Northeast region. (Regional Reports).

On his way home from receiving a 200s Excellence in Aquatics Award at the NRPA National Aquatics Conference in Albuquerque, Rob Romancier found out that because of budget constraints, the Albany School District had recommended not renewing the contract for his job as pool director and eliminating the district's share of funding to run the pool. "We're doing incredible things at this facility", Romancier said. "On the other hand, the community is in hard times." The district may also have to cut 33 teachers.

Doug Dicey recently retired as director of Parks & Recreation in Exeter, N.H., after 31 years in the position. He also has served two terms on the APRS Board of Directors, once in 1980 and again in 1990. He received the Richard "Wink" Apply award as the Outstanding New Hampshire Recreation Professional in 1984, and served almost every executive position with the New Hampshire Parks & Recreation Association board. He was state director of Hershey Track and Field and served on the New England Regional Council. Dicey also has been the New Hampshire Amateur Softball Association State Commissioner for the past 33 years.

Add another kudo for NRPA member Donna Reihl. The NTRS Meritorious Service Award winner recently was named the Baltimore County Woman of the Year. What makes this award that even more special is that her daughter, Sara Reihl, was named the Baltimore County Young Woman of the Year. Like mother, like daughter!

Delaware lost its first lady of parks in May when Leah Roedel passed away. She was active in conservation for more than four decades; in the 1960s, she led the movement to develop Delaware's state park system. According to Charles Salkin, the director of the state's parks and recreation division, Roedel was the "single most important citizen to the history and the creation of Delaware state parks." One of her greatest successes, which took 15 years of lobbying and lecturing, was the establishment of Ft. duPont as a state park in 1992. She was honored by NRPA at the 1997 National Congress and Exposition in Salt Lake City.

Capitalizing on the excitement generated by the March Madness of the NCAA basketball tournament, the Marlboro (N.J.) Recreation Department hosts a "Midnight Madness Basketball Tournament" each year in March. This is a drug- and alcohol-free activity where the challenge is to have as much fun as possible, play your best basketball and stay awake the entire night.

The four-year-old tournament earned the Gasalberti Programming Award by the New Jersey Recreation and Park Association. And this program isn't the only great thing to come out of Marlboro. NRPA Member John Saffioti received the NJRPA Association Service Award this year. His active leadership has supported numerous programs and initiatives of the association, and his dedication has encouraged professional and membership development within the association.

Congratulations to Peggy Hannon-Rizza, assistant director of the Billerica Recreation Department, who was just awarded the 2003 Trapasso Programmers Award at the New England Training Institute.

Hamburg, N.J., has offered to swap two acres of forested property with the state Department of Environmental Protection for approximately 23 acres of state-owned land. Why the 2-for-23 swap? The borough's lime kilns, deemed the most historically significant in the Mid-Atlantic, are on the two acres. The swap will enable the borough to meet its pressing need for recreation, while protecting the kilns for generations to come.

As part of Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams' initiative for reading and literacy; the DC Parks & Recreation Department has developed a partnership with Books for America. The mayor and department agree that youth who can't read by the end of the 3rd grade will encounter increased challenges later in life. The book drive has been implemented in 16 recreation centers in Washington. For more information on putting on a similar event in your area contact Sherry Deane, associate director for specialty programs, at 202-282-0719 or [e-mail].

Robin Winks, a Yale scholar, is one of the few people to have visited all 376 national parks and monuments. He achieved this goal in 1998. His tireless advocacy for preserving open spaces led the National Parks Conservation Association in 1999 to award him its first Robin W. Winks gold medal for "enhancing public understanding of the national parks." Winks died in April, in New Haven, Conn. He was 72.

In February, NRPA President Jonathan Korfhage, CPRP, visited Happy Valley, Penn., near the Penn State campus. "I addressed the delegates at their state conference and had an opportunity to pick up some CEUs to maintain my certification," says Korfhage. "I learned about the forests of Pennsylvania, dealing with change, maintaining peak performance, looking into the future of parks and recreation and soaring to new heights through humor."