National Parks and Recreation Month in Cary
Cary, NC — July 2021 is Park and Recreation month across the country, started up by the National Recreation and Park Association.
The NRPA was founded in 1965 and is the leading non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of public parks, recreation and conservation. Their work draws national focus to the far-reaching impacts of successes generated at the local level, like right here in Cary, North Carolina.
To bring the national celebration local, the Town of Cary has put together an online community sharing page called #OurParkandRecStory.
Share Your Parks & Rec Stories
This online event allows Cary residents to share what Cary Parks and Recreation has meant to them, particularly over the last year. Whether this was a virtual class, a walk on the greenway or virtual special event, anyone can share their experience and a photo on the online form.
These online community parks and rec memories shared are intended for the Town to highlight how parks, greenways and recreation programs made our community stronger, more vibrant and more resilient.
Plus, if you are one of the first 100 to comment, you will receive a commemorative gift giveaway! Tell your story now!
Story by staff reports. Photos courtesy of the Town of Cary.
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Twenty years ago Apex Park became my go to for walks in nature and early morning jogs. I encouraged a young 13 year old client to start joining me as an outlet for challenges at home and an additional form of exercise to supplement her personal training sessions with me at the gym. We made a ritual out of our early weekend morning adventures at the park. Though my young client went on to school and a career in Raleigh we would occasionally meet back at our favorite lake to catch up on life. Fast forward to March 2020, my young friend invited me back to the park for a surprise, to inform me she was getting married. It was a rather surreal moment with so many memories around that lake with her swirling in my head. Ten months later, and only a couple months after the wedding, she invited me back, to the one safe environment where we could meet during a global pandemic, a park; the park of our memories together. This visit was different and equally as celebratory as the last. She was pregnant! Apex park seemed more magical than ever that day. Teeming with people, many in masks. The social distance of walking 6 feet apart in our beautiful community park did not disrupt our excited spirits. In that moment we were so grateful to just be able to leave our homes and meet…in nature’s living room. Nine months later, we walked the familiar twists and turns of the lake we love for the first time since my friend’s announcement. But we didn’t do it alone. Her new daughter joined us in her stroller, sleeping and occasionally opening her eyes to the sun as it streamed through the trees shifting in the gentle breeze at Lake Pine.