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Town Talk: New Ulm ready for Park and Rec Month

Since 1985, America has celebrated July as the nation’s official Park and Recreation Month. Created by the National Recreation Parks Association (NRPA), Park and Recreation Month specifically highlights the vital and powerful role parks and recreation play in conservation, health and wellness, and social equity efforts in communities across America.

The services that park and recreation professionals provide are vital for our communities – from protecting open space and natural resources to providing fitness programs and recently, providing essential services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Park and Recreation Month encourages everyone to reflect on the exceptional public value parks and recreation provides to communities.

This year, many of our programs and services were reduced or changed, and some canceled altogether. We understand it has not been easy. We thank you for your continued support and patience as we navigate through the pandemic. If you have not had a chance to look at our summer brochure, we encourage you to do so by visiting our website at newulmmn.gov. We are planning a variety of offerings at our wading pools and youth sports in addition to our continued virtual opportunities found on our website and Facebook pages.

Parks and Recreation is leading initiatives and providing opportunities for people of all ages to achieve healthier lifestyles and bring the community closer together, through a variety of programs and services. There is much excitement going on in our community with RENU (Re-invest in New Ulm) projects. Johnson Baseball Park is newly renovated and ready to be the host site, along with Mueller Park for the 2020 Amateur State Baseball Tournament in August. Hermann Heights Park is completely closed and under construction with completion expected in the autumn. Improvements include: a new retaining wall system, paved parking lots and safety/accessibility upgrades. Construction on the Rec Center will begin in July with new indoor facilities including: aquatic center, playground, wellness/fitness center and gymnastics center. This construction will take a year with completion expected in August 2021. Although not RENU sales tax funded, construction on the German Park Amphitheater is continuing and will be completed in August (donations to the Park & Rec Dept are still needed). Also, go to North Park and enjoy the new Splashpad donated by Barbara Haroldson. We are all excited for these great improvements, and very fortunate to live in this vibrant community and region!

No matter how you enjoy Parks and Recreation, we would love to see it and share with others! We are challenging individuals to submit a digital photo highlighting one of the wonderful amenities our park and recreation system offers. After all, we are in the business of putting smiles on faces! Photos should be shared to our Facebook Page! Each Monday at noon, we will post the event and ask for photos to be added to that event. Winners will be announced every Monday before starting the next week’s contest. There will be three weekly contests. Each weekly winner receives Chamber Dollars to Shop New Ulm!

Weekly Themes are:

July 13-19: Play! a photo of play or exercise in one of our City parks, facilities or participating in our program(s).

July 20-26: Nature – a photo of beauty and serenity you find in City of New Ulm Parks

July 27-August 3: Forever and Positive – a photo that represents free time fun that you value today and will forever from New Ulm Park and Rec.

Please visit our website at newulmmn.gov for official contest rules.

The opportunities are endless!

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Editor’s Note: The City of New Ulm presents a weekly column highlighting activities in different departments in the city government. Once a month the city will answer questions from readers. Questions on New Ulm city issues can be sent to comments@ci.new-ulm.mn.us.

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