Page 11 - Parks and Recreation

Parks, picnic tables and wide open spaces are great for birthday partie

If you really want to host a unique (yet inexpensive) birthday party, consider a combination of picnic tables, a park and plenty of hard-to-hurt open spaces.

Parents know how it is nowadays when it comes to extravagant birthday parties. The old days of just inviting a handful of kids to come over for an hour has changed dramatically. Now the pressure is on to make a kids birthday party a major event, like the Macy's Day Parade.

People dish out big bucks for parties with activities such as bowling, laser tag, makeovers, gymnastics, trampolines, game rooms, etc. And then there is the standard party at Chuck E Cheese, where you can never, ever have enough quarters. How can any parent ever win in this escalating battle to put on the greatest birthday bash of the year?

For something different, less stressful and less expensive, why not take the birthday party to a park? All you need are a few picnic tables, a bag of toys,

Indian Tunnel at Craters of the Moon National Park. One of the many free images from national parks that are available free to the public

This is National Park Week and even if you are unable to visit any of our national parks, there are a bunch of free goodies you can use to immerse yourself in the beauty of these truly natural treasures that we all own.

As you know, the whole idea behind a national month, week or day is not only to think about that entity during that period, but to raise awareness that will hopefully last over time (or until at least the next anniversary).

National Park Week is no different. But this year, there is a special emphasis on our national parks for two major reasons. First, the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service is coming next year. That's huge. You know why? Because America was the FIRST country to actually designate a national park.

Amazing isn't it? You have old world Europe and ancient Asia yet it was the US which named the first national park.

Google Trekker now gives you a "street" view of park

Most people are familiar with Google Maps Street View and how it documents streets on the planet. But in commemoration of Earth Day, how about a "Park View" where you can take a virtual tour of parks and see everything from a waterfall to an outdoor park bench?

As we have seen so much in this digital age, it's doable. Google has launched a new program called "Google Trekker" where a person can literally walk through a park with their camera and record a 360-degree view of the surroundings.

For years, Google Street View has amazed the webisphere with its photographic documentation of nearly every street in the world. Every street. Go to Google Street View and type in your address. Chances are the Google car with the weird googley-eyed camera mounted on top has driven past your house and snapped a photo of it.

But most of the world is not accessible by car. Much of it is accessible by pathways. That's where Google Trekker comes in.

The

Rowdy fans require sturdy aluminum outdoor bleacher

Want to know why aluminum outdoor bleachers need to be heavy duty and high quality? Consider the "Bleacher Creatures" who inhabit the left corner of Yankee Stadium or bleacher "bums" for any team. These are tough crowds.

Now that Major League Baseball season 2015 has officially started those fanatical fans in the bleacher section will be at it again.

That's usually the group that is the loudest, the most dedicated and the weirdest dressed. That's where you will find the craziest costumes and the cleverest signs. Every team has them. It's not just baseball. Football certainly has its share. How about the Cleveland Brown's Dawg Pound? Green Bay Packers Cheeseheads? Dolfans in Florida? Ever see the "Black Hole" where the rowdiest members of Raider Nation in Oakland hang out? Some of those scary characters could be right out of a Mad Max movie.

And almost always, they sit in the section where the aluminum outdoors bleachers are located. These

Festivals at parks means more people and more litte

It's the start of festival time at parks and time to have plenty of strategies and park trash cans ready for the crowds and the litter bugs.

Spring is here and the season for outdoor festivals, fun times, great music…and alas, tons of trash. Park officials would be wise to have plenty of park trash cans on hand because for some reason, when it comes to crowds, common sense is usually the first thing that gets thrown out.

Take the impromptu 4:20 festival that is held every year at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The event is held on "Hippie Hill" on April 20 and celebrates the smoking of a certain illegal substance.

Tens of thousands of people gather there every year to celebrate. But in their celebrating, many of them seem to totally forget the environmental movement of the sixties and continually trash the place. The grass is literally deluged with tons of discarded cups, bottles, papers, bags and assorted other items.

