July 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 57

It's July!

Top Marks

Blue Valley Recreation Receives Honors

lue V alley
Recreation i n
O verla nd Pa rk ,
Kansas, was the recipient
of two National Recreation
and Parks Association component awards for the Midwest Reg iona l Cou nci l.
Long time commissioner
Bob Johnson received the
Individual Citation Award
due to his exceptional contributions to recreation while the Camp
Center Stage (CCS)
program was awarded the Arts & Humanities honor for being
an innovative and effective arts program.
They were chosen
f rom su bm i s sion s
from across the nation and will be honored at NRPA's 2010
Congress and Exposition, Oct. 25-29, in Minneapolis.
Johnson was called upon many years
ago to be a volunteer coach. Johnson
served on the sports advisory council before being appointed to the Commission in 2002. During his eight-year
appointment, Johnson served as Chairperson twice while spearheading the
largest capital projects in the Commission's history-the addition of the eight
baseball/softball fields at the Recreation
Complex and the Natatorium at the Activity Center. Because of his work with
Blue Valley Rec, Johnson was introduced
to the Kansas Recreation and Park Association (K RPA) and earned an appointment on its Board of Directors for

his passion of the benef its parks and recreation provide. In 2006,
Johnson took on a larger role within the parks
and recreation profession
as a Citizen Representative with NRPA. Currently, he serves as one of 12
members of the Executive Committee of NRPA's
Board of Trustees.
Sharing the spotlight is Blue Valley
Recreation's Camp
Center Stage -an
integral part of the
community for two
de c ade s. Ne a rly
350 students a nd
50 staff participate
each summer in this
six-week program
i n Ju ne a nd Ju ly.
Since the inception
of CCS, its growing
popularity prompted schools throughout
the Blue Valley community to add musical theater programs to after-school curriculums in order to meet the interest of
these performance minded youth. In addition to providing life-changing youth
theater, CCS stresses the importance of
creating character and characters. Preparing for show productions satisfies the
characters aspect and a benevolent giving program addresses the character
side. Each year, campers raise money
for charity or particular cause. During
the last 12 years, campers and their
families have helped more than 30 local organizations and causes by raising
$127,000.


appy Parks and Recre-

ation Month from the
National Recreation
and Park Foundation. Please
continue to have a safe and fun
summer.
The NRPF is a 501 (c) (3) organization supporting research
and public awareness of the
economic, social and physical
value of parks and recreation
in creating healthy families and
communities for all populations
to include educating and reaching the underserved, through
grants provided to NRPA (i.e Environmental and Play Summits).

w w w . N R P A . ORG

Jeremy M. Culpepper
NRPF Administrator
admin@nrpfoundation.
org * 864-634-0412
263 Lehotsky Hall, Clemson, South Carolina 29634
Fran Mainella, NRPF Chair
fmainel@clemson.edu

J U LY 2 0 1 0

Parks & Recreation 55

July 2010 - Parks & Recreation

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