POTTSTOWN >> About 15 people riding yellow Bike Pottstown bicycles pedaled their way onto the lush green fields of Memorial Park Thursday to center court of the 24th annual Pottstown Volleyball Rumble.
The bicyclists’ arrival was the prelude to the announcement at center court unveiling a statewide five-year outdoor recreation plan by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THE POTTSTOWN RUMBLE AND DCNR ANNOUNCEMENT CLICK HERE.
As a backdrop to the podium where local, county and state officials spoke about the community value of recreation, Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor conducted youth volleyball clinics with her dad, Butch May, a 1968 volleyball Olympian.
“Today is a day where we commit to action and move forward on our state recreation plan,” said Cindy Adams Dunn, DCNR secretary.
Dunn said when she asked her staff where the announcement would be launched, she had in mind cities such as Philadelphia and Harrisburg. She said the plan’s technical advisory committee was adamant about having it in Pottstown.
“This town, this borough embodies sustainability, walkability, recreation, conservation, health and wellness … the very values described in Pennsylvania’s state recreation plan,” she said.
Over a time period of 18 months with continuous efforts of the technical advisory committee and input from partner organizations, a detailed recreation plan was developed to encourage communities throughout the state to take physical activities outdoors.
Dunn said other communities can study Pottstown and its efforts with events like the Rumble volleyball tournament to generate ideas.
She said the borough is increasing walkability and extending its Schuylkill River Trail.
“Soon you’ll be able to ride all the way to Philadelphia from Pottstown,” Dunn said in reference to bicycling on the trail.
Recently the Schuylkill River Trail was nominated for the nation’s best urban trail contest through USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice poll. As of Thursday, the trail was ranked number one in the contest.
Dunn said national attention on the trail will increase tourism. Pottstown Mayor Sharon Thomas said the trail at Riverfront Park along with several other recreational opportunities in the area increase economic development.
“Recreation is the hub through which local business is promoted. Visitors are drawn to key destinations in the borough,” Thomas said.
The state plan introduced by Dunn includes five priorities – health and wellness; local parks and recreation; tourism and economic development; funding and financial stability and resource management and stewardship.
“The goals in the plan are powerful. There are 20 recommendations. There’s 83 specific action items,” Dunn said. Under each priority of the state plan, there is a list of actions communities can do to promote recreation. Actions include maintaining existing parks, making communities more walkable and developing tourism packages that target outdoor recreation.
The recreation plan is required in order for Pennsylvania to remain eligible for federal Land and Water Conservation funding and requires public input. Dunn said organizations representing several interests and state residents helped develop the 2014-2015 outdoor recreation plan. Through these efforts, DCNR learned that a connection to health through recreation is very important.
“People recognize that in Pennsylvania and in the United States, we’ve got an obesity crisis,” Dunn said adding that this is partly because of sedentary lifestyles.
It was also discovered that people desired opportunities in nature to relieve stress and unwind, Dunn said. She also said mental health wasn’t as heavily emphasized in past recreational plans.
Dunn credited Pottstown borough leadership and partnerships with groups like the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation for putting Pottstown on the map as a recreation showpiece.
Encouraging people to visit local parks is an action item reiterated several times throughout the recreation plan. Dave Kraybill, president of the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation, spoke to how the region is using social media to promote parks.
“An early study by Penn State helped us see that 25 percent of the people in our region did not know the location of their closest local park,” he said.
To help this problem, the foundation will launch their 2nd annual local park contest in July where people can visit their favorite park and help it win money for improvements.
“Continuous and regular recreation is the perfect prescription for our increasingly obese culture,” Kraybill said.
Other speakers at the announcement included DCNR Bureau Director of Recreation and Conservation Lauren Imgrund, Brian O’Reilly of Sly Fox Brewery, Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro, Pottstown Rumble coordinator Ken Kaas, and Schuylkill River Heritage Area program director Tim Fenchel.
May-Treanor stopped by to high-five Dunn in show of recreation partnership.
The Rumble will continue through Sunday with youth and seniors tournaments today, and women’s and men’s doubles team tournaments Saturday and Sunday.
For an online version of the state recreation plan, visit www.paoutdoorrecplan.com.
