NYSRPS The Voice Summer/Fall 2016

Voice SUMMER/FALL 2016

The

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF NEW YORK STATE RECREATION AND PARK SOCIETY

INSIDE:

2016-2017 PARKS & REC BUYER’S GUIDE

Strength Training: The New Prescription for Health and Recovery A Voice for Parks in Albany

Our Prized Possessions

2016 Annual Conference Highlights & Award Winners

Youth – The Future of Inclusion Citizen Commitment is Indispensable

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Our Mission: The New York State Recreation & Park Society (NYSRPS) is the principal organization advancing the value of parks, recreation, and leisure services through professional development of its members and citizen engagement.

NYSRPS has served the leisure service industry for more than 75 years as an independent, nonprofit, public interest, professional membership association dedicated to the following: • To function in such a manner as will further the interests of the leisure service movement, its professionals and leaders in voluntary, public, private, and commercial agencies.

• To promote principles and standards for the improvement of leisure services and to encourage studies and research in professional relations.

• To affiliate for our mutual benefit and cooperation on local, state, and national levels, and with those organizations in similar or related fields.

• To educate the public in regard to the principles and goals of the leisure service industry.

• To assist in the advancement of the leisure services, recreation and parks, and environmental conservation fields.

• To study legislation pertaining to the leisure services and further that legislation which is in the public’s best interest.

• To provide opportunities for professional growth of individuals employed in the leisure service industry.

• To develop a public awareness of the necessity of recreation as a vital part of life.

• To stimulate a widening interest in leisure services in local communities and statewide through conservation and development of leisure resources.

Executive Office Staff Executive Director: Lisa Morahan Director of Communications: Meaghan J. Wilkins Bookkeeper: Meg Porto Deadlines for articles, photos and advertising: Winter/Spring 2017: October 30, 2016 Summer/Fall 2017: May 1, 2017 All members of NYSRPS receive The Voice, reduced registration rates to the NYSRPS Annual Conference and One Day Seminars, as well as discounts on the Continuing Education Unit Program. NYSRPS areas of involvement and service include Legislation, Workshops and Seminars, Conferences, Membership Publications, Continuing Education Units, Discount Ticket Program, and the Youth Sports Association.

The information and articles contained within this publication are for your consideration and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of NYSRPS.

CONTENTS President’s Message....................................................................3 Executive Board, Region Representatives and Area Affiliates..........4 Executive Director’s Message......................................................5 Why I Want to Serve......................................................................5

Meet the 2016-17 NYSRPS Executive Board.................................6 NYSRPS Member Spotlights......................................................8 NYSRPS Regions, Regional Partners and Affiliates....................... 10 Upcoming NYSRPS Events....................................................... 11 2016 NYSRPS Annual Conference In Review...........................12-13 2016 NYSRPS Award Winners............................................. 14-15 NYS Parks Corner...................................................................... 16 2016-2017 Rec & Park Buyer’s Guide......................................... 17-20 Strength Training: The New Prescription for Health.................... 22-23 Membership Renewal.................................................................23 A Voice for Parks in Albany...................................................... 24-25 Citizen Commitment is Indispensible....................................... 26-27 Youth – The Future of Inclusion................................................ 28-30

NYSRPS reserves the right to approve all material in The Voice.

All requests for articles, photos, and advertising should be made to the Director of Communications at 518.584.0321, ext. 12 or to meaghan@nysrps.org The Voice is printed bi-annually. This is issue #2 of 2016.

This issue of The Voice was designed and produced by Pernsteiner Creative Group, Inc., Minneapolis

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New York State Recreation and Park Society, Inc. Saratoga Spa State Park • 19 Roosevelt Dr., Suite 200 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 www.nysrps.org (518) 584-0321

President’s Message What were you thinking? I can’t believe you put me in the President’s chair of this organization for a second time. Just kidding. It is my pleasure and honor to serve in this capacity again.

What were you thinking? I can’t believe you put me in the President’s chair of this organization for a second time.

Just kidding. It is my pleasure and honor to serve in this capacity again.

As I sat down to draft this message, I pulled out my President’s Message from 2009, to compare where we were then, to where we are now. I found an interesting and somewhat ironic similarity.

In 2009, I had just returned from Long Island, where I was attending the NYSRPS Annual Conference in Hauppauge.

Paul Blake was the conference chair that year, and as I remember, he and his committee put on a fantastic conference. I remember going on an off-site tour of the Bethpage Black Golf Course, which at the time was preparing to host the US Open Golf Tournament. As I pen this address, I have once again recently returned from another state conference, at the same property. This year, Gail Lamberta and Ed Fronckwicz were the co-chairs. Highlights from this year include the tour of the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, an evening at the Long Island Aquarium (including delicious food), and a Beatles party, featuring Midnight Events.

I seem to remember “bustin’ some moves” that night.

A departure from 2009 to now is the state of the society.

In 2009, we were in a transition, being led by an Interim Executive Director, and starting the process to place a permanent ED. As my memory serves me, and my files confirm, we received 50 application packets for the Executive Director position. It took the Personnel Committee until the following year’s conference to dwindle down the candidate list and perform interviews for the position. This time, the society staffing is stable and doing wonderful jobs serving the needs of the membership.

As many of you know, we recently changed the name of our member Districts, to now call them Regional Partners. This was done as a result of recommendations from the New York Council of Non-Profits, and our independent auditor, both of which were concerned that the term ‘district’ had a naturallyoccurring implication of a tax collecting entity, similar to a Park District. The term was changed to avoid the need for the Regional Partner organizations to share their budgets with the state society, and the need to submit tax returns.

Since we adopted the Regional Partner designation, two of our former districts jumped on the bandwagon and became Regional Partners. We welcome Regional Partners Central New York Recreation and Park Society (CNYRPS) and Genesee Valley Recreation and Park Society (GVRPS). We are also very excited about the formation of a new organization, that is working towards Regional Partner status, that being the North Country Recreation and Leisure Professionals. Led by John Taillon from Canton Recreation, they are almost formed and about ready to join as a RP. Other ventures we are currently engaged in include a review and adjustment of our CEU approval process, assisting with forwarding legislation to require licensure for our Therapeutic Recreation professionals, and our Strategic Plan, to name a few.

All of which are important undertakings for us to reach for.

I leave you with hopes for a wonderful summer season. It is a very busy time for all of us, but I cannot stress enough the need for all of us to stop what we’re doing, take a break and enjoy the season for ourselves as well.

Take care and all my best!

Jeff Myers, Perinton Recreation and Parks NYSRPS Board President

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NYSRPS BOARD OF DIRECTORS / COMMITTEE CHAIRS EXECUTIVE BOARD President Jeff Myers, Perinton Recreation and Parks 1350 Turk Hill Rd. Fairport, NY 14450 585-223-5050 jmyers@perinton.,org Term Expires 2017 President-Elect Eric Bacon, Town of Camillus 4600 West Genesee St Syracuse, NY 13219 315-487-3600 ebacon@townofcamillus.com Term Expires 2017 Past President Paul Blake, American Pool Consultants 2433 Marshall Drive.

East Meadow, NY 11554 Phone: 516-731-5516 Email: PaulBPool@aol.com Term Expires 2017 Vice President of Programs & Services Gregg Goodman (585) 752-1980 Email: ggoodman474@gmail.com Term Expires 2018

REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES Region I Representative Vacant Seat Term expires 2017 Region I Representative Vacant Seat Term Expires 2018 Region II Representative Jessica Lansing Town of East Greenbush 225 Columbia Turnpike Rensselaer, NY 12144 518-477-4194 Email: jlansing@eastgreenbush.org Term Expires 2018 Region II Representative Carol Quinlivan City of Binghamton Parks and Recreation 38 Hawley Street Binghamton, NY 13901 Phone: 607-772-7017 Email: caquinlivan@cityofbinghamton.com Term Expires 2019 Region III Representative Vacant Seat Term Expires 2017

Vice President of Professional Development Kristine Zingaro, Town of Manlius Recreation Department 301 Brooklea Drive Fayetteville, NY 13066 Phone: 315-637-5188 Email: kzingaro@townofmanlius.org Term expires 2017

Region III Representative Linanne Conroy Penfield Parks and Recreation 1985 Baird Road Penfield, NY 14526 Phone: 585-340-8655 Email: conroy@penfield.org Term Expires 2019

Treasurer Nathan Nagle, Director of Recreation Village of Horseheads 202 S. Main St. Horseheads, NY 14845 Phone: 607-739-5691 Email: nnagle@horseheads.org Term expires 2018

Honorary Representative Debra Keville Director, Regional Programs & Services New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation Albany, NY 12238 Phone: 518-474-8081 Email: debra.keville@parks.ny.gov

Secretary Julie LaFave, Sullivan Parks and Recreation 707 Legion Drive Chittenango, NY 13037 Phone: 315-687-3471 Email: jlafave@townofsullivan.org Term expires 2017

COMMITEE CHAIRS Annual Conference Committee: Jeffrey Nutting, Perinton Parks and Recreation Janelle Drach, Geneva Parks and Recreation Recognition and Awards Committee: Charry Lawson, Onondaga Parks and Recreation Constitution and Bylaws Committee: Gregg Goodman Vice President of Programs & Services: Gregg Goodman Vice President of Professional Development: Kristine Zingaro, Town of Manlius Recreation Department Nominations Committee: Paul Blake, American Pool Consultants Personnel Committee: Paul Blake, American Pool Consultants Jeff Myers, Perinton Recreation and Parks Eric Bacon, Town of Camillus Professional Ethics Committee: Linanne Conroy, Penfield Parks and Recreation Charry Lawson, Onondaga Parks and Recreation Past Presidents Committee: Paul Blake, American Pool Consultants Communications/ Social Media Committee: Meaghan Wilkins, NYSRPS Staff Tom Venniro, Hilton-Parma Parks and Recreation Tom McGerty, Garden City Parks and Recreation Julie LaFave, Sullivan Recreation & Parks Kristine Zingaro, Manlius Recreation Department Strategic Planning Committee: • Public Policy Development: Eric Bacon • Membership Development: Peter O’Brien • Professional Development: Kristine Zingaro • Public Awareness: Tom Venniro • Resource Development: Julie LaFave

Upcoming Board Meetings • Thurs, August 18, 2016, Saratoga Springs.

