Heels on Wheels Ride Saturday, May 31
May 28, 2014 Leave a comment
For more information, LIKE Heels on Wheels on Facebook and JOIN the event.
Healthy Monday: Give Dinner Time a Makeover
May 27, 2014 2 Comments
Is dinner anything but relaxing? Perhaps it’s time for a change!
Studies show that a relaxing dinner experience is beneficial to everyone, whether you’re eating alone or with your family.
To create a positive dining atmosphere, turn off all technology and eat at a table with place settings.
This week, schedule at least one relaxing dinner to enjoy time with your family and/or friends. The dinner doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as you’re enjoying the meal.
For more information on eating healthy and staying active visit Monday Campaigns.
Glenlake and McKoy Pools Open Tomorrow! Ebster Opens June 2
May 23, 2014 Leave a comment
Just in time to beat the heat: Glenlake and McKoy pool will open tomorrow, May 24. Hours will be 10 am -6 pm tomorrow through Memorial Day.
Regular weekday hours will ensue afterwards.
The opening of the newly renovated Ebster Pool has been delayed until June 2, but worth the wait. The pool has added three new lanes for swimming, a splash pad, and the whole bathhouse and pool deck are being refreshed. We look forward to holding the Decatur Gators Swim meets at Ebster Pool this summer.
For more information about Pools in the City of Decatur , click here.
Please follow us on Twitter at @DecaturPools to receive up to date information on pool closures.
Happy swimming!!
Children’s Arts Festival Tomorrow at Decatur Recreation Center
May 23, 2014 Leave a comment
The Children’s Arts Festival kicks off tomorrow with a parade- line up begins at 9:30 am at the corner of Commerce and Church Street. Step off is at 9:50 am. Dress up the children and decorate your strollers, bike and trikes. Show your artistic spirit!
After the parade, enjoy arts and crafts, music, juggling, clowns and much more. Commemorate the fun by visiting the WOW photo booth. Most activities are free or for a small donation.
The Children’s Festival is from 10 am until 2 pm at the Decatur Recreation Center located at 231 Sycamore Street, next to the Decatur Library. We will also be hosting the New Dance festival, so drop in while you are here.
After the Children’s Festival, head on over to the Historic Decatur Square for music, art, literary arts and more.
For more information visit http://www.decaturartsfestival.com.
Join Our Team “I Bike Decatur” for the National Bike Challenge
May 21, 2014 Leave a comment
Let’s go Decatur- if you ride your bike at all, then join the team I Bike Decatur for the National Bike Challenge. You get points for riding so even if your ride is only a mile or so, it counts!
Click here and then search for our team and join. You can log your miles in a variety of ways: Moves, Map My Ride or Endomondo.
Check out the video here that takes you step by step through the registration process and gives you the options of the apps you can use.
Be sure to check our biking page (www.decaturga.com/biking) to find biking opportunities in Decatur.
Table Tennis is Social, Diplomatic, Therapeutic, and Mainstream
May 19, 2014 Leave a comment
Pong: A Game You Can Play for Life.
It’s true, one can play table tennis or pong for life and this week we have 2 guest bloggers from the Decatur Recreation Center to tell you about their love, passion, scorekeeping style, therapeutic nature, and disability recovery angles one can glean from the game of PONG. Meet Niklas and Edwin now, and consider coming by the center this Thursday night from 6p-8p to watch the gym full of PONG teams compete in the Dekalb Senior Olympics table tennis (Pong) event!
Niklas’ Angle on the Social and Therapeutic Benefits of the Game
I pong – and pong sneaks up on you. Only recently did I discover that it is the second most popular global participatory sport – a sport that it is played by folks of all ages, abilities, and walks of life.Did you know that pong is embraced by a number of elite athletes for training and recreation (the U of Alabama football team trainers use it for enhancing eye-hand coordination and many PGA players are itching to get off the fairways and greens to join the pong competition after the golf tournament, for example)?
My pong awakening stemmed from building a homemade table out of plywood and 1 X 3’s with my dad. We ponged for hours and our DIY basement table became a haven for spirited play among high school friends.
Therapeutic
I found pong again a few years ago – decades after all the basement fun — soon after a break up and the loss of daily time with my son. I needed something (not too serious) to do with myself – a place to manage my premature “empty nester” sadness and a way to step into the world again. There are tables all over the city and I sneak away to pong wherever and whenever I can – in homes, gyms, bars, restaurants, outside during snowstorms, and in sweltering summer heat.
