Parks And Rec

The Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation Board is moving swiftly toward filling its vacant directors position. The position has been empty since Geri Remley resigned last month to take a similar position in Georgetown. Last week the board met to review the 18 applications it received for the position, Board Chairman Charlie Eury said, then narrowed the list to six applicants it wanted to interview. On Tuesday, the board interviewed those six individuals, and Eury said the board is now following up on those interviews.

Residents visiting the normally tranquil Rock Fence Park on Saturday were soon rockin' to the beat of '60s and '70s music closing out the park's concert series. Teg Evans, director of the Bluegrass Arts Association, said this year's five-concert series attracted between 75-150 spectators for each performance. The final act saw between 150 and 175 people present. “We have been doing it off and on since 2001,” Evans said. “We started out doing concerts way back then, under the old pavilion.

The Jessamine County Parks and Recreation Department has never run the girls’ youth softball program, until now. In the past, baseball and softball have operated with their own independent board. Last fall, things finally came to a head on the softball board and the county’s hand was forced. Infighting between the board of directors of the softball league and parents of the participants being unhappy made it an unpleasant situation. After accusations of unfairness and too much contempt, all parties agreed to hand control over to parks and rec and to start from scratch.

A small group of about 50 people gathered at Nicholasville Elementary School Saturday afternoon to honor the 2011 inductees to the Jessamine County Parks and Recreation Hall of Fame. The nine members enshrined this year were J.R. Banks, Tommy Orme, R.J. Corman, Sherman Dean, Jay Buffin, Dan Young Shearer, Monte Carpenter, Andy Williams and Ronnie Crowe. • Banks coached youth soccer for more than 10 years as well as T-ball and Little League. Off the field, he has been one of the largest financial contributors to youth sports for more than 30 years.

Zumba devotees swear there’s no better way to get in a good workout. Dancing around with friends for an hour to fast-paced Latin beats doesn’t really feel much like exercise for the approximately two dozen women in Dee Miller’s class at the new Parks and Recreation Health and Wellness Center. “The time flies by,” Miller said. “At the end of an hour, you’re totally worn out, but it’s fun.” Miller has been teaching Zumba in Clark County for four months and led her first class at the Health and Wellness Center, formerly known as College Park Gym, last week.

McClain honored by Ky. Parks and Rec A Lindsey Wilson College student from Mercer County was honored Friday for her contributions to Kentucky's recreation and parks profession. Senior Tracy McClain of Harrodsburg received two honors from the statewide group. She received the McClellan Award, a scholarship given to the top Kentucky undergraduate in the recreation and park profession; and the KRPS Outstanding College Senior Award. McClain is a recreation, tourism and sport management major with a double-major in Christian ministries.

Local disc golfers will have an opportunity to compete against some of the region's best Nov. 21 in the Turkey Toss. The Winchester Clark County Parks and Recreation is sponsoring an 18-hole sanctioned disc golf tournament at Ironworks Hills disc golf course. Nine temporary holes will be added to the course for the first-ever 18-hole event at the course. The tournament will consist of two 18-hole rounds with a one hour break between rounds. All Professional Disc Golf Association divisions will be offered.

The Nicholasville/Jessamine County Parks and Recreation office will host a 6K run Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. Check-in will begin at 1 p.m. at West Jessamine High School. The 6K will end at East Jessamine High School. Proceeds from the walk/run will be used to provide a college scholarship for a senior student athlete from East and West in the names of Ralph Sallee and Ryan Robinson. All runners will receive a T-shirt, with awards going to the top three male and top three female finishers.

Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation has added tennis to its list of programs during a monthly meeting Monday night at College Park Gym. Although the department has offered tennis lessons during the past couple of years, the board gave approval to join the United States Tennis Association Monday night. Parks and Recreation Director Geri Remley is in the process of applying for a grant to set up a scholarship program and help purchase equipment. Remley said the program will kick off this fall, starting Sept.

A Jessamine County group is participating in a competition with other communities to come up with ways to help the people in those communities conserve energy and go green. Jessamine Go Green, which is made up of six 16 to 24-year-olds and a coach, decided to go to local businesses and assess their energy consumption and recycling habits and teach them about ways to conserve resources, save money and help the environment. "We're giving them green tips on how to recycle, how to save energy, things like that," Coach Marilyn Fleckinstein said.