• Thurs, October 20, 2016, Saratoga Springs.

• Thurs, December 15, 2016, Saratoga Springs.

• Thurs, February 23, 2017, Saratoga Springs.

• April date to be determined, State Conference, Rochester. (April 2-4, 2017) • Thurs, May 18, 2017, Saratoga Springs.

All are encouraged to attend!

Approved minutes posted on nysrps.org.

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Executive Director’s Message

I am very happy to report great strides have been made in many areas as evidenced in the pages ahead.

I hope you enjoy this season’s edition of The Voice themed ‘Our Prized Possessions’. Our goal was to produce a publication that aptly reflected what makes NYSRPS great (our parks, people and programs) with a special focus on those things money can’t buy – health and happiness. The past two years of directing the course of the New York State Recreation and Park Society has been so incredibly rewarding with many challenges before us and untapped resources to explore. I am very happy to report great strides have been made in many areas as evidenced in the pages ahead.

When people ask “What does the New York State Recreation and Park Society do?” I hope any member of NYSRPS could easily answer that question, especially after reading The Voice cover to cover. We connect people with programs, products and greatly needed resources to keep their communities healthy and engaged.

We connect professionals so they may learn and grow from each other’s sweat, tears and great experience. We showcase the people who make the State Society great from the volunteer Board and committee members to professionals in the field who consider their profession “a calling” and sing the praises of programs that protect our most vulnerable treasures.

I am very glad to be working closely with Tom McDonald as he serves as METRO’s representative committee chair for the Downstate Conference scheduled for November 15th, 2016. I am also very blessed to be working with Janelle Drach and Jeff Nutting as they lead the charge for the 2017 Annual Conference and Expo slated for April 2-4, 2017. The Strategic Planning Committee continues to make great strides keeping our goals and objectives on course so we may best serve the needs of the Society. I appreciate all our committee volunteers as none of this work would be possible without their service.

With the upcoming national election upon us, there is virtually nowhere you can go free of politics. For a few moments I am relieved, and hope you feel it to, we can escape to our jobs to walk in the parks where God made fields for man to make paths not aisles to walk in. Our communities come to visit to also escape for a few moments themselves to cherish their most prized possessions – their family and health, as one.

Lisa Morahan NYSRPS Executive Director

Why I Want to Serve

by Eric Bacon, MS, CPRE, NYSRPS President-Elect In 1961, John F. Kennedy stated, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” NYSRPS is a member driven organization and is only as good as the member’s involvement in the organization. One of my hopes this year is to have our membership become more involved. I would issue a challenge to students, young professionals, established professionals and veteran professionals to become actively involved. Each group has something to offer. My hope is that people would not sit back and wait to be called and that they would take the time to call the Society office to say “What can I do to help?”

Value. Two fundamental questions I believe the Society needs to be able to answer are “Why should someone join NYSRPS and what do they get for being a member?” In a world where there are less professional development dollars available and professionals have less free time at their disposal, I believe our Society needs to

honestly be able to answer these questions. My hope is that we are able to answer these questions and demonstrate to our members and prospective members the value they receive by being/ becoming a member of the Society.

Increase Membership. In order to succeed our Society needs to have as many members as possible. Our financial solvency directly depends on the number of members that belong to the organization. In my opinion, if there is a Parks and Recreation Department in New York State, their staff should be a member of our organization. If a student is in a school studying to be a Recreation professional, they should be a member of our organization. If there are departments/students that are not members, we need to find out why they are not and market our organization to them. My hope is that membership recruitment and retention can increase this year.

In my opinion, this is vital to the future of our organization.

The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 5

MEET THE 2016-17 NYSRPS EXECUTIVE BOARD President Jeff Myers, Perinton Recreation and Parks This is my second term as President of the society. The reason I agreed to serve as President again is because I highly value the services that NYSRPS provides in regards to the professional development opportunities and the networking. I have gained so much in knowledge in the leisure services, not only at the educational sessions I have attended, but also by the multitude of acquaintances that I now call friends. By serving on the Executive Board, and more specifically as President, I am taking an active role in enabling other members to advance their knowledge and better themselves in the profession.

President-Elect Eric Bacon, Town of Camillus I am serving on the NYSRPS Board because I feel a sense of responsibility for the greater good of our profession as a whole. Today with things such as budget cuts and downsizing, our field needs professional advocacy more than ever. I think NYSRPS is an agency that can fulfill this role and I believe that I have the experience and skill set to make a difference.

Past President Paul Blake, American Pool Consultants From my earliest days in this profession, the concept of giving back was strongly impressed upon me by the professionals who administered the department in which I worked.

All of us were encouraged to participate in some way in our local affiliate, and we were always supported and encouraged to try and make our field stronger and more professional.

Throughout the years, I have kept those ideas in the front of my mind, and while there were times that life’s challenges limited my involvement and my contributions, I always tried to stay involved and help whenever I could. As the final year of my ‘Presidential’ term winds down, I hope to make a few more positive contributions to the profession that has been such a large part of my life.

Secretary Julie LaFave, Sullivan Parks and Recreation I decided to jump at the opportunity to serve on the board for a number of reasons.

Mostly, I have a passion for Parks & Recreation and I enjoy surrounding myself with like-minded professionals. Working with the Board to move NYSRPS in a positive direction only works to help all of us as members, agencies and businesses.

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I enjoy networking and comparing trends and ideas across the state, as well as learning about the obstacles, opportunities and lessons we are constantly faced with.

Vice President of Programs & Services Gregg Goodman A strong partnership between the Society leadership and membership is imperative to the success of our profession, which will be achieved through a strong commitment. My goal, as VP of Programs and Services, will be to strengthen the State Society by developing membership in cooperation with our local affiliates and regional partners.

Vice President of Professional Development Kristine Zingaro, Town of Manlius Recreation Department I chose to serve on the NYSRPS Board because I felt that in order to enhance our profession I needed to be involved at this level.

This is where discussions are had and decisions are made and I wanted to be a part of that!

Region II Representative Jessica Lansing, Town Services Coordinator of East Greenbush, Capital Region NY I am a new board member and look forward to working with and learning from the current board.

It is my hope to be able to assist in the mission of providing quality recreation and park programs throughout our state. I look forward to supporting my colleagues in the Capital Region with information and assist in organizing collaborative efforts to improve or maintain recreation programs and parks.

Region II Representative Carol Quinlivan, City of Binghamton Parks and Recreation The main reason I am on NYSRPS is to promote our local area parks. We have beautiful parks in the region and I think we need to promote how important these parks can be to the community and their residents. I was also interested in developing a local group to network through Broome County. I have loved getting to see so many of NY State Parks and hearing all the great things that they offer. Being a member of NYSPRS has proven to be so helpful; an organization that lends great advice. I have been able to reach out for suggestions in order to improve our parks throughout the area and have had tremendous feedback from others.

Region III Representative Linanne Conroy As a member of The New York State Recreation and Park Society since I entered the recreation profession more than twenty-five years ago, I have always valued the role of the society in helping its members to strengthen their vision, skills, and resources through collaboration with other recreation professionals. Luckily I’ve had employers and other mentors who recognize the importance of a professional organization. I too want to pass this legacy on and encourage young professionals to join NYSRPS as well as their regional Recreation and Park Associations.

By being actively involved with NYSRPS, we can all become better park and recreation professionals. The networking and educational opportunities are critical in continuing to grow as a professional as well as staying in tune with the latest trends, information, products and services to better serve our home communities.

I look forward to the additional opportunity to serve the NYSRPS members and encourage all members to become active members.

Honorary Representative Debra Keville, Director, Regional Programs & Services New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation As the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation’s Honorary Representative to the Executive Board, it is my goal to continue to grow the professional standard of NYSRPS and the relationship between both organizations by providing insight into and assisting with new initiatives and professional opportunities.

Treasurer Nathan Nagle, Director of Recreation, Village of Horseheads I was asked(recruited) to be on the board because of my experience of being on the Colorado Board.

I also think it was one of those situations of we have an opening, let’s ask. It just happened to be that the opening was for Treasurer. Since then, I have come to enjoy the position I enjoy working with the entire Board and Staff of NYSRPS. And I look forward to the challenges and goals that we have set forth for the future.

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The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 7

NYSRPS MEMBER SPOTLIGHTS

NYSRPS Salutes Our WRAPS Members On June 10th the Westchester Recreation and Park Society celebrated their 59th Annual Awards ceremony at the Shenorock Shore Club in Rye, NY. Thirteen awards were given for outstanding professional service and programs, as well as Professional and Lifetime service awards. Among the recipients were several NYSRPS members.

Congratulations to Bill Zimmerman (upper left), City of New Rochelle, celebrating 40 years of public service in parks and recreation!

Kevin Cook (left) of Westchester PRC received the coveted Joseph E. Curtis Achievement Award. We are very proud to have Kevin as an NYSRPS member and thank him for his service on the Downstate Conference Committee. His dedication and leadership has helped steer the conference and NYSRPS has benefited greatly by Kevin’s efforts.

A Very Special Membership Spotlight: Because Nice Matters!

by Lisa Morahan

I had the terrific pleasure of speaking with Commissioner Kathleen O’Connor shortly following the WRAPS Awards Luncheon to congratulate her on her department Westchester County Department of Parks & Recreation & Conservation (PRC)’s reception of the Matt Dolan Innovative and Grant Award for the ‘Jurassic World and Haunted Halloween Train Show.’ More importantly I had the opportunity to get to know her, PRC and the terrific Curtis Legacy began by her father Joseph Curtis.

