Rancho Cordova is celebrating its All-America City Award by giving away free ice cream. Link here for more information,
Five “ice cream socials” will be held at five different locations, all hosted by the City of Rancho Cordova.
The first celebration will be Saturday, August 28th, at Sunriver Park, 11120 Moose River Court, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Complimentary ice cream and other frozen treats will be served, while quantities last. In addition, commemorative bookmarks will be distributed.
The other four ice cream socials will be 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.:
• Saturday, September 18th, at Sandpiper Park, 11830 Applolon Drive
• Saturday, September 25th, at Tuscany Park, 3460 Corvina Drive
• Saturday, October 2nd, at Mills Middle School track area, 10439 Coloma Road
• Saturday, October 9th, at Lincoln Village Community Park, 3480 Routier Road
“Our All-America City application demonstrated our great pride in our community, the diversity of our civic life, and the vigor and breadth of our community’s proactive and generous compassion,” said Rancho Cordova Mayor Ken Cooley.
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Ryan Lundquist of Rancho Cordova’s All-America City Award-winning Project 680 has launched a new website called GoodneighborTV. In Ryan’s words, the site will be a place to share “tips, interviews, resources and discussion on neighborhood life and common issues we all face.”
Here’s a sample:
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Chandler Environmental Education Center
Chandler’s All-America City Community Celebration has been scheduled for Wednesday, September 1, 2010, at the Chandler Center for the Arts. The event starts at 6:30 p.m. with entertainment and refreshments in the lobby, followed by a presentation in the main auditorium at 7 p.m.
The presentation will include a slide show and video highlighting the Chandler delegation’s trip in June to Kansas City, Mo., for the competition. The event will also honor the people, organizations, and corporate sponsors who supported the City’s award application.
The event had originally been scheduled for July 30, but was postponed due to the tragic death that week of Chandler Police Detective Carlos Ledesma.
“Our hearts were heavy that week and our full attention was on the families of the officers who were shot, and the men and women of our Police Department,” said Mayor Dunn. “Yet, even as we mourned, the tremendous outpouring of support from our residents was another measure of how special this community is, and how we come together in a crisis.”
Mayor Dunn once again noted that being named an All-America City during a period of economic struggle for the nation is a validation for how the community deals with challenges and finds solutions through innovation, collaboration and civic engagement.
“The entire community contributed to earning this recognition, and we can revel in this award for years. But it’s also important that we start to build on our success,” Dunn said. “Our event on September 1st is just one of many times in the coming months and years that Chandler residents will gather to celebrate our accomplishments and work toward a brighter future.”
Representatives from the three projects that were highlighted in the All-America City award presentation will have information booths at the celebration. Refreshments and drinks will be available thanks to generous donations from several local restaurants, including Serrano’s, Floridino’s and Shangri-La De Old Cathay. The Chandler Unified School District is donating the drinks and desserts.
For more information on Chandler’s All-America City award go to www.chandleraz.gov/allamericacity.
Chandler Care Center
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One of the biggest challenges facing communities in these tough economic times is just paying for basic services. Things we used to take for granted like a city baseball program for kids suddenly become unaffordable. It’s that or closing a fire station, etc.
That’s where the public/private/nonprofit partnerships really come in handy. The Lynwood Sports Association (LSA) is an all-volunteer organization that started off as a baseball program and evolved into a sort of adjunct parks and rec department, offering a full menu of academic, social and sports activities for 15,000 kids a year, who somehow manage to share the one large and four smaller neighborhood parks in Lynwood.
For instance, the organization partnered with the city to field a “mobile recreation team” that roams the city offering drop in programs for kids who live to far away to walk to the main city recreation/community center. Typically, these are what we often refer to as the “underserved” neighborhoods, some of the toughest, lowest income most crime ridden streets of Los Angeles County.
LSA is an important part of the community’s successful efforts to reduce crime and gang activity in the area.
