June 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 15

Archive Throwback:
December 1986
By Catrina Belt

he December 1986 issue of Parks & Recreation magazine is akin to
this month's Health and Wellness Pillar. The " Special Fitness " issue
illustrates the trends of the 1980s, with a focus on agencies that were
proactive in the fitness movement. These " Agency Spotlights " served
as examples of health and wellness programming at a time when declining
general health and physical activity were capturing the park and recreation industry's attention.
Editor Pamela Leigh sets the scene
for readers in her editorial, " Fitness:
The Antidote to an Ailing America, "
writing, " In an age when labor-saving
devices contribute to a sedentary lifestyle, western societies have discovered that 'the good life,' regrettably,
is killing us. Obesity, heart ailments,
lung cancer and other diseases are on
a rise at a time when attention to the
importance of fitness is gaining rapid
attention. Recreation agencies are in
a position to provide an antidote to
these symptoms by offering programs
and facilities to all Americans, rich
or poor, old or young, able-bodied
or not, who deserve an opportunity
to improve or maintain their fitness
levels...The recreation profession
represents a 'sleeping giant' slowly
awakening to its role in fulfilling the
needs of people to be functionally fit
(sweat equity) rather than just visually fit (halo effect). " Leigh continues
on, writing of a materialistic society
and the universal need to enrich the
quality of life - words that still ring
true almost 30 years later.
Leveraging Community
Programming
Every day, professionals in our in

dustry are developing innovative
programming that encourages people from all walks of life to participate. In the article, " Senior Games,
Getting Better with Age, " authors
Beth Wilson and Margot Raynor
describe a nonprofit created to motivate senior adults to get active.
" North Carolina Senior Games
(NCSG) is a year-round health
and wellness promotion for adults
55 and older. In 1986, over 5,000
participants competed in 213 sanctioned local games, with the medal
winners qualifying for the annual
state finals, " they write. The games
included more than 40 events for
participants to choose from including basketball shooting, cycling,
bowling and swimming. To this day

and throughout the year, NCSG
holds training classes for the events,
fitness and wellness workshops, socials and other engaging activities
for the adults. Today, NCSG is considered to be the largest health promotion organization of its type in
the country with more than 60,000
participants in 53 local games programs that serve all 100 counties
across the state.
The Cincinnati Recreation Commission's (CRC) Healthline Fitness
Course served as another example of what wellness programming
could be. In the article, " Cincinnati's
Healthline Fitness Course Takes It
to the Streets, " author Diann Viox
describes the course thusly: " The
fitness course contains easily identifiable walking and jogging routes
and exercise clusters in open spaces
along downtown sidewalks...The
routes and activities vary in distance
and intensity to meet an individual's
current fitness capacity and provide a
challenge to improve performance. "
The course was part of a program
developed by Healthline to serve all
47 community neighborhoods in
Cincinnati at that time, and target
citizens and visitors alike. Three decades later, the number of esteemed
promotions like these has grown exponentially as health and wellness remain at the forefront of recreational
programming.
Catrina Belt is an Editorial Intern for Parks &
Recreation magazine (cbelt@nrpa.org).

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