A special thanks to Ryan Sparrow of the Channahon Park District who once again coordinated the event on behalf of the IPRA. Thank you to all the local park districts for hosting local meets and giving these athletes a chance to compete in this great event.

Created in 1975, the Hershey’s Track & Field Games is the largest youth sports program of its kind in the United States and Canada. Meets take place in every state and every province in North America, and the grand finale — the North American Final Meet — takes place in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

The goal of Hershey’s Track & Field Games is to introduce children to physical fitness through basic events like running, jumping and throwing. But the program also strives to encourage children to reach their potential and develop a sense of accomplishment. If you’re a kid between 9 and 14 who wants to have fun outdoors, or if you’re a parent trying to encourage healthy habits, these Games were made for you.

View the 2008 Hershey’s Track & Field Games state meet results.

This bill still needs to be voted on by the full House of Representatives. Here’s what you can to help ensure local park and recreation agencies become eligible for these important funds:

• Contact the Legislative Assistant for Education of your Member of Congress in the House of Representatives. Contact your representative by phone via the capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121 (To find your Representative, go to www.house.gov/ and enter your zip code.)
• Ask your Representative to contact the staff of Chairman George Miller (D-CA),and Ranking Member Rep. Howard McKeon (R-CA),of the House Education and Labor Committee, to request that they include language as a technical correction in the manager’s amendment for NCLI to include local and state park agencies and state natural resource agencies as eligible entities in Section 11, the National Capacity Environmental Education Grant program.

Make these points to your Representative:

• Local, county, regional and state park systems and state natural resource agencies are important partners to schools in providing resources and connections to nature that can help in developing environmental education programs and enhancing curriculum content.
• Without the resources provided in the competitive grant program, local and state park and natural resource agencies will not be able to serve the many schools and teachers who will be seeking to develop long-term partnerships and environmental education opportunities in local and regional settings. They simply won’t have the resources to meet this demand, thus drastically limiting the potential of the Act to increase environmental education opportunities for students, and limiting the opportunities for professional development by teachers.
• Please let NRPA know if you contact your Member of Congress, and what their response was, so we can continue our advocacy efforts. For questions or updates on the No Child Left Inside Act, please contact Stacey Pine at spine@nrpa.org or (202)887-0290.

For more information about the No Child Left Inside Act and to watch a video produced by the No Child Left Inside Coalition, go to the Citizen Branch homepage.

“Please call or write your representative and ask that local and state P&R agencies be included in the bill. Considering the vast majority of individuals utilize local P&R facilities (nature preserves, nature centers, local/nearby parks, state parks, etc.) for programming and exploring nature with children, as opposed to just federal lands, it is surprising that local agencies were not included.

Your local P&R department (as well as others across the country) need access to this funding source, if we’re to be expected to play our part - and increase our services - in regards to getting children outdoors and providing/increasing these services. Local P&R facilities are typically the nearest facilities “close to home” for most families (meaning they are most accessible and convenient to visit, and typically get much more “repeat/return visitation” due to their proximity to suburban/urban areas), hence they need to be included in the entire No Child Left Inside initiative, including potential funding sources.

Please take the time to call or write at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your support.”

- courtesy of Mike Kirschman of the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Dept., NC

Please forward to anyone else interested.

What if you could tidy-up your garage, do something nice for the Earth and put a smile on a child’s face all in one simple gesture?

The Illinois Park & Recreation Association is pleased to announce its partnership with a spirited new not-for-profit effort. Rebound Sports Project collects used sports equipment and passes it along to children in need. Based in Mt. Prospect, Rebound regularly ships reusable inflatable sports balls to rural villages in Mexico, South America and Africa.

On Friday, September 12 from 9am-3pm, the IPRA and Rebound will be collecting balls at the IPRA headquarters in Oakbrook Terrace. Simply bring your old soccer and basketballs to the back parking lot, where representatives from Rebound Sports and IPRA will be waiting.