“I truly believe Parks, Recreation and Conservation is a calling. No one enters this profession to get rich or become famous,” Kathleen began.

The calling comes from deep seeded ideals planted by faith and family.

Kathleen’s father “Poppy” as she lovingly refers to him devoted his heart to Parks, Recreation and Conservation for 46 years as Commissioner, author, professor and award recipient.

Kathleen did not initially intend to major in Parks and Recreation, but after trying to fill a hole in her academic schedule she found herself in Rec 101. The first day she walked into class she was handed a textbook co-written by her dad. Shortly after that, she told her dad that Recreation Administration was her decided major and he was thrilled.

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But she still had to pay for her textbook! The torch he carried to make Westchester a great place to live would be carried by one of his eight beloved daughters.

And carry the torch she did. Kathleen’s incredible accomplishments include being named Westchester County’s first woman Parks Commissioner. Leading an organization that lives true to their values based on an acronym P-Performance, R-respect and C- Commitment is another. Kathleen contends Westchester PRC employees, regardless of position, sport the PRC logo on their uniform and wear the responsibility of representing the County’s parks and all they stand for.

Westchester PRC has received accreditation by NRPA’s Commission for Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) three consecutive times, one of which was awarded at the height of Hurricane Sandy. It stands as New York’s only department to have achieved CAPRA’s esteemed accreditation, the seal of approval for excellence in both internal management and delivery of services.

Westchester PRC manages 18,000 acres of parkland that includes more than 50 facilities ranging from golf courses, pools and beaches, parks, trail ways and nature centers, an events arena, amusement park, historic sites, a working farm and arboretum. PRC employs 235 full-time and 1,500 part-time employees. PRC reports a $183 million impact upon the local community and manages to provide services for just $36 a year per resident and recovers about 68% of its costs through user fees combined with revenue from concession and other contracts. These stats and many more may be found on their 2015 progress report posted on westchestergov.com.

The Curtis Legacy continues with Kathleen’s daughter Lauren now working in the White Plains Parks and Recreation Department. Just as Kathleen did not follow her Dad’s exact footsteps in the same field, Lauren is now blazing her own professional trails in helping to contribute to the success of the White Plains Parks Department.

NYSRPS is proud to call Commissioner Kathleen O’Connor and Westchester PRC a member and we benefit greatly by her example of leadership. We congratulate you Kathleen on all of your accomplishments and following “Poppy’s’ example to have the courage of conviction, follow your gut to “do the right thing” because nice matters!” We are certain he is extremely proud as we are as a State Society to have your heart and passion in making New York State parks great.

NY Communities Win Playful City USA Awards Congratulations to Geneva (5 years!), Auburn, Middletown, Niagara Falls (7 years) and Rochester, NY for receiving KaBOOM!’s Playful City USA community award. In its 10th year, Playful City USA is a national recognition program that honors cities and towns for taking bold steps to create more play opportunities for all kids. This year, 257 communities across America were recognized for making it easy for all kids to get balanced and active play in their neighborhoods and for pledging to integrate play as a solution to the challenges facing their communities. Special kudos and thanks to our NYSRPS park agencies in Geneva and Rochester especially for this accomplishment and making NY State a great place to live!

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The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 9

NYSRPS REGIONS, REGIONAL PARTNERS AND AFFILIATES

NYSRPS Regions, Regional Partners and Affiliates New York State is divided into 3 regions (per bylaws) with the intent to provide full representation of park, recreation and therapeutic recreation professionals across NY State on the NYSRPS Board. Two representatives from each region is asked to serve from each region, each for three-year terms. Regional representatives’ terms are staggered in an effort to ensure each region is represented at all times.

Regions: Region 1 – Hudson Valley, Long Island, Metro, and Westchester Region 2 – Central NY, Capital Region, Adirondack-Lake Champlain Region 3 – Genesee Valley & Niagara Frontier

Regional Partners and the counties they service: Central New York – Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Tioga, Tompkins Genesee Valley – Chemung, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates Capital Region – Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneonta, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Warren, Washington

Affiliates: The following fellow associations also represent park, recreation and therapeutic recreation professionals and work collaboratively with NYSRPS on programs and events: Metropolitan Recreation and Park Society, Westchester Recreation and Park Society, Long Island Leisure Services Association, Hudson Valley Leisure Service Association, and Niagara Frontier.

Special Announcements from our Regional Partners GVRPS Golf Tournament Friday, September 9, 2016 Please join us for our annual GVRPS Golf Tournament to be held at Durand Eastman Golf Course on Friday, September 9, 2016. Genesee Valley Recreation and Park Society hosts this annual golf tournament in remembrance of Glenn Boetcher, who loved the game of golf and was a prominent professional within the field. The golf tournament also assists in fundraising efforts towards a college scholarship to be awarded to a student who is studying in the field of parks and recreation.

Please visit nysrps.org for registration information.

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CNYRPS 3rd Annual Wine Tour Sunday, October 16, 2016 CNYRPS will be hosting our 3rd annual wine tour this fall & will also include breweries this year. Save the date of Sunday, October 16th.

More details to be announced soon.

UPCOMING NYSRPS EVENTS Certified Playground Safety Inspector Course October 12-14, 2016, Camillus Senior Center, Camillus, NY NYSRPS is pleased to announce this most comprehensive training program on playground hazard identification and risk management methods offered.

Advanced reading and a 15 hours training will prepare you to sit for the CPSI exam on Friday, October 14th. All program materials will be shipped the first week of September. Overnight lodging is the responsibility of the attendee.

To register please visit www.nysrps.org or for more information, please contact Lisa Morahan at 518-584-0321 or lisa@nysrps.org

NOW ACCEPTING REGISTRATIONS

22nd Annual Downstate Conference November 15, 2016 Westchester County Civic Center, White Plains, NY NYSRPS and our affiliate partners METRO, WRAPS, HVLSA, and NYSTRA invite you to our 22nd annual one-day Downstate Conference, one of the biggest and most popular Recreational Conferences within New York State. Each year the conference draws over 200 delegates from Long Island, New York City and the Lower Hudson Valley. Due to the generosity of professionals willing to share of their time, talent, and wisdom we are able to offer twenty five, one hour, diverse educational and beneficial sessions to our members.

Initially inspired by this year’s National Parks’ 100th Anniversary (Find Your Park) this year’s theme of “Find Your Fun!” hopes to provide the perfect springboard for a program intended to help park, recreation and therapeutic professionals get back to the basics and remember they can still keep the fun in their work from fundamentals in programming, to functioning and finding funding.

For vendor opportunities and delegate registration information please visit www.nysrps.org.

NYSRPS 77th Annual Conference & Expo April 1-4, 2017 Hyatt Regency - Rochester, NY Join the 77th Annual New York State Recreation and Park Society for this 3-day event for professional development, networking, camaraderie and more! The Annual Conference Committee is currently developing a program for tracks including: • Parks / Facilities • Marketing/ Public Relations • Customer Service • Therapeutic Recreation • Youth Programming • Arts/ Humanities • Environmental Stewardship/ Humanities • Personnel / Volunteer • Young Professionals • Event Management NOW ACCEPTING ABSTRACTS from qualified speakers!

Do you have expertise in an area of leisure services that would be a great addition to our program? Please consider applying.

A current resume is required.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT ABSTRACT IS SEPTEMBER 9th.

For more information or to apply today visit www.nysrps.org.

NEW to this year’s conference is EVENTSENTIAL, NRPA’s conference app of choice for making the most of your annual conference experience.

Calling all SILENT AUCTION BASKETS! “Destination…Your Town!” gift baskets needed The 2017 Annual Conference Committee is asking each NYSRPS Affiliate and Regional Partner to adopt the contribution of a destination gift basket for the 2017 Silent Auction. Be creative and show off the part of New York State you are from. Make it a VACATION with hotel gift certificate, dining card, show, amusement park and more. You name it and the sky’s the limit! We hope to promote the destination baskets over the months before the conference so please confirm today your organization would like to participate.

Ideas might include: Wine & Dine, Night On the Town, Spa-tacular Getaway, The Long Weekend, Thrills and Chills, Kids Top 10 things To Do, Chocolate Lovers Getaway or Hops, Skip and a Jump Away.

Contact your Travel & Tourism offices for ideas too! We are asking the baskets to have a minimum value of $250 as a great goal. Thank you so very much for your help! Register your basket title with Lisa Morahan at lisa@nysrps.org.

Thank you very much! 2017 Conference Fundraising Committee

The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 11

2016 Confere nce in Review HYATT REGENCY LONG ISLAND AT WINDWATCH GOLF CLUB - HAUPPAUGUE, NY The 2016 NYSRPS Annual Conference celebrated in Hauppague, Long Island was a terrific success. “Come Together, Right Now!” did just that as it brought in approximately 300 show goers from all across New York State and we were very fortunate to have so many incredible session speakers donate time and experience.

Delegates enjoyed over 70 sessions including one of the most popular “NEW GAMES” hosted by John LaRue

Thank you 2016 Conference committee members: (Top row- left to right) Lisa Goldberg, Diane Ramos, Tom McGerty, Anthony Martino, Bill Brown, Conference Chairs Dr. Gail Lamberta and Ed Fronckwicz with NYSRPS Board President, Paul Blake (Seated left to right) Robin Wexler, Don McKay, Adrienne Hartill and NYSRPS ED Lisa Morahan

The event was not all work and no play! Many enjoyed the evening social at The Aquarium.

Special thanks to committee members not pictured: Karen Nash, Kevin Ocker, Diane Ramos, Elena Geonie, Elizabeth Hagedorn, George Amitrano, Jack Fass, Kate Schneider, Kevin Kelly, Lorraine Lubicich, Jill Snelders, Jeff LaRue, David Siegel, and Susan Pisano This year’s NYSRPS conference was attended by an incredible number of students from several colleges including Lehman, Brockport, St. Joseph’s, Cortland and Kingsborough.

