Groups being sought to help clean parks
By Anessa Myers
Published in News on February 13, 2008 1:50 PM
The Recreation and Parks Advisory Commission met Tuesday night to discuss cleaning up the parks through the Adopt-A-Park program.
The program allows community groups to volunteer to keep up some of the maintenance of the park, such as pruning, picking up trash, flower bed preparation and painting, in exchange for a sign recognizing the group or even an award for a certain number of hours spent.
The Parks and Recreation Department just doesn't have enough maintenance workers to go around to keep all of the parks in tip top shape, Director Sonya Shaw said. So, the commission is hoping more people step up and help out.
About 10 groups have shown an interest in volunteering so far, but most have not followed up, Mrs. Shaw said.
Packets of information have been sent out to these groups, and Mrs. Shaw is hoping that the groups are waiting to meeting with others before they give their approval.
The program does need more support, she said.
And it doesn't take much, just a few hours a week or even a few hours a month -- anything will be better than nothing, she said.
The commission encourages churches, civic groups and schools to participate. Contact the Parks and Recreation Department at 739-7480 for more information.
Mrs. Shaw also informed the commission members about the decisions made at the City Council's retreat last week that involve the Parks and Recreation Department, including information on starting the Fine Arts Academy in Dr. Schrum's former office by Herman Park and a new location for the department's storage facility near the city's Compost Center. Members were in agreeance with what the Council approved.