Activity Guide - Spring/Summer 2023

DISTRICT MANAGER’S MESSAGE Spring 2023 Kicks Off

As I’m writing this, the Terry Ashe Recreation Center feels like it is in the swirl of a giant snow globe. It’s snowing hard and our staff that live higher up on the ridge are getting ready to drive home. At some point spring will be sprung and it will be sunny and dry, but we’ll still talk about this winter and the snowpack deep into the year.

We will also talk about the celebrations for the Paradise Recreation and Park District (PRPD, District) which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

Forward thinking local citizens helped organize PRPD in October 1948, for the purpose of providing park and recreation programs as a Special District. The most founding group was the Women’s Improvement Club which wanted to focus on programs for youth and develop a pool. Originally, the District was initially called the Paradise Park, Recreation and Parkway District, but legislative code changes in 1959 renamed it to the Paradise Recreation and Park District. With Paradise in the name, some people think that the District operates under the Town of Paradise and serves only Paradise, but as a special district, PRPD encompasses a larger area of Sierra Nevada and Cascade foothills than many people think and has long histories in the Concow Basin and Butte Creek Canyon in addition to serving Paradise and Magalia.

The District has been led by 5 District Managers: Elmer Martin (1948-1950), Harvey Rother (1950-1967), Terry Ashe (1967-1995), Mike Trinca (1995-2017), and Dan Efseaff (2018-present). Under the District leadership and Board of Directors who have served, PRPD has grown its park and recreation offerings from what started as a public “pool” (a dredged-out part of Berry Creek off Mallan Ln, Paradise) to managing over 402 acres of fully or partially developed parks and 450 acres of open space. The District also supports public access to recreation by providing partial funding for the Pine Ridge Gymnasium (Magalia), purchase of property for Egleson Field (Paradise), capital improvements and several years of rent for the Paradise Symphony Orchestra at the Paradise Performing Arts Center, and more. Even with a long history, the District likes to think of itself as a 75-year-old startup. PRPD maintains many traditional recreational opportunities, while also introducing new events and activities and new ways of doing things to make for more enjoyable experiences. Our maintenance crews have done a tremendous amount of recovery work to open parks and also maintaining our parks as impeccably clean, safe and accessible. While there are additional recovery projects still on the list, such as replacing the playground at Moore Road Park, the District looks forward to developing new parks and enhancements. Notably recent grant awards at Lakeridge Park in Magalia, and Oak Creek Park and Bille Park enhancements in Paradise will allow for new remarkable amenities for the community.

The District is proud of historical accomplishments in serving the park and recreational needs of the many communities we serve (Butte Creek Canyon, Concow/Yankee Hill, Magalia, Paradise) while also determined to continuously improve and evolve to better serve the evolving needs of the residents in the District. PRPD seeks to make the 75th anniversary celebration a celebration of the residents in the District by hosting celebrations at each of the communities served throughout the year. Look for more to come on the District’s website (www.paradiseprpd.com) or Facebook page (/paradiseprpd).

- Dan Efseaff, District Manager