12 The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org

The exhibit hall hosted 57 vendors showcasing a variety of products and services.

A very special thank you to all our commercial vendors and conference sponsors • AccessRec LLC

• Green Arc Energy Advisors

• RecPro Software

• Advantage Sport & Fitness

• H. Krevit Inc

• RenoSys Corporation

• American Pool Consultant

• Innova Disc Golf

• Robert Governale (D.J.)

• American Ramp Company

• KOMPAN Playgrounds

• S&S Worldwide

• American Recreational Products

• L.E.A.P.

• Shaw Sports Turf

• BagSpot Pet Waste Solutions

• Landscape Structures

• Spirit of Huntington Art Center

• BSN Sports

• Sport Supply Group, Inc.

• Cactus Group Holdings

• LICVB (Long Island Convention Visitor’s Bureau) Tote Stuffer

• Cameron Engineering & Associates, LLP

• Little Tikes Commercial

• St. Joseph’s College

• Care and Comfort Ambulette Service

• Liturgical Publications Inc.

• Stageline Mobile Stage

• Cartegraph

• Long Island CVB & Sports Commission

• The Bristal Assisted Living

• Classic Turf Company

• Long Island Leisure Services Association

• The Fresh Tones

• Commercial Clearwater Company, Inc.

• Mateflex

• The LandTek Group, Inc.

• CommunityPass

• Maximum Solutions Inc.

• Core Elements Gym/Urbanix

• Midnight Events (D.J.)

• Therapeutic Recreation Assoc of Suffolk C

• Creative Forecasting Inc.

• Most Dependable Fountains

• TimberHomes Vermont

• Creative Forecasting Magazine

• Musco Sports Lighting

• TRALI

• Custom Maintenance & Supplies

• NY Partyworks

• TRASC

• De Bruin Engineering, P.C.

• NYS Recreation Therapy Licensure Committee

• U.S. Communities Government Purchasing Alliance

• Parkitects/Site Specialists

• UFC Gym

• Deschamps Mat Systems Inc

• Pernsteiner Creative Group/The Voice

• US Sports Institute

• Designed for Fun, Inc.

• Play Power/Little Tikes Commercial

• USTA Eastern

• Dipamkara Meditation Center

• Play-Well TEKnologies

• Velvetop Products

• Flaghouse

• Playground Medic

• Vermont Systems Inc.

• Fun Express

• Playsites Plus Surfaces, Inc.

• WE Transport Bus Company

• GameTime Park & Playground Equipment

• Rec., Parks & Leisure Studies Dept., SUNY Cortland

• Westchester Recreation and Park Society

• Genesee Valley Recreation & Park Soc.

• RecDesk Software

• Deleo Cleaning Car Detailing (Two $50 Gift Certificates for Car Detailing)

• SSCI-Background Checks

• Weston & Sampson Engineers, Inc. • Young Equipment Sales

The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 13

The 2016 NYSRPS Annual Awards recognized the BEST OF THE BEST across New York State. Our MOST PRIZED POSSESSIONS in park, recreation and therapeutic recreation programming included: Lifetime Achievement Award Dr. Gail Lamberta, Saint Joseph’s College Distinguished Service Award Linanne Conroy, Town of Penfield Outstanding Service Award Mary Beth Roach, City of Syracuse

Paul Blake presents the Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Gail Lamberta, Saint Joseph’s College “Dr. Lamberta has carved a path for many individuals who practice recreation, whether it be leisure service management, therapeutic recreation, experiential learning and now travel and tourism. Dr. Lamberta or “Gail” as she so humbly likes to be referred to has one passion, to pass on her knowledge to the younger generation,” A. Martino.

Young Professional Award Stacie Paris, Town of Gates Distinguished Citizen Award Nelson O. Carman Jr., Town of Penfield ABCD Award Alan Stewart, Town of Perinton Elected Official of the Year William Reilich, Town of Greece

Left to right: Patty Sawmiller, Village of Manlius Parks and Recreation; Peggy Kenyon and Kristine Zingaro, Town of Manlius Parks and Recreation Department; Paul Blake

Therapeutic Recreation Tameka Battle-Burkett, LaGuardia Community College Special Event Wicked Woods, Town of Manlius, Villages of Manlius, Fayetteville, Minoa and NYSOPRHP Program of Merit Star Camp, Town of Gates The Excellence in Landscape Design Beaver Lake Nature Center, Onondaga County Parks The Exceptional Facility Design Lakeview Amphitheater, Onondaga County Parks The Exceptional Park Design City (Flowers) Park Athletic Complex, City of New Rochelle Multimedia Award Parks & Fishing Websites, Onondaga County Parks Inclusion Program of Excellence Senior Integration Program, Town of Sullivan Environmental Leadership Beaver Lake Nature Center, Onondaga County Parks Outstanding Corporate Partnership Wegmans, Onondaga County Par

14 The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org

Left to right: Linanne Conroy, Town of Penfield; Paul Blake; Charry Lawson “Since she entered the park and recreation profession she has dedicated her life to helping others live a more comfortable life through recreation and parks as the vehicle to enjoying their leisure. She has worked countless hours planning and executing leisure time programs for her community,” Frank Allkofer Monroe County

Left to right: Charles Strome, City Manager of New Rochelle; Paul Blake, NYSRPS 2016-2017 Board President; William Zimmerman, Parks and Recreation Commissioner of New Rochelle

Congratuations to all 2016 NYSRPS Annual Award Winners!

Paul Blake presents Outstanding Service Award to Charry Lawson on behalf of Mary Beth Roach, City of Syracuse

Paul Blake presents the Friend’s Foundation Student Scholarship Award to Rosemarie Tibball

Paul Blake presents the Friend’s Foundation Student Scholarship Award to Mary McNally

Paul Blake presents Diana Weber the ABCD Award on the behalf of Alan Stewart, Town of Perinton

Paul Blake presents Elected Official of the Year Award to William Reilich, Town of Greece

Paul Blake presents Therapeutic Recreation Award to Tameka BattleBurkett, LaGuardia Community College

Paul Blake presents to Program of Merit Award to Linda Fowler accepting on behalf of the Town of Gates

Paul Blake presents a Young Professional Award to Cindy Briggs accepting on behalf of Stacie Paris

Paul Blake presents the Distinguished Citizen Award to Nelson O. Carman Jr.

Paul Blake presents the Excellence in Landscape Design Award to Leiko Benson, Onondaga County

The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 15

NEW YORK STATE PARKS CORNER

Keeping the Karner Blue

By Sun Ceng, 10-month SCA intern; Rachel Renders, Summer Park Intern Known for its spring waters, lawns for playing and picnicking, and as the home of the Hall of Springs and SPAC, Saratoga Spa State Park is also a place of environmental conservation and preservation. The park has several places that are perfect for forest, field, wetland, and stream ecology studies such as FrogWatch USA, a spring citizen science frog survey.

There are also a number of Bird Conservation Areas as well as habitat for the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly, located past the dog park between Crescent Avenue and Crescent Street, across from the Lincoln Baths.

to habitat loss. Due to human development, the scrub oak – pine barren habitat that the butterflies require is quickly disappearing.

Natural disturbances including forest fires would normally keep the land as an open meadow that supports an ecosystem of grasses, a variety of nectar rich flowers, and blue lupine. However, forest fires do not occur or are put out quickly. Without forest fires, the open habitat is slowly invaded by trees and other plants that crowd out the plants necessary for the butterflies’ survival.

Saratoga Spa State park works in tandem with the DEC, Albany Pine Bush, and Wilton Wildlife Preserve to provide the environmental education program “Keeping the Karner Blue” which promotes environmental stewardship. The 70 acre Karner Blue site, with 22.5 acres of Karnerspecific habitat, allows students and visitors to see and learn about the scrub oak- pine barren habitat that is home to the Karner blue butterfly and the New York state protected Frosted Elfin butterfly.

The Karner blue butterfly is a small blue butterfly about the size of a nickel. It has two generations, known as broods, each year.

The eggs over winter and the first caterpillars appear in April. The caterpillars rely on blue lupine as its sole host plant. They feed for approximately 3 weeks on lupine leaves and then pupate, turning into butterflies after 11 days. The adult’s life span is about 2 weeks.

As adult butterflies they feed on the nectar of early spring wildflowers, mate, and lay eggs on lupine. These eggs then hatch into the second brood, which goes through the same life cycle before laying eggs and dying in early September. These eggs then overwinter, becoming the spring brood of the next year.

Unlike the larger monarch butterfly, Karner blue butterflies are very loyal to a site. They do not migrate and generally do not fly further than 2 miles from their rearing site, if at all. This makes them particularly susceptible

Since at least the early’90s, when the Karner blue butterfly was put on the federal endangered species list, work has been done to restore Karner blue habitat in the hopes of increasing the populations of the species. In 2009, after years of mowing habitat areas to keep them open enough for Karner blues, New York State Parks initiated a plan to restore 3.5 acres of Karner Blue habitat on the east side of the site at Saratoga Spa State Park. After seeing success with this restoration, State Parks performed a similar restoration again in 2014-2015 at a nearby habitat area. The restoration process imitated the effects of a forest fire by removing the shrubs and small trees, scraping off the top

16 The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org

nutrient-rich soil layer, and exposing a loose sandy area to the sun. This created favorable growing conditions for native wildflowers like blue lupine, milkweed, New Jersey tea, goldenrod and round-headed bush clover.

The park was successful in restoring patches of open meadow that suit a diversified community of plants and wildlife necessary for the long-term survival of Karner blue and frosted elfin butterflies.

The majority of habitat monitoring and care is the responsibility of the Student Conservation Association (SCA) interns.

