Sport and social clubs look to parks for fitness and community 

By Mary Helen Sprecher

The fastest-growing demographic of athletes in parks isn’t made up of youth athletes, although it does include many people who once were. Adult participants are joining the rapidly proliferating leagues of sport and social clubs.

Inside Moreno Valley’s Adult Flashlight Egg Scramble

By Jeremy Bubnick

Egg hunts are traditionally associated with children, baskets, and daylight—but the City of Moreno Valley, Calif., has proven that play has no age limit. Produced by Moreno Valley’s Parks & Community Services Department, the Adult Flashlight Egg Scramble has become a signature spring event, selling out every year and drawing 1,000 adults eager to relive childhood fun with a competitive, after-dark twist.

A creative Halloween letter-writing program sparks local—and global—connections

By Chris Orr

The Tulare Parks & Recreation's "Letters to Jack Skellington" is a community-engagement program designed to promote literacy, community connection, and a holiday spirit. In 2025, the program went viral as the department received 5,000 letters from all 50 U.S. states (as well as Guam and Puerto Rico), Canada, England, Scotland, Germany, and Australia. This year, the program not only connected local residents but also facilitated a global connection through a shared, themed activity, creating a sense of belonging and community excitement during the Halloween season.

Eco-friendly elements improve operating efficiency at new aquatic facilities

By Brianne Sanchez

Coloradans who love to swim, splash, and soak with a view of Mount Sopris will soon do all three more sustainably at a new Carbondale Aquatics Center, scheduled to open in May 2026. The Western Slope’s first all-electric aquatic facility replaces a crumbling, vinyl-lined 1970s-era pool, fulfilling long-term goals within the town’s parks master plan. 

The Note and Float Life Jacket Fund boosts water safety with life-saving donations

By Rachel Griffiths

Nearly two decades ago, the Note and Float program was created by Dr. Tom Griffiths while he served as the Director of Aquatics at Penn State University. The program is a free drowning-prevention strategy for facilities to adopt, identifying weak and inexperienced swimmers, and requiring them to wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets. The program was piloted at Penn State. Beautiful life jackets in different pastel colors and sizes were displayed on a rack at the entrance of the Penn State Natatorium. In front of the rack was a 48” Note and Float logo children could use to measure themselves, or parents could use to help measure children, akin to a “you must be this tall to ride” sign at amusement parks. Non-swimmers and those under 48” were required to wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets.

How preventive maintenance reduces downtime, controls costs, and protects community access

By Myles Phelps

Every community pool tells a story—from early-morning swim practices to first lessons and lifelong fitness. These facilities quietly support daily life in ways most patrons never see. But their success depends on more than construction or programming. It depends on preventive maintenance—the behind-the-scenes work that keeps aquatic facilities safe, reliable, and open to the communities they serve.

Parks can be a prescription, but who gets them?

By Karen Fischer

Working smarter to improve waste collection in Georgetown County, South Carolina

By Jackie R. Broach

The maintenance blueprint that sustains Inland Greens

By Jonathan Batts and Charles Davis

Long before Wilmington, N.C., wakes up, before the first golfer tees up the day’s opening shot, work at Inland Greens is already in motion. At 6 a.m., crews step onto the course with mowers humming, sand moving, and turf shaking off the night’s heaviness. By the time the course opens, every green is rolled, every tee box is prepped, and every detail is refined. With nearly 40,000 rounds played a year, nothing about this routine is optional. Turf doesn’t care about tee times, but the community does, so staff members show up early, every day, to make sure the course is ready.

How Miami’s The Underline built an economy of connection

By Eulois Cleckley

Miami has always been a city that moves fast and dreams big. From its art deco past to its tech-forward present, this community thrives on reimagining what’s possible. That same energy fuels The Underline, a 10-mile, multimodal, urban park beneath Miami’s Metrorail that serves as a corridor of connection, commerce, and culture.