SCRPA Magazine - Spring 2018

SOUTH CAROLINA RECREATION & PARKS ASSOCIATION

FREE SWIM LESSONS IN ROCK HILL

Balancing Priorities

SPRING 2018

CLOVER CELEBRATES 20TH ANNUAL ST. PATRICK’S DAY FESTIVAL

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TABLE OF CONTENTS The Association Report............................................................................. 4 Free Swim Lessons – a Priority in Rock Hill.............................................. 6 Balancing Priorities................................................................................ 8-11 Town of Clover Celebrates 20th St. Patrick’s Day Festival............. 12-13

RECREATION & PARKS ASSOCIATION

Healthy Partnerships. Healthy Communities................................... 14-15

2018 Board of Directors

ADVERTISER INDEX Barrs Recreation........................................................................ Back Cover

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Berliner......................................................................................................... 5

President T.J. Rostin City of Goose Creek

Secretary Laurie Helms City of Rock Hill

Eastern VP Bridget Elvington Clemson University

Carolina Parks & Play................................................................................ 13

President Elect Doyle Best Town of Summerville

Treasurer Randy Woodard Charleston County

Southern VP Love Ishie Charleston County

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Vice President Kevin Stiens Spartanburg County

Past President Lawanda Curry Greenville County

Western VP Ted Lambrecht Greenville County

Central VP Shane Duncan Kershaw County

Churchich Recreation & Design.............................................................. 15 Cunningham Recreation............................................................................ 7 Pilot Rock................................................................................................... 11 Wood + Partners Inc.................................................................................. 3

SOUTH CAROLINA RECREATION & PARKS ASSOCIATION

FREE SWIM LESSONS IN ROCK HILL

PRM Branch Adam Scull City of Rock Hill

Programming Branch Mike Barnes Lancaster County SCAP Branch Cheri Anthony City of Pickens

CLOVER CELEBRATES 20TH ANNUAL ST. PATRICK’S DAY FESTIVAL

STRATEGIC PLANNING

BRANCHES - 1 YEAR COMMITMENTS ELM Branch Chanell Moore Greenville County

SPRING 2018

On the cover: A family shows off their Celtic spirit at the Town of Clover’s St. Patty’s Day Festival.

The event celebrates 20 years in 2018.

Photo by Kimberly Cauble

Student Branch Jamie Cathey Clemson University

Balancing Priorities

SC PRT Representative Matt Elswick South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism

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

Membership Services Coordinator: Melissa Williams melissa@scrpa.org

SCRPA MAGAZINE/MARKETING COMMITTEE Jason Burton Chair Horry County

Amy Gonzalez Central Town of Clover

Pamela Davis Southern City of Barnwell

Bethany Doman Vice Chair City of Charleston

Joshua Singleton Eastern City of Loris

Kristen Guilfoos Western Spartanburg County

South Carolina Recreation & Parks Association P.O. Box 1046, Lexington, SC 29071 (p) 803-808-7753 • (f) 803-808-7754 www.scrpa.org • info@scrpa.org To advertise in SCRPA magazine, contact Todd at todd@pernsteiner.com or (952) 841-1111.

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THE ASSOCIATION REPORT T.J. Rostin

Jim Headley

It seems like just last week we were all getting together in Greensboro…

It seems like just last week we were all getting together in Greensboro for the 2017 Joint Conference with North Carolina - 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 2018.

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 Board of Directors

began this year with a very productive retreat while at the Joint Conference in Greensboro last December. At the retreat, we outlined our goals and set the calendar with some great professional development opportunities for the membership.

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 grant opportunities. We also will continue to monitor the DSS expansion bill. On the federal side, we will work with our delegation to try and help alleviate some of

the burdensome regulations of the LWCF program while still maintaining the integrity of the program.

