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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-03-20; Parks & Recreation Commission; 300-1; Commissioners ReportPARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION -AGENDA BILL AB# 300-1 TITLE : a INFO MTG. DATE: 3-20-00 COMMISSIONERS REPORT STAFF: All Divisions I 0 I RECOMMENDED ACTION : Accept and file ITEM EXPLANATION : Attached is a copy of the Commissioners Report for FebruarylMarch, 2000 EXHIBITS: 1) Commissioners Report, FebruarylMarch, 2000 F March 6,2000 TO: Parks & Recreation Commission From: Recreation Supervisor II COMMISSIONER’S REPORT FOR FEBRUARY/MARCH 2000 STAFF NEWS On February 4th, Senior Recreation Leader Richard Navarro was honored at the California Parks & Recreation Society, District XI1 Banquet as the Part Time Employee of the Year. Richard was nominated for his outstanding work in the Special Events section. Richard is a key staff person for Kidz Camp Program, assists in the planning of all special events and has stepped in to fill a void this year in the Stay N’ Play Program. Congratulations to Richard! Several Carlsbad staff members will be actively involved in CPRS District XI1 next year. Marc Beasley will be serving as the District’s treasurer and Gail Watts will be the Supervisor’s Section Representative. Robin Bettin will be serving as the Region V Representative, representing San Diego and Orange County and Coastal Los Angeles County on the CPRS State Board. SPECIAL EVENTS /c The Special Events Section has set the date of the Annual Community Sale at Holiday Park for June IO. On February 11 the Special Events Section held the last Teen Dance for this school year at Calavera Community Center. Nearly 550 Junior High Students attended the dance, and enjoyed a safe night of food, fun and dancing. The evening was topped off by the crowning of Royal Court. It’s almost HUNTING season again. That’s right, the Annual Egg Hunts will be held on April 22 at Holiday Park, Calavera Park and Stagecoach Park. The hunt will begin sharply at I Oam. Staff is currently preparing over 25,000 plastic eggs and 10,000 prizes for this years hunt. With the help of Coldwell Banker of La Costa and Life Line Community Services this should be the largest Egg Hunt ever hosted by the Recreation Department. EXHIBIT I rc STAY N' PLAY The Stay n' Play afterschool program finished its first session on February 10 at Buena Vista and Jefferson Elementary Schools. A total of 226 children took part in the first session, and staff expects an additional 50 more children to register for the second session. The first Session ended with a pizza party and' a trip to the lceoplex ice skating rink in Escondido. Highlights of the second session will include a visit from Carlsbad Police and Fire Departments, and an end of the year trip to Disneyland. YOUTH SPORTS The Youth Sports section has completed a very busy February and March, with Youth Basketball season in full swing. The weekend of March 4, play-offs were held at both Calavera and Stagecoach. Many exciting games took place and a great time was had by all. All in all it has been an exciting season, with almost 90 volunteer coaches and over 750 youths participating. - On March 18th we will host the C division of the county playoffs. Teams from all over San Diego County will compete in a weekend tournament to crown the county champion in each age division. Two teams from Carlsbad will compete in each age division. Staff will now begin preparation for a busy summer of contract sports camps. YOUTH DAY CAMPS Staff is preparing for the 90 children to attend the Spring Youth Day Camp at Calavera Hills April, 3-7. The children will explore new exciting games that have been created just for our camps. This spring the campers will go on three field trips, bowling, the movies and end the week with a trip to Magic Mountain. Currently staff is working on finalizing the summer camp schedule and preparing the camp booklet that should be available to residents by the first part of May. ,- SENIORS The Senior Services Team from Aging and Independent Services is now scheduled at the Senior Center twice a month to speak with older adults about issues ranging from coping with age-related limitations, to a medical crisis, to knowledge of elder abuse. Most of the appointments for the first session were filled and the Center is excited about the continuing presence of the Team! At long last, the production of ‘Showboat’ sailed into San Diego and the Carlsbad Seniors got on board January 8th for a wonderful afternoon theater performance at the Civic Theatre January 13 we traveled to the Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights for a docent conducted tour of the Buddhist society. This was a wonderful morning filled with many surprises and a view of the treasures in the museum. We lunched at the Temple and then visited the Pacific Museum in Pasadena. This was quite an informative day about the orient. Dr. Theresa Benjamin, a psychological counselor, introduced “The Philosophy of Joy” to the seniors on January 19. Her philosophy, which she taught to graduating physicians at USC for 15 years, was so popular that Dr. Benjamin has been invited to return in order to cover the topic in more depth. ,- Viejas Casino was on our agenda for the day of January 20”. Ninety seniors packed the busses for bingo, gambling, lunch and shopping. It was a great way