November 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 21

Notable News
n Lifelong conservationist and
public
servant
Dwight Fay Rettie, 84, died September 28 at his
home in Morehead City, North
Carolina. Retiring from the National Park Service
(NPS) in 1986, Rettie was a 30-plusyear federal employee who lived,
taught and exemplified the highest
level of civic service to his country.
Rettie's career spanned professional
assignments with the NPS from 1975
to 1986, the Department of Housing
and Urban Development from 1966
to 1971, the office of the Secretary of
the Interior from 1964 to 1966, the Bureau of Land Management from 1957
to 1963, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1963 from 1964. In
earlier years, Rettie worked in the U.S.
Treasury Department and for the U.S.
Forest Service in western Montana as
a lookout and smoke chaser during
summers at college. Apart from his
government service, Rettie served as
NRPA's executive director from 1971
to 1975, as well as on several other
boards and commissions.

n Civic leader and conservation champion Jean R. Packard, 92, died October
21 at her home in Fairfax, Virginia. A

dedicated champion of her community
and country, Packard served on many
municipal and advisory boards including the Northern Virginia Soil and
Water Conservation District, Interstate
Commission on the Potomac River Basin, Sierra Club and the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, to name but
a few. Packard is perhaps best known
for leading the effort to down-zone the
Occoquan Watershed, resulting in the
protection of the Occoquan Reservoir.
In recognition of her work and in her
presence, on September 27, NOVA
Parks broke ground on the new Jean R.
Packard Occoquan Center " at Occoquan Regional Park.
n Miracle Recreation donated a
brand-new, state-of-the-art playground
to the Staten Island neighborhood of
Midland Beach, which was severely
battered when Hurricane Sandy made
landfall two years ago. The storm destroyed one of the neighborhood's
few playground areas - Midland
Playground - which has been closed
ever since, leaving families with fewer public areas for safe, active play. It
also destroyed the playground's infrastructure, ruining the safety surfacing,
submerging the area in several feet of
water and littering the grounds with
debris. The adjacent basketball courts,
also a community fixture, were damaged as well. The playground refurbishment was a joint effort with NBA
Cares, the National Basketball Association's global social responsibility program, which provided new basketball
courts alongside the playground.
For more news from around the
industry, visit www.parksandrecreation.org/2014/November/Notable-News.

NRPA Connect
Hot Topics

here are great conversations
happening on NRPA Connect!
Below are a few of the topics
being discussed on the only professional networking platform dedicated
to the park and recreation profession:
1) Not Allowing Headers in Soccer:
Does playing soccer lead to more
concussions than football? Do female
soccer players suffer more injuries
from heading the ball than male soccer
players? Participants discuss whether
headers should continue to be allowed
in children's soccer leagues.
2) Organizing Parades: Do you charge
businesses to participate? How long
should your parade last? How do
you handle crowd control? Read
how your colleagues handle their
events and offer suggestions on how
to make your parade run smoothly.
3) Use of Drones: How is the park
system handling the increase in
the use of drones? Check out this
discussion to see what policies may
soon be put in place to regulate
launching, landing or operating
unmanned aircrafts in public areas.
4) Park Visitation Counts: How do
agencies calculate park visitations?
What is the most accurate multiplier for patrons per car? See what
your colleagues suggest, including
the latest technology counters, trail
cameras and intercept surveys.
Please stop by and contribute at
www.nrpaconnect.org! Need help
with a login? Contact NRPA Customer Service at by phone at 800.626.6772,
by email at customerservice@nrpa.
org, or by clicking the Live Help button on www.nrpa.org.
- Hayley MacDonell, NRPA's Membership Programs Manager

w w w. N R PA . O R G | N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4 |

Parks & Recreation

November 2014 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2014 - Parks & Recreation