March 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 21

reducing fruit-juice portion sizes in children's meals, reducing the added sugar in flavored milks, and increasing the
amount of whole grains in buns. And
vending machine suppliers, she reminds,
have a stake in satisfying both end-users
and the facilities that host them.
Drinking water is often overlooked
when park facilities examine the nutritional options they offer the public. " We
are looking carefully at water equity, " she
says. " It's not enough to tell people to reduce sugary drinks. You have to make
good drinking water available. And we
think the public has a right to good drinking water that is also free. "
So Blanck and her team, in their work
with the National Park Service, examined water fountains and other sources of
drinking water carefully. Were the fountains clean and appealing to drink from?
Did they dispense cold water? Were they
designed to allow a user to fill a water bottle easily? They used a smart phone app to
assess water fountain locations. The same
technology could be used in the future to
create maps or apps helping park visitors
find the nearest water fountains, she says.
" Parks offer so much and bring in so
many different health aspects, " Blanck
says. " And we've only begun to look at
some of the ways that healthy foods might
lead park visitors to stay longer. " Noting the inter-relationship between nutrition and physical activity, she speculates
that longer visits with better nourishment
might just mean longer periods of families enjoying physical activity together.
" This is not the same as just going out and
walking on a track, " she concludes. " With
parks, it's about the whole environment.
The atmosphere you are creating and the
choices you are offering. "
And, if Blanck's obesity research moves
into action, erasing the reds and oranges
from that national map will come from an
abundance of healthy, easy, appealing options-thoughtfully integrated into the settings where people live and recreate.
Interview by Maureen Hannan,
Senior Editor, Parks & Recreation

S P ORTS

Expanding the Game of Golf
Feeder short golf courses across the
country provide affordable golf

iven the prem ise
that golf is a good and
powerful teacher for
individuals, especially children, the Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation has a
program to promote the building of short
courses (three, six or nine hole) that provide affordable access to golf across the
country.
To bring about the new venues and
make these feeder short courses a reality, the Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation partners with communities, park
districts, YMCA's, developers, existing
golf courses, hospitals, forest preserve
districts or school districts that can donate the land and operate the facility. In
addition, a team of Company Partners
from the golf course construction and golf
facility industry is being established, who
will whenever possible contribute profit, goods or services to create the short
courses at a significantly lower cost. In
addition to a financial contribution, the
Wadsworth Foundation would work with
the ownership group to secure Funding
Partners that are interested in becoming a title sponsor for
the Links Across America course or be the
major donor and
have it named after their company or family.
In conjunction
with the Links
Across America
initiative, a Links
g u idebook has
been developed. The
Links guidebook serves

as a resource document provided to
potential owners, Company Partners,
Corporate or Foundation Funders, and
associates in the Golf Industry. The Links
guidebook consists of design and operating templates, information on the Company Partners, opportunities for Corporate/
Foundation Funders, round projections,
budgets and financial pro formas, marketing and promotional ideas, and other materials to assist and enable Links
Across America short courses to achieve
many positive results while graduating future golfers to the next level of regulation
courses.
The need for this type of facility is
being reconfirmed by the positive responses the Wadsworth Foundation has
received from park districts, municipalities, YMCAs, and First Tee chapters
across the country.
The goal of the Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation is to develop two short
courses per year. The foundation was
founded in 1997 to commemorate the
40th anniversary of the Ohio-based Wadsworth Golf Construction Company. Over
the foundation's 15-year span, it has
contributed more than $4.5
million to organizations and programs
in communities
dedicated interested in maintaining golf as
a way of life for
their residents.
For further deta i ls, contact
Leon McNair at
-leonm@wadsworthgolf.com

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