Parks And Recreation

NEW YORK -- A tree died in New York City, so the Parks Department spent $1,000 on a funeral Friday --complete with a memorial stone, printed programs and black arm bands for the mourners.About 60 parks workers -- all on the clock -- were among the mourners at a 45-minute service in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in the borough of Queens for a 63-year-old blue atlas cedar. The tree's roots exploded Thursday while contractors were trying to move it to another section of the park to make way for expansion of the National Tennis Center, officials said.

Oracle Band's music of the '70s, '80s, '90s and today will fill the air Fri., July 29, 7-9 p.m., outdoors at Granville Gude Park and Lakehouse, 8300 Mulberry St. Bring a blanket or chair and a picnic, and enjoy this concert in the park with the whole family. Children younger than 13 not permitted without parent or guardian. Sponsored by Laurel Department of Parks and Recreation. http://www.laurel.md.us . 301-725-7800. "Les Misérables," the summer youth production at Laurel Mill Playhouse opens Fri., July 29 at 8 p.m. at 508 Main St. Performed entirely by students, this school edition is produced and directed by Patti Knazik and musically directed by Stu Knazik.

As many of you know, there has been some controversy over the selection of the site for the new northeastern elementary school, which is being built at Rockburn Branch Park in Elkridge. Usually open space areas are meant to stay that way for park use or recreation. The question posed by many is, how did this come about?Jeff Bourne, the Director of Parks and Recreation, told me this was "an extremely unusual situation" that came about because a school was needed by 1993 in this area. He said "no other site could be found in this region.

The cost of swimming in Baltimore pools this summer, renting city facilities and playing in city basketball leagues will increase to help cover $2.9 million in budget cuts to the city recreation department.The increases is expected to bring an additional $60,000 to city coffers and are considered the first of many budget actions to affect residents as the city wrestles with a $153 million deficit over the next four years.Among the increases approved by the city Board of Estimates yesterday are:An increase from 75 cents to $1 for admission to neighborhood pools and a rise of $1 to $1.50 for park pools.

The director of parks and recreation in Portland, Ore., challenged Baltimore's City Hall yesterday: "If Mayor Martin O'Malley wants a great city, he's got to have great parks." Charles Jordan, the Oregon official who is described by some as a "spiritual leader" of a new urban parks movement, was the keynote speaker at a four-day convention of park advocates and experts in Baltimore. Officials from Baltimore and several other cities, including New York, Boston and Pittsburgh, hope to encourage a new way of looking at parks as critical to a city's well-being.

At noon yesterday, Robert Marshall, a 52-year-old chess regular at City Hall plaza, gazed at the young trees and flowers swaying in the breeze, the sandbox and gazebo full of children and the jazz ensemble from Winston Middle School attracting a crowd. "I'm shocked and impressed to see people congregate," Marshall said as he waited to play a match. "It's a shame it's not like this all the time." The temporary garden park, created in the War Memorial plaza, was a fleeting vision designed for a parks and recreation rally led by Mayor Martin O'Malley.

Oscar Baker remembers when Wildwood Park was the center of Mount Airy's social events: a home for carnivals, concerts, prayer sessions and political rallies.Baker and other longtime residents hope that the fun will return to the neighborhood park. They are encouraged by talk that town officials are looking into buying a gazebo for the park, which has been quiet for almost 50 years.The town Parks and Recreation Committee is mulling the purchase of a 20-foot-wide gazebo for the tree-lined site, and neighbors have begun talking about holding concerts and picnics on the patchy grass and red-dirt grounds.

The Carroll County parks and recreation department wants to set up a shooting range at the Hoods Mill landfill on Route 97, 300 yards from the Howard County line.That's too close to suit Howard County Councilman Charles C. Feaga, R-5th."I realize that this is a Carroll County land-use issue," Feaga said, "but I believe that all who reside in the immediate area must be taken into consideration regardless of which side of an imaginary line they live on."Feaga has appealed to state Sen. Charles H. Smelser, D-4, and Del. Donald B. Elliott, R-4B, for help.

The Edgewood Recreation Council will abolish its cheerleading program unless two fired cheerleading coaches, and a parent who objected totheir dismissals, agree not to participate in the program.The council voted, 12-2, Thursday to pass the sanctions, with four members abstaining."I'm shocked. I can't tell you how shocked I am," said Edward Lattanzi, president of the county's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board,which oversees the recreation councils, when told Friday of the vote.Lattanzi has been trying to mediate the dispute over the firings.

ATLANTA -- In one of her last public appearances here, Atlanta Parks and Recreation Director Deborah O. McCarty faced controversy over a plan to build a stone path atop a pretty knoll in historic Piedmont Park.She could have led the meeting about the park, but stayed in the background. That was vintage McCarty, and exemplified the approach she'll bring next month to her new job as president of the Columbia Association.In a career here that has taken her from community organizer to the City Council to chief of parks and recreation, McCarty has developed a reputation as a quiet conciliator and consensus builder.