SCRPA Magazine Spring 2016

SOUTH CAROLINA

SPRING 2016

RECREATION & PARKS ASSOCIATION

Cross-Training with the City of Rock Hill Mount Pleasant: Getting Through the Storm

DOING MORE WITH LESS

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Association Report............................................................................. 5 Cross-Training with the City of Rock Hill.......................................... 6 Make It, Take It – The Dollar Store Way............................................ 9 Mentoring Staff At Charleston County Parks................................. 10 Partnerships: A Great Way to do More With Less..........................12 Creativity And Planning – The Dynamic Duo..................................14

RECREATION & PARKS ASSOCIATION

2016 Board of Directors

Mount Pleasant: Getting Through The Storm................................15

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

ADVERTISER INDEX

President Eric Stewart

Central VP John Alexander

President Elect Lawanda Curry

Eastern VP David Williams

Vice President T. J. Rostin

Southern VP Doyle Best

Secretary Amy Evans

Western VP Ray Dunham

Treasurer Randy Gibson Past President Jeff Metz

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BRANCHES CBM Branch Scott Wilhide

SCAP Branch Shannon Loper

ELM Branch Mark Sexton

Student Branch Leslie Ballard

PRM Branch Josh Sullivan

SC PRT Representative Matt Elswick

ON THE COVER: Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission’s Maintenance Mentoring Program builds a performance stage for the James Island County Park Holiday Festival of Lights.

RAP Branch David Caldwell

SCRPA EXECUTIVE STAFF Executive Director: James E. Headley jim@scrpa.org

Membership Services Coordinator: Melissa Williams melissa@scrpa.org

SCRPA MAGAZINE/MARKETING COMMITTEE Laurie Helms City of Rock Hill Chris Pounder Charleston County PRC

Kathy Kackley City of North Charleston Sarah Reynolds Charleston County PRC

P.O. Box 1046 • Lexington, SC 29071-1046 (p) 803-808-7753 (f) 803-808-7754

Dena Long Irmo Chapin Josh Singleton City of Loris

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by Eric Stewart

THE ASSOCIATION REPORT

It seems like just last week we were all getting together in Myrtle Beach for the 2015 Annual Conference - learning new things, celebrating our profession, and catching up with old friends. But as I sit down to write this report I cannot believe we are coming to the end of the first quarter in 2016.

The association is off and running to a great start this year!

Our branches have delivered some outstanding education already. The Parks Maintenance Institute and The Programming Summit continue to build upon their momentum with these training opportunities specific to the interests of their branch members. The Executive Level Management Branch hosted the annual Southern Leisure Management and Trends Institute as well. The Institute reformatted the schedule and presented some very interesting sessions looking to the future of our profession. The Board of Directors began this year with a very productive retreat at Santee State Park. At this retreat we outlined our goals and set the calendar with some great professional development opportunities for the membership. I would like to send out a big thank you to board member Matt Elswick and SC PRT for accommodating us.

On the legislative front, the association continues to be a leader addressing issues at the State House that could have impacts on the services we provide around South Carolina. As our legislators work through the budget process, we will be monitoring the progress of funding for the Undiscovered South Carolina, Sports Tourism, and PARD (Park and Recreation Development) grant opportunities. We also will continue to monitor the DSS expansion bill. On the federal side, we will work with our delegation to try to help alleviate some of the burdensome regulations of the LWCF (Land and Water Conservation Fund) program while still maintaining its integrity.

Inside the pages of this issue are some great highlights of how our members are meeting the challenges of “doing more with less.” These are not new challenges to our profession and we are not the only ones facing them either. The reduction of

resources can be felt from the private sector all the way to the household budget. Those who are successfully facing these challenges are the ones who can become creative and look past traditional resources. Luckily, our profession thrives on creativity and overcoming challenges. Therefore, I am confident we will continue to be successful through adverse times, and the examples within this issue are a testament to that truth.

I am thankful for everyone’s contributions to the association and look forward to keeping 2016 going strong.

