Greetings!

The WRPA E-news is distributed twice a month to our total membership. Its our tool for providing timely news and information you need regarding current events, grants, training, and great ideas to add value to your work day.

Cancelled:Executive Board Mtg

The February 10 regular meeting of the WRPA Executive Board has been cancelled.  Our agenda had no pressing action items and our leadership decided in respect and concern for our volunteer board members time that this was the best decision.  Our next regular meeting has been moved from April 6 to April 13 to avoid conflicts with Easter event planning.  More 

Vote Yet?

WRPA ballots for our board elected leaders were emailed yesterday.  Check your in-box and be sure to vote.  Members without emails (mostly board and commission) can expect their ballot via snail mail as they were posted today.  For questions contact Jen at wrpa@wrpatoday.org. 

2012 WRPA Annual Conference & Trade Show

Interested in being a sponsor of or exhibiting at Washington's premier park and recreation conference?  More

Legislative Report - Week 4:  

On the WRPA front, it was a solid week. One of our Healthy and Sustainable Communities Initiative bills advanced; bills to shift dedicated capital funding into the Operating Budget have either 'died' or are being amended; Discover Pass legislation continues to move forward; and we successfully advocated to get a Ways & Means Committee hearing scheduled on gangs intervention/prevention legislation.  More

WWRC Legislative Reception  

February 15, 2012: 5:30-7:30pm The Women's Club, Olympia WA

You're Invited to a Wildlife and Recreation Legislative Reception.  Meet the Coalition's board and staff, talk with legislators and show your support for the WWRP grant program. This is a great opportunity to thank legislators for the over 60 projects that received funding last year.  Learn more and RSVP today! Suggested donation $50.  More

WRPA Awards Program 

February 24, 2012 - Deadline for award nominations. 

The Washington Recreation & Park Association's Awards Program seeks to recognize the outstanding achievements of agencies and individuals, and professional & citizen leadership.

Deadlines for the submission of our annual awards are fast approaching. Over the last few years, we have had to extend these deadlines and reach out to our friends and colleagues to submit for them. I would very much appreciate you working with your own agencies and those you represent to help stimulate participation in the annual WRPA awards process. This is a great way to celebrate who we are, and share with each other the great work we are fortunate enough to do. Please let me know if you have any questions and if I may be of any help. Bob Vaux  360/661-3503  More 

Land Aquisition Forum  

Announcing the 4th Annual State Land Acquisition Coordinating Forum will be on March 13th from 9:00-4:00 in room 172 of the Natural Resources Building.  The forum is focused on coordinating grant requests; state agencies will present their acquisition "wish lists" for potential funding in 2013.  More

CPSI - Certified Playground Safety Inspector

March 14-16, 2012:  This course is the most comprehensive training program on playground hazard identification and risk management methods offered anywhere.  More / Register

Sponsored by: Cascade Recreation Inc; Northwest Playground Equipment Inc; SiteLines Park & Playground Products and NWR Associates.

Membership News! 
The membership committee continues to work hard for YOU!  We want to make membership easy and accessible to all professionals.  In 2011, we completed an informal survey on the value of membership which helped us complete work on a new marketing piece and worked with the Executive Board to eliminate the additional $5 Section Membership Fee.  This year, among the many things we are working on, we are exploring a new "All-Inclusive" Agency Category and invite an Administration-level  representative from your agency to join us for a focus group discussion.  The focus groups will meet via conference call as follows:

• Agency Level 1-4              March 16th           9:00am
• Agency Level 5                 March 16th           10:30am
• Agency Level 6-8              March 16th           2:30pm

Please RSVP to Brit britk@wrpatoday.org and we look forward to you joining the discussion.

WRPA Forums
We are working to fine tune the forums before we upload our membership  later this month.  If you want to check it out start here.  Remember you must log into the WRPA web site to see and access the forum pages.

RCFB Grant Changes for 2012

These changes will affect deadlines for recreation and conservation grants (not salmon recovery) in 2012, and what work you'll need to do if you plan to apply for a grant.  View full announcement

Upcoming Trainings - Plan

See below for a list of trainings WRPA is offering over the next six months.  Visit our registration page for more information on all these trainings.

• Feb 16: Small Equipment Repair & Maintenance (full - waitlist only)
• Feb 23: Athletic/Fitness Section Retreat (save the date)
• Mar 3: Facility Section Workshop
• Mar 14-16: CPSI
• Mar 21-23: Aquatic Facility Operator Course
• May 02: WRPA Annual Conference & Trade Show
• June 09: Westside Summer Skillbuilder (save the date)
• June 09: Aquatic Skillbuilder (save the date)

Call for Conference Speakers

The Conference Education Committee (CEC) is recruiting for keynote speakers and for general session speakers for Mid Year 2012 and Annual Conference 2013 and beyond.  We need your ideas, contacts and suggestions to help build amazing conferences.  More

Brit Kramer, CPRP, CAE

Executive Director 

Washington Recreation & Park Association

Upcoming Section Meetings

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