This year, Saratoga Spa State Park has two interns, 10-month SCA intern, Sun Ceng and summer college intern, Rachel Renders. The internship entails three major aspects; butterfly surveys, habitat structure monitoring, and educating and communicating with park patrons. This year’s surveys have been very successful; more Karner blues and frosted elfins have been found this year than in the last several years.

We have both been busy at Saratoga Spa State Park. In addition to the Karner blue and frosted elfin, they are documenting all butterfly species found during their surveys. So far 13 different species have been identified in the Karner blue’s habitat.

The interns have also begun producing an image reference library of butterfly species and flowering plants that occur in the habitat. Visitors can find images of current wildflowers in bloom posted at the trailheads.

The dog park patrons also play an essential role in monitoring and helping restore the Karner habitat. By keeping their dogs on leash while walking the trails and cleaning up after them, the habitat is preserved for future patrons to continue to enjoy the flowers, butterflies, and birds that call the park their home.

For a schedule of educational programs and guided hikes or to view our photo gallery, please visit us on Facebook at: Saratoga Spa State Park: Dog Park & Karner Blue Site and our Instagram: Togabluekarner

5

New York State Recreation & Park Society

2016-2017

REC & PARK

BUYER’S GUIDE

2016-2017 NYSRPS PARK & REC BUYER’S GUIDE AQUATIC SAFETY EQUIPMENT

CONSULTANTS

Deschamps Mat Systems Inc. 618 Little Falls Rd. Unit 7-8 Cedar Grove, NJ 07009 973-928-3040 northeast.sales@mobi-mat-dms.com

C. Pine Associates Christopher Pine 4 Barlows Landing Road Suite 12 Pocasset, MA 02559 508-564-4465 chris@cpineassociates.com

Mateflex.com Kevin Wheelock 2007 Beechgrove Place Utica, NY 13501 315-733-1412 kwheelock@matflex.com

ARCHITECTS/ENGINEERS Cameron Engineering & Associates, LLP Joseph Amato 100 Sunnyside Blvd Woodbury, NY 11801 516-827-4900 dls@cameronengineering.com Maxian + Horst BPP Terry Horst 306 Hawley Ave. Syracuse, NY 13203 315-472-2461 thorst@maxianhorst.com Timber Homes, LLC Timo Bradley PO Box 106 Vershire, VT 05079 802-685-7974 timo@timberhomesllc.com Weston & Sampson Paulette Barlette 22 High St Rensselaer, NY 12114 barlettep@wseinc.com

ATHLETIC SURFACES

Nagle Athletic Surfaces Paul Nagle 6597 Joy Road East Syracuse, NY 13057 315-622-1313 ext 20 paul@NagleAthletic.com Nagle Athletic Surfaces, Inc. installs and maintains recreational court surfaces and running track surfaces.

We perform routine maintenance on synthetic turf fields.

BPP

NY Partyworks Devin Johnson 631-501-1414 devin@nypartyworks.com Parks and Pastimes, Inc. Dr. Marilynn R. Glasser 16 Mt. Ebo Road South, Suite 12A-6 Brewster, NY 10509 845-279-6057 mrglasser@aol.com

LIGHTNING PREDICTION AND WARNING SYSTEMS Thor Guard Inc Bob Dugan 1193 Sawgrass Corp Parkway Sunrise, Fl 33323 954-835-0900 sales@thorguard.com

MARINE ACCESSORIES Morgan Recreational BPP Supply, Inc. Tim Prokop 6013 Denny Dr. Farmington, NY 14425 585-924-7188 salesinfo@morganrec.com

PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT American Recreational Products Bob Brown 1535 Locust Ave. Bohemia, NY 11716 631-244-0011 bob@americanrecreational.com Bears Playgrounds Danny Bears 7625 E. Main Rd. Lima, NY 14485 585-624-5694 info@bearsplaygrounds.com

Wright Risk Management Company, Inc. Robert Blaisdell 333 Earle Ovinton Blvd Suite 505 Uniondale, NY 11553 518-330-8591 rblaisdell@wrightinsurance.com

PAINTS & COATINGS

BigToys Playgrounds John LaRue 35 Oak Forest Dr. Little Compton, RI 02837 800-986-3716 info@jplarue.com

Franklin Paint Company Lauretta Taddeo 259 Cottage St. Franklin, MA 02038 518-528-0303 lauretta@franklinpaint.com

Gametime/Marturano Jim Marturano PO Box 106 Spring Lake, NJ 07762 800-922-0070 james206@optonline.net

DISK GOLF SUPPLIES

Super Seal Sealcoating Gregory Duffy PO Box 925 Penfield, NY 14526 585-248-5770 duffygj@aol.com

KOMPAN, Inc BPP Jeff LaRue 930 Broadway Tacoma, WA 98402 917-697-8183 jeflar@kompan.com

Innova Disk Golf Ryan Baker 2850 Commerce Drive Rock Hill, SC 29730 800-476-3968 ryan.baker@innovadiskgolf.com

PET WASTE BAGS, DISPENSERS, STATIONS ENTERTAINMENT Fun Flicks Timothy Bennett PO Box 685 Cortland, NY 13045 315-663-5005 timothy@funflicks.com Quassy Amusement Park Ron Gustafson PO Box 887 Middlebury, CT 06762 203-758-2913, ext 109 ron@quassy.com WonderWorks Ashley Doss 9090 Destiny USA Drive Syracuse, NY 13204 315-466-7700 x 417 adoss@wonderworksdestiny.com

= Signifies Business Preferred Partner

BagSpot Pet Waste Solutions Jeff Springer BPP 9648 Olive Blvd. #313 St. Louis, MO 63132 800-203-3613 info@bagspot.com Intelligent Products, Inc. (Mutt Mitts) Leslie Green 10,000 Lower River Road Rabbit Hash, KY 41005 800-697-6084 leslie@ipimitts.com

Miracle Recreation Joseph Denzak PO Box 15517 Syracuse, NY 13215 800-925-1545 drecreat@twcny.rr.com

MRC Recreation Matt Miller P.O. Box 106 Spring Lake, NJ 07762 800-922-0070 ext. 1049 mmiller@mrcrec.com MRC was established in 1978.

In the last 35+ years, we have become one of the leading park and recreation equipment suppliers in North America. We specialize in designing, selling & installing GameTime playground equipment.

We also represent more than 20 other manufacturers of park & playground equipment ranging from play, site furnishings and sport equipment.

2016-2017 NYSRPS PARK & REC BUYER’S GUIDE Parkitects, Inc./ BPP Site Specialists Karen Armstrong 138 Ludlowville Rd. Lansing, NY 14882 607-533-3517, ext 101 karen@playgroundinfo.com Play and Park Structures Jill Hagen PO Box 1003 Amherst, NY 13226 jhagen@parkandplay.com R.E. Woodson Bob Woodson 3520 Dewey Ave Rochester, NY 14616 585-865-0554 rwoodso1@rochester.rr.com Schoolscapes Incorporated Christopher Leavold 38 West Main St. Clifton Springs, NY 14432 315-906-0050 chris@schoolscapes.com

Commercial Clearwater Co., Inc. Paul Meilink P.O. Box 909 Plandome, NY 11030 516-294-7985 help@911pool.com

SealMaster – Buffalo Richard Ortiz PO Box 7257 Buffalo, NY 14240 716-891-4197 smbuffalo2@yahoo.com

H Krevit Inc Blake Brock 67 Welton Street New Haven, CT 06534 rbbrock@comcast.net

Velvetop Products Bill Walsh 1455 NY Ave Huntington Station, NY 11746 631-427-5904 bwalsh@velvetop.com

RenoSys Corporation Shanda Lybrook 2825 East 55th Pl. Indianapolis, IN 46220 317-251-0207 shandal@renosys.com

Capturepoint.com Caitlin Carrier 215 East Ridgewood Ave. Rm 205 Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-689-2323x203 lsands@capturepoint.com Cartegraph Damien Waid 3600 Digital Drive Dubuque, Iowa 52003 563-587-3318 damienwait@cartegraph.com

BPP SITE AMENITIES

Vortex Aquatic Structures Ann LeDuc 328 Avro Pointe Claire, QC Canada H9R 514-694-3868 aleduc@vortex-int.com

PURCHASING ALLIANCE Universal Play Systems Lauren Martelli 1 Madison Avenue Larchmont, NY 10538 914-834-7692 lmartelli@universalplay.com

SOFTWARE

US Communities Government Purchasing Alliance CT, MA, ME, NH, NYSRPSP NY, RI, VT, NY 518-603-3263 zadams@uscommunities.org

CityReporter Rachel Huston 200-1840 Third Ave Prince George, BC, Canada v2M 866-264-2236 cityreporter@noratek.com

Intelligent Products, Inc. (Mutt Mitts) Leslie Green 10,000 Lower River Road Rabbit Hash, KY 41005 800-697-6084 leslie@ipimitts.com Jamestown Advanced Products Shari Eckman 2855 Girts Rd Jamestown, NY 14701 716-483-3406 seckman@jamestownadvanced.com

SURFACING

Most Dependable Fountains Bob Beachum 283 Kimbrough Place Memphis, TN 38104 800-542-8269 rbeachum@comcast.net

PLAYGROUND SAFETY INSPECTION

Copeland Coating Company Albert Giamei PO Box 595 Nassau, NY 12123 518-766-2932 agiamei@copelandcoating.com

Oldcastle Precast Inc. Steve Grischott 3900 Glover Rd. Easton, PA 18040 484-548-6502 sgrischott@modcon.com

Peggy Payne & Assoc. Inc Peggy Payne 146 Broadway Hawthorne, NY 10532 914-747-3237 ppaplay@aol.com

Playsites + Surfaces, Inc. Darrell Wilson 908-B Long Island Ave. Deer Park, NY 11729 631-392-0960 dwilson@playsitesplus.com

R.J. Thomas Mfg. Co. Inc. Bob Simonsen PO Box 946 Cherokee, IA 51012 712-225-5796 pilotrock@rjthomas.com