Eric

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Spring 2016 • SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks 5

Cross-Training with the City of Rock Hill

By Karen Koterba, Rock Hill Parks, Recreation and Tourism

The cross-training that goes on at the City of Rock Hill Parks, Recreation & Tourism does not involve deadlifts, box jumps, or squats, but when its director, John Taylor, encouraged his staff to don different hats, they certainly took it to heart.

staff have stepped away from their usual duties to teach water color painting and pottery to therapeutic, youth and senior groups. They enjoy the diversity in job responsibilities and being able to share a personal interest with others.

Jason Reynolds, the recreation coordinator for youth football, baseball and tournament admissions, explained how this was happening at Cherry Park. The Cherry Park complex is composed of five 300-ft. lighted, fenced diamonds plus four multi-use fields. It hosts softball, baseball, football, flag football, lacrosse, soccer, kickball and, beginning this year, outdoor volleyball.

According to Jason, they might be hosting four of those events on any given week. The monumental logistics of planning and executing these events is the responsibility of a great grounds maintenance crew. The special thing about this crew is that a handful of them also volunteer to coach for some of the teams. And to be ready for extra busy periods, these staff members have trained athletic programmers like Jason and his employees on how to prepare the fields to transition from one sport to another. Jason enthusiastically described this inter-squad cooperation as phenomenal and morale-boosting.

When staff express interest in learning a skill used in another area, and the department anticipates periods of time when extra staffing may be needed, there is a great match for cross-training.

The A.L.L. Outdoors program, which includes kayak trips, camps and environmental education, is one such area that has experienced staffing fluctuations as well as periods of increased demand. Having cross-trained employees has been very beneficial.

Maintenance Superintendent Bill Berry states that all maintenance crews and special events staff are trained “outside their normal work stations.” With such a wide range of facilities under their care, these crew members might be spreading pine needles at Rock Hill’s beautiful Glencairn Garden one day, and patching soil tack at the Novant Health BMX Supercross Track the next day.

Another great example of inter-departmental collaboration is Wendy Waddle, Special Populations Supervisor. About three years ago, Wendy began to use her hobby of photography as a way to branch out and get to know people in other divisions while being useful at the same time. She has since become one of our go-to photographers for special events.

In turn, Wendy was able to see how these experiences could be used back in her own department. She began by teaching photography in her Therapeutic Recreation programs, which has grown to include an annual art and talent show. Other 6 SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks • www.scrpa.org

In a sense, cross-training in Rock Hill is not new. A similar concept is the notion of building, staffing and maintaining quality facilities to meet the recreational need of the community as well as visitors. This began in 1985 when Cherry Park opened with walking trails, playgrounds and athletic programs appealing to locals, but quickly broadened to become a host destination for successful sports events at the state, regional and national level. Additionally, the park hosts large community events including the Great Easter Egg Classic and the Come-SeeMe Festival’s Gourmet Gardens.

Rock Hill has been fortunate that the concept of creating multi-use facilities serving residents and visitors has been supported by city council over the years. This has enabled the city to build many more facilities including the Novant Health BMX Supercross Track, which opened in 2014.

This facility is the first Olympic-caliber BMX training facility open to the general public on the US East Coast. It offers new rider programs, open track riding and specialized training sessions in addition to hosting events all the way through the international level, bringing a positive economic impact to the community.

Investing time and resources in cross-training and supporting multiple uses for facilities has been well worth the effort. It provides diverse opportunities for staff engagement, supports citizen demand/interests, attracts visitors and gives an economic boost to the community.

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WITH LESS Make It, Take It – The Dollar Store Way! By the City of North Charleston Recreation Department, Programs Division

It’s that time of the year! The warmer weather is on the way and summer camp is quickly approaching. As we prepare for our summer campers this year, we have scheduled a “Make It, Take It” session for our summer camp staff teams. During this project, team members will make games that encourage and promote team work, cooperative play, math skills, social skills, turn taking and especially FUN! After a short planning session and a quick trip to the local dollar store for supplies, we were definitely ready to “Make It.” We chose to make four of our summer campers’ favorite games: Connect Four, Checkers,

Mancala and Tic-Tac-Toe. In less than three hours, the summer camp teams made these four games at a fraction of the cost that it would take to purchase them from a local vendor. Each team made a set of games to take back to their respective camp sites. With simple supplies like painter’s tape, marbles and paper plates, each game was made for less than THREE DOLLARS! After our session, we had an opportunity to test our games out on our afterschool program students and they had a blast! With these games, this summer we will be ready to “Make It, Take It – The Dollar Store Way!”