National parks are in trouble. According to park officials, there is an $11 billion backlog of work that needs to be done. That means there is a need for more park benches, roads, charcoal grills and outdoor trash cans.

As anyone involved with a park knows, parks are usually on the lower rung when it comes to funding in national and even state or municipal budgets. It's the first thing to be cut. On the national level, we spend quite a bit of money on federal subsidies, studies and submarines and at the end of the day that leaves little money for park tables, paint or maintenance programs.

The irony is that there are a whole lot more people who will visit a national park than crawl inside one of those submarines. In 2014, there were nearly 300 million visitors to national parks. That's quite a bit of use. That's quite a few people hiking trails, camping under the stars, cooking out on park grills and enjoying

Will cities of the future have parks built into buildings

Imagine this: You live in 50-story apartment complex and right in the middle of the building is an open space filled with outdoor park furniture, grass, flowers, fountains and a band shell.

Essentially, it's a building with a park built inside of it. Maybe even three or four parks every several floors. Strange, right?

Well, maybe not for long. This could be the next hot new trend in architecture as one such building is planned for New York City and is expected to be finished in 2017.

The apartment building will be built at 12 E. 37th Street and will reach 700 feet in height. The "parks" or common areas will be 33-foot high "pockets" built intermittently between a set number of floors. From drawings, these spaces appear to be have open views of the city along with shrubbery, furniture and even an outdoor big screen TV.

People are calling them "apartment parks."

Technically, are these actually parks? Are we looking at the beginning

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "The civilized man has built a coach but lost the use of his feet." An inspiring quote that ties in perfectly with getting out of house this Monday, March 30, for National Take a Walk in a Park Day.

Naturally, the idea behind these celebratory days is to not wait every 365 days to actually do the task, e.g. plant a flower. Or to drive to a park, walk a few hundred feet and then sit on a park bench and check your email. There's always a message behind these designated mini-holidays.

The idea of National Take A Walk in A Park Day is to do more walking in the real world and less interacting with the digital world. Civilized man has not only built a coach (automobile) so people don't walk as much. He's also built desktop computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, game consoles and 60-inch TVs with 300 channels that keep people in the house more and venturing out less.

The benefits of taking a walk in the park

Angels Falls in Canaima National Park, Venezuel

When it comes to trying to picking the best national parks in the world, it's sort of an non-winnable argument like choosing the best baseball or football player of all time.

What's the criteria you are going to use for national parks? Most scenic? Great lodging? Best park furniture? Easy access? Less access but less crowded?

Some people might prefer mountains as the main criteria. Others might select beaches. Some want trees. Others love wide-open spaces. Lakes. Rivers. Waterfalls. Deserts. Jungles. Volcanoes. There are certainly plenty of factors to consider.

It's a tough one.

But one of the great advantages of trying to select the greatest national park in the world is that unlike many departed sports figures, those parks are still here. You can go visit them yourself. Make your own determination.

For those of us in America, naturally we're biased toward Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Everglades National Park and

Bud Caldwell visits his wife's memorial bench in Lakeside Park every day. But during the winter, the heavy Wisconsin snowfall makes it difficult for him. So on those days, he speaks to her from his car stopped near the park.

That is until two thoughtful park employees noticed him sitting there. They came to Bud's assistance and shoveled a path so he could make his way to the bench and the plaque displaying his wife's photograph.

The story behind Caldwell's routine is truly amazing. Every day for the past two years, the 82-year-old visits the memorial bench he bought to honor his late wife Betty. They spent 56 years together.

He brings a daisy, which he leaves for her to commemorate one of their favorite songs: "Daisy a Day." He also leaves a penny on top of the bench, to honor their other favorite tune, "Pennies from Heaven." He then speaks to her for a few minutes, telling her about his day.