Please promote this collection at your agency, at your day camps and youth sports leagues – encourage your patrons to donate! In the meantime, gather those old balls and get ready to pass along a smile.

The Dance Showcase was open to all park and recreation agency dance program students. This was not a dance competition but an amazing event allowing dancers to showcase their talents in a fun and noncompetitive venue.

12 dance groups…over 60 amazing dancers…hours of practice…dancing for fun! That’s what Dance Showcase 2008 was all about.

After the performance, dancers broke-out into smaller groups for advanced training and workshops.

It was a great day and much thanks to the Dance Showcase committee for organizing such a great event.

Park districts, municipal recreation agencies, forest preserves, conservation districts, special recreation associations and private agencies throughout Illinois have seriously benefited from the program. It’s time for you to get started too!

Why participate? Here’s some great reasons why:

• Incredible savings on tons of items - 10-60% savings on items you already buy
• Save staff time comparing quotes and products
• No minimum order requirements
• Freight and delivery charges are included in vendor’s bids
• Items are delivered right to your door
• Vendors abide by the “Local Government Prompt Payment Act”

Do you purchase any of the following items? Now imagine getting them significantly cheaper!

• Athletic Supplies
• Arts & Crafts Supplies
• Aquatic Supplies
• Office Supplies
• Sports Nets
• Custodial Supplies
• First Aid/Safety Supplies
• Pool Chemicals
• Power Tools
• Signage
• Drums & Trash Containers
• Stepladders
• Turf Supplies
• Lighting

Registration for the 2008-09 Cooperative Purchase Program will begin Monday, July 28.

Get more details about the Cooperative Purchase Program!

Choose from the following dates: June 24 & 26, July 9, 10 & 12, August 7 & 9.

Tickets ordered through IPRA are approximately HALF of what you would pay at the gate PLUS there’s no risk involved…you only pay for the tickets you use!

Please download the order form for details!

The Environmental Defense Fund just released this updated version which has helped over 3,000 businesses and individuals each month reduce their paper use by switching to environmentally friendly paper alternatives since its start in 2005.

Personally I found the tool difficult to use for IPRA’s printing because our projects are not so large in scale that I could estimate how many tons of paper used.

Give the Paper Calculator 2.0 a try. Let us know what you discovered by commenting back on this post.

Don’t forget that as a Professional Member you gain MARC Points for each IPRA-related meeting you attend. Points are tracked and can be used for discounts on workshops once enough are accumulated.

The more involved you get in your professional association…the more you’ll get back.

Learn more about the MARC Card and MARC Points. If you have any question please contact Mike Selep.

Matt Baehr recently talked about this on his blog and I think this is a neat idea that can really extend the learning and networking possibilities of our delegates at Conference.

I can see us using unsessions as a unique way for each of you, the members, to hold your own sessions that either couldn’t make it into the Conference program…or a way to extend the learning from a session that was just held.

All we need are some tables, chairs, flip-charts, etc. and some great minds willing to share ideas with their colleagues.

Do you think we should consider setting up “unsession” areas at this year’s Conference?

Celebrating over 75 years of service, Lamp Incorporated is a third generation family-owned business, which provides construction management, project management, general contracting, and design/build services to the complete satisfaction of their clients. They take pride in being the preferred construction manager for the Villages of Algonquin, Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Schaumburg, and Streamwood, and the Dundee Township, Hampshire, and Huntley Park Districts. Their skilled, experienced team combined with a strong record of performance, repeatedly shows that they can produce and complete quality building projects on time and within budget. Since 1932, from site selection through building occupancy, Lamp Incorporated offers clients broad expertise in the total building process.

To reach Lamp Incorporated please go to their website at LampInc.net.

Lamp Incorporated is IPRA’s 2007-08 Professional Development Sponsor. We are grateful for their support and commitment to supporting the ongoing educational and professional needs of our members. Please visit the IPRA Education Page to learn more about the upcoming educational events workshops we have planned.