2025 MRPA Fall Workshop
Thursday, October 16th at the Lewiston Armory
Fall Workshop Title Sponsor is:
REGISTER HERE
8:00 am – 8:25 am – Check In and Networking – Coffee & Conversation
8:30 am – 9:30 am – Choose One Session
Leveling the Playing Field: Empowering Girls and Women in Sports
Deb Smith, Retired Recreation Professional, Brianne Maloney, Youth Program Coordiantor, South Portland Parks and Recreation & Meg Gribbon, Recreation Programmer, Saco Parks and Recreation
Why do girls play sports—and why do they stop? How can Parks and Recreation departments play a key role in changing the game? This one-hour session dives into the work of a Maine-based initiative focused on increasing access, equity, and participation for girls and women in sports. We’ll share findings from a recent survey exploring why girls choose to play—or not—and discuss strategies to break down barriers to participation. We’ll also highlight efforts to recruit, support, and retain more women as coaches and mentors in community programs. Come away with practical tools and fresh ideas to create welcoming, inclusive spaces where girls and women can thrive in sports—on the field and on the sidelines.
Using Generative AI Safely and Productively in the Workplace
Kyle Hadyniak, Director of Communication & IT, Town of Gray
This session explores how to harness generative AI in the workplace. AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or Google Gemini aren’t designed to take the place of humans – yet – but can be truly invaluable assistants, sounding boards, and editors for any number of tasks. Using real-world examples from a municipal workplace, I’ll will walk attendees through how to best utilize generative AI, and how to be safe while doing so.
Mitigating Playground Injuries
Guy Gagnon, CIC, AIC, AAI, Account Executive, Leavitt Recreation & Hospitality Insurance
In this session, we will review national consumer protection agencies Public Safety Standards for playgrounds. Question and answer session.
The Purpose Pursuit: Courage, Integrity, and Motivation
Adam Gormely, Dirigo Risk Management
This seminar highlights the journey to discover your purpose (“understanding your Why”) while emphasizing the importance of courage and integrity (“why can’t you be a coward, thief, or liar?”). Additionally, we will discuss ways to maintain motivation and focus at work.
Student Development Panel Discussion
MRPA Student Development Committee and Panel of MRPA Recreation Professionals
This session is desigend for our student members. An opportunity to learn from a variety of recreation professionals, many who are relatively new to the industry. The panel will share tips and tricks for successful interviewing, reesume bulding and writing, how to connect with current professionals, internships and more. There will be plenty of time for Q & A.
9:35 am – 10:15 am – MRPA business meeting
10:30 am – 11:30 am – Choose One Session
Introducing the Maine Gear Share Library Network
Emily MacKeowen, Maine Gear Share
The Maine Gear Library Network (MGLN), a first-of-its-kind statewide alliance of gear libraries, has officially launched, providing affordable access to high-quality outdoor equipment. From bikes and kayaks to tents and camp stoves, the network is a community-driven gear lending program committed to equitable access to outdoor recreation for residents and visitors alike.
MGLN is actively supporting new gear libraries through technical assistance, equipment sharing, and public education. This session will share more information about the network, how to learn more and get in touch, and how to get involved in the network for interested groups either starting this work or already lending gear.
Forest Management: More Versatile Than You Might Think
Zoë Lidstrom, Jones Associates & David Griswold, Maine Licensed Forester
After giving an overview of what forest management is, including the component parts of a well-rounded management plan, we’ll show attendees that forest management can achieve many objectives beyond timber value. In particular, we’ll discuss the ways that forest management provides educational opportunities and recreational opportunities.
Stay; For Life – Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention
Angela Witten, Executive Director and Co-Founder Stay for Life
Angela Whitten, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Stay; For Life, a Maine-based nonprofit dedicated to mental health awareness and suicide prevention, will share her insights on the critical importance of equipping individuals with the necessary tools to better understand and manage their mental well-being. She will provide practical strategies and resources to facilitate awareness and mechanisms to foster growth. Drawing from her personal experience as a mother who tragically lost her 18-year-old son to suicide in June 2022, Angela brings a unique and powerful perspective to her advocacy work.