to spend a day. Once or twice a year the topic of long-term care is presented to the seniors. On January 20 specialist Sheila K. Nia conducted a seminar outlining the subject, concentrating primarily on home health care here in California. It was a very well received program. Twenty-five brave seniors boarded Amtrak on January 25 and journeyed to Santa Barbara for an overnight stay. We had a bit of rain, but that didn’t dampen our spirits. After arriving we checked into our hotel, took the tram tour of the area, and then went to dinner at the Harbor Restaurant on the wharf. This was a fantastic trip and we are now all experienced train travelers! Seniors were offered an opportunity to learn the secrets of organizing all aspects of their lives on January 27. Professional Wileen Hasler presented “Let‘s Get Organized” with hints and checklists on how to organize and therefore reduce stress. All in attendance learned some valuable lessons. Sunday, January 30th (Super Bowl Sunday) we football widows visited the Avo Theater for the production of ‘Pump Boys and Dinettes’. We had coffee and a treat before settling into our seats for this production. It was a great way to spend a Sunday. Thursday, February 3 we drove to Long Beach and were treated to a tour of the Queen Mary. After the tour we were hosted for a great lunch on the Promenade Deck and then traveled down the hall to view the exhibit from the Russian Romanov Dynasty. This was a very unique collection of jewels, statuary, and many more treasures of that era. As expected, the free income tax assistance sponsored by AARP is quite popular, with the available appointments rapidly disappearing. A group of dedicated volunteers work hard each Tuesday and Thursday, 2/8/00 - 4/13/00, to handle the tax needs of our seniors. Carlsbad Community Day on February 10 was a very special informative day. We toured the Senior Retirement Communities in our area. Carlsbad By The Sea, Las Villas, Brighton Gardens, and Sunrise Assisted Living Center was on our itinerary and we will repeat this trip again in July, as we had 55 on the waiting list for our trip. The walls of the hallway gallery at the Center have been adorned with the paintings of artist Mary Taglieri since February 15 and the seniors are excited about their beauty and serenity. A “Meet the Aritist” seminar was conducted on the 24* and it was well attended and many questions were asked. This may be an ongoing series, with different artists represented here at the Center. ,- An evening performance of “Aida” at the Performing Arts Centre in Escondido was in store for us on Tuesday, February 15. This production was filled with lavish costumes, a full orchestra and wonderful stage settings. An audiologist from the Carlsbad Hearing Aid Center now volunteers every other month to check and clean hearing aids. Nearly all of the appointments scheduled on February 17 were taken ... so it is fast becoming a popular program. Tuesday, February 22 we experienced the Getty Museum. We ducked in between the rain storms (we had a clear day) and treated ourselves for a day of viewing ancient art and treasures. We even had clear skies for a picnic! A big hit with the seniors was a “Gentle Yoga” class conducted on the 28*, with over 35 people showing up! This one class was so anticipated an requested by the seniors that we are working on it becoming a weekly class. The comments from the participants were all positive and encouraging. A new program added to the list of ongoing classes is proving to be a rousing success. Low-impact aerobics, as taught as by inspirational Senior Olympian Carl Grubbs, has answered an important need for area seniors. This weekly session is popular because it is accessible to anyone ... even if you use a walker or a wheelchair. This is a wonderful addition to our Center! AQUATICS The Swim Complex, on par with the rest of the world, survived leap year 2000 without a tech system failures to the trillions of dollars spent on preemptive maintenance, we in Aquatics lay credit at the doorstep of a far more cost affective approach. Our computer system is subject to a rigorous regimen of multiple, daily, and medium sized failures. These failures result in the formation of a Swim Complex office hierarchy with the computers firmly planted at the top of the food chain. In short, our computer systems felt no need to crash on New Years Eve. .- single computer glitch (yawn!). While the rest of the world attributes the lack of sweeping There is a gross*shortage of qualified lifeguards and swim instructors in Southern California. To address this growing problem, the Aquatics Supervisor has been teaching a Lifeguard Instructor Course at the Swim Complex. Eight new Lifeguard Instructors capable of teaching Lifeguard Training, CPR for the Professional Rescuer, and Standard First Aid, graduated on February 13, 2000. In addition, the Aquatics Specialist and Senior Instructor/Lifeguard, Ted Lorey, assisted the City of Oceanside Aquatics management in graduating twenty rookie lifeguards from the annual Lifeguard Academy. These students received certifications in Lifeguard Training, CPR for the Professional Rescuer, and First Aid for Public Safety Personnel. The investment of time and energy in these progtams will pay off in better trained and more numerous applicants for Aquatics positions both here in City of Carlsbad, and in North San Diego County as a whole. Several