When the Town of Queen Creek was first incorporated on September 5, 1989, it was an area with rich rural roots. 25 years later, those rural roots helped Queen Creek turn into one of the most innovative and family friendly home towns in Arizona. And now it’s time to celebrate!

2014 marks the 25^th anniversary of the Town of Queen Creek! The town will host a Founders’ Day event on September 26 to commemorate Queen Creek’s 25 years as an incorporated town.

To help celebrate this exciting time, residents are encouraged to submit photos to the town. These photos may be used for a booklet cataloging the celebration or may be used at other anniversary celebrations or within the town’s social media.

All photos may be submitted here: photo submission.

Queen Creek has been celebrating its 25^th year with special events, fun contests, one-of-a-kind Queen Creek keepsakes and grand openings of new amenities. The town has opened the Communiversity, Pocket Park for Pups and Spash Pad! The town will also break ground this year on a new Harkins Theater and begin to renovate many of its streets and town infrastructure to make its community an even better place to live.

It’s been a great anniversary year for Queen Creek so far, we can’t wait for the fun activities to continue!

This Archaeological park features a multi-use trail and interpretive signage about the Julian Wash archaeological site and St. Luke’s Orphanage, which also used to be at this location.

Visitors of this park will get to learn about Tucson’s 4,000-year history of continuous settlement and agriculture.

There are also bike routes within this park. Travelers have found a 40.42 mile bike ride within the area. This particular bike ride has a total ascent of 534.79 feet and has a maximum elevation of 2,814.76 feet.

Another route within the park showcases the natural beauty of the Sonoran Desert as it travels form Santa Cruz River Park to S. Rita Road in southeastern Tucson. The trail offers views of distant mountains and connects several other parks together.

This historic park preserves the ruins of three early Spanish colonial missions. The area was originally visited by the Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1691. The King of Spain expelled the Jesuits and replaced them with Franciscans in 1767 and construction was begun by the Franciscan Catholics on the massive adobe church about 1800, but it was never finished.

The Tumacacori National Monument (now the National Historical Park) was established in 1908

These ruins and the culture among it has changed over time; people are encouraged to visit and experience this changing heritage. The unique park also provides opportunities for walkers, bird-watchers and equestrians. There is a popular 4.5-mile stretch of trail between Tumacacori and Tubac for those looking for a good hike filled with remnants of Arizona’s past.

Southern Arizona’s premier, competition-level facility includes a giant water slide, a splash pad for children, a 25-yard recreation pool, classrooms for birthday parties, community meetings and CPR classes, and other family-friendly amenities.

With family changing facilities, heated pools, and an aquatic facility that’s open all year, what more could you ask for in a water recreational facility?

Oro Valley Aquatic Center is a proud partner of:

USA Swimming

Arizona Swimmiing

US Masters

Arizona Masters

USA Synchro

Tucson Synchro

SAAA

Nothing beats spending a summer day biking on a trail, playing in a park, or swimming in a refreshing pool.

During the summer months, we can’t get away from the outdoors. That’s why, as designated by the U.S. House of Representatives, Park and Recreation Month is being celebrated nationwide in the month of July.

Some Arizona cities that aren’t formally celebrating Park and Recreation month in July will instead be celebrating at a later time when the temperature cools down.

This year the National Recreation and Park Association has encouraged communities to show and share the love parks and recreation with a 2014 theme of “OUT is IN,” making this the year that people go outside, change their outlook, and get involved in their community through parks and recreation.

We love what Queen Creek is doing for Park and Recreation Month and hope other cities and towns follow suit.

Queen Creek opened the community’s first dog park and first splash pad to celebrate the special summer month.  The town recently held a grand opening celebration for Queen Creek’s Pocket Park for Pups, located at 22526 S. Ellsworth Road. The ribbon cutting ceremony for the 4,100-square-foot Splash Pad will take place at Founders Park, 22555 S. Ellsworth Road, at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 5.

Queen Creek’s Mayor Gail Barney says these unique features will “help increase [Queen Creek’s] property values, expand the local tax base, increase tourism and the attraction and retention of businesses, greatly improve community healthy and reduce the amount of crime in Queen Creek.”

Is your city or town celebrating Park and Recreation Month in a momentous way? We want to hear about it! Be sure to leave a comment about what your city is doing, today!

For more details other activities Queen Creek is offering throughout the month of July, visit QueenCreek.org/Recreation

It’s National Safety Month. To help kick off this month, Glendale is launching a campaign designed to reinforce safety messages during the summer. The campaign is called Operation: Safe Summer and it culminates with a public event at Westgate on June 20.

There are several departments that will offer programs and events to remind residents of their mission: to keep the city’s residents safe with an outstanding quality of life. These departments include the Police and Fire Departments, the Transportation Services Department and Parks, Recreation and Library Services.

With a dedicated website and logo, the campaign features a different safety message each week, covering timely summer topics such as kids out of school for the summer, children being home alone and out riding bicycles more often, heat-related issues, vacation and travel safety, BBQ and fireworks precautions, and of course, water and pool safety. Information will be distributed through public facilities in Glendale and at certain events, as well.

The public event will be held on June 20,  6:30-8:30 p.m., called “Surviving the Summer,” at Westgate Entertainment District, 6770 N. Sunrise Blvd. Held in the shopping center’s Fountain Park, this free event will feature a variety of agencies and vendors to educate residents on water and sun safety and much more.

For more information on the event and the Operation: Safe Summer campaign, including great tips and resources you can take advantage of, visit www.glendaleaz.com/safesummer.

The Town of Gilbert celebrates its 2014 Playful City USA status. Gilbert is one of four cities in AZ to receive the award eight consecutive times.