Last year, when the Wisconsin snow was particularly heavy, Caldwell tried to make it to the memorial

Aluminum bleachers at Wrigley Field (now gone). Photo by Kthypryn (Flickr

What do you do when your aluminum bleachers won't be ready on opening day? Hide under home plate? Get lost in the locker room? Run away?

This is certainly not a position any athletic director or site manager wants to be in. But that's what's happening to the Chicago Cubs as they officially announced they won't have 5,500 outfield bleacher seats ready for the coveted opening day game against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 5.

Ouch. Not a good way to start the year telling fans there won't be a place for them to sit. Opening day no less. The Chicago Cubs no less - those die-hard fans who truly believe at the start of every season that this could be THE YEAR.

Okay, hold on sports fans. You have to give the Cubs organization some credit. After all, they are spending $575 million dollars in private funding to renovate that relic of a stadium. That's nearly half a billion dollars.

And they are doing it with every effort

Here's a fun space with fun dog park equipmen

This Sunday, Feb. 22, is National Walking the Dog Day and to maximize the benefits for Max and Fido, owners are going to be on the lookout for the right park with the right amount of dog park equipment.

And park managers would be smart to offer it.

After all, there are about 80 million canines in the US. It is estimated that from 37%-47% of all households have a pet dog. That means nearly half of local residents have a dog at home that is just itching to get out of the house and play on that day. According to the National Recreation and Parks Association, there are 1,200 dog parks in the US. During a five year period after 2005, dog parks grew a whopping 34% in our biggest cities.

This national event is the perfect time to promote the canine benefits of any local park. Or, it's the perfect time to pitch adding more dog park equipment to a select number of parks and immediately meet the pet needs of nearly half the population.

Here's the challenge

"Park Bench" show features Steve Buscemi interviewing Rosie Pere

There's something about sitting on a park bench that is conducive to starting a conversation. Maybe it's the wide open spaces. Perhaps it's the fresh air. Or maybe it's just the relaxing environment of a vibrant green park on a bright sunny day that helps people let their guard down and participate in an engaging dialogue.

Who knows exactly what it is.

But one person who recognizes this power in a park bench is the famous actor Steve Buscemi. "Park Bench" is the title of the sort-of-talk show he started and eventually sold to AOL for its "Original" video channel.

The idea for the series is simple. Buscemi gets involved in an intimate conversation with people from all walks of life while sitting on a park bench. Those subjects include not just fellow actors and politicians as expected, but also regular people from regular walks of life.

He got the idea for the series one day when he shot a sketch on a park bench for a show

A steer leaps over a picnic tabl

There are few instances throughout history when royals and regular citizens had much in common. But their interests did align when it came to getting out of the castle or house, sitting down at picnic tables under a wide open sky and enjoying a meal outdoors.

The popularity of the picnic table tradition is still going strong today.

All across the country go to any park early on Saturdays and Sundays and you will see families already camped out there, with the grill fired up and delicious smells of barbecue floating through the air. Some of those barbecue dishes are so mouth-watering, you could easily stick a maître de at the entrance of the park and charge people for a meal.

Eating outside is a cultural trend that seems to be growing rapidly. For example, every month there are nearly 20,000 searches on Google for terms related just to "picnic ideas." To keep pace with the popularity of dining outdoors, new picnic products keep coming on the market

Message centers make a statement about your propert

It may seem old-fashioned, but message centers still serve a strong purpose today. We're talking about the covered outdoor bulletin boards you see at parks, homeowners' associations, schools, shopping centers, golf courses and generally any venue or location involving the public.

Message centers serve many functions. If they are placed strategically along a popular walking area where people pass by, they will get read.

That is why it is key to use a message center that does not look worn, splintered, filled with old postings, covered with dead bugs or looking as if it is about to topple over.

The product is a simple design. But an inferior message center can send so many negative messages about an entity whether it is a park, HOA, school, etc.

That message really has nothing to do with what is actually written and posted. It's the appearance of the message centers that says everything about an organization - in a subliminal way.

For