5.5. SR 10-28-2002River
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
MEMORANDUM
Mayor and City Council
Michele Bergh, Recreation Manager
October 23, 2002
City Recreation Update
Item 5.5.
November-December Program Guide
This was delivered on October 9th with the Star News. We are excited about all the
opportunities we have available. The biggest one we have is the New "U" Pass, which is our
revised fitness program, geared for adults. We have a variety of classes available throughout
the week. Participants will purchase a pass that is good for November-December and with
that pass they will be able to attend any class they choose. There are two different levels of
passes available. We will also be offering special events periodically geared towards living a
healthy lifestyle as a part of the pass system. People who purchase an unlimited pass will
also be able to have a one-on-one fitness assessment with a personal trainer at no additional
fee. We have about 50 of these passes sold as of today and expect this number to double
within the next few weeks.
We are also offering a one-time Belly Dancing Workshop for women. This was set up after
the brochure was done. We had been looking for someone to teach it as we had received
several requests. We are able to take 25 participants and there are 4 spots left. This was
promoted by word of mouth and at our programs only.
Programming Space
We continue to look for space to hold programs. We are offering many daytime programs,
which are growing in popularity. We have had requests for programs or childcare that would
run at the same time as an adult program but have no space for this at this time. We are
running all our open gyms this season at the Boys and Girls Club in partnership with them
and believe it will be a win-win for everyone. We are providing the staff and they are
providing the facility. We will both be supplying equipment. All revenue will be split
equally. Participants will receive a discount if they are a member of the Club or if they come
to our office and purchase a pass for Elk River residents. We need to offer more Pee Wee
classes than we are currently offering and believe we have found an instructor but need the
space to do so.
Open House/Skateboard Park
The open house was a success. We had many people in attendance, including several youth
who visit us almost every day and skateboard, bike or roller blade outside. It was great
having them there and it seemed to heighten the awareness that they need a place to go and
enjoy their sport of choice. We enjoy having them around and feel that Lions is a great place
for a skate park to be located. The Lions Club has expressed a willingness to help fund this.
Central Lutheran Church has a new Youth Director who has also expressed an interest in
being involved.
MRPA Conference
The conference will take place in Prior Lake November 12-15th. Our department will be
attending Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday. There are some great sessions listed
and we are excited about going.
Employee Wellness Committee
We have just organized a wellness committee and have started to meet. We have set our
objective as educating and promoting wellness for all city employees with our areas of focus
being physical activity, nutrition and health management. We will be looking at existing
opportunities and possible future opportunities to add to promote health and wellness for all
city employees. This is something I have been interested in for quite a while and am excited
to see coming together. I will keep you updated as this progresses.
Girl Power
We are in the process of developing a program called Girl Power for girls in 4~h and 5th grade
and a smaller version of this called Just 4 Girls for 2nd and 3rd graders. Girl Power is a
program sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services for girls between
9 and 14 years of age. The objective is to promote a healthy lifestyle for girls, including
developing and strengthening their self-esteem and teaching them to make good decisions.
We are starting this with a kick off event in January that will include activities that develop
relationships, teamwork, relaxation, fitness, taking care of yourself, self expression and more.
The Just 4 Girls is geared at the younger girls and will be somewhat of an introduction to
Girl Power with similar activities being offered.
Newsletter
We are developing a health and wellness newsletter to be called Alive and Kickin' which will
include articles and tidbits on fitness, diet/nutrition, health, and mind/spirit. All Recreation
Department admin staff will work together to develop each publication. Our first issue will
be out by November 1st.
Concessions
Concession season will be ending in about two weeks. It has been a great experience, we've
learned a lot, and we look forward to doing it again next year. I have not seen final numbers,
however I do believe that we broke even and may even have made a small profit.
Family Fright Night
We have 175 people registered for this event so far and have many partners helping to
organize everything. I believe this will become an annual event and am very excited about
doing this at Woodland Trails. It's always fun to work with other city departments, other
organizations in the community and the public to pull off a great family event.
It is always such an exciting challenge to try new programming. We look forward to
continuing the growth and building on what we currendy provide. I think we have a great
department with great staff who all enjoy what they do. We are open to any ideas for
programming so please give us a call or stop by any time.