Diplomatic
In addition to being serious fun, pong is social and intimate – and I pong with some of my favorite people (as well as a few who drive me crazy). Pong has brought governments in conflict together as a diplomacy tool and is employed by creative and business folk alike as an activity to keep people’s minds sharp, strengthen rapport, and aid in problem solving.
I have coached pong at the local Boys and Girls Club and found the experience of keeping kids active on the table rewarding and a terrific option for those not engaged in the traditional contact sports. I appreciate being able to pong with all sorts of people at Decatur Rec — and it would be great to see the City of Decatur Schools cultivate pong clubs or teams as extra-curriculars.
Zen
I met my unofficial pong teacher, Edwin Quiambao, at Decatur Rec – and this sage guy says, “I don’t play for points, I play every point.” Edwin is a pong ambassador and often the first to invite anyone new to play (this is how I met him) – yet, even though he is a skilled player, he truly won’t play a scored game!
Pong is also my zen and helps me understand that I’m at my best when present and “in” every “point” (vs. “paying for points”). Learning to let go of the moment and reset has become hugely important to me – both on and off the table. Like my dad, I play pong with my son – and we pong without keeping score. Thanks, Edwin! Pong on!
Niklas Volmer, 48
Associate Professor of Film & Video
Georgia State University
Edwin’s Boost from Table Tennis in Coping with Disabilities
Hi! As I reach my 71st birthday this year, I am reminded that I come from a family of long-livers: a grandma and a couple of aunts in making it to their mid to late 90s, one over 100, and most of the rest of my elders to their 80s. I fully expected to enjoy my golden years to a similar extent, until I was diagnosed 4 years ago with Parkinson’s, a neuro-degenerative disease with no known cure.At this point, I’m quickly learning to become prepared for anything as the fragility of life becomes more palpable.
I reacted with mixed feelings when my neurologist at the time surmised that the actual inception of my disease probably dated as far back as 5 to 10 years previous. Wishfully, that meant for me that the disease progression in my case would be a slow one, while on the other hand, it might have been progressing for long enough that I may now be nearing the more frightful stages of my disease.
Staying sharp
Be that as it may, even before my fateful diagnosis, I was already wanting to live life more fully and meaningfully, with a dash of optimism, fun and humor thrown in whenever possible. I was also forever nagged by that overused dictum “Use it or lose it”.
Knowing that dementia can be a side-outcome of Parkinson’s, I consciously engage my mind by being an avid reader and puzzle solver (as in chess); I’m quick to participate in volunteer opportunities that hopefully are socially meaningful; I keep busy in a nearly daily routine of physically challenging activities such as yard work, tai chi, piano-playing AND table tennis. I can confess that of these, table tennis (more recognizable to most as “ping-pong”) has grabbed my heart the most.
For me, there is something intuitively absorbing (yes, addictive) about this little game, with its perplexing little ball forcing its players into a relentlessly problem-solving mind-set. It is also deceptively, very socially interactive – a widely accepted ingredient for health!
A Japanese study on Alzheimer and dementia patients revealed significant benefits for their subjects from playing table tennis, illustrating the compelling nature of the game, as though it were nearly impossible to play it without giving it one’s total mental and sensori-motor and -perceptual attention – a smart goal for helping rehab these subjects.
Everyman’s Sport
The safety benefits from practicing skills in balance control, coordination and timing become earmarked for a population that is known to be particularly vulnerable to falls, kitchen accidents, etc. Notably, anybody who has watched a variety of people playing this game quickly observes that its recreational features are similar across all categories irrespective of age, gender or physical or mental circumstances. It seems as close to being an “Everyman’s Sport” as you can get. And, oh, yes, it CAN be a serious sport! Decide for yourself in these video clips…Speed of Table Tennis, So You Think Table Tennis is NOT a Sport?, The Hardest Sport (8 min)
Though my own disease progression has gradually denied me the weekly frequency with which I could engage in this potentially highly active sport, it is still taking up a healthful commitment from me time-wise. I know I would give it even more time if the practical logistics of my making it to and from available sites to play were made more convenient and less problematic for me. Right now, I can still drive myself (daytime) to my sites of choice, depending on changing personal circumstances every given day, making the issue of scheduled accessibility to these sites a crucial one for me. Our seniors and other folks living with whatever challenges would be similarly susceptible.Mainstream
A general effort to make access to the facilities required as round-the-clock user-friendly as possible would be a generous goal. By succeeding to motivate such special groups to more happily embrace offerings as those possible at the Decatur Rec Center, it would be a quick step towards attracting an even larger and more mainstream public to join in and begin to experience the many benefits of this amazing sport and health activity. Just check out some local recognition that table tennis is starting to enjoy via these images seen recently at Atlanta downtown’s Woodruff Park and at the Decatur Recreation Center weekly.
