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Recreation
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City of Roswell
P.O. Drawer 1838
Roswell, NM 88202-1838
(505) 624-6700
Fax: 624-6889 |
THE LEISURE INCIDENT
Chapter One - What Is It?
By Kim Elliott, CLP
Recreation Director
City of Roswell
What happens when people recreate? What benefits are the result of
participation in recreational or leisure activities? Is the statement, "There's
nothing to do in Roswell!" a true statement? How is the economic vitality of a
community judged by the leisure opportunities available?
These are questions that, when answered, provide a lot of information about a
community. If anyone has really watched a child at play, you can learn a lot about that
child. The same applies to a community. We can tell a lot about the health and welfare of
our community by the quality of leisure that is provided in and around the community.
Some people have the wrong impression about participating in recreational or leisure
activities. Some people only think of recreation as fun and games. Is it?
Our Founding Fathers called the "pursuit of happiness" an inalienable right
endowed by the Creator in the Declaration of Independence. Maybe we need to take a
closer look at this "inalienable" right. Recreation is beyond fun and games. It
is essential to the health and well being of a community.
The City of Roswell, specifically the Roswell Recreation Department and the Roswell
Park Department play a very important part in providing for the general health and well
being of the community.
During 1996, the Roswell Recreation Department serviced approximately 25,875 different
individuals from Roswell and surrounding areas. These separate individuals participated in
our programs about 234,000 times during the year. These individuals participated in
programs at the Cahoon Park Swimming Pool, Roswell Adult Center, Special Program sites,
and Yucca Recreation Center for an overall cost of about $21.22 person per year, or $2.35
for each time they participated.
How did this benefit the Roswell community? Let us take a look at the beneficial
aspects of recreation and leisure in our community.
If you take a look at everything the Recreation Department puts out to the general
public, you will see, or hear, about Parks and Recreation - The Benefits are
Endless...TM. This is what we intend to tell you about in
the future. We intend to answer some, if not all, of the questions posed earlier.
Participation in leisure activities will not only benefit the individual, but also the
community. The benefits of parks and recreation can be summed up in four distinct areas.
They are Individual, Community, Environmental, and Economic. As we begin to look at these
areas from a different perspective, we will hope to make you aware of the importance that
parks and recreation play in our community.
Let's take a quick look ahead!
We'll talk about how recreation benefits you, the individual. Physical, mental and
social health can be had by participation in leisure programs.
We'll talk about how recreation benefits the community. Reduced juvenile crime and the
development of increased pride in our community can be direct results of leisure
programming.
We'll talk about the economic benefits of leisure programming. As the individual
receives benefits, it makes the individual more productive in the work force and helps to
reduces health care costs. Special events encourage tourism. When people come to Roswell
from out of town, they spend money which, in most cases, flows directly into the local
economy.
We'll even talk about how parks and recreation benefit the environment. Sometimes we do
not figure in the value of open space, trees and other vegetation, the value of the
wildlife present, and the quality of air, water and soil as benefits that we receive.
Parks and Recreation - The benefits truly are endless!
