Well I took this one right out of Joan Callamezzo’s playbook: Gotcha! With my homage to NBC’s sitcom Parks and Recreation, I wanted to take time to highlight tomorrow as ‘Family Health & Fitness Day.’ Celebrated the second Saturday in June each year, this special day promotes the importance of parks and recreation in keeping communities healthy. That is why the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) designated this year’s theme “Parks Build Healthy Communities.” So to participate, Apportis team members chose to show off their favorite parks in the Columbus and Cleveland areas. For me this was an easy assignment, as I live across the street from Goodale Park, but it caused me to reflect on this theme and how our parks are really centers of our community.

We all just experienced three months unlike any other in our lives, but it was amazing to see the “connectiveness” of everyone in our community. For me, nowhere was that more evident than the park right across the street from my house. As I worked from home in my living room I couldn’t help but notice the diverse range of people using the park. Despite nearly every entertainment and fitness business closing, there was one place they could still use to stay fit. While everyone chose to use the space in different ways to exercise, everyone adhered to some form of social distancing. Whether they were wearing masks, deliberately staying 6 feet away at all times, etc. there was one commonality, we’re all in this together – connected.

This really struck me when I recently bothered to read the inscription on the statue of Lincoln Goodale. It reads: In 1851 he donated this beautiful parcel of land to the City of Columbus to be “forever kept and preserved as a public park,” thus making Goodale Park the oldest in the city. For me, this really hit home that 169 years later I still get to enjoy his gift to the city and his legacy in the community.

Please share your Family Health & Fitness Day ideas, virtual events and photos with us on social media using the hashtag #NRPAFamilyFitDay.