Inside the pages of this issue are some great highlights of how our members are “Balancing Priorities.” Each of us are challenged with this every day in our jobs. Those who are successfully facing these challenges are the ones who offer quality parks and recreation programs. Luckily, our profession thrives on creativity and overcoming challenges when opportunities arise.

I am thankful for everyone’s contributions to the Association and look forward to keeping 2018 going strong!

T.J. & Jim

Our profession thrives on creativity and overcoming challenges when opportunities arise.

He’ll soon need new playground equipment. Stay top of mind.

SCRPA magazine gets you in front of key recreation & park decisionmakers for as little as $225 per issue. No other form of advertising gets you so targeted to your customer.

Summer 2018 – SCRPA Member Directory Deadline: April 24 Fall 2018 – Pre-Conference Issue Deadline: July 24 Fall 2018 – Post-Conference Issue Deadline: October 23 For advertising details, contact Todd Pernsteiner at (952) 841-1111 or email todd@pernsteiner.com

4 SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks • www.scrpa.org

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Free Swim Lessons – a Priority in Rock Hill

By Laurie Helms, Rock Hill Parks, Recreation & Tourism A big challenge our agencies face is covering the cost to provide services to our customers. With customers ranging in their ability to pay, we have a mission to keep costs low, yet deliver quality programs. Our programmers must get creative, analyze their resources, and seek out partners for funding whether grants, sponsors, volunteers or donated supplies. This is the norm.

However, sometimes the need to offer a program is a stronger priority than covering the cost. This was the case when Rock Hill Parks Recreation and Tourism (PRT) began offering free swim lessons in 2002.

We all hear the occasional news story of a local child or adult drowning in a lake or a backyard or neighborhood pool. Sadly, the lack of knowledge of how to swim is often the reason or a contributing factor to the incident.

6 SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks • www.scrpa.org

Rock Hill PRT saw the opportunity to make a positive difference by no longer charging fees for swim lessons. This was right in line with the department’s mission of “providing … opportunities and facilities to enhance the quality of life for Rock Hill residents and visitors.” The Parks and Recreation Commission supported the change, and City Council agreed. Rock Hill PRT began requiring aquatics companies who maintain the City’s four outdoor pools to also instruct the swim lessons.

Each year, the opening date to register for the free swim lessons always begins with a line of parents waiting patiently to sign up.

The lessons are available for adults and youth in the summer and consist of 45 minute sessions Mon. – Thur. for two weeks. To date, approximately 3,700+ individuals have taken the free swim lessons. They’ve acquired a skill that gives them confidence when enjoying water activities and may even save their life one day.

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Strategic Learning: Planning to Plan

By Colin Young, Park & Development Planner, Greenville County Parks, Recreation, & Tourism

Provision of parks and recreation services often comes down to doing what you’ve always done with the funding you have available.

In good years a program or park will be added into the mix; in tighter years things called “non-essential” services are limited or eliminated. How we invest our money represents what we value; so how do we prioritize our values amid ever-increasing demand for more and better?

Preparing for a strategic planning process, we came across the phase “strategic

learning”, defined as: Any change in a system that by better adapting to its environment produces a more or less permanent change in its capacity to pursue its purpose.

Adapting to our environment in this case means assessing our mission and vision, the communities we serve, and how we meet the needs and wants in our field. In pursuing this purpose, our strategic learning system includes a three phased approach. First, we are gathering, consuming, and analyzing the data we have available – financial trends, needs assessments, demographic shifts, capital demands, and more. Second, we are soliciting feedback from staff and county leadership to better understand

the climate of our environment. Finally, we will massage this information into a philosophy represented by actionable steps that display our priorities.

Priorities might include refocusing on certain facilities, improving quality of parks and programs, or enhancing internal and external communication. To get to these priorities, we need to accomplish the pre-planning work, have the data to back up our methods, and present the plan in a clear and concise way that shows we understand our agency, our community, and our direction. Strategic learning is our way of understanding our environment and applying data-driven decision-making to how we set out priorities.

