Austin ParksCast

Howdy, y’all! In today's episode, we've got a super fun interview with Texas two-step instructor Beth Coffey! You can find Beth at The White Horse, the infamous East Austin honky tonk, on Thursday nights teaching Austinites and visitors alike the art of two-stepping.

Beth is an 8th generation Texan, born and raised in San Angelo. She was brought up in a big Czech and Irish family and learned to two-step at a young age. She loves parks and the outdoors but specifically spending time near Walnut Creek and Lady Bird Lake.

Her journey with dance has taken her to some really exciting places, including being the Smithsonian’s official ambassador of Texas and dancing with NASA pilots! We talk about how music and dance bring people together, and the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beth is also our Two-Step instructor for our final Fitness in the Park class, which will air Saturday, August 7th at 10 am. She also offers private lessons for weddings, company parties and much more through her business Dancin' Austin, so be sure to check it out!

We also want to give a shoutout to country music artist, Weldon Hensen. He's a Texas country artist that can be found touring the historic dance halls across the state! Beth's husband is in Weldon's band, and she highly recommends giving their music a listen.

Music & transitions provided by Honey Son. Check out his music on Spotify and YouTube!

The Austin ParksCast is a production of Austin Parks Foundation. More information about the work we do to improve parks, trails and green spaces for every Austinite at austinparks.org.

In today’s episode, Grant interviews Tai Chi Master Vince Cobalis who was kind enough to be a part of our Fitness in the Park series! His class premieres Saturday, July 24th at 10 am on APF's YouTube Channel, but you can watch it anytime at austinparks.org/fitness!

Vince has practiced martial arts since 1968 and Tai Chi since 1981. He grew up in El Paso and was the only Asian student in his high school. After graduating, he moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas. He moved to California for a few years, but moved back to Austin in 1980 and has lived here ever since. Learn more about Ip Sun Tai Chi on his website and Facebook page!

We talk about his journey becoming Tai Chi Master, the difference between the internal and external practice of Tai Chi, the importance of nature and the outdoors and, of course, his pick for Austin’s best taco.

*UPDATE* Vince noticed that he misspoke and asked that we correct the following: He retired from his role as Assistant Director of Austin Public Health for the City of Austin in 2012.

Announcements:

Music & transitions provided by Honey Son. Check out his music on Spotify and YouTube!

The Austin ParksCast is a production of Austin Parks Foundation. More information about the work we do to improve parks, trails and green spaces for every Austinite at austinparks.org.

In this episode, we are excited to bring you a conversation with the Chief Executive Officer of Equality Texas, Ricardo Martinez. Equality Texas is a non-profit advocacy organization, whose mission is to “secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Texans through political action, education, community organizing, and collaboration.” We examine how parks, trails, and public spaces impact the quality of life for our LGBTQ+ community and discuss ways that parks could become more welcoming, inclusive spaces.

Music & transitions provided by Honey Son. Check out his music on Spotify and YouTube!

The Austin ParksCast is a production of Austin Parks Foundation. Find out more information about the work we do to improve parks, trails and green spaces for every Austinite at austinparks.org.

In today's episode, we're taking you back to our Park Summit Series session from May! In 2020, community engagement in support of public projects was completely transformed by COVID-19. Organizations and consulting firms with meaningful community engagement as their primary mission had to pivot their approaches to meet public health challenges. Listen and learn how these groups maintained connections to the community, promoted public decision-making through virtual platforms, weathered the challenges and the triumphs, and what the future holds as the pandemic conditions improve!

Music & transitions provided by Honey Son. Check out his music on Spotify and YouTube!

The Austin ParksCast is a production of Austin Parks Foundation. Find out more information about the work we do to improve parks, trails and green spaces for every Austinite at austinparks.org.

In today's episode, we interviewed local boxing instructor Ashley Bazan from Austin Women's Boxing Club about her fitness journey! Ashley has won multiple local boxing championships and is passionate about teaching the art of boxing. She's also our instructor for our virtual Boxing class airing Saturday, June 26th at 10 am. You can watch any of our previous Fitness in the Parks classes whenever you're ready to break a sweat at austinparks.org/fitness. Learn more about Austin Women's Boxing Club and the classes they provide at austinwomensboxingclub.com!

Music & transitions provided by Honey Son. Check out his music on Spotify and YouTube!

The Austin ParksCast is a production of Austin Parks Foundation. Find out more information about the work we do to improve parks for every Austinite at austinparks.org.

Grant invites Barry, Volunteer Manager at APF, to have a conversation with local artist Ken Rudolph! We talked about the design he created for our It's My Park Day t-shirt as well as his involvement in the Pillars Project at Rosewood Park. 

Our conversation covers everything from his art business, Highly Favored Art, to the existence of aliens. Be sure to check out his fantastic paintings, prints, and merch at highlyfavoredart.store and follow him on Instagram!

Music & transitions provided by Honey Son. Check out his music on Spotify and YouTube!

The Austin ParksCast is a production of Austin Parks Foundation. Find out more information about the work we do to improve parks for every Austinite at austinparks.org.

Welcome to Part 2 of our Mental Health Awareness Month episodes! We're highlighting the work of individuals that connect people to the healing qualities of nature and the outdoors during the month of May. Today we are excited to bring you a conversation with Amber Jekot. Amber is a deep lover of all things outdoors, a late-night gardener, and a holder of dual master's degrees in Social Work and Divinity.  

Music & transitions provided by Honey Son. Check out his music on Spotify and YouTube!

The Austin ParksCast is a production of Austin Parks Foundation. Find out more information about the work we do to improve parks for every Austinite at austinparks.org.

In this episode of the Austin ParksCast, we talked with Brian Carter, CXO of Capital Metro, about our partnership! We chat about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected public transportation, our Fitness in the Park series, the Zilker Eagle, the best taco in Austin, and more.

Music & transitions provided by Honey Son. Check out his music on Spotify and YouTube!

The Austin ParksCast is a production of Austin Parks Foundation. Find out more information about the work we do to improve parks for every Austinite at austinparks.org.

In a two-episode series, we're highlighting the work of individuals that connect people to the healing qualities of nature and the outdoors. Today we're excited to bring you part one featuring a conversation with Aliya Rose, Jacob Fisher, and Timea Chemez!

Music & transitions provided by Honey Son. Check out his music on Spotify and YouTube!

The Austin ParksCast is a production of Austin Parks Foundation. Find out more information about our Parks Summit series, and the work we do to improve parks for every Austinite at austinparks.org.

Introducing Summit Sidebars: in-depth conversations with people and organizations dedicated to making parks and the outdoors more accessible. These audio-only episodes are Austin ParksCast exclusives, so be sure to listen today!

At Austin Parks Foundation, we love highlighting the work of other organizations committed to promoting access, inclusivity and diversity in the outdoors. Our guests today are the founders of Outdoor Rep, Rakhi Agrawal and Jack Schleifer! In their own words - they “aim to make the outdoors more accessible to members of low-income BIPOC communities by getting gear into peoples’ hands, and elevating the art, creations and voices of people of color in the outdoors." Check out their website at outdoorrep.org for more info and to get involved!

Music & transitions provided by Honey Son. Check out his music on Spotify and YouTube!

The Austin ParksCast is a production of Austin Parks Foundation. Find out more information about our Parks Summit series, and the work we do to improve parks for every Austinite at austinparks.org.