Recreation

A listing of participatory sporting events in and around the area: BASEBALL Through Aug. 19 - Registration for Danville-Boyle County Parks & Recreation Department fall youth leagues. Leagues for ages 9 and under and 12 and under. Fee $20, $10 discount for additional players in same immediate family. Call 859-238-1233. CYCLING Recreational rides each Wednesday (6 p.m.), Thursday (6:30 p.m.) and Sunday (7:30 a.m.). Call Ernst Crown-Weber at 859-238-7669 or visit www.danvillebikeandfootwear.

There are no parks in Parksville - at least not the one here in Kentucky.   But, according to the website for Parksville, B.C., located on Canada's Vancouver Island, their six provincial parks within a 30-minute drive of the town, providing every recreational activity imaginable. Parksville, Ky., does boast a store we refer to as “the store.” Since the Feathers ran it, though - nigh on to a hundred years - no one has kept it running that long. In the Parksville mailing district there is a historical place that could very well become a park.

After working on an interim basis since 2011, Michelle Franzetti was hired as the permanent acquatics and programming director by the Winchester/Clark County Parks and Recreation Department's Board of Directors Monday. Franzetti replaced Mandy Faulconer, the original director of the Parks and Recreation natatorium that opened in 2010. “Michelle just brings so much enthusiasm to the table, and it just shows through in her work and listening to her, she's really into what she does,” board member Charles Eury said.

There are three new displays at the library this week, each of them distinctly different and each of them a great reason to visit the library. When you come into the library's front foyer, if you look to your left and right you'll see the display cases are filled with magnificent handmade recreations of 18th century Kentucky Pioneer tools. These artifacts are from the collections of brothers Bob and James Caudill, Clark County residents. Both retired now, they have been collecting and building pioneer tools, weapons, powder horns and pouches since they first started hunting at the age of 7. If you've been to Boonesboro State Park, you've probably met Bob Caudill, who works as an interpretive reenactor there.

The Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation Department has seen significant growth during the last year, according to their programming and usage reports that compare program patron visits in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013. Nearly every program run by Parks and Recreation increased their patrons, including sports, aquatic and land programming as well as the usage of the walking track, pool and gym. “We want to make sure we're making parks and programs family oriented and we're taking away negative elements,” said director Jeff Lewis.

Signs of spring have been fleeting so far, but you can tell the season by our annual rush to patch Boyle County's aging and leaky public swimming pool. Danville City Commission signed off on another temporary solution during its meeting last week. That's why it's no surprise there is stirring from something called the Aquatics and Recreation Center (ARC) concept team, a private-public partnership that includes local schools, governments, health care providers and economic development organizations.

Steve and Andrea Kohlman are magicians. Look in their garage now and you'll see old dressers, chairs and signs as neatly kept as they can be in a two-car space. But they will soon transform that used furniture into food in the bellies of Haitian children - just as they have been doing for the past year. Andrea began making regular trips to Haiti in November 2009 to work with the Christian mission Waves of Mercy. The ministry feeds 165 children daily and houses street boys, but Andrea has done a lot of work with medicine; she graduated from the University of Kentucky with her nursing bachelor's degree in December 2012.

The first Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation Department's gingerbread party was a surprise hit for the holiday season last year. Programming Director Michelle Franzetti said she wanted to create a Christmas-themed event, and gingerbread seemed like something that would be fun for children and adults. The first event proved to be popular enough to bring it back this year, Franzetti said. The second gingerbread party will be today at 6 p.m. in the fitness room at the College Park Gym. The cost is $5 per participant, and Franzetti said people of all ages are encouraged to participate.

Danville-Boyle County Recreation Commission - 4:15 p.m. Wednesday in fiscal courtroom. Agenda items include 2011-12 audit report, fitness center update and high school and middle school basketball practice policy change.

Visitors to Fort Boonesborough this weekend will have an opportunity to see and feel what it was like for the people inside the fort when it was attacked by  Native Americans during the 1778 siege of Fort Boonesborough. More than 75 living history re-enactors from across Kentucky and nearby states will recreate the historic battle at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Sunday. The living history event also includes militia and settlers' camps, a Native American village, merchants, traders and 18th century cannon firing demonstrations.

The Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation Board of directors Thursday approved a tentative operations budget for the 2012-2013 program year that was $300 less than last year's budget. That's after the board was notified it will be receiving about $60,000 less than it requested this year from the Clark County Fiscal Court. The City of Winchester funded the entire amount requested by the parks department. The proposed budget presented to Fiscal Court and the city this year was lower than last year's budget, Parks Board Chairman Charlie Eury said.