Carol Sheridan, Manager of Parks and Recreation Date: Feb 13, 2014
Administration:
The temporary position of Recreation Clerk has been filled with the successful candidate being Kyle Fossett. Kyle has been working as a Relief Cashier Receptionist for the Oliver Parks & Recreation Society since September and has a background in tourism and outdoor recreation and volunteers with Oliver Search & Rescue and the Willowbrook Fire Department.
He lives in Oliver with his wife and young daughter and is thrilled to be joining our team full time for the next year. Jenny Anderson started her one year maternity leave from her position last Friday, Feb 14. We are having a special farewell luncheon for her on Wed Feb 19 at 11:30am in Meeting Room #2 and Directors are welcome to join us.
Omland Heal Accountants will be coming to do the field work portion of our annual audit the week of Feb 24. Feb 26-28 I will be attending my final course to complete my Associate Certificate in Leadership and Conflict Resolution through the Justice Institute in New Westminster.
Facilities:
An AED unit has been installed in the front lobby of the Oliver Arena where it is very visible and publically accessible. Waiting for BC Safety Authority approval to install the outdoor cabinet in the breezeway between the Hall and the Administration Office.
We had an instance of vandalism during the late evening of Sunday Feb 2. One of the glass doors of the main entrance to the Arena was smashed, the window was boarded up and replaced on Monday Feb 3.
Many requests came in during the warm spell in January for the tennis nets to be put up, we did put our oldest net up at the end of January. Weather dependent, all the nets will be put back up towards the end of this month. The weight room is seeing record usage by residents. We are experiencing challenges with cardio machines working properly, with dirt being tracked into the facility, minors being brought to the facility with their parents and with members continuing to use their keys to access the gym after their memberships have expired.
Our team of trained weight room volunteers has grown to 6, they will be working 3-hour shifts throughout the week and will be doing regular inspections of the facility and equipment, checking for current membership cards and ensuring to the best of their ability the safe and proper use of the weight room by patrons.
Community Development:
Hosted the Oliver CFK Family Fair event sponsored by Communities for Kids on Saturday Feb 8th. The event was free to the public and targets families with children 0-6 years and featured several service providers, live entertainment and healthy snacks. The event was well attended, approx. 125 people in attendance
The BCRPA sent out a Food & Beverage Community Scan which was completed as part of our work towards healthy food and beverage policies in our facilities and parks. A summary of results will be sent back to us later this year.
Our department has reclaimed organization of the Oliver 10K race so preparation is underway. The event will take place at Oliver Community Park the morning of April 13, 2014. This race is part of the Interior Road Race series and draws between 100-200 participants from all over the South Okanagan, Lower Mainland and Washington State and is a revenue generating event.
Unfortunately due to low registration the Wine Capital Hockey Tournament for players 55+ planned for March 4-6 has been cancelled. We will be looking to make some changes to the format and dates to see if we can bring the numbers back to where they need to be in 2015. On a positive note, Mark Weinrich and Terry Baptiste who are members of the Oliver Flyers hockey club are organizing a new adult men’s tournament with a dinner and dance at the end of March.
We were successful in our grant application to host a BC Family Day event. On February 10 we hosted a free public skate event at the Oliver Arena from 12:30-2:OOpm. The event was very well attended by local families with just under 200 people in attendance. The $1000 grant helped to cover the cost of event promotion, admissions, skate rentals, food and beverages provided by the Lion’s Club and staff wages.
Continuing discussions with SD 53 regarding the development of a Joint Use Agreement. The desired outcomes for this agreement are to foster collaboration and partnership between our organizations; to maximize the use of school and recreation facilities; to increase the opportunities for students and residents to experience the benefits of recreation. We are hoping to have a draft agreement to be reviewed by the District and the OPRS in April.