Director’s Message

Ray Favreau CPRP Director of Parks & Recreation

A Message from “your” Director of Parks & Recreation

The renovation of the cafeteria at Wapping is finally complete and ready for use!! You will hardly recognize it! New walls, new ceiling, new LED lighting, new floor, new electrical, new energy efficient air conditioning where none existed before, new window shades, new house P/A, new multi-media electronics, and new furniture will undoubtedly bring new life to the much needed community hall space! See page 68 for details to reserve/rent.

I am proud to welcome six new members to our parks & recreation team! The past year has presented us with a plethora of personnel predicaments as talented former staff have moved on to pursue different employment opportunities, family relocations, and career advancements. Simultaneously, we were in the midst of creating a couple new positions so an unusual amount of time was spent reviewing applications and interviewing candidates. Eight vacancies have been filled over the course of the last 16 months, six of those eight within the last six months. I am happy to say we have rebuilt our high performance team!

You’re gonna love ‘em!!

Ashley Casiano, Recreation Supervisor

Leah Margelony, Customer Service Clerk

Nancy Glynn, Recreation Supervisor

Ben Bedard, Parks Maintainer I

Matt Silvia, Parks Maintainer I

Robert Link, Groundskeeper

Ashley Casiano joined our department on Sept. 30, 2019 as Recreation Supervisor replacing Sarah Robinson who recently left to pursue a career in the non-profit world. Ashley is “home-grown” with a deep emotional attachment to South Windsor. A successful athletic career in soccer and lacrosse at SW High lead her to an honored four year stint as goalie for the Marist College, D1 women’s lacrosse team. She has successfully coached women’s lacrosse at AIC and Yale and is an active member of the Puerto Rico National Women’s Lacrosse team competing internationally. Ashley is also a certified personal trainer. She is responsible for our youth and adult sports leagues and programs. Leah Margelony was also added to our team on Sept. 30, 2019 as our new Customer Service Clerk. She has worked previously with the Manchester, Coventry and Tolland Parks & Recreation Departments in part time capacities, totally understands and embraces community parks and recreation and loves dealing with people! Leah is our first point of contact with residents and has already elevated our front line experience to a new level with a refreshing approach and welcoming smile!

With two of four Recreation Supervisor positions vacant at the same time we were super excited when Nancy Glynn accepted our offer to join our team on December 30, 2019, replacing Lauren Bent who is relocating

with family. Nancy has a BA degree in Sociology from CCSU and six years of hands-on progressively increased aquatics programming, administration and supervisory experience climbing the traditional ladder from teenage lifeguard to pool director to aquatics manager with the Wethersfield Parks & Recreation Department and Town of West Hartford Cornerstone Aquatics Center. She is a Certified Pool Operator, and American Red Cross certified in Lifeguarding, as a Lifeguard Instructor, as a Water safety Instructor and in First Aid, CPR & AED. Nancy will be responsible for the aquatics operation at VMP in the summer and health, fitness & wellness programs throughout the year.

Ben Bedard joined our parks crew as a Maintainer I on, you guessed it, Sept. 30th filling the vacancy created when we promoted Dave Turkington to Parks Manager completing the Sept. trifecta! For such a young man Ben has impressive experience in landscaping, agriculture and mechanics and as such will be an asset to our parks division. In addition, Ben is a volunteer firefighter in Ellington. We see tremendous potential in Ben and we look forward to his contributions to our parks crew.

On December 9, 2019 Matt Silvia was hired as a Maintainer I in our parks division replacing Tom Kuehlewind who relocated to follow family ties in Canada. Matt has been working part time for much of the past year filling in for our part time groundskeeper and wherever needed for our parks team that has been in a trend of short-handedness due to retirements, promotions and resignations. Matt also worked a number of years as one of our summer seasonal full time helpers providing supplemental support for the crew, primarily trim mowing and weed-whacking.

Robert Link began his part time work with our parks crew as Groundskeeper on Feb.10, 2020 replacing Dave Davis who had recently retired. Robert has been working in the professional landscaping and property management industry for the past ten years and has the experience we are looking for in maintaining and creating landscape planting beds, tree work, pruning and mowing at all of our public building grounds.

So, what else is new in 06074 land?

• Well for starters we have a brand new website successfully launched on Feb. 28th! Please visit us at recreation.southwindsor.org for a cleaner, user-friendly, easy to navigate on-line experience! But, I do ask you to please bear with us as the site is still somewhat under construction with a few minor punch list items to finalize. Let us know what you think!

• To coincide with the new website we also have a new email address! Contact us now at rec@southwindsor-ct.gov.

• With warm weather just around the corner many of you will be happy to see, and see better, with the brand new LED lighting recently installed at the Wapping tennis courts replacing the decades old insufficient mercury vapor fixtures. While doing this we also added a couple LED lamps to illuminate the recently renovated basketball court adjacent to the tennis courts to provide evening hoop game opportunities for the very first time! Ah, hot summer nights!

• Watch for exciting details as the Town plans for its 175th anniversary celebration on the weekend of August 7-9, 2020 at Nevers Park.

See page. 22 for more information and who to contact to get involved. I do know that the committee is looking for civic groups, businesses and individuals to participate in and help with the festivities.

• Due to a concerning rise in canine fecal “gifts” being left along the trail system, or tossed in the woods at Nevers Park you will soon be seeing a number of new signs posted to remind dog owners to be respectful of other park users and clean up after their pets. Ordinance Sec. 74-67 (8) states that “No person in a park shall bring or allow any dog onto park property unless the same is kept in a harness or on a leash, cord, or chain that is a maximum of seven feet in length and of sufficient strength to enable the dog to be under the control of its owner/ keeper at all times, who shall maintain control of such dog at all times; or allow any dog to dig up, mutilate, deface or destroy such property, or to bother other users thereof. The owners and/or keepers of all dogs, except dogs guiding the blind or guiding other physically disabled persons, on park property are required to remove defecation therefrom immediately from the property and dispose of same so as not to harm or disturb any property or person”. Please be considerate of others – it’s simple - your dog, your poop, your responsibility. And remember, the Gary Tyler Memorial Bark Park in Nevers Park is THE only permissible off-leash area on any town property. We thank you for your cooperation!

Whether you plan to enjoy some of our traditional repeat activities or wish to try one of our twelve new offerings you’ll find in the pages that follow, remember - to feel great, recreate with “your” South Windsor Parks & Recreation Department!