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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
"A Presidents View of the Importance of Leisure"
March 15, 2026
Kim Elliott, CLP
Recreation Director
City of Roswell
Last month, we discussed some of the lessons that former President
Gerald Ford learned from sport. We now want to look at what another President
said about the importance of play and leisure in today's society.
President Theodore Roosevelt is well known for his foresight in setting aside
land for future park sites that would be used and enjoyed by future generations.
His wisdom in these areas has been recognized many times over for being able to
foresee the need of future users. You might say that he was visionary in his
thoughts. His wisdom can also be seen in this statement of his. "Since
play is a fundamental need, playgrounds should be provided for every child as
much as schools."
"A fundamental need" is what President Roosevelt says of 'play'!
He also says that 'play' is just as important as 'schools' and should be
given the same emphasis. Why does he say this?
Didn't President Roosevelt know that there are much more important issues in
a community than 'play'? What about policing issues. What about fire
issues. What about those issues that deal with water, streets and crime? These
areas are surely more important than 'play'. President Roosevelt couldn't
have been mistaken could he? He even put 'play' on the same level as 'education'
and everybody knows the importance of 'education'. How could he not
know that 'play' is one of the nonessentials?
The answer is simple.
It is evident that he did not view 'play' and other leisure issues as
nonessential! He considered them to be very important for the health and well
being of this nation. Today, we can be thankful that he felt the way he did.
What then is President Roosevelt trying to say?
He is making a statement that says that one must have balance in life! Play
and leisure should be considered to be just as important as schools. Play and
leisure should be considered to be just as important as police and fire! Why?
The answer is balance! Everything mentioned is important. If you remove one,
the scale tips too much to one side. If you add too much to one side, the scale
tips to the other.
David Crockett, chairman of the Chattanooga City Council and president of the
Chattanooga Institute found himself arguing ten years ago for the importance of
parks and open space to the city's economic future.
"People asked why we should spend money on walking paths and parks
when we have schools that need money and roads to fix and we need to create
more jobs. But now we have moved beyond thinking of those as tradeoffs. It
is understood that we invest in all of those things. There is consensus that
we will continue to add more parks, open space, and walking areas to the
city." (1999 "The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Space",
The Trust For Public Land)
It appears that the City of Chattanooga has found the importance of balance.
They now realize that many things are of equal importance in providing for the
health and economic well being of a community. They understand what President
Roosevelt meant when he said, "playgrounds should be provided for every
child as much as schools."
Municipal leisure providers across this nation of ours work hand in hand with
many municipal departments and organizations to provide fundamental and
essential leisure services. These are services that make our communities livable
and enhance quality of life. These are services that make you want to live in a
particular place. These are services that help make a community a good place to
live.
The Roswell Recreation Department is the largest provider of leisure services
in the Roswell community having served 37,038 different individuals almost
300,000 times during 1999. Knowing these figures, it would probably be safe to
say that everyone living in Roswell has been impacted in some way, shape or form
by the Roswell Recreation Department. What would happen to these figures if we
added the Park Department and included their impact on Roswell?
WOW!! That is an impressive thought!
Parks and Recreation - The Benefits are Endless...TM