Adapting to our environment in this case means assessing our mission and vision, the communities we serve, and how we meet the needs and wants in our field.

Spring 2018 • SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks 9

Strategic Planning: A Top Priority for Delivering Parks and Recreation Services

By Patty Newshutz and Julie Hensley, Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission

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Strategic planning is essential to effectively balancing the priorities of delivering parks and recreation services for the public to enjoy.

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The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission’s approach to planning involves gathering local community input; developing and maintaining working relationships with regional, state, federal and nongovernment agencies; creating comprehensive plans; conducting trend analyses; conducting community assessments and inventories; developing site plans; and making historical, cultural, and natural resource management an integral part of the planning process.

Strategic planning is vital to identify and reach consensus on vision, mission and values that support and guide the systems, structures and strategies as a framework for organizational progress to achieve results. The goals and objectives of the strategic plan need to be measurable to demonstrate progress and results, and the plan shall support the priorities and initiatives of the whole organization.

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Grant money played an important role in stretching the project budget for stabilizing and renovating buildings, as well as developing an interpretation program at the site. Planning this new park began with the development of a master plan, which was completed in 2011. This master planning effort consisted of establishing a set of guiding principles that were developed by a diverse steering committee of 25 members, which included private, public and governmental agencies. The implementation of the master plan has been delivered in phases to spread the financial obligation over several years. The work completed thus far has included the stabilization of historically significant structures in 2012 and 2013, development of the interpretation program, renovation of most of the historical structures and the construction of new features, including a visitor’s center. This first phase of improvements allowed for the park to open for public use in 2015. The next phase of work is currently underway to finish the stabilization of four structures, to be completed in 2018.

Future improvements to the site’s gardens are planned through the efforts of garden club members who are planning to provide the funding, sweat equity, and ongoing maintenance that will be required to enhance a formal garden area.

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By Colby Parnell and Amy Gonzalez Clover Parks and Recreation

The Town of Clover will sponsor its 20th St. Patrick’s Day Festival in 2018.

The annual event is organized and operated by Clover Parks and Recreation.

Spring months welcome the most demanding time for Clover Parks and Recreation. Managing an average of 80 youth athletics teams, all while organizing Clover’s biggest festival of the year, can be quite challenging but fun. Clover Parks and Recreation caters to over 2,000 participants year round, in a town of over 5,000 residents. The department is made up of seven fulltime employees, which includes a maintenance team of three.

“It is imperative for all fulltime staff to work together to plan around the festival, so the entire community has a chance to come out and enjoy the live entertainment, variety of

12 SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks • www.scrpa.org

food vendors, amusement rides and much more!”, says Parks and Recreation Director, Joe Ross. This festival is known to welcome back loyal vendors and volunteers year to year. This year Clover will host its first Friday night kick-off event to the St. Patrick’s Day Festival to celebrate being Irish for a weekend, regardless of a person’s family heritage.

As always there are many obstacles when planning such a big event. Clover Parks and Recreation faces difficulties in advertising to a much broader audience outside the Piedmont region. Due to the proximity of the Charlotte area, Clover competes to attract

cultural vendors which would add more of the Irish atmosphere to the St. Patrick’s Day Festival. Clover Parks and Recreation manages to still deliver an exceptional experience for a crowd of over 6,000 attendees while operating on a fixed budget.

Volunteers are an essential component of our operation to ensure the department is able

to provide a family fun experience. All this is possible through the agency’s development of a strong network of volunteers who invest their time and effort in our small yet strong community. Clover Parks and Recreation has the ability to recruit unique partners, who return each year due to the fun and energetic atmosphere the community provides.

Planning and executing this event is an “all hands on deck” occasion. From parks and recreation, to emergency services, administration, and public works – everyone puts something on hold to help make this event successful, as we know our community eagerly awaits it year after year!

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Healthy PartnershipS. Healthy Communities.

