Brittany Washington of Garner Parks & Recreation and Cultural ResourcesEarns ECU Award
East Carolina University has named Brittany Washington, events coordinator for Garner's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department, as a recipient of its 40 Under Forty Leadership Award for the Class of 2021.
East Carolina University has named Brittany Washington, events coordinator for Garner's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department, as a recipient of its 40 Under Forty Leadership Award for the Class of 2021.
To be eligible for the prestigious award for the Class of 2021, persons must be:
under the age of 40 as of Dec. 31, 2020;
an ECU graduate (undergraduate or professional degree);
demonstrate a commitment to maintaining a lifelong relationship with ECU;
and have made an impact in business, research, artistic, leadership, community, educational and/or philanthropic endeavors.
Washington, an Enfield native, was honored for spearheading scholarship efforts to benefit students at her former high school, including use of her personal funds. In addition, as a certified parks and recreation professional (a credential earned in 2019), Washington became an ambassador for the North Carolina Recreation and Park Association and currently serves as a member of the association's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee.
ECU's 40 Under Forty Leadership Awards Committee is made up of alumni, staff and faculty and oversees a highly competitive selection process for the 40 Under Forty Leadership Awards program.
"Consideration for this award is a tribute to each nominee’s ability to apply their ECU education in the following categories: research and education, health and wellness, public service, arts and humanities, and business," the awards committee said. "This year’s selection process was extremely competitive with over 320 nominations from accomplished and committed leaders, making the committee’s decision extremely challenging."
Washington earned a bachelor of science degree in recreation and park management with a concentration in youth sports leadership from ECU in 2012. She received a master's of science in recreation and park administration from ECU in 2015.
The 2021 class of award recipients will be honored at ECU's annual Division of Student Affairs 40 Under Forty Leadership Award Banquet on April 24.
Learn more about the 40 Under Forty Leadership Award program.
Courtesy Town of Garner
Town Seeks Public Input on Draft Park Plans
The Town of Garner Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department is seeking community feedback on the draft master plans for two new park properties: Meadowbrook and Yeargan.
The Garner Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department is seeking community feedback on the draft master plans for two new park properties: Meadowbrook (a bit off of White Oak Road) and Yeargan (on East Garner Road). Your feedback is extremely important to create a vision based on the history and cultural heritage that both park properties symbolize for Garner and the region, while also satisfying the community’s current and future recreation needs.
The survey deadline is January 8th
You can view a quick video overview of the plans below.
Garner Parks and Recreation & Cultural Resources Unveils Ten Year Comprehensive Plan
The Town of Garner unanimously approved the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department’s Comprehensive Plan in January.
The Town of Garner unanimously approved the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department’s Comprehensive Plan in January.
The plan outlines the department’s priorities for the next ten years and is a culmination of nearly two years of study which involved community input through focus groups and surveys.
“It’s been about a two year process from start to finish,” said Sonya Shaw, Director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources, in remarks at the Town Council meeting on January 21.
The department will build between 33 – 42 miles of greenway in accordance with the Greenway Network Plan and two new parks, being referred to as Meadowbrook and Yeargan. Long term goals include nearly 100 miles of greenway in total, acquiring land for a third new park and working towards a second indoor recreation center.
“I think it’s always important for us to really see our comprehensive plan as a community plan. It’s certainly one that involved a number of community agencies and groups. Roughly about 35 different community groups have been involved in this process,” Shaw said.
The plan also outlines the need for increasing programs focusing on health and wellness and cultural resources, particularly serving the teenaged and senior populations, and addresses staffing needs, funding needs and maintenance.
Garner Parks Director, Dr. Sonya Shaw, Named President of the NC Recreation & Park Association
Dr. Sonya Shaw, has officially been sworn in as President of the NC Recreation & Park Association.
Dr. Shaw being sworn in as President of the NC Parks and Recreation Association. Image Courtesy Town of Garner.
Republished Courtesy Town of Garner
We are so proud to share that Garner Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Director, Dr. Sonya Shaw, has officially been sworn in as President of the NC Recreation & Park Association.
The @ncrpa has a five-person Board of Directors that meets quarterly and is responsible for the overall operation of the organization. Officers are nominated on an annual basis and appointed by the Nominations Committee.
This organization serves over 5,300 parks and recreation association members across the state.
Under Dr. Shaw’s leadership the Garner PRCR department has earned national accreditation, Playful City USA status, and numerous other honors under her leadership. Help us congratulate her!
Community Mobilizes to Rename Park in Honor of Jackie Johns
A neighborhood park in Garner soon will be bearing the name of an iconic figure in the town’s history.
A neighborhood park in Garner soon will be bearing the name of an iconic figure in the town’s history.
In response to a remarkable citizen-led initiative, and in accordance with the Town’s newly adopted facility naming policy, the Town Council at its Aug. 5 regular meeting voted unanimously to change the name of Rand Mill Park to Jackie Johns Community Park. Mr. Johns, a longtime Town Council member, passed away in January at the age of 81.
The park, managed by the Town of Garner’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department, is located at 508 Rand Mill Road in the neighborhood where Mr. Johns and his wife, Lily, lived with their two sons.
The Smith Drive Community Reunion Committee led the effort to get the park renamed in honor of Mr. Johns. Committee member Michelle Collins circulated a petition that received over 1,000 signatures of local residents who supported the park renaming.
“Councilman Jackie Johns was very influential in Garner and in our community in regard to our park. He actually had the opportunity to visit at our event [at the park] last year,” Collins said in her remarks to the Town Council. “It is also his community where he and his wife raised their two sons together.”
In the early 1980s, Mr. Johns was instrumental in persuading Town leaders to move the park from its location at the corner of Bagwell Street and Smith Drive to its current site, and to upgrade park amenities to include a ballfield, basketball court, playground equipment and picnic shelter. The shelter, which seats up to 20 people, is available on a first-come, first-served basis at no cost.
Just before the Council voted to rename the park, Mayor Ronnie Williams, a longtime friend and Council colleague of Mr. Johns, said, “I think it’s safe to say—and we have to believe—that Jackie is looking down tonight, and he’s pleased with what he sees.”
Mr. Johns served as an alderman and then Town Council member for a total of nearly 36 years over three separate tenures. He was the first, and to date still the only, African-American elected to municipal office in Garner’s history.
For more information about Town parks and other recreational facilities, visit garnernc.gov/departments/parks-recreation-and-cultural-resources
Republished Courtesy the Town of Garner