Celebrate Park and Recreation Month With the NRPA

National Recreation and Park Association

Since 1985, America has celebrated July as the nation's official Park and Recreation Month, last year Americans across the country ''rocked their parks'' with celebratory flashmobs. This year the ''Get Wild'' theme encourages individuals, families, friends and park-lovers to venture to their local parks and recreation areas to experience the many benefits they offer.

Barbara Tulipane, President and CEO of NRPA said, ''As the obesity epidemic rages on, physical activity levels remain low and more than ever kids are staying indoors and behind electronic media. Park and Recreation Month is a great time to take a stand against these trends by going to your park, getting active and of course, getting wild!''

Park and recreation agencies nationwide will be helping their communities ''get wild'' through a variety of fun initiatives, events and activities including Geocaching. This is a real-world outdoor treasure hunting game, where players locate hidden containers, called geocaches, using GPS-enabled devices or mobile phones and then shares their experiences online.

The NRPA will be holding a geocaching contest during Park and Recreation Month (July) where people can submit their treasure hunting stories or photos to NRPA through Facebook.

For more information about how to get wild in parks and recreation areas across the country during Park and Recreation Month please visit nrpa.org

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