The Macedonia Recreation Center (The Mac Rec) recently won the Parks and Recreation NRPA Gold Award. The recreation center is bursting at the seams with growth, participation, and support from its community members. Macedonia has a most recent census of 13,000 people and is growing also. If you haven’t visited the Mac Rec recently then you are missing out. Some recent renovations include an enlarged locker room with more changing/showering facilities, a newly turfed area for stretching and sports conditioning/training, along with other amenities. Festivals during winter, spring, summer and fall offer opportunities for residents to make new friends or catch up with existing ones. The team at the Mac Rec is excited all of their hard work has paid off with winning this award.
The Mac Rec entered the NRPA Gold Award Contest that is held annually with general photos they used within the MAC-tivity Guide to supplement the literature they provided. The documents included a10-question detailed application, survey with data covering city operations, as well as Parks and Recreation Department, master plan, strategic plan, and eventually as they were selected as a finalist they completed a video. Click here to view video footage provided by Community Focus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL2fXsS8J0U. “The application process involved many steps pushing applicants to dive into all aspects of operations, management, programming and facilities”, says Jason Chadock-Parks and Recreation Director.
Mayor Nick Molnar reflects, “In the past when I began as Mayor we didn’t see a lot of activities. With this new director coming in we are starting to see a lot more activities. If you come to this park on any given day during the weekend or during the week, there are people everywhere and it’s just what we wanted.”
Chadock analyzes, “It helps us take a natural deep meaningful look into our operations and evaluate what we are doing to serve our community, preserve resources, and plan for the future as we go through the process. It guides us for impactful advancement as we continue to grow. Winning this award is a huge professional accomplishment for our staff and aligns them with the best in the industry. It’s a great honor for them to be recognized for all the hard work they do in serving our community. For our department, this is outstanding credibility to our community that we are one of the best in the country and work to serve the growing needs while building a sustainable operation moving forward. This signifies excellence in parks and recreation management.”
102- year old Mac Rec member Mary Rizzo says, “I come here not only for the good it does for me but also for the friendship that I get here.” Another Mac Rec member-Deanna Russell excitedly adds, “It’s just a family atmosphere and I love it, I love it, love it.” Kristen Liggett, the recreation supervisor describes, “People meet new people here, they come in and they’re greeted with a smile at the front desk and they do their workout or whatever they want to do here at the community center but they leave with a smile as well and I think that’s the most important thing.”
The Macedonia Recreation Center has hung their beautiful new plaque announcing their NAPR win for all to see. Winning has solidified them as a quality organization, giving credibility and allowing the process of applying for grants a little easier. “Our staff works extremely hard and while a ‘thank you’ is always nice, this is an enormous accomplishment for them and something they take a lot of pride in. So for staff, it’s a national respect and recognition now and a pushing of their career forward in the future,” emphasizes Chadock.
*For more information on Macedonia Recreation Center membership please visit https://www.macrec.com/parks-facilities/recreation-center/membership. The Macedonia Recreation Center offers many activities for babies through adult years and are always in need of volunteers. Please visit https://www.macrec.com/facilities/recreation-center or call 330-468-8370.
