Hey, Kids, Time to Take a Hike
from USA Today
 Schools are long closed. Any Fourth of July excitement is over. For kids, this summer of pricey gas and shortened family vacations could now fill up with too much screen time, too much junk food and way too little fresh air and exercise. The author's advice to parents and kids: Take a hike. If there ever was a summer for discovering the joys of walking together in nature, this is it. More
'Beautiful Souls:' Summer Camp Enriches Lives of Campers, Counselors
from The Daily Times
The summer months are a time of experiential learning for many students. Camp Chickababa in Tennessee has been offering a variety of fun and educational activities to campers with special needs for more than 32 years. "We're having a blast," said Lisa Wigdor, the camp's director for the Maryville-Alcoa-Blount County Parks and Recreation Commission's summer camp. "I feel like we have a lot to give." More
Blue Mulch, Green Park
from the Caller-Times
Moments after orange safety netting was removed Saturday, children scattered through a revamped Kids Place at Cole Park in Corpus Christi, Texas. Earlier, more than 62 tons of shredded tire chips had been shoveled and spread throughout the playground. The switch from wood mulch to rubber mulch is part of a community enrichment project created by the Career Development Class 2008. More
Campers Enjoying Outdoors Closer to Home
from The Oakland Press
For more than a decade, Claudia Walter and her family have gone camping less than two miles from her home at Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area in Waterford, Mich. This year, with gasoline at $4 a gallon, park officials are expecting more people to think about packing up and camping closer to home. More
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Guerrilla Gardeners Weed Out Urban Ugliness
from The Associated Press via The News Tribune
More than a dozen people, some wearing orange protective gear, pulled rakes and shovels from a dingy shopping cart and started working on a parched patch of land along a busy offramp of the Hollywood Freeway. It was a Saturday night, and drivers whooshed past on their way to the Sunset Strip club scene. City workers on overtime? Nope, no budget for that. These were guerrilla gardeners, a global movement of the grass-roots variety where people seek to beautify empty or overgrown public space, usually under the cover of darkness and without the permission of municipal officials. More
100 Kids Get Free Sneakers
from The Post-Standard
Dejon McBride, 10, has big plans for the free pair of Starbury One sneakers he received at Sunnycrest Park in Syracuse, N.Y.. McBride, a fifth-grader at Huntington School, was among 100 Syracuse children who received free pairs of Starbury One sneakers from the Kicks for Kids program, a new initiative designed to encourage children to play outdoors during the summer months. It's part of an effort to fight obesity among children and adolescents. More
Program Lets Students Go Wild
from the Glendale News Press
Some elementary school students in Glendale, Calif., will take their studies into the wild this spring through a state grant that will help fund visits to Deukmejian Wilderness Park. The nine elementary schools that will be involved in the program are in the southern and eastern portions of the city and have significant levels of poverty, according to the school district. The grant program is titled "Walk on the Wild Side." More
Playgrounds Still a Place to Create Memories
from the Chattanooga Times Free Press
The metal monkey bars that parents remember climbing are long gone. And on the ground — adults will remember it as hard-packed earth — there’s a layer of fresh wood chips to soften the landings. Long summer afternoons at the playground may be a timeless memory, but there’s been an evolution in equipment. More
Less Money for Mowing Benefits Nature in Parks
from the South Bend Tribune
If you like a more natural look in parks and along roadways, there's a silver lining to high gas prices. In an effort to save money, the St. Joseph County, Ind., parks and highway departments and the Indiana Department of Transportation are cutting back on mowing. More
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Wild About Their Calling
from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette
James Mullins, a park interpreter for 21 years at Pinnacle Mountain State Park in Arkansas, gets this question often: “Interpreter? Well, what language do you speak?” Julie Lovett, interpreter at Woolly Hollow State Park in Arkansas, and Jason Parrie, interpreter at DeGray Lake Resort State Park in Arkansas, have heard that, too. People are usually trying to be cute, but Mullins says it’s not a bad way to explain the job. More
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The Original Pooch Post
 Secure dog tethering system for parks and open spaces.Great amenity for busy playgrounds, picnic areas, near benches and outside public park restrooms. More |
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