Southeast region. (Regional Reports).

According to the Metroplan Orlando Walking & Bicycling Attitudes Survey for Orange, more than three-quarters of the central Florida community would like to live in a place where more of their daily needs can be met through walking or bicycling. Sixty-four percent want more bike lanes in the area, while 80 percent said that people should be able to bike to work if they wish. For information, contact Mighk Wilson at 407-481-5672 ext. 318 or [e-mail].

What happens when parks and recreation from the East and West get together? They get married! At least that's what former NRPA trustee Rodger Schmitt and Jill Waters, formerly of the Alaska Park and Recreation Association and the NRPA Pacific Northwest Regional Council, did in March. Schmitt has retired as the National Recreation Group Manager at the Bureau of Land Management, and the newlyweds are relocating to the Pacific Northwest early this summer.

The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture held its annual Tree Climbing Championship in April at Bryan Park, in Richmond, Va. Held in cooperation with Richmond's Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, 24 arborists from around the region donated time and equipment (valued at approximately $14,000) to prepare the trees for the day. Equipment/ supply vendors exhibited their products, master gardeners held a plant clinic and other nonprofit organizations distributed information. For more information about the event, go to www.mac-isa.org or call Nancy Herwig at 703-758-0499.

Surfside Golf in Chincoteague, Va., is growing, and part of its renovations include adding another 18 holes of miniature golf to accompany the previous course built by Harris Mini-Golf. They chose NRPA member Atlantic Miniature Golf & Entertainment Construction to handle the design and building of the new course, which will feature a stone waterfall and stone-lined pond with a spray fountain. Surfside is located on Chincoteague Island, Virginia's only resort island, on the Eastern Shore. Chincoteague is famous for its oyster beds and clam shoals, as well as beach resort activities.

The inaugural BlazeSports Clubs of America Coaches Training Seminar was recently held at the University of Georgia. Participating in the event were close to 100 sports and recreation professionals, educators and students from around the country, all of whom received two days of intensive classroom and hands-on instruction by nationally and internationally recognized experts in wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair tennis, swimming and track and field. Additional coaching seminars will be held around the country next year.

WNBA players focused on their community at programs held at recreation centers this winter. Betty Lennox visited Williams Park Recreation Center in Miami, Fla., while P.J. Kimbrough visited Miami's Hadley Park. In December, Keisha Brown made an appearance at Alpharetta, Ga., Parks and Recreation and Fulton, Ga., Parks & Recreation. WNBA player Michelle Marciniak visited the Irmo Chapin Recreation Center in Chapin, S.C.

South Carolina is helping parks and recreation professionals move to the next level with its South Carolina Leadership Enhancement and Development Institutes, a series of workshops that focus on important project planning and administrative skills. Whether you're developing a youth sport program, working on budgets or balancing park maintenance with facility development, these sessions can help. For more information, go to the South Carolina Recreation and Park Association Web site at www.scrpa.org, e-mail [e-mail] or call 808-808-7758.

Southeast Service Center

Larry Zehnder, CPRP 

Regional Director

25 Cherokee Blvd.

Chattanooga, TN 37405

Phone: [phone]

Fax: [phone]

[e-mail]