The Kentucky Recreation and Park Society recently met for their annual State Conference and Trade Show at The Corbin Arena in Corbin, Kentucky. KRPS is a state affiliate to the National Recreation and Park Association and provides training and continuing education opportunities to parks and recreation professionals, city, county and state officials and partnering organizations such as Eastern Kentucky University and the Kentucky League of Cities. The mission of the Society is “To empower members to further the benefits parks and recreation offers to all people.”
Outstanding Program Awards are given to programs, activities or events that excelled and served the needs of their communities. This was Marshall County’s first ever program opportunity and was extremely successful in its first year with hundreds of registrations. This series of 8 free themed play days for children in the community was created to introduce the community to the multiple day-use park spaces managed by the parks department that the community was largely unaware of. This was made more successful due to the parks department’s partnership with the local health department, extension office, and school system. Children from the community were engaged in activities including kickball, a treasure hunt at the Pirates and Princesses Picnic, arts and crafts, water play, and nature activities. Memories were made and participants left with plans to return to the day use areas the programs were held in.
We congratulate the Marshall County Parks and Recreation Department for their dedication to the quality of life of their citizens in their community.
The Kentucky Recreation and Park Society recently met for their annual State Conference and Trade Show at The Corbin Arena in Corbin, Kentucky. KRPS is a state affiliate to the National Recreation and Park Association and provides training and continuing education opportunities to parks and recreation professionals, city, county and state officials and partnering organizations such as Eastern Kentucky University and the Kentucky League of Cities. The mission of the Society is “To empower members to further the benefits parks and recreation offers to all people.”
Department of the Year Awards are given each year to recognize a recreation department or agency who has demonstrated outstanding contributions in leisure services. These departments have shown innovative programs and demonstrated outstanding achievement in one or more areas that are inclusive of all facets of parks and recreation programs. The Marshall County Parks Department has taken great strides to shift their role in the community from a passive recreation site to an actively engaged department providing numerous opportunities for everyone in the community to become involved. In addition to growing their long standing baseball/softball league by 73% in a 2 year period and building on their traditional Christmas in the Park Light Show by the addition of the award winning Spot the Grinch Challenge, the department has introduced yoga, e-sports, tennis clinics, senior citizens activities, vendor events, weekly food truck events, a Play in the Park summer fun series, special needs programming, and an epic Boo Bash Halloween event that brought in over 2,500 people in its first year. The maintenance staff has managed to meticulously maintain the facilities, going above and beyond even when additional properties were added to their management during Covid.
We congratulate the Marshall County Parks and Recreation Department for their dedication to the quality of life of their citizens in their community.