So today I have been glaringly instructed in the fact that I don't know much. Oh sure, I can play along with Jeopardy's Tournament of Champions - I've got decent recall (it was even better before the baby and all), I've always been good at useless information and the words to obscure musicals. But I don't know jack about life and how to get through it. All that crap about follow your heart? Bull-kaka. And letting your head do all the thinking for ya? Bull-kaka, too. Basically, if you're an American who hasn't been instructed in the ways of the world by the time you're 25, you're going to be playing catch up all your life. But I cynically digress...

I don't know about lending practices, I don't know about home inspections, I don't know about sewers, or truth in lending, or full disclosures, or paint addendums or how to cover my ass-ets. I most certainly don't know about what really goes on at the Town Hall, who is the most powerful man on Block Island (but, folks, it really isn't Bruce Montgomery - just the idea that Bruce Montgomery's position as Owner/Publisher of the paper should be the most powerful person is coloring the true fact that he's not). I don't know enough about town finances to even know what it is that I don't know. In fact, there's very little I really do know. I know how to start a conversation and give a party. I know how to make truffles and I know how to feed my family on very little money a day. Oh, oh, I know the capital of at least fifteen states. I know just about everything there is to know about theatre. And I know how to hang sheetrock but not how to cut it. So, basically I still know nothing useful.

Except...

I know a little bit (always a dangerous amount) about Parks & Recreation. For example, I know that many cities and suburbs place a high priority on Parks maintenance. The 'burbs, especially, find that Parks & Rec are a hot selling point for attracting families and family friendly businesses. One of the things you don't hear a lot of in a non-tourist oriented town and/or small city is "there's nothing for families to do". [Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule and this is a sweeping generalization based on personal experience only.] Public Parks are considered an asset worth investing in to many family friendly communities and town and city governments like (believe it or not!) to give the people what they want. One of the quickest ways to up your desirability rating is to beautify a park or put in a playground. Out here there are...not even sure...three public parks? Not including trails or such, just parks. Negus Park, across from the power co., Estes Park which is the equivalent of two parking spaces and Ball O'Brien Park which is where the playground and skateboard park are. So...I don't know who takes care of maintenance...the road crew maybe? The Lion's Club? I'm not even sure. Does the money and labor come from the town? I do know that there is no Parks Department. There's the Rec Department that runs pretty much now as it has the last six or seven years. And I have nothing against young Mr. Closter, I think he's very dedicated to the post (although he needs to work on his etiquette a little bit if he's going to continue to be a public persona) and I think he has some major hurdles to deal with on what seems to be an annual basis: revolving door locations for children's camps, lack of housing for counselors, limited pool of target enrolees for children's camps, etc. I think that he will grow with the job and is trying to make something happen, even if it's something that, perhaps, isn't quite in the Rec Departments genre. I do think it's the wrong direction to try and take on the running of the Town Beach. But that's just a personal opinion.

I don't understand why the Town hasn't created a Parks & Rec Department when it is obvious that a single person as the entire Recreation Department is really hard-pressed to cover all aspects of a full time communities recreational needs, especially with such extenuating circumstances as one could find here. Here comes the opinion part: If it were up to me (and we should all be glad it's not or life here would be horrifically close to living in Moulin Rouge, the movie.) I would expand the Recreation Board to include Parks Management - to be administered (and perhaps labored, as well) by someone with a Parks Management or similar degree - or, hell, even somebody with some creativity and really good common sense. The opportunities for family activities and year round recreation and entertainment that are present in so many American communities are being missed in our own. And our community is extremely supportive of anybody trying to better the non-drinking environment. With a Parks and Rec Department, each Park (even one park and the community center, library, etc) would have a roster/agenda of activities throughout the year. A little creative thinking and some fundraising by all these boards with plenty o' committees and very little real fundraising to do could more than make ends meet. Why, Negus Park would be perfect for a summer community music or theatre production. There are trailer stages that are fairly affordable to rent, lighting equipment (and even techies) come for rent as well and it's not like we don't have someone nearby to supply power, right? Of course, that's something I harped on for a while. I wrote several letters volunteering to start a community theatre program if it would be included under the umbrella of the rec department and never received any answers, yea or nay. But, rest assured, that was not to this current Rec Director. Why, there are so many ideas out there, I'm kinda surprised that nobody has done anything about them - with the very public exception of the Lion's Club. Here we are, a small town, and we have no festivals of our own - sorry, Spring House, but the music series isn't Block Island's festival...it's yours. Where's the crowning of the Clam Queen, or the Hurricane Queen or the Mrs. Quahog pageant or some such, followed by an island wide baking and quilting competition? Where's the outdoor production of A Midsummer Night's Dream or the 4th of July concert complete with Uncle Sam costumes and local musicians? How about a folk music festival at the skateboard park to benefit the next needed addition? Or, even better, where's the local high school garage band? Why not let them have their own concert? Oh, right, outdoor entertainment. Because the only outdoor entertainment we have here are weddings and Concerts at the Spring House, right? The occasional guitarist on the porch at Kittens or Nicks? How about turning Estes Park into a reflection park to honor those Block Islanders who have served their country? Or get the BI Gardeners to really show us what they can do with a small space and use it as a jitney bus stop. Can we convince the ladies who do the water aerobics classes in the winter to put their class under the umbrella of the Rec Department and run even more classes for seniors and "others"? Perhaps some art classes that don't cost more than I make in a month. Or origami, quilling, knitting classes that don't have to be sponsored by the Library (not to say that we shouldn't use that beautiful space). How about children's concerts? Dog Training? And why should we stop the outdoor activities in the winter? How about a luminaria path at Negus park? Or a Hallowe'en production on one of the greenways? Lots of theatre troupes do low key halloween trails for children and they gets tons of volunteers from the community. What about sponsoring Santa to arrive by lobster boat? I know not all of these ideas are viable, but they're out there. I'm not blaming our Rec Director at all. I'm holding the town responsible. Short sightedness extends across the board, not just on housing and schools. There are scads of people here who would love and support these or like-minded activities and all we need are the right people and venues to make them work.

That's all I know.