From Estate to Park, the Development of Wickham Park
Jeff Maron, Wickham Park and New England Park Association
The history and development of Wickham Park’s gardens.
We will explore the involvement of Olmstead Associates in changing a private estate to a park open to the public. We then move on to the development of the rest of the Park’s gardens, concluding with our newest garden opening at the end of August
Participants will learn the unique 100 year plus history of Wickham Park’s gardens. They will also learn how Wickham Park’s “country” themed gardens are uniquely distinctive.
11:45 am – 12:45 pm – Choose One Session
Robotics; An Introduction
BIll Hazeltine, Tiny Mobil Robots
This will be a high level presentation describing the various robotic methods for products used in the Outdoor Power Equipment and Field Maintenance Categories. Thirty minutes of classroom and thirty minute live demonstration.
Creating Safe Spaces: Trauma-Informed Practices for Recreation Professionals
Kat Harju, Recreation Coordinator, Bridgton Recreation and Sara MacDonald, Camp Director, Circle Camps
Recreation programs are more than just play—they are safe havens, social lifelines, and opportunities for healing. Yet many participants bring invisible burdens into our gyms, camps, parks, and events. Whether it’s the loss of a parent, family instability, community violence, or other forms of trauma, recreation professionals are increasingly on the front lines of emotional support.
In this workshop, presenters Kat Harju and Sara MacDonald will blend professional expertise in behavioral support, grief-informed care, and recreation programming to equip staff with tools for creating emotionally safe and inclusive spaces. We will explore the six principles of trauma-informed care—safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment, and cultural sensitivity—and translate them into recreation-specific strategies. Participants will leave with practical techniques for de-escalation, fostering resilience, and building programs where every individual feels seen and valued. This interactive session includes role-play scenarios, case studies, and take-home resources for immediate implementation.
Recreation and Age-Friendly Communities–A Moving Partnership
Patricia Oh, PhD, MSW, Asst. Director for Community Research, U Maine Center on Aging, Dr. Jennifer Jain, PhD, CTRS, Senior Companion Program Director , U Maine Center on Aging, & Stephanie Cote, Age Friendly Program Coordinator, Lewiston Recreation
When Age-Friendly Community Initiatives and Recreation Departments collaborate, older community members benefit. Opportunities to recreate and socialize are crucial for people to lead active, healthy, and engaged lives. And that is what Recreation does best! The workshop will start by describing the age-friendly movement in Maine and then share examples of successful collaborations between recreation and age-friendly communities.
Shaping the Future of Outdoor Recreation: Maine’s Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP)
Nicole, Lazure, Outdoor Recreation Planner, Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands
Join us for an engaging session focused on Maine’s Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP); a critical planning tool that guides investments, policies, and priorities for outdoor recreation across the state. Participants will learn about the purpose and process of SCORP, how it informs decision-making and funding at state and local levels, and current trends and challenges shaping Maine’s outdoor recreation landscape.
This session will also provide an interactive opportunity for attendees to share their insights, needs, and priorities to help inform the next version of the SCORP. Whether you are a municipal recreation leader, land manager, nonprofit partner, student, or passionate outdoor user, your input is essential in helping Maine create an inclusive, forward-looking recreation strategy.
11:30 am Lunch
Join us for lunch ( included)
12:15 pm – 1:15 pm Just added!
Northeast Passage – Similarity Awareness Presentation
The mission of Northeast Passage is to empower people living with disabling conditions, both visible and invisible, to define, pursue and achieve whole life health, community engagement and fulfillment through the purposeful use of sports and recreation; to develop and promote best practices in the fields of Therapeutic Recreation and Adaptive Sports.
Similarity Awareness provides an integrated opportunity for all participants to explore the similarities we share, regardless of ability, through participation in activities and discussion.
Northeast Passage will bring wheelchairs and accessories to the facilitate and play a variety of familiar and novel games and sports. This experience teaches us to consider that using a wheelchair while playing a sport requires skill and practice and is also challenging, athletic and fun.
All Similarity Awareness programs will begin with various activities to promote discussion and encourage us to begin thinking about the similarities we all share. Following a brief introduction with activities and discussion the we will have the opportunity to play a game in the wheelchairs. We will conclude with a discussion based on any new ideas, facts, or questions.