Aquatics staff members will be taking a respite from the cold hard rule of the Swim Complex Office computers. Senior Instructor/Lifeguard, Ted Lorey, will attend the CPRS _- conference on a full-ride scholarship including CPRS membership courtesy of Southern California Public Pool Operator‘s Association. Aquatic Specialist, Dave Gorsline, will join Mr. Lorey at the CPRS conference, (numerous Aquatics related topics this year) and will attend Southwest Chapter of the California Environmental Health Association’s commercial swimming pool seminar on March 29, 2000. Seminar topics include “Technological Future of Aquatic Facility Management’’ and “Chemical Safety and Storage”. City of Carlsbad Aquatics began accepting Spring swim lesson registrations on February 12, with lessons beginning March 8th and gth, 2000. Lessons run from 10:30 to 11 :00 AM and 3:OO to 500 PM weekdays. The program expands as Spring matures. Aquatics is proud to announce the Carlsbad High School girls water polo team has captured the CIF championships for the second year in a row (in no small part because of the lifeguards willing to work until 9:45 PM to cover team practices). While the polo team takes a much deserved rest (and the lifeguards recover from frostbite), the Carlsbad High School girls and boys Junior Varsity and Varsity Swimming and Diving teams have taken over the pool weekdays from 2:45 to 5:OO. The Swim Complex will host five CHS home swim meets in March alone. Anyone operating under the false assumption that lifeguards don’t thrive on manual labor is invited to come down to the pool before a swim meet and watch as staff transforms the pool from the usual 25 meter course to the CHS swim meet 25 yard course (or drop by when the meet is over and watch us put things back in order; in the dark, in the cold, while lap swimmers tap their webbed feet impatiently on the deck). - ENRICHMENT CLASSES The First WinterKpring session is complete and typically enrollment was down in most of our classes, with the exception of fitness, compared to the rest of the year, Fitness classes for adults were one of the most popular programming areas in 1999 and I am sure that it will continue to be so in 2000. As the population ages and the awareness of the relationship of fitness to the quality and length of life becomes more immediate for an aging population, fitness classes should continue to boom. Where fitness for appearance was the primary concern, now fitness for health has become of more importance. Being fit doesn’t have to be a lot of hard work and drudgery. It can be fun! How about kicking up your heels and joining our Social Dance Class, Clogging, Line Dance or Belly Dance? Or are you more sports oriented we offer Tennis, Golf, Volleyball, Kayaking or brisk walking. Our Martial Arts programs are also very popular. (But not for the faint of heart.) We have been busy putting together some great camps for the children to attend this summer. Science, Cooking, Tennis and Golf and are just to name a few. 4 CALAVERA HILLS PARK The months of January and February have been very productive. Many groups including basketball, softball, baseball, Girlscouts, Cubscouts, Homeowners Associations, bridge, art, etc. Are utilizing Calavera. Plus all of our classes that are offered, makes Calavera a happening place. January saw 19,346 patrons. February saw 19,780 patrons. There is a new automated field lighting system that has been installed for fields I ,2 and 3. It will be online soon, possibly by the end of March. Calavera Hills was used by our special events team as the site for the popular Valentines Dance. Everyone had a great time. DAYTRIPPERS A full day “South of the Border” is scheduled for March 4 with stops at Rosarito Beach for breakfast and Ensenada For Shopping. An overnight trip to the Golden Nugget Casino in Laughlin, Nevada will be from March 19-21. An excursion to the “Fabulous Palm Springs Follies’’ dance extravaganza is planned for March 26. ADULT SPORTS The Adult Sports Department is in full swing with all three major sports. The participation has increased in both softball and basketball. The number of registered teams are as followed. The Adult softball has ninety-eight registered teams, adult basketball has thirty registered teams, and the adult soccer has six registered teams. During the next season we will be offering a women’s soccer league, due to a large response from the community capacity of the leagues. -. to conduct a women’s soccer league. We had to turn away a few teams, due to the PARKS DEPARTMENT Parks Division is helping the Friends of the Library in landscaping and planting the new Atrium at the Cole Library for the re-opening in April. At the Main Library In the children’s garden area, the Parks Division is installing a new drain system and adding approximately 100 sq. ft. of stone pavers to the walkway along the north wall as an approach to the grass area. Parks personnel are working on some maintenanie and repairs around the City. We are sprucing up Poinsettia Park for Carlsbad Youth Baseball’s Opening Day Ceremonies which is Saturday, March 3. Rotary Park gets some vandalism repairs, replacing the wood railings with rod iron railings. Tennis court lighting upgrades have been submitted to Purchasing for bids at Laguna Riveria Park and La Costa Canyon Park. Soon we will have light upgrades! Respectfull# submitted, Parksand Recreation Personnel