Edwin Quiambao, 71
Citizen, Table Tennis Player for Life
Bike Registration and Children’s Bike Rodeo May 17!
May 16, 2014 Leave a comment
Do you want to have your bicycle registered with the police department in case it is lost or stolen?
If so, please stop by the Children’s Bike Rodeo Saturday, May 17, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. in the Callaway parking lot, located at the corner of West Trinity Place and Commerce Drive in downtown Decatur. Decatur Police will record the identifying information for your bicycle, apply a decal and photograph your bicycle so that in the event it is stolen, the needed information will be on file. Also, in the event the bicycle is found, it can be reunited with its owner. The process takes just a few minutes.
Even if you are not attending the bike rodeo, please bring your bicycles by and get them registered.
This Week’s Bike Month Activities
May 15, 2014 Leave a comment
Bike to Work Energizer Station, Friday May 16, 7 – 10 am
Stop by the Decatur Recreation Center on your way to work for coffee, juice and pastries and get energized for your bike commute! We will have NEW I Bike Decatur shirts for sale for $20 (cash or check), visitors from the CleanAir Campaign, Bike Maps and pins, and more. Rain or shine! Decatur Recreation Center is located at 231 Sycamore Drive, just a block from the Decatur MARTA Station. FREE shirt compliments of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and Fallen Arrows for first ten arrivals who have signed up for the National Bike Challenge. #BTWD2014
Children’s Bike Rodeo Saturday, May 17, 10 am – 1 pm
Decatur Active Living has joined forces with Mike Sheehan and Neil Walker to put on a Children’s Bike Rodeo in the Callaway Lot, located at the corner of Trinity Place and Commerce Drive, across from the DeKalb County Parking Deck in downtown Decatur. Children will learn the A-B-Cs of Bike Safety, traffic skills, fun games, and more. The event is FREE. Helmets are required. #ibikedecatur
Decatur Bikes Ride to Stone Mountain, May 17, 8 am
Join Decatur Bikes for a Saturday morning ride to Stone Mountain. Meet at the CVS lot across from the store at 7:45 am and be ready to ride at 8 am. This is a conversational pace, no drop ride. No ride if raining. Helmets are required. Decatur Bikes will be doing these rides throughout the summer. #ibikedecatur
Bicycle South Ride to Stone Mountain, May 18, 9 am
Join Bicycle South for a ride to Stone Mountain. Meet in the Bicycle South parking lot and be ready to ride at 9 am. This is a fun, no-drop ride. Helmets are required. Snacks at the store after the ride. #ibikedecatur
Children’s Bike Rodeo This Saturday
May 13, 2014 Leave a comment
Decatur Active Living Invites you to
Celebrate Bike Month with a Children’s Bike Rodeo
When: Saturday, May 17, 10 am – 1 pm
Where: Callaway Parking Lot, Trinity at Commerce Drive
Learn the A-B-C’s of Bike Safety
Learn how to change a flat tire
Fun Games
Traffic Skills
Free!
Bring your bike. Helmets are required.
It Is Bike to Work Week!
May 13, 2014 Leave a comment
Consider participating in Bike to Work Week and especially Bike to Work Day this Friday, May 16. The Decatur Active Living Division will be hosting a Bike to Work Day Energizer Station from 7 – 10 am in front of the Decatur Recreation Center. Stop by and have some coffee, juice or a baked treat. Gather with your fellow bike commuters and meet some new bike friends.
Sign up at the GA Commute website and log your miles. Each day you take alternative transit, walk or bike to work you help the environment and also are registered for a chance to earn cash or win prizes. Make one small change a week! You may become hooked.
Join our team I Bike Decatur for the National Bike Challenge. It’s easy- just log any and every time you ride. The challenge goes through October. Click here for more information. Register, then search for I Bike Decatur and join!
We hope to have our new I Bike Decatur t-shirts available for $20. You know you want one!! We accept cash or check.
For more informtion on Bike Month in Decatur, click here.
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