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Add a Little Spring to Your Life
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The gazebo in Rotary Park at Railroad Lake is a beautiful setting for picnics, exercising, weddings, and is the site for our Music in the Park Summer Concerts series. Rotary Park is one of the most used in the Blue Springs park system. | | | | Newsletter - Vol 4, Issue 7 | August, 2010 | | | | | |  Welcome
We are pleased to have the opportunity to tell you about some of the programs and services we have to offer. We hope that you are able to take part in some of them during your valuable leisure time. | | | | | | |
Bike Riding, an Important Mode of Transportation By Roscoe Righter In the earlier 1990's, the city started planning for its bike routes and trails system. In the late 90's, the plan was on paper and a grant was applied for to construct the first phase. In 2000 the grant was awarded, and finally in the fall of 2009, the construction was completed on Phase I. Of course we have worked over the years to include pieces of the trail plan along various city streets as they were built, such as Adams Diary Parkway, Moreland School Road, and Duncan Road.
Blue Springs was a much smaller town in the 80's as we began discussing this topic; in fact we were similar to Brunswick, Maine which was 21,000 in the 1990's when they began their bike and trail project. They started with a 2.5 mile trail which cost the town $270,000.00. Most citizens felt it was a waste of funds and that no one would use it. According to the town manager in a recent article, they could not keep people off of it during construction. This also happened to us as we built the Grounds Park trail. In the past decade, their system has continued to grow and is now ranked as one of the national most bike friendly towns in the US according to the League of American Bicyclists. I think one day Blue Springs could be considered for this honor. For more information.............. | | 
Mighty Mud Volleyball Tournament
On Saturday, August 7th the annual Mighty Mud Volleyball Tournament will be held at Hidden Valley Park from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. If you haven't had a chance to see this muddy event, come out and see how it's played. Each mud pit is about the size of a regulation volleyball court, but seems a lot bigger when playing in the mud. Each pit has approximately one foot of mud with another one foot of water which comes up to the participant's knees. The dirt below becomes mush and the player's mobility is limited and it's hard to get footing. Anyone with athletic ability can have fun no matter if they have a lot of experience playing volleyball or not. This is one of our most popular sporting events with 25 teams playing each year. Put this event on your calendar to come out and enjoy watching the muddy mess. It isn't all bad since there are showers available for participants to clean up and spectators also if you get too close to the action. | | 
Centenial Pool Hours Modified With the Blue Springs School District scheduling to start school operations on Wednesday, August 18th, Centennial Pool-Plex will be closed weekdays while school is in session. Open swimming will be closed weekdays: August 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31, September 1, 2, and 3. On weekends, the hours of operation will remain the same from 12:30 to 7:00 PM. Other programs and lessons will not be affected. | | 
Senior Transportation The City of Blue Springs offers transportation services for Blue Springs residents 60 years and older. The City has an agreement with OATS Transportation Services for medical and/or shopping trips within Blue Springs as well as door to door pick-up and return to Vesper Hall 50/Plus Community Center. The City's Parks & Recreation Department manages the agreement with OATS, Inc. Door-to-door transportation to and from essential shopping and medical appointments began in February of 2007. This van transportation service is available on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Individuals can start making reservations on the 15th of each month for reservations for the next month. Reservations can be made up to 3:00 pm, the day before the appointment. Service is provided to individuals 60 and older with a Blue Springs address. Service is also provided to persons ages 50 to 59 that are disabled. Transportation will be provided to destinations within city limits. The OATS van can carry up to eleven (11) passengers and is wheel chair accessible. The service is available from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Telephone reservation service will be provided by OATS staff from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. To make reservations, call OATS, Inc. at 816-380-7433 during office hours. Reservations will be accepted on a space-available basis up to 3:00 pm the day before the requested appointment. Individuals should call the OATS office and ask for a driver to be at his or her home on the requested date and time. The trip is placed on the driver's schedule, and the day of the appointment, the driver will park in front of the individual's home or other designated location to pick-up the individual. The driver will return the individual to his/her home or designated location at an agreed upon time. The cost is $3.00 per person for each one-way trip. Riders are asked to provide the correct change as OATS Drivers do not carry change. Drivers will assist with carrying sacks of groceries and essentials as requested. | | 
Maintaining Excellence Blue Springs is known for providing quality parks and facilities to the public. This is accomplished through carful planning, hard work and dedication. To guide and sustain the efforts of the parks, buildings and grounds staff in maintaining excellence we have developed a mission statement and a set of core values.
