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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 TWENTY FIVE
"Lessons From Noitaercer of Erusiel"
June 15, 2025
By Kim Elliott, CLP
Recreation Director
City of Roswell
Last year at this time we wrote about a friend of ours, Noitaercer of Erusiel. He was
one of the original aliens who crashed near here in 1947. If you remember, he could not
return home because of a damaged vehicle, and, he did not want to stay because he said
there was nothing to do in Roswell! He was stuck!
The rotavitom, the part needed to fix his ship, finally arrived not too long ago.
Before he fixed his ship to return home again, he wanted to share a few thoughts with his
friends in the Roswell Recreation Department. He wanted to share a few "lessons"
that he had learned while here on earth. Even though he was alien, his hopes were that his
experiences or "lessons" learned might benefit the community he had called home
for so many years.
Noitaercer likes to read. One of his favorite magazines to read is published by the
Roswell Daily Record and is called, Vision Magazine. He says, "You can
learn a lot by reading." Maybe that should be our first lesson today!
He took the June 1999 issue of Vision and by studying it closely, came up
with what he saw as a very important "lesson".
First of all, Noitaercer looked at the advertisements in Vision. Out of
approximately 51 ads in the magazine, at least 41% dealt directly with some form of
leisure. When those ads were included that directly support recreation and leisure
activities, the total jumped to 73% of the ads being recreation or leisure oriented.
Noitaercer then told us about the articles in Vision. He found that 15
out of 19 (79%) articles had something to do with recreation and leisure. Articles were
written about Barging in France and Church Recreation; Museum and Gallery viewing to bug
and bird viewing; enjoying the out of doors to painting the out of doors; and from the Zoo
to listening to music at the Zoo. Most of the other articles had to do with history, which
in itself can also be a leisure activity when researched as a hobby! The For Your
Information section was 100% recreation and leisure oriented. This naturally
led to the Publisher and Editor pointing out specific leisure or recreational
opportunities for Roswellites.
What did all of this have to do with the Roswell community? What 'lesson' could be
gathered?
Noitaercer wanted us to realize what was happening. He pointed out that Leisure and
Recreation sells in a community. He pointed out that if the community places that much
emphasis on many different aspects of leisure, then the community should be a strong
supporter of leisure and recreational services. If Leisure and Recreation is used to sell
in the community, then Leisure and Recreation must have a pretty large impact on the
economy of a community.
The only problem was that the community did not seem to understand this fact!
"Recreation and Leisure must take it's rightful place in the community as one
of the very foundational economic building blocks in order for the community to move
forward and to grow! Communities on Erusiel had the same problem for many years. They took
for granted their leisure and recreational opportunities, failing to build new facilities
and at the same time failing to properly maintain the old. It was not until our
communities realized the importance of leisure, along with the values brought by strong
families, that our crime was reduced, jobs were created, health care costs were reduced,
property values increased, businesses relocated to our communities and the overall economy
improved. Erusiel has become a great place to live! Erusiens were happy again! It is all
because we now know how important leisure and recreation can be for our communities!"
(Noitaercer of Erusiel, 1999)
Going back to Erusiel was what Noitaercer wanted. His rotavitom had arrived, his ship
was finally getting fixed. There was nothing to keep him from returning. Yet, something
did pull at his polyester and titanium stitched flight suit.
He liked it in Roswell! He wanted us to be able to know the same joys that he had back
home! He wanted us to "learn our lesson!" He wanted us to enjoy our
"Leisure Incidents!"
Noitaercer told us that he would return next year. Why?
Because Skrap dna Noitaercer - Eht Stifeneb Era Sseldne!
Parks and Recreation - The Benefits are Endless...TM
