Leisure professionals from across Saskatchewan converged on Yorkton to meet and discuss issues surrounding their industry at the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association Conference.
The goal was to have a weekend where people could learn, both professionally and personally, but also have fun doing it, explains Darcy McLeod, with the organizing committee. The guest speakers and sessions at the meeting were designed with that goal.
John Firnesz, Program Manager for Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation, says that the weekend is meant as a training opportunity for members and a networking opportunity.
“I think there are a lot of similarities across communities in terms of the challenges they may have. The challenges are also opportunities, and I think a lot of communities capitalize on those opportunities. It’s safe to say some communities have more resources, whether that’s money or staff or volunteers, but everybody is in it for the rec business, and increasing the quality of life.”
Communities working together was also one of the main things that McLeod says that the city of Yorkton wants as a focus coming out of the conference. Sessions were focused around municipalities and having contacts among different cities, and McLeod says the ability to work with other communities in the province is one of the valuable things coming out of the weekend.
The weekend also featured the SPRA awards, which recognized communities, employees and volunteers in the Parks and Recreation sector for their work in the past year. McLeod says that it’s important to recognize what makes the recreation services work in towns and cities.
“We all have operators like the ones who got awards, but we never recognize them, it’s important to recognize them when you can. Same with the volunteers, in every community volunteers are a huge part of providing recreation services. The city is not the only provider, all the non-profit organizations, that’s what they do as well, we are also about supporting them. Some of the stuff we learned today will be about better supporting those organizations.”
Firnesz also praises the host committee for the work they did on the weekend conference, saying that the city of Yorkton brings “its own flair” to the event, and that it met the high expectations that delegates had for the conference.
