Westmoreland County
Parks and Recreation Alliance

More Information About Specific Parks

Our Mission:

To unite and support area professionals and promote parks & recreation services in Westmoreland County through cooperation, networking, joint programming efforts and regional development.

WCPRA Current News and Events

Benefits:

• Work with other municipal representatives to solve issues impacting the progress of parks & recreation in the county

• Work together to develop new recreation facilities and enhance existing areas

• Access the expertise of countywide parks & recreation professionals

• Share resources

• Exchange ideas, successes and works in progress

• Learn about new resources and opportunities within the County

• Avoid duplication of services

• Make new friends in the profession

• Have access to bulk purchasing opportunities

• Participate in regional development projects

Seated Left to Right:
Vanessa Whipkey, Kim Woodward,
Cheryl Kemerer, Vice President
Middle Row, Left to Right:
Chandra Sheftic, Secretary
Frank Lehman, Treasurer
John Scaglione, Craig Shevchick
Top Row Left to Right:
Malcome Sias, Dean Minerva
Jeanne Ashley, President

Officers: Jeanne Ashley, President Cheryl Kemerer, Vice-President Chandra Scheftic, Secretary Frank Lehman, Treasurer

Meetings 2008:  North Huntingdon Recreation on May 8 Greensburg Recreation on July 10 Derry Recreation on September 11 Westmoreland County Parks on November 13

Current Members: Derry Denise Swarner DCNR Tracy Stack and Ken Earnest Greensburg Frank Lehman and Trudy Ivory Hempfield Dean Minerva Jeannette Nancy Peters Latrobe-Unity   Jeanne Ashley, Jake Blank, John Scaglione, Craig Shevchik and Vanessa Whipkey Mount Pleasant Donna Polakovsky Murrysville Michele Clarke North HuntingdonTownship Chandra Scheftic Penn Trafford Cheryl Kemerer and Lisa Black PRPS Kim Woodward Westmoreland County   Malcolm Sias, Wayne Johnson, Dan Carpenter. Angela Rose-O’Brien, Claude Petroy and Matt Bruno     Membership Registration.  If your organization would like to join the Westmoreland County Parks and Recreation Alliance, please download the PDF Membership Registration Form. (Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view and print the form.) Complete and mail the form, along with your membership fee of $50/organization/year, to: Jeanne Ashley, President WCPRA c/o Latrobe-Unity Parks & Recreation 901 Jefferson Street Latrobe, PA 15650 Download Registration Form Adobe Acrobat Required

WCPRA Current News and Events

2008 DCNR Grant Application Deadline April 25th

The deadline for all types of 2008 DCNR grants will be April 25th. The next workshop is February 21 at Four Points Sheraton Pittsburgh North, 910 Sheraton Drive, Mars PA 16046. Register at www.prps.org. DCNR will be focusing on implementing the new Westmoreland County Greenway Plan and Comprehensive Recreation Plan. Contact Tracy Stack at trstack@state.pa.us for more information.

Peach Plaza Skate Park Opening!

The Peach Plaza Skate Park at Twin Lakes Park opened Saturday, December 22, 2007.
This opening culminated over two years of work by the Westmoreland County Bureau of Parks and Recreation in conjunction with the Citizen’s Advisory Board for Parks and Recreation and the Westmoreland Street Park Alliance. Planning for the facilities was done by JT Sauer and Associates of McKees Rocks and the SITE Design Group of Carlsbad, CA. JT Sauer designed the overall park expansion and associated facilities and SITE designed Peach Plaza Skate Park. Over $900,000 was raised to fund the development through a number of State, Federal and private foundation grants. The Westmoreland Street Park Alliance, a grass roots organization of skaters and parents, raised over $20,000 toward the final goal and local businesses and individuals, through the County’s March for Parks, contributed heavily to fund the facilities. The Westmoreland County Parks and Recreation Alliance embraced this project as our first cooperative project.

However, the ground breaking was made possible when local businessman and retired school teach James Peach stepped forward with a sizable gift to complete the funding of the park and allow construction to move forward.

Everyone is invited to use our newest County Park facility. Bring the family and come and enjoy Peach Plaza at Twin Lakes Park. Even if you do not skateboard, free style bike, or in-line skate, you can enjoy watching the skilled riders enjoy and try out this new facility.

A grand opening celebration will be scheduled in the spring of 2008.

Westmoreland County Parks & Recreation Alliance to sponsor Summer Youth Leadership Seminar

WCPRA, in conjunction with PRPS, is conducting a county-wide training workshop for summer playground and day camp leaders. In order to provide consistent leadership training for all seasonal staff in the county, this workshop will provide the knowledge and skills necessary to operate a successful summer playground or day camp program, as well as the opportunity to interact with other leaders in the county.

This seminar is scheduled for Saturday, May 31, 2008, 10:00a.m. - 4:00p.m. at the Hempfield Parks & Recreation Athletic Center at the Hempfield Park, just off of Route 66 Business North, Greensburg.

PRPS is providing professional staff to assist with this training. Daphne Sebelist of West Reading Borough will be our guest trainer. Topics will include: general playground management, special needs and inclusion, local emergency management, first aid, dealing with troubled youth, games, arts & crafts, and leading fun!

Registration information may be obtained through Cheryl Kemerer, Penn Trafford Recreation at 724-744-2171 ext. 205 or ckemerer@penntwp.org.

Westmoreland County Parks & Recreation Alliance partners with ParentWISE, Inc. to sponsor Mommapalooza and Father Fest activities in honor of Mother’s & Father’s Day

WCPRA and ParentWISE, Inc. have joined to offer Westmoreland County families an inexpensive, fun experience to honor mothers and fathers on their special days in 2008. Activities will be scheduled at county parks as well as several municipal parks. At each site, participants will receive free information from ParentWISE. Participating municipalities should contact the ParentWISE office at 724-837-5410 with information on the events they will be offering and to schedule a Parent Wise representative at their event.

WCPRA to sponsor March for Parks Team

Each March, the Westmoreland County Parks Department sponsors a March for Parks to raise funds to support the parks and recreation facilities provided in Westmoreland County. In 2008, March for Parks will be held on Saturday, March 29 at Twin Lakes Park. This year, WCPRA is forming a team to participate! All you have to do is collect donations, bring them to the event, walk and have fun! If interested in participating on WCPRA’s team, contact Chandra Scheftic at cscheftic@nhtpa.us.

WCPRA Website to include County Wide Park Inventory

WCPRA is asking all recreation departments in the county to complete a park inventory spreadsheet to appear on our website for all to use. The information on each park will include: park name, location, acreage, contact phone, webpage link, maps and facilities. Contact Jeanne Ashley at jeannelpr@msn.com for information.