Howard County celebrates Hearts N' Parks.

From the small town flavor of historic milltowns to the busy city of Columbia, Howard County makes everyone feel at home. With a location set in the rolling hills between Baltimore, Md., and Washington, D.C., Howard County tries to offer a diverse range of programs and services.

One of those programs, the Howard County Recreation and Parks Recreational Licensed Child Care (RLC) declared May 20, 2004, "Hearts N' Parks Celebration Day." Many Hearts N' Parks related events took place throughout different Hearts N' Parks locations, including a tennis clinic by Shanta Chandra, a former Wimbledon player. Pointer's Run Elementary RLC invited Darrell Gee, a former Baltimore Blast soccer player, to perform a soccer demonstration and speak with the children about fitness. There were also several other events that took place at other locations, ranging from a "Heart Smart Tea Party" to a "Hearts N' Parks Kickball Bonanza."

Sixteen locations expanded their curriculum to include the NRPA initiative "Hearts N' Parks" program this year, with two kinder programs, 10 school-age, and four middle-school programs focusing on healthy eating and physical activity: This initiative also re-vamped the snacks, provided at all RLC programs, in the morning and afternoon to include healthy foods. No matter if kids were from rural or urban parts of the county, all seemed to enjoy the program.

For additional information contact Matt Madera, RLC Program Assistant, at [phone].