The Coronavirus Diary
We're informally polling people in the industry to find out how they're coping with Coronavirus, the resources they're sharing with patrons, and advice for other departments.Comments are arranged by date to track the progression of events. Please feel free to contribute your own at editor@northstarubs.com. To read the note from our publisher, click here.
March 18
If you're not familiar with Playworks, we're a national non-profit focused on making sure that every kid gets the opportunity and benefits of safe and healthy play, in school and out, every day. We normally operate in over 1,000 elementary schools across the country, but as of this week, every one of our schools is closed due to COVID-19.
We're all working at home, some are sheltering in place, and I wanted to share a great article from Playworks Founder, Jill Vialet “Meet Your New Coworkers: Your Kids”.
We'll also be launching some Virtual Recess resources to support our school partners.
Please watch for additional information through our website and social media channels, as we ask our communities to stand in unity with us to support our children and schools further.
Deborah Brodheim
Director of Development
Playworks New York/New Jersey
March 18
Late last night, the city of Watsonville opened its Virtual Recreation Center. It is meant to be a one stop shop for our community to find resources, but mostly ideas and activities to maintain healthy lives, grow meaningful relationships and continue to have extraordinary experiences. It has been well received by our community so far. We are pairing this with a social media campaign and will be highlighting a new idea or resource each day.
Nick Calubaquib
Director of Parks and Community Services
Watsonville, Calif.
March 18
Here is the latest update from my department regarding COV19: https://parks.lacounty.gov/covid-19-031520/ Also, our department is active on Twitter; please follow @lacountyparks for regular updates.
Clement Lau, AICP
Departmental Facilities Planner
County of Los Angeles
Department of Parks and Recreation
Planning and CEQA Section
Alhambra, Calif.
March 18
I think one of the things that makes a difference for me is spending part of every day out in the natural world, walking or otherwise enjoying the natural world. That's where the parks come in, such an essential part of the city, restoring our spirit.
Peggy Kurtz
Director, Cultural Arts & Jewish Heritage Programs
Forest Hills, N.Y.
March 18
We are an after-school and summer day-camp program run through a parks and recreation department. We are currently working on two projects to keep kids recreating during this extended closure.
First we are making small craft kits to hand out at local parks. Included are the instructions and supplies needed to make a very simple craft. Some of our ideas include beading bags with pipe cleaners, string and beads; pet rocks with rocks, googly eyes and stickers; butterflies with craft sticks and pipe cleaners; and bird feeders with a pine cones, bird seed and a tasting cup of substitute peanut butter. These kits will be handed out to kids in our local parks.
The other thing we are doing is posting step-by-step videos of staff making very simple crafts using supplies most people have at home. We have outdoor activities, crafts and science experiments. Some of the videos are made in both English and Spanish.
Johanna Henry
Recreation Coordinator
Bob Keefer Center for Sports and Recreation
Springfield, Ore.
March 18
Here’s a link to what we’ve implemented so for in response to COVID-19. We expect to re-open golf courses by the weekend. https://my.spokanecity.org/parksrec/news/2020/03/17/parks-recreation-covid-19-coronavirus-update-march-17-2020/?fbclid=IwAR3yUIJto5Nwpnf7KWWdqG-8DQoRsTE79as68NfOGA62M7yWi8ENWJLLiTM
Josh Morrisey
Marketing Assistant
City of Spokane Parks & Recreation
Spokane, Wash.
March 18
On our website, we have enabled an alert at the top of every page where you can see our official statement and precautions (www.metroparks.com). In general, all programming has been canceled through April 5 currently. That lines up with our governor’s school closings. Additionally, all our interpretive centers are closed for the same time period. Our parks are open for passive use and yesterday we implemented free admission on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays until April 5 as well. We’ve also launched a page on our website with downloadable content for parents to keep kids engaged in learning that includes scavenger hunts to do from the car or a trail, activities and worksheets we would typically share with teachers, and an interpretive video series launching in the next few days with video based programming available for multiple age groups. That page is Metroparks.com/virtual
Danielle Mauter
Chief of Marketing and Communications
Huron-Clinton Metroparks
Brighton, Mich.
March 18
All of our facilities are closed right now (besides our administration office). Below are two messages we released:
March 16, 2020
A message to Mandan Park District members and participants,
The CDC recommends cancelling or postponing gatherings of 50 or more people. Following the recommendations, Youth Volleyball Grades 1-6 program is cancelled for the 2020 season. Full refunds will be provided.
Spring Swimming Lessons that were originally planned on March 30 - April 9 have been postponed. We will reevaluate at a later date.
As of March 16, 2020, the following Mandan Park District programs registration will continue as planned.
Evening Pee Wee Baseball (registration available March 16)
Lifeguard Training (March 16)
Youth Track & Field (registration available April 1)
Youth Dayball (registration available April 1)
Arts & Crafts (registration available April 1)
Tennis Lessons & League (registration available April 1)
Adult Sand Volleyball (registration available April 1)
Full refunds will be made if we are unable to offer the programs or if the child is unable to make it to the programs due to an illness.
We are trying to be as transparent as possible and as information becomes available we may have to adjust accordingly. If you have any questions please feel free to contact our office directly.
March 15, 2020
A message to Mandan Park District members and participants,
As of March 15, from recommendation from Governor Doug Burgum, all Mandan Park District facilities are closed and programs are suspended until further notice.
Mandan Park District values and trusts the public health officials expertise. The Park District Administration Office will be staffed Monday – Thursday 8am – 5pm and Friday 8am – 4pm, closed daily 12pm-1pm.
We will continue to monitor and keep our patrons updated as we know more.
Kelly Churchill
Marketing Specialist
Mandan Park District
Mandan, N.D.
March 17
We have had several changes with programs and events. You can see several of our cancellations on our news page: http://www.fortwayneparks.org/general-information/press-releases.html
In addition, our city has closed down all public offices to the public. We are still working, but maintaining all of the recommended social distance guidelines.
Rob Hines
Public Information Officer
Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation
Fort Wayne, Ind.
March 16
“This is where we’re at: https://www.minneapolisparks.org/coronavirus-covid-19-information/ and there’s an internal, interdepartmental pandemic group that is meeting daily (and communicating quite a bit in between meetings since this is moving so fast) and sending out daily updates to all staff too.”
MaryLynn Pulscher
Environmental Education Manager
Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.
Minnesota
March 16
”We are located in Ohio; as such, we are following all of our governor's orders. Schools are shut down, so we cancelled all classes and our senior programs. The only thing we are running are our outdoor-centric operations (parks, golf courses, etc.).”
Tiphanie Howard
Parks & Recreation Director
Fairfield, Ohio
March 12
"We have had contract instructors opt to cancel classes and have outline precautions."
"Many of my neighboring Districts have been reaching out… we’re all trying to figure out the best course of action."
Cady Nagy-Chow
Marketing & Communication Specialist
Cordova Recreation & Park District
Rancho Cordova, Calif.