Rochester Jet-Blak Sealers, Inc. Gary Rosbrook 16 Deep Rock Road, PO Box 24362 Rochester, NY 14624 585-441-4125 gary.jetblak@gmail.com

Waterplay Solutions Marylou Wilmott 1451 B. Ellis Street Kelowoa, BC V1Y2A3 marylou.wilmott@waterplay.com

Vortex Aquatic Structure Anne LeDuc 328 Avro Pointe Claire, QC H9R5W5 514-694-3868 aleduc@vortex-intl.com

POOL CONSTRUCTION & SUPPLIES Aquatic Development Group David Keim 13 Green Mt. Dr. Cohoes, NY 12047 518-783-0038 davidk@aquaticgroup.com

BPP

= Signifies Business Preferred Partner

Maximum Solutions Inc. Jesse Parker 4570 W 77th St. Suite 365 Edina, Mn 55435 763-235-2174 rfp@maxsolutions.com RecDesk Software Mike Morris 222 Pitkin Street East Hartford, CT 06108 860-467-4325 mike.morris@recdesk.com RecPro Software Dale Geiger 35807 Moravian Drive Clinton Township, Michigan 48035 586-469-4200 dgeiger@recprosoftware.com Vermont Systems BPP Kathy Messier 12 Market Place Essex Junction, VT 05452 802-879-6993, ext 3028 kathym@vermontsystems.com

NYSRPSP

SPORTING GOOD SUPPLIES/ EQUIPMENT Advantage Sport & Fitness 2255 N Triphammer Rd Ithaca, NY 14850 607-257-2107 ajwoodworth@advantagefitness.com

Signifies NYSRPS Partnership

2016-2017 NYSRPS PARK & REC BUYER’S GUIDE BSN Sports BPP Elliot Schwebel 27 Schalren Dr. Latham, NY 12110 518-783-1632 eschwebel@sportsupplygroup.com

Sport Supply Group Inc Elliot Schwebel 27 Schalren Dr. Latham, NY 12110 518-783-1632 eschwebel@sportsupplygroup.com

C&C Vending Michael Weiss 70 Macquestern Pkwy Mt. Vernon, NY 10550 914-665-2730 michael.weiss@ccvend-usa.com

Young Equipment Sales Dennis Schwandtner 325 Rabro Dr., Suite 1 Hauppauge, NY 11788 631-582-5900 diane@youngequipmentsales.com

Franklin Sports, Inc. Clifford Savage 17 Campanelli Parkway Stroughton, MA 02052 781-573-2334 csavage@franklinsports.com Core Elements Gym Esther Hollander 492-c Cedar Lane Teaneck, NJ 07666 646-408-7486 esther@coreelementsgym.com G&G Fitness Equiptment Inc. 7350 Transit Rd. Williamsville, NY 14221 800-537-0516 tony@livefit.com

BPP

SPORTS LIGHTING Green Arc Energy Advisors Guy Chimay 601 West 26th Street Suite 325 New York, NY 10001 347-393-5202 gchimay@greenarceadv.com Musco Lighting BPP Don Rhuda 22 Chestnut Dr. Mahopac, NY 10541 845-628-4577 don.rhuda@musco.com

STAGE RENTALS AND SALES

TRAINING

Stageline Mobile Stage 700 Marsolais St L’Assomption, Quebec j5w2g9 450-589-1603 mark.higgins@stageline.com

US Sports Institute Mark Tolley 12 Maiden Lane Suite 3 Bound Brook, NJ 08805 732-563-2530 markt@usasportgroup.com

STRUCTURAL SOILS TURF SPECIALISTS Amereq Inc. 19 Squadron Blvd.

New City, NY 10956 845-634-2400 bkalter@amereq.com

TENNIS

Classic Turf Company Ryan Conroy PO Box 55 437 Sherman Hill Rd Woodbury, CT 06798 860-248-1583 ryan@classicturf.org

USTA Eastern BPP Joe Steger 70 West Red Oak Lane White Plains, NY 10604 914-282-4153 steger@eastern.usta.com

Shaw Sports Turf Todd Britton 185 S. Industrial Blvd.

Calhoun, GA 30701 706-217-9690 todd.britton@shawinc.com

= Signifies Business Preferred Partner

Be seen. Be heard. Advertise in The Voice.

The Voice Advertising Rates* Ink: Full Color Publication frequency: Printed two times per year Issues: Winter/Spring and Summer/Fall.

SPACE 1 issue 2 issues Back Cover................................. $875............... $800 Inside Front or Back Cover............ $775............... $725 Full Page (7.625 x 10.25 in)............ $725............... $675 Half Page (7.625 x 5.125 in) .......... $515................ $475 Quarter Page (3.813 x 5.125 in)...... $315................ $275 *All prices are quoted at NYSRPS Commercial Member rate per ad, per issue. Non-member rates higher - inquire for details.

Submit advertisements as: print-ready PDF file. Resolution should be 300-350 ppi.

When supplying PDF files, embed all images and fonts.

Magazine trim size is 8.5 x 11 in. Live area is 7.625 x 10.25 in. If supplying full page bleed ad, please add 1/8 in bleed to trim size.

To become a Commercial Member, or to purchase ad space contact: Meaghan J. Wilkins, MRST Director of Communications meaghan@nysrps.org or 518-584-0321

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The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 21

Strength Training:

The New Prescription for Health and Recovery

By Esther Hollander, Core Elements

“When I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer in 2009, I had to go through 9 months of chemotherapy and radiation. With a 1 ½ year old baby this was not a choice, it was survival. When my treatments ended in September of ‘09, I had no idea my battle with cancer was going to continue. It would be a lifelong battle with a little pill as my daily preventative cure.

This little pill I soon realized did not come without its disadvantages. A possible side effect of uterine cancer became a reality in November of 2015. Post-surgery, a new regimen for my battle was prescribed and would come again with its own unique set of disadvantages – most notably osteoporosis. My oncologist, medical director Dr. Rufas Collea of New York Oncology Hematology, said I had to (not should) do strength training 5 days a week and this was again not a choice it was survival to live another 45 years in a good healthy body.

When my reality hit home I first thought of our Society – our parks, the place of respite and place for a cure. I asked our NYRPS member Esther Hollander of Core Elements to share what kinds of doses of good health our parks might deliver for these new prescriptions for health.”

– Lisa Morahan, NYSRPS Executive Director

22 The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org

Healthy living in America today seems to be a dynamic balance of taking advantage of the most innovative and effective pharmaceutical treatments while at the same time understanding, accepting and combating the potential side effects these cures bring. From combating cancer, high blood pressure, obesity to Parkinson’s disease physicians are obligated to disclose the plethora of harmful potential, and in some cases inevitable, side effects.

The alternatives of not taking the recommended doses come at greater consequence. Therefore along with the prescription for the pill, doctors are at the same time prescribing doses of exercise to minimize or reverse these effects.

Effective among these are the benefits of weight bearing exercise.

Dr. Collea who specializes in breast cancer said, “Data shows that strength training and other exercise is a very important tool in reducing the reoccurrence of breast cancer,” and he routinely prescribes it to his patients. He also explained that aromatase inhibitors, drugs used to treat breast cancer, remove estrogen from a woman’s body, which can decrease bone density and increase the risk for osteoporosis.

He prescribes strength training because it counters that process.

He added that aromatase inhibitors

can also cause arthritis or bone pain, which can be alleviated by strength training.

Alan J. Heideman, MD, Certified Clinical Densitometrist (CCD) and radiologist specializes in performing and interpreting bone density examinations. He states that normal aging causes a loss of muscle mass of 1% per year after 40. Strength training maintains muscle mass, enabling older adults to perform such normal activities like walking up stairs, and crossing the street which may become difficult, due to the loss of muscle mass.

According to physical therapist Jill Friedbauer, a strength training regimen is crucial in decreasing the risk for falls and increasing the functional independence of stroke sufferers or those affected by Parkinson’s disease. She explained that many of her stroke patients had the opportunity to go for rehab, but when they returned home, they were unable to meet with a therapist skilled in stroke rehab. “Their ability to return to independence was vastly decreased, as opposed to those patients who received ongoing exercises,” she said.

In regards to her patients with Parkinson’s she added, “I feel strongly that the day a person is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, their doctor should be handing them a prescription for physical therapy. When it comes

to Parkinson’s disease, exercise is just as important as the medication for preventing falls.”

Strength training is also prescribed to combat diabetes because it makes the body respond better to insulin and can it can lower blood glucose. The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with type 2 diabetes start a strength training program to help with blood sugar control.

Lifting weights is one of the best ways to care for arthritic joints, says Barbara Resnick, PhD, a nurse practitioner at the University School of Nursing in Baltimore. She reported in the journal, Geriatric Nursing, that weight lifting has been associated with improved strength, flexibility, and balance among patients with arthritis. And as joints become stronger, the pain of arthritis often subsides.

In Dr. Harry Lodge’s book, Younger Next Year, trainer Bill Fabrocini describes the two important aspects of strength

training as repetition and range of motion. While many people focus on doing repetitions (reps) he emphasizes the importance of proper form. “In the first few weeks start with weights that are too light so you can be sure to do the exercises properly”. Once your body and joints get accustomed to the weights you will eventually get to 8-12 reps per set with 2-3 reps per exercise.

According to the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines, beginners should do at least two days per week of any type of strength-training exercise.

Your workout should consist of 8 to 12 repetitions each of 8 to 10 different exercises working all the major muscle groups – chest, back, shoulders, arms, abdominals, and legs.

Therefore, many towns across America are placing strength training machines in their parks, which can help their residents comply with their doctors’ instructions.

These machines, that address various muscle groups at different resistance levels, are popular throughout the world

and are accessible to people 24/7 at no cost, in over 3000 parks worldwide, as well as on college campuses, prisons, military bases and commercial residential projects. By utilizing various technologies, these machines can provide a safe workout that can adjust to the needs of the user. Resistance can be as little as ten pounds and over 200 pounds on certain machines.

