Chandler wins Playful City USA award

Kaboom, a nonprofit parks and recreation organization in Washington, D.C., announced last week that Chandler is one of 93 communities across the country to receive the Playful City USA designation for its dedication to bringing play back into children’s lives.

The criteria for the award included highlighting parks and recreation accomplishments from the past year as well as upcoming objectives that demonstrate a commitment to increasing the quantity and quality of playgrounds and activities that encourage children to lead active, healthy lives.

The Kaboom Web site maintains a map of playgrounds of participating cities throughout the country, and Chandler parks are listed in the Playspace Finder at http://playspacefinder.kaboom.org/.

Day of Play in October

For the past two years, Chandler has hosted a free family event called Day of Play in the fall to celebrate the Playful City USA designation and its other honor as one of the “100 Best Communities for Young People,” and to highlight the many fitness and recreational opportunities available in the community.

This year, the Day of Play is scheduled 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 17 at Tumbleweed Park, so mark your calendars to enjoy a fall morning full of activities, information and games for parents and children.

New Boys & Girls Club

If you have passed the Chandler Boys & Girls Club, Compadre Branch (http://compadre.clubzona.org) near the Chandler Boulevard and Arizona Avenue intersection lately, you’ve seen the construction progress on the new club scheduled to open in September.

The 30,000-square-foot facility will include a gymnasium, meeting rooms, multipurpose rooms, computer lab, office space and shared space for other nonprofit organizations. It also will be eligible for a certification within the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building standards for environmentally sustainable functionality while reducing future operating costs. It will be the first LEED-certified Boys & Girls Club in Arizona.

During construction, the general contractor, Chasse Building Team Inc., has conducted a mentoring program for children, educating them about all of the building procedures that go into a new facility. The new club was funded by bonds approved by Chandler residents in a May 2007 vote.

Planting memorial trees

Did you know you can honor an individual or celebrate a special date by donating a tree through the Chandler Community Services Department’s “Living Tree” program?

New trees are planted thanks to the generosity of individuals and organizations that seek to improve and beautify our parks while celebrating life by planting a tree in tribute to a wedding, the birth of a child, an anniversary or in memory of a loved one.

For more information, call (480) 782-2753 or visit www.chandleraz.gov/parks.

Break Time reminder

As I mentioned last week, the fall Break Time is on its way! The new magazine with recreation and aquatics classes, programs and special events will be mailed to subscribers on Wednesday and will be available at city facilities starting Friday. Break Time can also be viewed at www.chandleraz.gov/breaktime.

Fall registration begins Aug. 8 for residents and Aug. 14 for nonresidents. A new nonresident fee policy also takes effect with this fall registration, as all classes, programs and rentals will include a 25 percent increase (and rounded to the next dollar) above the resident rate. For more information, call (480) 782-2727.

Liam O’Mahony is an information specialist with Chandler’s Community Services Department. His recreation column is published Sundays in the Chandler Tribune. He can be reached at liam.o’mahony@chandleraz.gov. Follow Chandler Recreation on Twitter — @ChandlerRec.