KaBOOM! recently announced its Playful City USA honorees: communities that are leaders in “playability,” the commitment to providing balanced and active play to children.

The KaBOOM! Playful City USA program honors cities, towns and communities across America that are taking bold steps to ensure that all children, especially the 16 million American kids living in poverty, have easy access to balanced and active play in their communities. 212 cities nationwide have been recognized this year, 12 of which are in Arizona.

Playful City USA honorees include major cities such as Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Chicago. In Arizona, these honorees include cities and towns across the state. They range from eight-time honorees like Chandler, Gilbert, Tucson and Yuma, to first-time recipient Prescott Valley.

Tempe is once again recognized by KaBOOM! as a Playful City USA community for its commitment to keeping kids active through accessible playspaces and youth sports programs.

These Playful City USA communities are making a commitment to transform their communities to become more playable by developing unique local action plans to increase the quantity and quality of play in their community.

Playful City USA Honorees in Arizona: 

Buckeye
Casa Grande
Chandler
Coolidge
Gilbert
Maricopa
Mesa
Oro Valley
Prescott Valley
Tempe
Tucson
Yuma

To see the full list of the 212 communities named 2014 Playful City USA honorees, or for more information on the Playful City USA program, visit www.playfulcityusa.org.

July is National Park and Recreation Month! The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) wants you and your community to celebrate parks and recreation! NRPA is encouraging the public to show how much fun parks and recreation are, while learning about the many benefits they bring to the community. There are several national initiatives planned to help accomplish that. Visit NRPA’s website below and tell them what you love about parks and recreation.

http://www.nrpa.org/july/?utm_source=Homepage&utm_medium=Coverflow&utm_content=ParkRecMo560x204&utm_campaign=Homepage_Coverflow_2013

In support of NRPA’s effort, AZ Cities @ Work is featuring Arizona’s cities and towns that help their communities stay active this summer. Read these articles to see why parks and recreation are so vital for our lives!

Find out how Tucson was recognized with rankings in two national top ten lists for bicycle friendliness! Great job Tucson!

http://cms3.tucsonaz.gov/announcement/tucson-ranks-top-10

Mesa Moving Forward: Mayor Scott Smith highlights the unique partnership between the City of Mesa and Mesa Public Schools

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3D1YgrM2zk&feature=youtu.be

Vote for your park! The search for America’s Favorite Park is on, and your votes could make the difference.

https://parks.livepositively.com/parks/index.html#findpark?searchterm=arizona

Flagstaff’s Recreation Department brings you Touch -A- Truck

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=644636342232902&l=b4f21175b2

By R. J. Zeder, Chandler Transportation & Development Director

Chandler recently held its popular Family Bike Ride led by Mayor Jay Tibshraeny and several members of our City Council.

The annual event provides families with a great opportunity to get a little exercise and celebrate bicycling for recreation and as a way to replace automobile trips for commuting to work, school and other short trips.

For a number of years now, Chandler has been investing in infrastructure improvements that accommodate or encourage bicycling and has been recognized as a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.

We recently constructed bike/pedestrian crossing signals at several arterial streets along our Paseo Trail in southeast Chandler and along our Western Canal Shared-Use Path in north Chandler. We also completed in November a major street reconstruction project near our mall at Chandler Boulevard and Price Road that added bike lanes beneath the Loop 101 Price Freeway.

In addition, construction has begun on a bike/pedestrian bridge that will cross the Price Freeway at Galveston Street, north of Chandler Blvd. This bridge will link bicycle paths on collector streets on both sides of the freeway, allowing for more access to parks, schools, employment and shopping centers. The project is administered and managed by the Arizona Department of Transportation and funded by a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant.

Bicyclists also are taking advantage of Chandler’s Park & Ride lot adjacent to Tumbleweed Park. Bike riders can connect to an Express Bus which leaves from the lot each weekday morning and travel to downtown Phoenix or catch the LINK bus which runs every day and travels along Arizona Avenue/Country Club Drive to connect to light rail. Riders can utilize the bike lockers at the lot or the bike racks on the bus.

Chandler also is involved in regional efforts to improve conditions for bicycling. City transit planners are participating in a Maricopa Association of Government’s Bicycle Counts project that will collect bicycle counts at a number of locations throughout the valley to better understand how bike routes and facilities are performing, what patterns exist, why trips are made and whether safety improvements are needed.

With the support of its citizens, Chandler will continue to develop the city’s bicycle system while striving to provide maximum safety, convenience, and comfort for bicyclists of all ages.

By Surprise Staff

In the latest effort to engage young people in community affairs, Surprise youth are being asked to comment online about issues from city programs for youth to their transportation woes.

In the Web survey on the site of District 3 City Councilmember John Williams, young people are asked a series of five open ended questions from how their ability to get involved is affected by personal transportation issues to what the city should do to increase services for young people.

“The Council has been very active in youth engagement,” said City Manager Chris Hillman. “Recently, we have seen a renegotiated service agreement with the Dysart Unified School District, a stepped up presence for youth at the Arizona League of Cities and Towns Conference, and the formation of not only a Surprise Youth Leadership Commission but a West Valley Youth Council, among other initiatives.”

Councilman Williams is deeply focused on youth issues, organizing youth commissions and leading programs such as the recent Surprise Youth Leadership Conference, Hillman said. “John is even inviting Leadership Commission members to join him at the Council table during meetings,” he added.

Williams says the survey, which can be found on his section of the Council website at www.surpriseaz.gov, will provide information, which can help him work with staff and his fellow councilmembers to craft more inclusive policies and programs for young people.