Residents and Friends:
It won’t be long before we are sending our children to camp, spending time at the pool and playing tennis again! This is the most exciting time of year for us at Longmeadow Parks and Recreation Department and we hope to make it your most exciting time of year, too! Before you read through our exceptional offerings, I have some updates to share with you:

We are gearing up for our second annual Pancake Breakfast to be held on Saturday, May 17 at the Community House. Longmeadow Rotary and Longmeadow Parks and Recreation are partnering again to provide a unique experience for all who attend! After the breakfast, stay for the Sprite and Fairy Festival on the green in front of Community House. Enjoy a walk through the enchanted fairy forest, make crafts and build a fairy house!

The Strategic Plan for the Department has been submitted to the Select Board for review. It has been developed with input from residents, department heads, town committees and environmental engineers. Once the plan is finalized and approved, it will be available on our website at www.lprd.net. We are very excited about the plan because it addresses each of our parks and facilities listing: current issues, progress made and proposed improvements. This plan will be highly useful in mapping out our projects for the next 5 years as well as identifying funding sources.

Parks and Recreation has submitted 4 proposals to the Community Preservation Committee for their review and approval. Among them are proposed funding for a master plan for Turner Park; splash pad at Greenwood Park; patio for senior center at Greenwood Center; and outdoor game tables for the senior center.

We are looking forward to our summer concert series this year which will feature, “A Ray of Elvis”, presented by AAA Insurance, on August 5. Don’t forget to support your favorite camp staff at Quest for the Cup and your favorite lifeguards at the Lifeguard Olympics. See the camp and pool sections of this brochure for dates and times.

After over 15 years of dedicated service to our Park Board, David Appleman has resigned his position as commissioner. Over the last 15 years, David has served as Chair and Vice Chair and was involved in countless projects to benefit the Town of Longmeadow. On behalf of the Department, I wish David well in all future endeavors.

Enjoy the summer and remember to contact us at 565.4160 or by e-mail at customerservice@lprd.net with any questions or comments.

Bari Thomas, M. Ed. CPRP
Director of Parks and Recreation