Durham Parks and Recreation: Play More!

We're only a few months away from summer and you know what that means....Durham Park and Recreation Summer Camps are almost here! We're excited to announce that youth and teen summer camps will be held Monday, June 14 through Friday, August 13, 2021. Campers will enjoy a host of socially distant indoor and outdoor recreation activities including: fitness fun, arts and crafts, games, friendship building activities, and much more.  As always, our main goal is to provide our participants with a safe environment to play and have social experiences. During this time of concern with the COVID-19 pandemic there have been many discussions on how to make the Summer Camp experience safe, yet fun for our participants. Please know that every consideration has been made with the best possible safety practices in place to protect our participants, their families, and our staff. Youth & Teen Summer Camps Youth summer camps are open to ages 5-12. Child must have completed kindergarten and ...

By: Mal Atkinson, Resource Coordinator Durham Parks and Recreation has been extremely fortunate to have Tracey Taylor as one of our amazing volunteers. Tracey is a Durham native and grew up playing sports both in school and with DPR. Her parents insisted that she keep her grades up to participate in sports and she claims this incentive helped motivate her to “make it” through school. She is grateful for the sports programs offered in her youth and she said, “It feels good to give back to DPR”. For the past year, Tracey has been a driving force behind DPR’s pickleball tournaments and ladders. Tracey has worked tirelessly in helping promote pickleball within the Durham community. Not only does Tracey commit her time to volunteering with DPR’s pickleball program, she is an invaluable resource in helping recruit other volunteers to assist with our tournaments and ladders. She brings her dynamic personality and “can do” attitude to every event and has accumulated an extensive number of hour...

By: Cynthia Booth, Senior Public Affairs Analyst Recently I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Louise Gooche, a long time participant and supporter of the North Carolina and Durham Senior Games. She is the past Chairman of the Board of Directors with the North Carolina State Senior Games and is an educational trainer for the ambassadors in North Carolina, serving on the local coordinator's committee. She is elated because she can be involved on a state and local level and talk to people about participating in the games – specifically in Durham. Dr. Gooche is also a colon cancer survivor and being a cheerleader was on her bucket list so she started the Durham Senior Diva's N Dudes squad. She learned how to do a split at 62. She is proud of the fact that the topper on their pyramid is in her 80's and can climb to a full stand. She said, “…age is but a number, and we don't let numbers stop us. I am 78, and I am still doing pretty good.” Here's Dr. Gooche's Senior...

My Durham ended Black History Month with a program about the Underground Railroad. Over the course of two days the program was conducted at the Weaver Street Recreation Center and the Durham Teen Center. This program is part of a larger program, working in conjunction with the Outdoor Recreation Unit. During the program, teens had the opportunity to learn about the origins and some of the facets of the Underground Railroad. Drawing from the book, Hidden in Plain View – A Secret Story of Quilts and the Underground Railroad, participants learned how freedom-seekers used encoded messages within quilt patterns to help them navigate their escape along the Underground Railroad. To make the experience real for the teens, they had the opportunity to touch and hold a replica of one of these quilts and discover the meaning behind each pattern. The teens also learned about the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman. Teens were able to view a picture by the artist, Jacob...

Did you know that Park and Recreation professionals have the opportunity to go above and beyond in their field to become nationally certified? The Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP) certification is specifically designed for professionals in parks and recreation who desire to take their career to the next level. Through the National Recreation and Park Association, those who meet the proper requirements are eligible to take an exam testing their knowledge, skills and abilities in the field. With a total of 150 questions, the exam focuses on five specific core competencies in the Park and Recreation field: Operations, Human Resources, Finance, Communication and Programming. Exam preparation takes months of studying, completing practice questions and reading. Once the exam has been passed, the journey of being certified is not over! The certification is valid for 2 years and in order to renew, Park and Recreation professionals must earn a specific amount of CEU's (Cont...

With the temperatures warming up outside, we can't think of a better time to announce the opening of our City Lakes! Little River and Lake Michie open to the public this Friday, March 12 and will remain open through Monday, November 8, 2021. Lake hours are from 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  City Lakes will open with limited operations and capacities in order to meet state and local social distancing requirements. The health and safety of our patrons and staff are our top priority. Please do your part and practice social distancing at the lakes by remaining at least 6 feet away from others. Additionally, a face-covering is required at all times, when social distancing is not possible. Lake Michie is only open for personal boat launches and bank fishing. Non-motorized boat launches and bank fishing will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. The first-come, first-serve canoe and kayak launches are car top only. The trailered canoes and kayaks will nee...

Mature Adults across the area are eagerly anticipating the return of Durham Senior Games & SilverArts (DSGSA) in 2021. DSGSA is an Olympic style competition designed to create a year-round health promotion and competition for participants that are 50+ years old. This year’s games will be held April 26 through May 18, 2021. Much thought and deliberation has gone into fulfilling our primary goal which is that all 2021 Senior Games & SilverArts activities will be offered safely and within the existing COVID-19 guidelines. As we continue dealing with COVID-19, there have been many changes to the 2021 Durham Senior Games & SilverArts. The number of both athletic and artistic events, the format of SilverArts submissions, new locations for some events, and many other necessary changes to meet health and safety standards have been implemented. This year, participants will compete in a wide range of events including heritage and visual arts, croquet, table tennis, basketball shootin...