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GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) – Officials in one North Carolina city are putting their paychecks on the line to make sure their community is known for a national honor.
Read the article here.
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We put together this abbreviated version of Chandler, Arizona’s jury presentation video to give you a sense of the community’s accomplishments.
Chandler, Arizona: population 253,393.
Most pressing community challenges: Growth and the need to connect older residents with newer ones. Also, providing resources to older parts of the community.
Community Projects
# 1: The Chandler Community Facilities is an innovative use of public space. What started as a new surface and subsurface water recharge facility for the Municipal Utilities Department, ended up being a combined use community center complete with a police substation, park, fishing lake, community meeting place and an environmental education center.
#2: The Chandler Care Center is a school based clinic to improve health and readiness for school. The center provides free acute-care medical treatment to more than 1300 babies and kids. The number is expected to double with the completion of new facilities.
#3: The Chandler Coalition on Youth Substance Abuse is a partnership to address the issue of underage drinking. The idea came after a local youth group called ICAN identified underage drinking as a critical issue among teens in the community.
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An earlier post erroneously gave the date of Chandler, Arizona’s All-America City celebration as today. The correct date is September 1. Well have more info in a future blog. We apologize for the confusion.
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Rancho Cordova is combining celebration and promotion of its All-America City status with a local “E-recycling” drive. Here’s a TV news segment on it. These folks in Rancho Cordova really get the All-America City spirit.
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By Martine Wolfe-Miller
Mayor Billy Swails and Mount Pleasant Town Council celebrated last Saturday the Town’s new “All-America City” designation with a party at Memorial Waterfront Park. The majority of the 41-member delegation was present at the event and was recognized for helping secure the much-coveted national title. More than 600 people attended the event.
The Town held children activities and gave away 500 tee-shirts to the first-comers prior to the celebration. At 8:30 pm, the public was treated to several videos showcasing the winning trip to Kansas City, Missouri, and the celebration concluded with a movie in the park featuring “E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial.”
Mayor Swails stated, “The delegation members present here tonight, traveled to Kansas City last month to compete against 24 distinguished municipalities for the All-America City title. We are grateful for their dedication, professionalism and knowledge of the community. They did bring home the title! I would also like to thank the corporate sponsors who made this trip possible.”
“The All-America City Award places Mount Pleasant in a privileged category,” added Town Administrator Mac Burdette. “All-America Cities benefit by increasing community pride, networking with civic activists from across the country, and by gaining national recognition. The All-America City designation has also helped communities win grants and new resources and attract new employers.”
The All-America City Awards is America’s original and most prestigious community recognition program. It was founded 61 years ago by the National Civic League.
“These All-America Cities represent what is working in American communities,” said National Civic League President Gloria Rubio Cortés. “They are taking on challenging issues and finding innovative ways of creating a better future. We are inspired by their stories every year.”
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In 2008, the Rancho Cordova, California Chamber of Commerce, city government and the Cordova Community Council (CCC) came together under one roof at the community’s new city hall building.
Housed together, representatives of the three sectors–public, private and nonprofit–meet regularly to pursue a common vision for the city’s future. The results have been positive.
The chamber, which had been on the brink of dissolution in 2007, has become a strong business organization hosting national economic experts on business topics. Membership has grown, bringing the organization from red to black ink.
The CCC is a bustling center of activity which sponsors monthly public events attracting thousands of citizens to community celebrations. Technical assistance is provided to other non-profits to improve their performance.
City services are accessible on a ground level “one stop” center offering everything from building plan review to passports. The second floor houses offices such as city manager and attorney, finance and human resources.
City Hall has also become a social hub. Rancho Cordovans use it for baby showers, weddings, graduation parties, and the rental rates are kept low to be affordable for families. City Hall has also become a model of innovation and “green technology” achieving LEED certification. Up-to-date technology allows city hall to operate as a command center during crisis. Citizens enjoy the use of flat screen projection, excellent sound systems, and wireless internet that make any meeting more interesting and productive.
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