Archive for the ‘Parks and Rec’ Category

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Epic bike ride

Friday, August 27th, 2010

At Umstead State Park

Yesterday was my last day at my last job so, being in-between jobs and with the kids in school, I took the opportunity to spend the day bike riding with Kelly. We rode from our house through downtown Raleigh, then on the Chavis Way greenway to Chavis Park. While at Chavis we got a chance to ride the beautifully-restored carousel before heading on. The Little Rock Creek greenway brought us past the Walnut Creek Wetlands Center, at which point we headed west along the Walnut Creek Greenway.
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Posted in Checking In, Parks and Rec, Sports | No Comments »

High-altitude balloon launch

Saturday, August 21st, 2010

A group of friends is launching a helium balloon to the upper reaches of the atmosphere. Josh Shaffer of the News and Observer wrote a story on it in this morning’s paper.

I am not involved in the project (I’m at the beach now), which kills me because I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. The best I can do is what everyone else can do, which is track the balloon online. Those in Raleigh can see the launch at Horseshoe Farm Park at 8 AM Sunday.

Update 23 August: Success! See the results!

Posted in Check It Out, Futurist, Parks and Rec, Travels, X-Geek | 1 Comment »

Raleigh’s new website features East CAC

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

The city’s new website does offer a feature the old one doesn’t: a great account of the Community Build of the Lions Park playground. It includes some quotes from me and photographs of me and my family, among the many others who helped with the build.

I’m happy to have helped to make this fantastic new playground a reality for the folks who use Lions Park.

Posted in Check It Out, Community, Parks and Rec | Comments Off

Could Raleigh’s greenway paths be fiber paths?

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

Capital Area Greenway

I was thinking again (I know, I know. I should stop that bad habit) about Raleigh and the potential for a municipal Internet network (or a Google one). It occurred to me that the miles and miles of greenways Raleigh enjoys would make the perfect place to run a fiber backbone across our city. We’ve got greenways stretching into every corner of our city and more are being built and stitched-together every year. Why not make burying conduit part of every greenway construction project going forward?
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Posted in Community, Futurist, Parks and Rec, X-Geek | 1 Comment »

Lions Park playground dedication

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Lions Park Playground Dedication

Yesterday was the dedication of the new, community-built playground at Lions Park. This is the park that Kelly, the kids, and I helped build, along with dozens of other volunteers.

It was wonderful seeing the park finally finished. It was only seconds after the ribbon was cut that all the kids present went whooping towards the playground equipment. What a delightful sight that was! I bet Mayor Meeker wishes everything he did got that kind of response!

I posted pictures from yesterday’s dedication on Flickr. Check them out!

Posted in Community, Follow-Up, Parks and Rec, Politics | Comments Off

Greenway ride to lunch

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

Today Kelly wanted to take advantage of the beautiful Mother’s Day weather to ride our bikes someplace for lunch. We opted for the Quizno’s sub place on Six Forks Road. Rather than pile our bikes in the van and haul them to the greenway, this time we let our kids ride with us through the neighborhood to the greenway.

It worked like a champ! We got to Quizno’s within 30 minutes and greatly enjoyed the novelty of getting there without a car. We enjoyed a fun lunch on the restaurant deck before moseying over to Borders to browse books. Then it was back home via the greenway. Easy! The kids didn’t even balk at the long, slow climb up Dennis Avenue: the home stretch.
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Posted in Check It Out, Green, Parks and Rec | 4 Comments »

Famous family

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

Tonight at our dinner out, I was talking with the kids about people who shared last names with famous people. Just for fun, I asked them if they knew anyone famous who had Turner as a last name.

Hallie looked at me and said, “well, … you, Daddy!”

“Who, me?” I playfully scoffed. “What makes you think I’m famous?”

“Well, you’re on the Parks and Recreation Board and do all those neighborhood meetings,” she answered matter-of-factly. There was a look of pride in her eye and I wasn’t going to argue with her.

I live a crazy life between work, family, and community. For too many evenings to count, I’ve been in some meeting when I might have been putting the kids to bed, attending one of their practices, or some other event. It’s hard being away, and not always fair to Kelly, but I’m glad to know that Hallie admires what I’m doing. It’s a true honor being famous in the eyes of my kids!

Posted in Community, Musings, Parks and Rec, Politics | Comments Off

Week of meetings and sickness

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

It’s been a very busy week for us all. First is the weather, with this past weekend’s snow it’s been tough to get outside for any meaningful exercise. Plus it’s my meeting week, with the East CAC, RCAC, and Parks Board. To top it off, Hallie got sick this week, followed shortly by Travis (and our dog, Rocket, too). There have been a few nights with shallow sleeping, listening for the sound of kids in need of assistance.

The weekend’s approaching, though, and it might be a nice one with sun and temperatures close to 60. Just in time to save the day!

Posted in Checking In, Community, Parks and Rec, Weather | Comments Off

Planning Commission

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

I was nominated Tuesday for a seat on Raleigh’s Planning Commission. For those of you who don’t know, the Planning Commission is a volunteer board that makes major decisions on the city’s growth, including rezoning changes and development code. It’s a very important board. Our city councilors consider these appointments very, very carefully as the Commission works very closely with city leaders, city staff, developers, and community leaders. It may not quite be the major leagues in the realm of city politics, but it’s definitely triple-A ball.

Getting a seat on the Planning Commission has been my goal for quite some time. Lately, though, I’ve been totally focused on my work with the East CAC and the Parks Board. I wasn’t aware of this recent vacancy until I was encouraged to apply. It’s a huge responsibility and one that I do not take lightly. After some serious thought I put my hat in the ring.
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Posted in Community, Parks and Rec, Politics | 2 Comments »

Raleigh’s untamed greenway: Walnut Creek Trail

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Walnut Creek Greenway

The beautiful morning and the promise of a sunny afternoon in the mid 70s got us itching to go for another family bike ride. After considering a trip out to Durham’s American Tobacco Trail greenway, we opted instead to explore one greenway we’d never tried before, Southeast Raleigh’s Walnut Creek Trail.

Our goal was to start at the easternmost point possible and go as far west as we could. Worthdale Community Center seemed to be the trail’s official starting point but after reviewing the maps I decided the 8/10ths of a mile from there through the surrounding neighborhood to the paved greenway was not worth riding. I know what homes and sidewalks look like: I wans the trail!

We thus drove to the end of Little John Road and parked at its dead end. The residents of the house next to us gave us long looks through the storm door, making me think that they didn’t see many greenway users parking here. Though I felt the neighborhood was completely safe I decided that parking on the narrow neighborhood street was being too disruptive to the neighborhood. Next time I’ll look for a lot at one of the nearby community centers.
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Posted in Check It Out, Green, Parks and Rec, Weather | 3 Comments »

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