, the flu is worse than a common cold, which tends to be milder in general. With the flu, symptoms such as body aches, extreme fatigue, and dry cough are more common and more intense. Colds are

more likely to have a runny or stuffy nose. Colds generally do not result in serious health problems such as pneumonia, bacterial infections, and hospitalization. Getting a flu vaccination helps to reduce the chance that you will get the flu and that you will pass it on to others.

Flu shots for dependents* over the age of 18 and retirees* will begin on October 20th at Health Services: Monday – Thursday 7:30am- 4pm. Friday 7:30am-1pm. For more information please call Health Services at 2595693., located at 155 Biltmore Avenue. Source: www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm

Health Services will begin flu shots for all employees on September 23th at Health Services Monday – Thursday 7:30am- 4pm. Friday 7:30am-1pm

O u t Want to ring in the holiday season with a shiver? Bring your blankets and come sit under the stars and take in a movie! Community Programming is bringing “Monster House” to Pack Square on October 18th. There will be activities for the kids beginning at 6:30pm and the movie begins at

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dusk. If you missed the first movie under the stars, “E.T. The Extraterrestrial”, it was a blast, so make sure you don’t miss this one!  Out at the Nature Center, they’re getting into the spirit of the season... On October 11th, Come on out to “Hey Day” from 11:00am – 4:00pm. It’s their largest family festival of the year with music, clogging, free crafts, food, games, live animal presentations, and so much more. It’ll be great way to spend a Fall day!

On October 25th, it’s “Howl-O-Ween!” There’s a costume contest, treats, animal presentations, treats for the kids, and so much more!  Don’t forget “A Winter’s Tail”, on December 6, from 10:00am – 4:00pm. It’s the Nature Center’s holiday celebration with crafts, garland creations, wildlife art, face painting, animal encounters, educational programs, food, and of course, Santa will be there (12:004:00pm)! And speaking of Santa…

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MILESTONES H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y !

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S A N D T H A N K Y O U Murphy Rasmussen

1 Year

Caleb Whiteside

1 Year

Ian Johnson

1 Year

Chris Gentile

5 Years

Kendral Presha

5 Years

Dickey Gentry

5 Years

Don Fairbanks

15 Years

October Lori Long Mischa Trinks Amy Rickman November Christy Bass Tommy Odum Brandon Yates Blair Jones

Is there something you think we should know about? Someone you want to tell us about? Just drop us a line at :ParksNewsletter@ashevillenc.gov And don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook. It’s a great way to keep up with what’s happening! www.facebook.com/PRCA

December Moniqua Alexander Tameka Crudup Debbie Davidson Kristen Perez Dee Black

Christen McNamara Maggie Ryan Irene Pickens

Al Kopf Eli Strull Bryan Fish

Shannon Bell Patricia Dansby Laura Loftis Joanne Willoughby Robert Johnson

 O u t Santa, and hopefully his 8 tiny reindeer, will touch down at Dr. Wesley Grant Sr., Southside Center. So mark your calendars for Breakfast with Santa on Saturday, December 13th. The first seating will be at 9:00am The second seating will be at 10:30am **Please note: Reservations are required. š After you’ve filled up on pancakes and Christmas Cheer, head on over to the WNC Agriculture Center-Expo Building at 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd. Family Fun Day is a day of recreation and fun for EVERYONE.  The full day of fun includes: entertainment, family activities, music, demon-

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strations, games, an information station, a Therapeutic Recreation expo, food, and a jolly special guest. Man...that guy really gets around!  Going back to November...do not miss the “1st Annual VERY Talented Show” on Saturday, November 22nd, 6-9pm at Dr. Wesley Grant , Sr. Southside Center. The Very Talented Show gives persons of all ages with disabilities a chance to show off their artistic abilities and talents. Each participant or group will get one 5minute performance and can perform a variety of talents such as singing, dancing, instrument playing, visual arts, etc. Join us for all the talent and take a look at the silent auction items. Money raised will go to purchase supplies and equipment for the TR Program.

Interested in performing? Registration forms are available from staff and will be accepted October 6th-November 14th. Fee: Entry Fee is FREE. Donations will be accepted at the door.

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This fall the parks and recrea- No team is complete without their team mom! As elected by various team members, tion department formed its Amy Rickman spoils her kids with goodies of all sorts. As the hunt for October nears, the very own co-ed softball team team is making all the necessary adjustments to make a strong push in the playoffs! called “Don’t Rec With Us”. Team Roster: Kendral Presha Comprised of various employees from all Tameka Crudup recreational centers and other city departChris Gentile ments, the team is high on energy and spirit Patrick Crudup as each player comes out determined and LaFeion Mcdowell Marzarius Samon Dee Black ready to give it their all on the diamond. Max Cherry Kristen Perez Mark Halstead Jessica Johnston The season started off a little rocky; howShateisha Lenior Mischa Trinks ever, determined to get better, the team has Melinda Polites Seth Jackson TJ Mcdowell rattled off their first winning streak and has William Hoke Randy Shaw proven to be a force to be reckoned with. Kim Turner Tika Duncan Julian Suber From the first person at bat, to the person Caren Hutchinson sitting on the bench ready to sub-in, every member on the team plays a vital part.  Ever wonder how tennis players celebrate Halloween? They do it in costume, just like everyone else! For two evenings, Aston Park Tennis Center will host the “5th Annual Tricks & Treat Halloween Tournament”. October 27 October 28

Men’s & Women’s Doubles Mixed Doubles

6-9pm 6-9pm

The fee is $15 per person for one event or $20 per person for two events and players are encouraged to dress up in their favorite Halloween costume. Come and play, or just come as a spectator; because this is an event that’s sure to serve up some wacky fun!  Had a frustrating day? Need a place to dissipate all that energy? Punching a bag is a great way to gain strength & relieve the stress of the day. Why not take a jab at learning the techniques of boxing while conditioning your body for top strength? Come to the Stephens-Lee Center, Wednesdays from 5:30 to 6:30pm for the new Boxing Circuit Training class, taught by Denise Wilbanks.

Denise brings 18 years of experience in weight training, personal training, cycling, and sports conditioning. She is also a certified Yoga instructor as well as an AWSDA self defense instructor. Her self-defense classes teach women common sense tactics to WIN a physical/violent confrontation. This circuit training class is co-ed, and is appropriate for all fitness abilities.