The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch
The Parks & Recreation Department recently permitted a traffic control plan for the Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch to help address the overwhelming parking demand for the 8,000-10,000-people expected to visit each weekend through the month of May. Visitors come to enjoy 50 spectacular acres of Giant Telecote Ranuculus, which typically bloom for six to eight weeks. For more information, visit the website.
North County Intergenerational Council for San Diego County
On Wednesday, the Parks & Recreation Department hosted the North County Intergenerational Council for San Diego County at the Pine Avenue Community Center. The North County Intergenerational Council was founded in 2013 and focuses on the role youth and older adults can play in making communities healthy for all ages. Intergenerational strategies are a key component in the north county community leadership team’s community health improvement plan.
The Council serves as an avenue to promote and encourage intergenerational strategies in senior and youth programs, discuss new solutions and programs to improve health and wellness across the generations and prioritize key projects and priority issues for North County. The meeting included San Diego County epidemiologist, Maria Pena, who spoke about online access to key San Diego data collection and website. Parks & Recreation staff reviewed the development of new intergenerational programs in the City of Carlsbad and provided a tour of the new Pine Avenue Community Center, Senior Center and Pine community gardens.
March Madness
Last Thursday, the Parks & Recreation Department and the Carlsbad Unified School District, hosted the Mini-March Madness event at Poinsettia Elementary School. Fifth graders competed for fun and bragging rights. The outdoor courts were packed with family, friends, the superintendent, principals and teachers. Everyone cheered the players on. The Jefferson Jaguars (girls) and Pacific Rim Waveriders (boys) teams took first place in their respective divisions.
Library Top Performer in Winter Reading Challenge Carlsbad City Library was one of the top performing libraries in Beanstack’s Winter Reading Challenge. During this January challenge, the Carlsbad community read and logged a total of 140,835 minutes in Beanstack, an online tool to track and measure reading. Our libraries were in the top 40 of over 250 participating libraries and schools based upon number of minutes and/or books read during the challenge, as well as how well the community was engaged via social media. Carlsbad City Library was the only top performing library on the West Coast! Mark Cuban, Shark Tank TV show personality and investor, pledged $35,000 to the top performing libraries in the Winter Reading Challenge. As one of the top libraries, we’re being awarded $1,000 which will be used to help support early literacy programs.
Annual Carlsbad Reads Together Launches This month, the library launched its community reading program Carlsbad Reads Together. Programs including book discussions, movies, author visits and more all highlight Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein in honor of the book’s 200th anniversary. Carlsbad’s own Kiersten White, the popular young adult author of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, spoke at Dove Library on Sunday and Cole Library on Thursday. Other fun has included a screening of Mel Brooks’ classic movie Young Frankenstein, a family activity called “Frankentoys” where kids mixed and matched parts from different toys, and Frankenstein t-shirt making in the library’s Exploration HUB. Check out the full schedule of events.