November 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 37

2019
ANNUAL CO
NFERENCE
SEPTEM BER 24-26
| BAL

The Importance of Parks
Building community through stories in Baltimore
By Lindsay Collins

ost people would readily agree that parks play a critical role
in the physical, social and mental health of communities.
They'll even entertain the idea that they save lives, but they
literally do and did for some residents of Paradise, California, the site of one of the deadliest California wildfires last November.
The audience at this year's Opening General Session in Baltimore listened
intently as Jack Kardys, chair of the NRPA Board of Directors, told the
story of how some residents were able to escape their homes and take shelter in a metal structure in the park, where they used water from hoses as a
defense from the flames. " So, if you ever doubt that what you do as a park
professional matters, " he says, " remember this story. "

Parks and park professionals do
matter, and it was a refrain echoed
by Kristine Stratton, NRPA's
president and CEO, who shared
her own experiences growing up
as a " park and rec kid " in Maine
(see more at www.nrpa.org/FullCircle), as well as the story of local community activist, Derwin
Hannah, whose passion for parks
and community developed from a
childhood spent in his local park
playing sports with friends. Then,
as a parent in Baltimore, after noticing the lack of safe play spaces
for children in his neighborhood,
Hannah garnered support for a
park renovation in his neighborhood to bring in the resources and
amenities the community needed.
" Derwin's story is important because it symbolizes an opportunity
for all of us, " says Stratton. " We
must harness the passion in our
communities - like Derwin's -
to not only support the good work
we do now, but to stand with us to
create a parks movement. " (Watch

the 2019 Parks Build Community
project video at www.nrpa.org/
ParksBuildCommunity.)
Stories are a powerful way to
bring others into an experience,
and attendees were enthralled by
the stories of perseverance told by
none other than Baltimore's baseball legend and " Iron Man, " Cal
Ripken Jr. Ripken, who is most
famous for setting the record of
most consecutive games played
with a final total of 2,632 back-toback games over 16 years, shared
how he was able to endure to provide numerous contributions to the
Baltimore Orioles and to the game
of baseball. Ultimately, he says,
" it boils down to eight qualities:
the right approach, a strong will to
succeed, passion, love to compete,
consistency, conviction, strength
and life management. With the

right combination of these characteristics, anyone has the ability to
persevere, " he believes.
At the 2019 NRPA Annual Conference, attendees had countless
opportunities to learn, network and
brainstorm with other park and recreation professionals from across the
country. In addition to the hundreds
of education sessions offered, social
events - such as the opening party (sponsored by GameTime), new
member paint and sip social, golf
tournament, 5K run and sunrise
yoga - were available for attendees
to get out and socialize and make the
most of their time in Baltimore.

Disability rights activist Haben Girma
delivers her keynote speech during the
Closing General Session of the 2019 NRPA
Annual Conference.

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November 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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