Bellevue’s Parks & Community Services Department has received several awards this year from the Washington Recreation & Parks Association.
Given last month at the 2007-08 annual conference in Kennewick were:
Best Event/Fair/Festival: Garden d’Lights at Bellevue Botanical Garden
The Bellevue Botanical Garden is transformed into a winter wonderland every evening with about 500,000 tiny twinkling lights during Bellevue’s annual holiday Magic Season. Inspired by plants found in Northwest gardens, hundreds of volunteers bundle strings of lights into three-dimensional flowers, shrubs, vines, and critters. Each November, these creations are “planted” in the Botanical Garden and, with a flip of a switch, the holiday garden blooms every evening.
Best Youth/Adult Program: Wrap-Around Services
The program was initiated by the city of Bellevue, Bellevue School District and United Way of King County and is designed to use the school as a focal point for delivering health, human services and recreation programs for children and families – to help connect people to needed services, support a child’s social and academic success and strengthen the neighborhood community.
Best Website: www.Myparksandrecreation.com
MyParksAndRecreation provides community information and connection to sports, recreation, parks, trails and entertainment. The website is part of the eGov Alliance, a nationally recognized online service initiated in 2002 by Bellevue and a group of Eastside cities. EGovAlliance is designed to provide convenient, one-stop electronic shopping for municipal services and information.
Best Sports Complex: Robinswood Sports fields
The renovated fields opened in October 2008, converting existing soccer fields from natural grass to synthetic turf and adding a new large warm-up area. The new turf is more durable than grass and allows for year-round increased sports programming and general recreation use, without costly mowing, watering, fertilizing or re-seeding.
In addition, former Seattle Times reporter Sherry Grindeland was awarded the WRPA Citation of Merit for Accomplishment by a Citizen. Grindeland was nominated by Bellevue Parks & Community Services for her distinguished service as a volunteer in numerous program areas including Bellevue Youth Link, Bellevue’s 24 Hour Relay Challenge, Crossroads Community Center and Safe Rides Home.
For more information about the 2007-08 WRPA Awards, visit www.wrpatoday.org. For more information about Bellevue Parks & Community Services programs, call 425-452-6881.