By Sheryl McAlister, USTA South Carolina

The beating heart of two tennis communities in South Carolina doesn’t come from the constant thud of a small yellow ball against the strings of a mediumsized racquet. The heart of these two towns comes from a couple of retired septuagenarians who have used the sport of tennis to transform the soul of their communities.

Barbara Jones returned to South Carolina a few years back to be closer to family and to build her dream home.

As a tennis enthusiast, she faithfully attended matches at nearby Daniel Island every year and took a private lesson or two. But then something happened that transformed the way Jones and the St. George community viewed tennis. Jones used the sport as a vehicle for positive change, as a symbol of public policy and as a way to offer an alternate perspective on the world. Tennis – and Jones – changed the culture of a small southern town.

The Barbara and Grady Jones Tennis Center is an oasis in rural St. George.

Its doors are open to anyone. Everything donated inside has a plaque attached thanking the donor. Not 200 yards away sits a subsidized housing complex. Some folks in town thought it was a bad idea to try to repair the old courts that sat in this place. Some folks thought “those people” would never use the courts.

So, Jones went door to door and asked them to play. A few did, but most were

14 SOUTH CAROLINA Recreation and Parks • www.scrpa.org

just proud to be included. A mirror inside the women’s bathroom was donated by a previous resident. Jones guards the mirror like the crown jewels.

She has used tennis to help move kids from poverty to opportunity, to provide kids a feeder system to play high school tennis. She has bridged a racial divide in an otherwise polarized town. The county cuts the grass. The city pays the light bill.

Everybody has a role, and Jones is its beating heart.

In Greer, Bonnie Sue Duncan is the leader of a strong team of volunteers and tennis players who have and live a very different life than some of the folks in rural South Carolina. There are not a lot of have-nots in this bunch, but there are a whole lot of generous people. And Duncan has led the way. She takes care of everybody. She makes sure people are well fed. She looks after her team captains because they have the most difficult volunteer job. She has always maintained the position that the league should support the local community and local youth. People trust her.

These two towns could not be more different. And yet, they are strangely similar. It is their partnerships that make them work.

The philanthropic strategy of this Upstate group is so well integrated into the tennis competition, giving back is simply second nature. They love tennis. They also love their community and the opportunities that tennis has provided to give something back. In fact, not long ago, Duncan was given a box of gently used tennis balls from a local college coach. She promptly mailed them to Jones.

These two towns could not be more different. And yet, they are strangely similar. It is their partnerships that make them work. It is the trust and teamwork these women leaders have fostered in their local communities that gets things done. It is their leadership that makes the difference.

Anybody who doesn’t give a hoot about tennis may read this and could care less.

But consider this. Tennis is uniquely suited for all players of all ages and physical abilities. Wheelchair tennis is as common as professional play.

And we have a resource in the United States Tennis Association which has as its sole mission to get people playing and keep people playing.

USTA, the largest tennis organization in the world, is the governing body for tennis and promotes the sport at every single level.

Tennis is a sport a person can play for a lifetime. And while tennis can be played anywhere a net and a portable court (yes, that’s a thing.) can be set up, it’s best played outside in the open air on a court that has a net without holes in it and a

playing surface free of obstruction, rocks and grass creeping up through the cracks.

Duncan is a retired police officer, and Jones is a retired nurse. I don’t know either of them well enough to know what their life’s plans were or whether their passionate commitment to tennis and all it offers them was a part of those plans. What I do know is that they each came from a selfless profession. They came from a place where others were served by their good works. St. George and Greer are lucky to have them.

Find your Duncan and Jones in your community. Contact us at the USTA South E X T R E M E G E N E R AT I O N Carolina, even if you’ve never picked up a racquet. If you want to play, we’ll help you get there.

Sheryl McAlister is Director of Community Development for USTA South Carolina.

E X T R E M E G E N E R AT I O N Learn more about USTA SC at sctennis.com.

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SOUTH CAROLINA RECREATION & PARKS ASSOCIATION

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