Spring 2016 • SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks 9

DOING MORE WITH LES Mentoring Staff at Charleston County Parks

By Dana Rasmussen for the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission

When it comes to saving money, efficiency is key. That is why the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission (CCPRC) created the Maintenance Mentoring Program in 2015.

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This program pairs senior maintenance staff with less experienced or newer staff members so they can learn better techniques and procedures for park maintenance. Through the program, staff members can take plumbing, electrical, irrigation, invasive species/ pond management, small engine repair, chainsaw operation and carpentry classes.

To further master these skills, program participants actually implement their knowledge by working in the field and putting their new talents to use.

“The idea behind this program is not only to train some of our staff members who are new to the field or looking to expand their skillset, but to save money for CCPRC as well,” Assistant Director of Parks Gregory Elliott said. “With the program, we are able to reduce outsourcing while training employees using a hands-on approach that results in a finished product that can be used for years to come.”

This year, CCPRC utilized this program to teach employees better carpentry skills that will ultimately help save money. During their training program,

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participants built a variety of structures needed for the parks. The projects included a beach walkover at Folly Beach County Park’s Pelican Watch shelter, as well as a small performance stage that was used at James Island County Park’s Holiday Festival of Lights and will be used again for other events.

In the near future, those in the program will build several small gatehouses to be used at the Holiday Festival of Lights, which will help park employees to collect money for the event.

“Many projects to maintain our parks can fall to the bottom of the list because we do not have the budget to outsource the work,” said CCPRC Marketing Director Gina Ellis-Strother. “Our maintenance training program allows us to stretch our staff resources and do more projects rather than wait for the money to do them or go through the sometimes lengthy process to hire someone. Thus, we can respond quickly to unexpected maintenance issues that arise, while still saving money.”

Sustainability and cost-savings are two important measures that parks and community members are taking all across the country to do more with less.

Recognizing the importance of these measures is why CCPRC actively strives to keep its parks operating as efficiently as possible for the community.

SS DOING MORE

Spring 2016 • SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks 11

DOING MORE WITH LESS DOING MO Partnerships: A Great Way to Do More with Less

By Joshua Singleton, City of Loris Parks and Recreation Department

Doing more with less is something that we have all done in this field at one time or another. There are many ways to do this and sometimes you have to get creative to accomplish your goal. Partnerships with local organizations are a great way to do more with less.

The City of Loris Parks and Recreation Department wanted to start a volleyball program for the youth of our community, but not having the proper facility was the biggest issue preventing us from doing so. There was no room in our gymnasium due to our basketball program and there were no plans to expand the building. Even though we had very limited resources, there was still enough community interest to keep us focused on trying to make the program happen.

It all came together when Belinda Oakley who was the head volleyball coach at Loris High School and a teacher at Daisy Elementary School came to us expressing interest in starting a volleyball program. Belinda felt like she could get approval from the Horry County School District for us to use Daisy Elementary’s multi-purpose gymnasium. We

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felt like this was a great plan with Daisy Elementary being right outside of Loris’ city limits and that their gymnasium was perfectly set up for us to run the volleyball program.

The Horry County School District gave us approval and we hit the ground running. The volleyball program was a success from the very first year and participation has steadily increased every year since.

As with any partnership, issues can arise. Recently there was a scheduling conflict due to increased participation with one of Daisy’s after school programs. It forced us to get creative and reschedule some of the practice and game times due to the fact that the gymnasium had limited access hours. Some of the times are not ideal, but the key part of any partnership is being able to cooperate and compromise with the other agency to meet your goals.

A partnership is a great way to do more with less. The partnership with Daisy Elementary and the Horry County School District allowed for the City of Loris Parks and Recreation Department to offer a program that we had never been able to offer before.