Mission Statement: Parks, Buildings and Grounds Division
"To focus efforts toward the maintenance and rehabilitation of city parks, buildings, open spaces, facilities and landscaping to provide safe, efficient, cost effective and aesthetically pleasing opportunities."
Core Values for Excellence:
We have Passion: vision, excitement, enthusiasm, zeal or obsession that compels us and gives purpose, reason and strength to accomplish our goals and is the driving force that motivates us to achieve.
We have Integrity: based on honesty, honor, reliability, and trustworthiness to guide in making decisions. The purpose within ourselves to do what is right.
We are Respectful: in the way we conduct ourselves personally and professionally. We have regard and respect of others.
We are Disciplined: with the ability to maintain the direction of our thoughts and actions.
We are Tenacious: with a mind set toward accomplishment, holding firmly with purpose with a desire to overcome obstacles. We don't quit. | | 
Music in the Park Concert Series
Our summer long free park concert series runs through Labor Day weekend, September 6th. These Sunday evening concerts are held at Rotary Park from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Bring your chairs and blankets and enjoy some quality music in a great setting. Music in the Park sponsors include: Heartland Financial Group, 1st MidAmerica Credit Union and The Examiner Newspaper.
August 1st - Loose Change,
Variety, presented by St. Mary's Hospital
August 8th - Rail Dogs,
Blues & Rock, presented by Phillips Construction
August 15th - Trampled Under Foot,
Blues, presented by Trouser Mouse Bar & Grill
August 22nd - Mighty Moe-Joes,
Variety, presented by Cosentino's Price Chopper - South Store
August 29th - Nace Brothers,
Variety, presented by Cosentino's Price Chopper - North Store
September 5th - Double the fun with two bands! Doghouse Daddies, 4:30 PM
Blues, presented by Good Year Service Center of Blue Springs Cold Blue Band, 7:00 PM
Blues, presented by Dales Automotive Collision Repair Center | | 
Adams Pointe Golf Club Annual Pass Pro-rated 40% Enjoy unlimited playing privileges with GPS cart and range balls for 40% off the regular rate! That's right, we have pro-rated our remaining annual passes for the 2010 season so that you can finish your year playing all the golf you want! Visit the 'Annual Passes & Special Programs' portion of our website for complete package details and pricing. | |
Bits and Pieces
- Vesper Hall Programming - Road Runner Day Trips - Swimnastics Aerobics - Therapeutic Swim - 2010 Adams Pointe Golf Club Special Event Calendar - Facility Rental Opportunities - Centennial Pool, Vesper Hall, Adams Pointe Golf Club and Parks More Information.....
| | Health and Fitness Tip Walk the Dog: Instead of just opening the back door to let the dogs out, put them on a leash and go for a nice walk. They will appreciate the new scenery and you are doing yourself a great justice. | | Quote to Live By "Always leave enough time in your life for something that makes you happy, satisfied, even joyous. That has more of an effect on economic well-being then any other single factor."
-William James | |
Mission Statement
| | "It is the mission of the Blue Springs Parks & Recreation Department to serve the public's well-being by providing quality leisure opportunities through the research, establishment, implementation and maintenance of a comprehensive parks, recreation, buildings and grounds system." | | | | |
Contact Information
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Parks & Recreation Department 903 W Main Street Blue Springs, MO 64015 816-228-0137
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