Parks and recreation in Georgia [Vol. 2, No. 2 (Sept.-Oct. 1975)]

Georgia Department of
RESOURCES

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VOL 2. NO.2

THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES OFFICE OF PLANNING AND RESEARCH RECREATION PLANNING SECTION

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER, 1975

DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

FUNDS SEVEN NEW DEPARTMENTS

The Department of Natural Resources recently provided monies to help establish seven new recreation and park departments thorugh the Recreation and Park Assistance Fund. The two-year old program is operated by the Recreation Planning Section, Office of Planning and Research and provides financial aid (on a 50/50 matching basis) and technical assistance to units of local government who desire to establish full-time recreation and park departments. The seven applicants which were approved to receive assistance this year include: Effingham County, Union County, Heard County, Jefferson County, White County, Washington-Wilkes County, and Bremen.

The General Assembly first allocated monies for the program in 1973 and beginning in 1974 twelve new departments were established in the state. In 1975, $120,000 was appropriated for the program, and thirteen applicants were identified as meeting the criteria to receive funds. Applicant eligibility was based on written criteria, d1scussibns with local officials, and site visitations.

This brings to nineteen the number of cities and/or counties throughout the state which have been aided through this program in establishing full-time recreation and park systems. Those funded in the previous year were: Adel-Cook County, Cedartown, Chatsworth-Murray County, Dooly County, Fitzgerald-Ben Hill County, Ft. Valley-Peach County, Gilmer County, Glennville, Habersham County, Jackson-Butts County, Madison County, and Towns County Additional funds will be sought in 1976 to continue the projects funded this year as well as to initiate new projects.
Applications for this program are generally accepted after January 1st of each year. Cities or counties which have no established recreation and park department on a full-time basis may seek additional information by contacting the:
Recreation Planning Section Department of Natural Resources
270 Washington Street, S.W Room 703-B
Atlanta, Georgia 30334

CONFERENCE ON RECREATION AND PARKS
The 31st Georgia Conference on Recreation and Parks will be held at the new Holiday Inn on Jekyll Island on November 4-6 this year Each year professional recreators and lay people from all over the state meet and attend sessions which cover a variety of topics pertaining to the broadest aspects of the recreation and park profession. The conference is sponsored by the Georgia Recreation and Park Society, Inc. whose membership numbers over 1, 100, and a good turn-out is expected at the meeting this year. Featured speakers include: Reverend Nelson Price, Pastor of the Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, who will speak at the Lay Awards Banquet; Dr. Thomas B. Songster, Director of Sports and Recreation for Special Olympics, Inc. in Washington, D.C., and Mr. Ney Landrum, Director of the Division of Recreation and Parks, Florida Department of Natural Resources, who will be the keynote speaker for the First General Session on the 6th. The new Holiday Inn is headquarters for the conference and reservations should be made directly to them.

NRPA TO DEVELOP PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT SAFETY STANDARDS
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced that the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) will develop safety-related requirements applicable to public playground equipment. NRPA will develop the requirements by means of a 13 member, central "Development Panel". consisting of five consumers, two of whom are "Technically" oriented and three of whom are "user" oriented, four industry representatives; three buyerinstaller representatives from the parks, recreation and schools fields ; and one NRPA representative who will serve as the Project Coordinator
The Development Panel will deal with six. broad hazard areas:
contact with or by fixed or moving parts of equipment
falls from equipment
contact with surfaces installed under or directly adjacent to equipment
entrapment and "other"
structural failure
layout, installation and/or maintenance and human factors, with additional task groups to be added if necessary
Pertinent areas such as biomedical, design and engineering, hazard analysis, psychomotor development, psychology of play, testing, economic impact, human factors. legal considerations, etc., will be considered.
NRPA plans to negotiate an agreement with the Franklin Institute Research Laboratories (FIRL), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for all technical and testing aspects of the safety-related requirements development process. FIRL is a not-for-profit research and development organization having no affiliation with any manufacturers or special interest groups related to this project.
The Safety Commission will con tribute S87,650 toward the costs of developing the requisite safetyrelated requirements. Playground equipment manufacturers will contribute $25,000 to the development process.
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All persons interested in participating in the development of the safety-related requirements should contact Mr. Robert Buechner, Project Director, National Recreation and Park Association, 1601 North Kent St., Arlington, Virginia 22209. (703) 525-0606.
PARKS & RECREATION MAINTENANCE WORKSHOP SCHEDULED FOR MARCH
The Department of Natural Resources will cosponsor a parks and recreation maintenance workshop on March 2-4, 1976. Two other agencies, the Georgia Recreation and Park Society and the National Recreation and Park Association , will help sponsor the conference which is planned presently to be held at Rock Eagle 4-H Center near Eatonton. The focus of the workshop will be on maintenance operations with a practical approach to solving day-to-day problems. More information concerning registration, subject matter, and costs will be outlined in forthcoming issues of this newsletter.
Pictured are from left to right (standing) Paul Lee, Member of the Cobb County Parks and Recreation Commission, Jimmy Jones. Cobb County Commissioner; and (seated) James L. Martin and Jennie Anderson, both members of the Cobb County Parks and Recreation Commission. The photograph was taken at the recent dedication ceremonies for Sweetwater Park, a new facility developed by the Cobb County Parks and Recreation Department. Mr. John Davis, President of the National Recreation and Park Association, was the featured speaker at the ceremonies.
DATES TO REMEMBER
OCTOBER 19- 24 NRPA National Congress on Recreation and Parks Dallas, Texas
NOVEMBER 4- 6 Georgia Conference on Recreation and Parks Holiday Inn Jekyll Island

INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL OLYMPIC GAMES

Pictured are SitSan St. James, star of stage, screen, and television, and Ernie North, the goalie for the Georgia Floor Hockey team. Ernie is from Carrollton, and welcomes tile congratulations from Susan
MARTIN AND BILLUPS NAMED TO COUNCIL
Tom Martin and Marvin Billups were recently elected by the Georgia Recreation and Park Society Board of Trustees to serve as GRPS Representatives on the Southern District Council of the National Recreation and Park Association.
Martin, who is Supervisor of Recreation Technical Assistance for the Department of Natural Resources, was re-appointed for a three-year term.
Billups, who is Assistant Director of Recreation for the Atlanta Bureau of Parks and Recreation, was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Jim Miller, Director, Cobb County Parks and Recreation, who resigned recently
The Council is responsible for formulating priorities, programs, and projects for the Southern Region of NRPA and serves as an advisory body to NRPA's National Council.
NEW STADIUM AT AMERICUS
The Americus City Council recently voted to build a recreation complex and stadium utilizing $1 00,000 in insurance funds received when the Community Center was destroyed by fire. Community Center funds will be replaced by a 25-cent fee charged on tickets sold for stadium events.

A shot of tile action in tile jloor hockey competition at Mt. Pleasant Miclligan, site of tlte International Games. Tile Georgia team all receiJed Bronze Medals for tlteir efforts.
SAYANNAH RECEIVES FEDERAL MONIES
John Tidwell, Director of the Savannah Department of Leisure Services announced recently that his department had received S1.02 million in Federal monies from the Community Development Program and from the Department of Natural Resources. Funds will be utilized to build swimming pool and tennis court complexes, and to purchase playground equipment, fencing, and miscellaneous supplies and accessories. A total of 30 parks in the Savannah system will benefit from the allocated funds.
PARKS EXPANSION AT SANDERSVILLE
Mayor Frank Moye recently announced that Sandersville's city park was the recipient of $10.000 from the Department of Natural Resources. Plans for improvement include a baseball/softball field, three tennis courts, a swimming pool, lighted parking area. and site improvement and landscaping. Funds will be matched by the city, making it a S20,000 project.
CLAYTON COUNTY ACQUIRES LAND
Tom Drummond, Director of Parks and Recreation for Clayton County, recently announced that his department has acquired two tracts of land which will be developed into park sites. Lands included a 25 acre tract in the northwest portion of the county, and a 38 acre tract in the northeast area. Monies from the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation-Land and Water Conservation Fund were utilized to help purchase the parcels of newly acquired land.
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INTERN CONDUCfS CHEERLEADING CLINIC
Miss Vickie Ward, who interned with the Ga. Special Olympics Program, conducted a cheerleading clinic for mentally retarded citizens in the Metro Atlanta area on August 14th. The clinic was held in conjunction with the Cobb County Parks and Recreation Department and involved approximately 30 participants. Vickie is a student at West Georgia College majoring in Recreation.
RECENT PERSONNEL ACTION
Promotions and New Assignments College Park Recreation Dept.. Albert Gallof - Center Director
Statesboro Parks & Recreation Dept Frank Hook Co-Director of Recre~on
New Appointments Athens General Hospital Marilyn McClelland Recreation Therapist
Bremen Recreation Department Ben Hambrick - Director of Recreation
Clayton County Parks & Recreation Dept. Marilyn Henry - Therapeutic Specialist
College Park Parks Department: Keith Jordan - Parks Superintendent
Fayette County Parks & Recreation Dept. Donald Sherwin Director of Recreation
Hancock County Recreation Dept. Jimmy Dickson Director of Recreation
Kennesaw Parks & Recreation Dept.. Ben Robertson Director of Recreation
Jackson/Butts County Parks & Recreation Dept.. Hollis Griggs Director of Recreation
Troup County Parks & Recreation Commission. Charles McGhee - Area Supervisor
POSITIONS AVAILABLE
Jefferson County Director of Recreation
Heard County - Director of Recreation
Dept. of Natural Resources, Recreation Planning Section Recreation Planner Associate Planner-Therapeutics
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ACT NOW- BICENTENNIAL PROGRAM POSSIBILITY
Attention Recreation and Park Directors! You can book a special Bicentennial production of Tom Sawyer into your high school or city auditorium or civic center as part of your plans to celebrate the Bicentennial and help raise funds for your department in the process. Tom Sawy er, available after April 24, 1976, and another exciting production, Presto! A Magical Spectacular, available after November IS, 1975, are both productions of ACT Atlanta Children's Theatre.
ACT is a professional theatre company of Equity actors (adults) who perform classical and contemporary drama for children and young people. From its home in the Alliance Theatre at the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center, ACT has toured the state with lavishly staged productions of unrivaled quality The company played before audiences totaling over 55,000 on tour last year including the cities of Macon, Augusta, Rome, Griffin, Newnan, Covington, Jackson, and LaGrange. The tour performances are not special, small scale packages but are the same full-scale productions seen on the Alliance stage in Atlanta and are suitable for presentation in high school or city auditoriums and civic centers.
ACT must contract for a minimum of $2,200, i.e., three performances at a rate of $900.00 for the first, $700.00 for the second, and $600.00 for each additional performance. School Board cooperation would be essential in order to secure permission for children to attend in-school performances which also insures the best participation. Ticket sales are handled locally while ACT provides promotional and educational materials and workshops if requested.
Recreation and Parks Department may contact the following person about contracting for a tour booking:
Betty Blondeau, Educational Coordinator Atlanta Children's Theatre P 0. Box 77324 Atlanta, Georgia 30309 (404) 892-7607 (collect)

Published Bi-Monthly by Department of Natural Resources Office of Planning and Research
Recreation Planning Section 270 Washington Street Atlanta, Georgia 30334
Telephone: (404) 656-2790

No. Copies- 2,000

Approx. Cost- $237.75