It is a cooperative effort to maintain good health between doctor, patient and community. While doctors dispense the cure in bottles and prescriptions to parks, it is up to the individual to take ownership of their health follow the doctor’s orders.

May our New York parks be that place of play, but equally if not more important that place to get and stay healthy.

For more information on weight bearing machines and benefits they offer, be sure to visit NYSRPS Sporting Good Supplies & Equipment / Vending Members at the New York State Recreation and Park Society website: nysrps.org.

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The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 23

A Voice

for Parks in

Albany

New York has always been a state of firsts—the first state park (Niagara Falls), the first protected historic site (Washington’s Headquarters), and the first state parks system.

By the early 1980s, however, the state’s park legacy had faltered. Inadequate funding, aging infrastructure, and development along park boundaries threatened the integrity of New York’s iconic state parks system.

In 1985, park advocates from around the state came together to form the state’s first organization devoted to the preservation and expansion of New York’s parks and open spaces.

study showed that the state parks system generates $2 billion in economic activity.

In 2010, when parks were threatened with closure, PTNY rallied New Yorkers in support of keeping parks open.

In the more than 30 years since, Parks & Trails New York (PTNY) has made great strides in protecting parks, and while our mission has expanded to include trails and active transportation, the protection and enhancement of New York’s parks remains at our core.

The threat of closure led to a renewed recognition of the importance of our state parks system. With PTNY’s reports as the foundation and a new administration at the helm, a sea change began.

Keeping parks and trails at the forefront PTNY’s advocacy efforts and seminal reports have been critical to keeping parks open and thriving. Our Parks at a Turning Point report highlighted the state parks agency’s enormous capital projects backlog. Our 2009 economic impact

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Thanks to the commitment of Governor Cuomo and the Legislature, state parks are in the midst of an unprecedented renaissance, with five straight years of significant funding for critical infrastructure needs. Challenges remain, but with this ongoing investment, New York’s state parks system is again a model for the nation.

Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

Washingtons Headquarters State Historic Site, view of Hasbrouck House facing east, with Tower of Victory and Hudson River in background.

Protecting community greenspace Local parks face their own set of threats. A top PTNY legislative priority is to see greater protections enacted to prevent the loss of community parkland to a process called “alienation.”

Although municipalities must get permission from the Legislature prior to converting parkland to some other use, each case is unique, not governed by a strict set of guidelines, so the process is often confusing. To address this, PTNY is working with the Legislature on bills to codify the process, require greater transparency and hold governments accountable.

Leveraging the power of grassroots groups with financial and technical assistance We’ve long believed in the importance and value of Friends groups. Through technical assistance and direct support PTNY is strengthening the community of park and trail supporters. Whether through our new Park and Trail Partnership Program grants to state park Friends groups, our landmark reports and guides, or communications with our experienced staff, we are the go-to organization for park and trail groups, providing important resources and sharing our extensive network of contacts.

Promoting the enjoyment and stewardship of our parks and trails Through I Love My Park Day, PTNY is establishing a way for the current generation to step up and do their part in honoring New York’s park legacy.

Each May, thousands of New Yorkers volunteer at more than 100 state parks, historic sites and public lands to plant trees and flowers, restore trails and wildlife habitat, enhance public access to park resources, and much more.

New York’s parks and trails are second to none. By protecting, improving and expanding these precious outdoor resources PTNY strives to improve the quality of life for New Yorkers now, and for generations to come. Learn more at www.ptny.org.

The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 25

Citizen Commitment is Indispensable

By Joseph A. Stout, Executive Director, Westchester Parks Foundation

between park and recreation agencies and local citizen volunteers ensure that the needs and intent of the public are welcomed and addressed. They become your best allies!

Not for profit partners can do things that your public agency cannot, like organize advocacy efforts, present perspectives at public hearings, contact decision makers as The Voice of the public, not The Voice of the agency’s staff. In the fierce fight for resources between competing priorities it is always good to have “friends,” your closest allies, on your side.

Westchester Parks Foundation Board (left to right): Eric Harvey, Membership and Events Coordinator, Christine La Porta, Director of Operations, the old guy, Executive Director, Sara Cavanaugh, Volunteer Coordinator, Lisa Borducci, Camp Registrar/Office Manager and Cristobal Slobodzian, Development Officer. (missing is Linda Fleischer, Bookkeeper)

Friends groups, conservancies, park foundations, oh my! Over the past decade and a half, there has been a movement that has grown from a small ripple into a tidal wave of growth in the number of not for profit partners that support, enhance, and in some cases manage public park and recreation systems.

The persons who hold the elected and appointed positions charged with the overall management and care of your park system can and do change. Not-for-profit partners step in to represent a continuum of the public’s interest in parks, recreation and open space regardless of particular officials and staff.

Why are we important and why should you consider attracting dedicated citizens to support your agency?

A mature not-for-profit partner provides stability, and possibly even growth opportunities in times of budget distress.

Groups typically form in response to a crisis, and ones that last develop a committed, experienced volunteer base that becomes a buffering agent in turbulent times.

The Westchester Parks Foundation, Inc. (formerly known as the Friends of Westchester County Parks), founded in 1977, plays a key role in helping keep safe, clean and affordable recreation and parks services available to residents and visitors each year.

Our mission is to engage the public to advocate for, invest in and use the 18,000 acres of parks in the Westchester County Park System.

Therefore, it is critical that not-for-profit organizations both maintain independence, and be carefully neutral and non-partisan.

We help you show that you value your customers. Close working relationships

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Not-for-profit organizations can accept private donations that are sometimes awkward for donors who wish to support parks, but may be understandably hesitant to donate directly to a government. On the other side of the funding equation, spending donated or raised funds through your not-for-profit partner is not encumbered by municipal purchasing regulations and laws. This is very helpful in targeting specific projects, programs or supplies that are virtually impossible at times to guarantee.

Conservation, health and wellness, and social equity form the three pillars of our professional services. They also represent excellent, appealing opportunities for non-tax revenues in the form of grants and sponsorship. Most agencies do not have the luxury of having dedicated staff to pursue the multitude of funding prospects that exist. A not-for-profit partner can be uniquely positioned to make this a priority service for you and your park system. Since 2013, the Westchester Parks Foundation has raised and spent almost 2 million non-tax dollars to support the park system and the department.

Support does not just come in dollars - one of the biggest contributions that any notfor-profit partner can make to your system is volunteers. People who commit to parks

and open space with sweat equity typically have a higher sense of ownership and responsibility for those spaces. In turn, they can become your most vocal advocates, word of mouth “social media” promoters and, of course, donors! Plus, they make a tangible, valuable contribution to the parks and facilities. Here again, a not-for-profit partner can be in the distinct position to recruit, coordinate, and manage a volunteer program in support of your park system.

Recent budget reductions have hit park and recreation agencies particularly hard, and this service can be priceless. And even if you are one of the few, or only parks departments that has all the money it needs, you will never have enough hands to do all the work.

Our Foundation inaugurated its Volunteer program in 2015, taking on a program that was previously managed by staff at the County Parks Department. Through a generous challenge grant (yes there are folks who will donate for volunteers!) we are able to fund a full time position for two years while we build a sustainable funding source for this service. The response has far exceeded anyone’s wildest expectations.

Nearly 1,500 individuals donated over 5,000 hours of service. They cleaned miles of trails, filled hundreds of bags of trash, eradicated acres of invasive vines and species, and waded into rivers, ponds and beaches to clean. Four companies even agreed to “adopt” their local parks, each committing to four days of service annually.

Not-for-profit partners provide venues for recognition to those who make significant contributions to your park system. We call it “Celebrate an Evening with Friends.”

It generates considerable good will, allows us to say thank you and generates some serious funding to support our operations.

It is a “must-be-at” event for park advocates and decision makers.

Program sponsorship is another unique benefit to this partner relationship. Our foundation attracts sponsors for some of Westchester’s most iconic programs, Bicycle Sunday, July 3rd Music Fest and the

brand new Westchester’s Winter Wonderland. By partnering with the Parks Department, civic minded businesses and our own non tax dollars, these programs were saved or inaugurated and more than one hundred thousand people, annually, enjoy them.

As staff and leaders at park and recreation agencies well know, professional development and training is vital to success and survival. Parks and recreation is a “people” business. Staff members that are trained, responsive and dedicated to your mission is essential. Ongoing training and education to keep up with current, state of the art professional practices can mean the difference between providing a valued service or an afterthought when it comes to funding. Yet allocations for this is often the first thing to go in a municipal budget.

Our foundation donates money yearly for department staff to attend conferences, conduct in house training or bring in specialized educators across the spectrum of services the department offers. Our board sees this investment in the staff as critical to our purpose to help insure the award-winning park system is well managed and maintained. We fund all the expenses involving the Accreditation of the department. Our foundation is proud to say that Westchester County PRC has been accredited for almost fifteen years with our support.

We facilitate staff certifications, through our capability to manage non-tax dollar resources on behalf of the department.

You all need certified playground inspectors, pool operators, pesticide applicators and so on. Some of you need confined space training. Others need CEU’s to keep professional certifications.

Figuring out a way to pay for this is an important, sometimes unseen way that your not for profit partner can make your job a little easier.

From a management perspective, contracts for service with not for profits have become more common as governments have downsized. These contracts can range

from a small concession operation to management of a single park to complete operation, maintenance, funding and programming for entire park systems. The most famous illustrations of these in New York include the Central Park Conservancy, the Bryant Park Corporation, the High Line and the Buffalo Olmstead Parks Conservancy.

Some straightforward ways that a not-forprofit partner can assist your agency in fulfilling your mission can be to provide an avenue for program registrations that could be difficult through a general fund operation, to manage municipal funds for unique capital projects such as public art or specialized facilities that don’t easily fit within public bidding regulations or even help with payroll for rarely used, highly specialized special event staff like stagehands or sports statisticians.

