According to the scholarship website, the scholarship is an award of $200 allocated for each age-appropriate child in the household. Sarah Smith, recreation senior manager in the Prince William County Parks & Recreation Department, said a range of ages is typically awarded.
“It’s a wide variety,” Smith said. “[Applicants] go from preschool age all the way [up to 18]. I would say our oldest applicant is around 15.”
Ruth Anderson, chair of the Prince William Parks Foundation, said this scholarship was born out of the foundation’s revitalization efforts in late 2019 and early 2020.
“And what was happening at that time? Yeah, the pandemic,” Anderson said. “We set up all the infrastructure for the foundation, and then we made our very first program … because at that time, kids weren’t getting out to school and a perfect place for them was parks.”
Anderson also said other park foundations had similar scholarships available, so this was an opportunity to meet a need and follow in the footsteps of peer organizations.
“The scholarship program actually became successful very rapidly because people were very willing to give to that effort,” Anderson said.
According to federal poverty guidelines, the scholarship was created for children at or below 130% of the poverty level. For a household of four people, the poverty guideline is an annual income of $31,200, which increases by $5,380 per additional person. Each qualifying child per household can receive a scholarship.
According to the foundation website, much of the money for the scholarships comes from cash and in-kind donations, grants, and other types of donations. Anderson said a large donor to the scholarship is The Hylton Foundation, a Dale City nonprofit.
According to documents provided by Anderson, the Hylton Foundation donated $10,000 in 2023 and $6,690 from the Parks Foundation’s fundraising efforts. In total, $16,690 was awarded to students in the county for various programs.
Smith said that in the 2023 scholarship year, more than 125 programs had registrations from 139 award recipients. The most popular programs are camps, swim lessons, and arts and crafts programs.
The scholarship application is open until February 2 and can be submitted via mail or online. Specific application materials can be found on the scholarship website.
Caitlyn Meisner is a freelance reporter for Potomac Local News.
During the Manassas City Council meeting on Monday, January 22, 2024, representatives from the Manassas City Government provided annual updates, looking back on 2023, on the Department of Community Development and Parks, Culture, and Recreation's achievements and plans.
Matt Arcieri and Kisha Wilson-Sugunro presented key highlights from their respective departments' annual reports.
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Virginia State Parks: “Construction is complete on Sky Meadows State Park’s Lost Mountain Trail, bringing it up to sustainability standards. The 2.2-mile trail, designed for hikers and equestrians, is one of six located in the park’s 248-acre Lost Mountain area, which opened to the public in the early ‘90s.”
“Due to several factors, including regular traffic and improper drainage, Lost Mountain Trail was suffering from significant erosion, making it difficult to traverse. Sky Meadows hired Ironwood Outdoors to address the issue, the third project at the park for the full-service trail building company since 2018.”
“Upgrades to Lost Mountain Trail started in early November and included five reroutes to avoid hazard areas, seven de-berm areas to improve the out slope of the trail, 49 rolling grade dips to prevent washout and 18 knicks to prevent pooling water.”
“The 2nd annual Holiday Walk of Lights is back this year and brighter than ever! Experience the magic of the holiday season,” writes Prince William County Parks and Recreation.
Whitehead, a wide receiver who played for the Dallas Cowboys and the British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League, described his childhood in Georgetown South.
Whitehead said the Boys and Girls Club provided a positive environment where he could participate in different activities. This helped him realize he wanted to attend junior college, leading to his football career.
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Prince William County Government: “Prince William County leaders, staff and members of the Lake Ridge community came together to celebrate the officially opening of the Occoquan Greenway Hedges Run Segment 3 Bridge that was installed earlier this summer.”
“The new bridge, for both pedestrians and bicyclists, is an upgrade to an existing trail, leased for public access from Lake Ridge Parks and Recreation Association, in the Lake Ridge community near the Occoquan Reservoir. The bridge and associated trail reroute replaces three splash-through creek crossings with a single elevated pedestrian/bicycle route.”
The ribbon cutting took place on December 7, 2023.
Press release: “Virginia is among the best states to play pickleball, new study reveals. Virginia is the tenth-best state to play pickleball, with a final score of 55.0 out of 100.”
“Arizona was named the best and Louisiana the worst state for pickleball, due to the state’s rainy weather conditions and lack of indoor facilities.”
“The findings considered factors like state interest, the availability of outdoor/indoor courts, and temperature fluctuations. Additionally, study considers air pollution, as higher levels may make it harder to exercise due to short-term respiratory effects.”
“Pickleball fanatics at Pickleball Union considered factors like monthly searches for related terms scaled against the population, the number of courts, average annual precipitation, and the average temperature from 72F, to assign each state a score out of 100.”
“As well as looking at the above factors, the ranking also considered the number of past pickleball events, upcoming events, and the air quality index. USA Pickleball states, A cross between tennis, badminton, and ping pong, pickleball is now the fastest-growing sport in the US, with over 4.8 million players, according to The Sports & Fitness Industry Association.”
More information regarding pickleball can be found online.
The Board of County Supervisors entered into a purchase agreement with Newington-based Benlo, LLC, to buy 13505 Telegraph Road for $16 million. The property sits near a Target store and could house an indoor sports center someday.
Per last month's agreement, the county has 150 days to determine if it wants the property. At the same time, Supervisors approved a quarter-million dollar agreement with MEB General Contractors to study whether or not the location would be ideal for a 240,000-square-foot indoor rec center.
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The Stafford County Board of Supervisors is still unsure how to fund Musselman Park.
Brian Southall, director of Stafford County Parks Recreation and Tourism facilities, heavily emphasized the importance of the Park to the citizens of Stafford. He showed a conceptual plan containing plans for a playground, trails, pickleball courts, and parking areas, all commonly requested by residents.