ORE WITH LESS

The partnership with Daisy Elementary and the Horry County School District allowed for the City of Loris Parks and Recreation Department to offer a program that we had never been able to offer before.

Spring 2016 • SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks 13

DOING MORE WITH LESS DOING MO Creativity and Planning – the Dynamic Duo

By Brenda Oliver, City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department

In the fall of 2010 I began my journey with The City of Columbia Parks and Recreation Department with an innate desire to offer the citizens of Columbia all that could be possible through the arts. My mandate was to turn the program around and make it more encompassing.

Fort Jackson to bring our art program “Creative Journey” to the Wounded Warrior Transition Unit. Since that time we have continued our presence at Fort Jackson with Creative Journey participating on a monthly basis with the Exceptional Family Member Program as well as offering a monthly program to veterans at the Art Center.

Some of the initial steps included expanding our existing pottery/ceramic offerings from one class to multiple classes. We also needed to expand our art curriculum to more than pottery. Working within the size of the location was challenging at first. Our offerings now include an average of eight classes per session (each session is two months and the classes run six weeks.)

When undertaking a revitalization of a program, it is important to realistically look at the resources available.

The economics of the situation are a major factor, but what other resources can you leverage? In your community, what media is open to free advertising? What can help you gain prominence for your programs? Can you create an outreach program that will help to draw folks to your other offerings? Who can you tap within your community to help you with what you are offering?

Networking is a very large component of gaining recognition for your programming.

We also offer an average of two workshops per month on different topics. Some of these workshops include basket weaving, advanced clay workshops, jewelry making, metal jewelry making, fiber arts including quilting and crochet, painting, glass fusion, and much more. Our programming also offers classes and workshops suitable for children.

After we got these programs underway, we then started with our outreach programs. This is where Creative Journey came in. In the fall of 2012 we negotiated with

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When you team your creativity with planning and logic, dreams are attainable. We would encourage looking at your existing resources, setting some goals, and working towards those goals. With the right mind set, you can overcome any obstacles set in your way. Let your own Creativity and Planning Soar.

O Mount Pleasant: Getting Through the Storm

By Steve Gergick

October of 2015 was a month that will be remembered across the entire state of South Carolina for the historic and tragic rainfall. While we can never forget the hardship that this event caused thousands of fellow South Carolinians, it made it that much more important that recreation departments across the state work to get life back to normal as soon as possible.

In a five day span from October 1 - 5, Mount Pleasant received nearly 27 inches of rain on the Town and the athletic fields. For five straight days, all outdoor activities were cancelled as facilities were soaked like never before. Once the sky cleared, the task of rescheduling games and practices for more than 250 football, baseball, softball and soccer teams became a challenging assignment.

While many of our fields remained unplayable for several days following the deluge, Mount Pleasant benefited from improved drainage systems installed on five fields during the summer.

for fields to dry out, and some fields remained unplayable for nearly two weeks. Sports coordinators had to adjust schedules and locations for hundreds of participants. With the temporary loss of field space, effective communication was critical when notifying participants of changing schedules and locations.

Extra games were added to Saturday schedules when skies became clear.

“It was a group effort to get through this historic rain event,” said Recreation Director Ken Ayoub. “I’m very proud of our staff for hustling through it, our leaders for having the vision to fund the drainage improvements, and our participants and volunteer coaches for their understanding and flexibility.”

The Town hopes that it will be a long while before South Carolina experiences more weather like this, but if it happens again, the Mount Pleasant Recreation Department has experience getting through the storm.

“The new drainage made an enormous difference in getting teams back on the fields at our Cheryl Woods Flowers Soccer Complex,” explained Soccer Coordinator Ian Evans. “Prior to having the new drainage system, all activities at this facility may have been cancelled for three to four days after a rain like this. With the new drainage system, we were back on the fields the next day.”

Unfortunately, not all Town facilities had the improved drainage systems. It took several days

Spring 2016 • SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks 15

SOUTH CAROLINA RECREATION & PARKS ASSOCIATION

P.O. Box 1046 Lexington, SC 29071-1046