Finally, research is a very important service that your partner can provide. Topics can span economic impacts to potential bond referendum polling to attitudes and preferences of users and taxpayers for what they want, need and would be willing to pay for. Some of those issues might be problematic for a public agency to question, but once the research is complete, provide concrete statistics to point to on the value of parks and recreation.

The Trust for Public Land recently released a report “Public Spaces/Private Money – The Triumphs and Pitfalls of Urban Park Conservancies.” It is an excellent resource which outlines the challenges facing those who wish to pursue not for profit partners. I highly recommend it.

Clearly there is a need that not-for-profit partners fill in ensuring that the public park and recreation resources in a community are valued, invested in, and most of all used to their highest potential. That happens best when you can work together to reach an engaged, dedicated and committed public.

The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 27

YOUTH –

The Future of Inclusion

By Dr. Lynn Anderson, CTRS, CPRP, Director, Inclusive Recreation Resource Center at SUNY Cortland

The Inclusive Recreation Resource Center is partnering once again with the NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, the New York State Recreation and Park Society, and other groups to increase the capacity of community and recreation providers that serve youth in their inclusion practices. Over the next two years, we will be focusing on the following activities: • Developing and piloting a youth version of Inclusion U Online • Developing and piloting a Mentored Inclusion Coaching Protocol to be used with 30 selected agencies to enhance programmatic and administrative inclusion at those agencies • Working collaboratively with NYSRPS and other professional associations to recognize and celebrate inclusion champions at selected youth-serving agencies • Studying effective programmatic and administrative inclusion practices through an in-depth evaluation study and developing a field-tested “Inclusion Toolkit”

Inclusion U Online for Youth Inclusion U Online, our field-tested and effective online training, has been available now for about a year. The online training has been approved for 1.0 CEUs by NYSRPS and preapproved by NCTRC as meeting content requirements for CTRS recertification. The training can be readily accessed on the Inclusive Recreation Resource Center website (see sidebar for more information). Using the award-winning Inclusion U Online as a foundation, we will be developing and piloting an online version of the training geared toward young people.

We hope to make the Inclusion U Online for Youth an exciting way for youth to earn certificates and badges as they learn how to promote inclusion, whether as a part of a Scout activity, a summer recreation staff activity, a junior camp counselor activity, a 4-H project or other avenues.

We will have youth on our newly formed advisory committee as we develop the short, fun and interactive online training geared toward 12-18 year olds. Our dream is that youth-serving agencies will incorporate the online training for youth into aspects of their operations, like summer staff training, camp counselor training, Scout badges, and more.

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New York State Recreation & Park Society

Mentored Inclusion Coaching

Photo provided by: NYSDEC

Inclusion U Online Inclusion U Online is a 10-hour training that teaches you how to be a Certified Inclusivity Assessor. In Inclusion U Online, you will learn the foundations of inclusion and how to use the Inclusivity Assessment Tool.

Inclusion U Online has nine modules.

For each module, you take a quiz to advance to the next module. At the end of the nine modules, you take the Inclusion U Final Exam to show that you have gained the knowledge and competency to be a Certified Inclusivity Assessor (CIA).

You are then able to complete inclusivity assessments, using the Inclusivity Assessment Tool. You will be able to add your inclusivity assessments to the IRRC online recreation database.

Upon successful completion of the Inclusion U Online training, you will be able to print out your CIA Card and a Certificate of Completion. In order to receive 1.0 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for Inclusion U Online, you mail a copy of your Certificate of Completion, along with the CEU fee to NYSRPS. NYSRPS provides CEUs according to the guidelines of the IACET (International Association for Continuing Education). Inclusion U Online is also CE Pre-Approved

by NCTRC. You can access and register for Inclusion U Online on the IRRC website at inclusiverec.org.

Another important activity of our youth inclusion project will be developing and piloting a Mentored Inclusion Coaching Protocol to be used with 30 agencies to enhance inclusion. In essence, we will be developing and testing an inclusion tool kit that can be readily used by staff to enhance inclusion practices. We will be working closely with carefully chosen youth-serving agencies, providing support, education, and technical assistance. In particular, we are interested in working with agencies that serve underserved populations in their communities including racially, culturally, geographically, and linguistically under-served. We plan to work with parks and recreation departments, youth bureaus, YMCAs, camps, Scout troops, 4-H groups, youth centers, and other youth-serving organizations.

Two staff members from the IRRC, Geoff Peppel, CTRS and Ian Haines, CTRS, will spend time on-site at selected agencies assisting in inclusion efforts (see page 30 to learn more about Geoff and Ian).

Chosen staff from each of the selected youth-serving agencies will complete Inclusion U Online (adult version) and choose youth staff to pilot the Inclusion U Online for Youth. Staff will also participate in a mentored inclusivity assessment with the IRRC staff, help develop a plan for enhancement of inclusion, and then receive onsite mentored inclusion coaching as well as follow-up support throughout the two years of the project.

To recognize their efforts, a staff member from each of the selected agencies will be supported to attend the annual NYSRPS professional conference (or other major event) to be recognized by IRRC and NYSRPS as an Inclusion Champion based on their work with this project. IRRC will also feature the Inclusion Champions on the IRRC website, inclusiverec.org.

Program Evaluation Throughout our two-year project, we will carefully track individual and systems outcomes in relation to inclusive recreation and youth. We will be conducting pre- and post-assessments, doing observations of programs, and conducting in-depth interviews. What we learn in the evaluation will help us validate and field-test an “Inclusion Toolkit” that we hope to make widely available to youthserving agencies. We envision the toolkit being something that staff can access during programs to help them come up with successful strategies for inclusion on the fly, hopefully in the form of a app or other easy to access format.

If you or your agency is interested in becoming involved in the youth inclusion project, please send an email to inclusiverec@cortland.edu.

We are excited to once again partner with NYSRPS to ensure that ALL people can play wherever they choose!

The Voice | Summer/Fall 2016 • nysrps.org 29

YOUTH – The Future of Inclusion Meet Geoff Peppel, CTRS Inclusive Recreation Resource Center Geoff Peppel is a full-time staff member with the Inclusive Recreation Resource Center for the new youth inclusion project.

During Geoff’s undergraduate work at the SUNY College at Brockport, he spent his first few semesters struggling to find his place in the professional world.

However, Geoff knew he had a future in helping others overcome struggles in their lives, he just wasn’t sure exactly how. His parents, David and Erin, knew of Geoff’s dream to help others and opened his eyes to the unique field of therapeutic recreation.

From then on, Geoff studied therapeutic recreation closely, volunteering much of his time at programs for kids with autism and culminating his undergraduate work in 2012 with an internship at a treatment facility for youth with traumatic psychological disorders.

Geoff received his bachelor’s degree from SUNY Brockport and his certification as a therapeutic recreation specialist (CTRS) from NCTRC. He spent his first summer after graduation at the Double H Ranch, a camp for children with life threatening and/or chronic illness, in Lake Luzerne, New York. He would spend his next three summers at Double H as both an aquatics director and counselor.

In 2014, Geoff packed his bags and moved to Lake Tahoe, California where he taught adaptive skiing and other snow sports to people with functional differences at Achieve Tahoe, formerly known as Disabled Sports USA Far West. His work in Tahoe simultaneously revitalized his love for working with people with differing abilities and the outdoors. While living in California, he applied for the graduate program at SUNY Cortland in outdoor and environmental education.

Geoff had heard nothing but praise of this program for years and knew it would open many doors towards practicing therapeutic recreation in the out-of-doors.

In the fall of 2014, Geoff was approached by Dr. Lynn Anderson about enrolling in an Inclusive Recreation practicum to help fulfill a grant funded by the NYS Developmental Disabilities Planning Council. That summer, he and his colleague Ian Haines (see below) traveled New York assessing 250 state parks and DEC outdoor recreation sites for accessibility and writing reports and recommendations to improve physical and social inclusion at these sites.

Geoff recently graduated with his M.S. in Recreation: Outdoor and Environmental Education. He now works full time for the Inclusive Recreation Resource Center and will be traveling New York once again this summer providing in-depth inclusion program training to several youth serving agencies.

Meet Ian Haines, CTRS Inclusive Recreation Resource Center Ian Haines grew up in Binghamton, New York where he established his love for two things that ended up shaping his life.

First was a love for nature and the outdoors and second was his love for helping people. Ian combined these two loves at Paul Smith’s College where he completed his undergraduate work.

During his time at Paul Smith’s, Ian spent his time studying Parks and Recreation with a desire to introduce all people to the benefits of nature. During his freshman year of school, Ian’s father had both of his legs amputated. This life changing moment led Ian to discover new ways to include his father in his passion for the outdoors.

Ian found John Dillon Park, a park in the Adirondacks that is designed to be accessible to all. Ian ended up working for two summers at this park, where he was driven to help all people no matter what their life circumstance may be, enjoy nature.

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After graduating from Paul Smith’s in 2014 with his Bachelors in Parks and Recreation, Ian spent some time working as a Park Ranger in Vermont, but desired something more, where he could directly help people. Ian decided to pursue his Masters in Therapeutic Recreation at SUNY Cortland where he met Dr. Lynn Anderson. Dr. Anderson asked Ian to be a part of the Inclusive Recreation Resource Center and complete a grant that assessed over 250 state parks for physical and social accessibility.

After completing this grant with colleague Geoff Peppel (see above), Ian completed his therapeutic recreation internship at an acuterehabilitation psychiatric center where he worked with people with severe mental illnesses. These experiences culminated in Ian graduating from SUNY Cortland in May of 2016 with his M.S. in Recreation with a concentration in Therapeutic Recreation.

Ian now works for the Inclusive Recreation Resource Center on a project designed to develop inclusive programming at youth-serving recreation agencies all over New York State.

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