Welcome to the city of St Joseph's weekly digital newsletter. City Link is your source for timely and relevant information from your local government.
Thursday, May 6, 2021
Enjoy Parks Passport this Summer

Summer is right around the corner and what better way to spend some time outdoors than exploring local parks and playgrounds. Take part in the Parks, Recreation and Civic Facilities Department's Parks Passport program from Saturday, May 29, through Sunday, August 15. This free program encourages community members to get outside and enjoy the local opportunities.

By registering for Park Passports, your little explorer will be encouraged to visit playgrounds throughout town. To check-in at each location, all you need to do is scan the QR codes at each playground. After visiting all of the playgrounds on the participating list, which will be available on the parks' Facebook page, participants will receive a prize.

Want to do more than just visit the playgrounds? Participate in the park challenges. These will also be provided after registration and on the parks' Facebook page. If all of the challenges are completed, participants will be entered to win an end-of-summer prize pack.
Golf Course Expanding Ladies and Senior Tees

Many courses across the country are remodeling or expanding tees to improve conditions and designing them to be more practical and functional. They working on finding the balance of practical and functional while keeping the maintenance side of the project to a minimum. Many are rethinking the "bigger is better" mentality because every square foot of tee costs money to construct and maintain.

The Golf Course Industry has formulas for a suggested proper square footage of tees in relation to rounds played per year. Recommended standard of 150 to 200 square feet per 1,000 rounds for teeing surfaces. For example, in most cases, 4,000-square-foot tees for courses with annual play of 20,000 rounds, and 6,000 to 8,000-square-foot tees on courses with play 40,000 rounds or more. Fairview Golf Course has averaged 18,192 rounds of golf over the past five years. 

Using this chart, a course which generates 20,000 rounds might end up with rectangular tees of the following dimensions:

  • Black Tees: 15 feet by 15 to 20 feet. Championship tees generally generate light play and can be as small as you can mow, especially on a course that’s 7,100 yards or longer. Fairview is 6,433 yards with the average = 25 feet by 25 feet currently on the eight holes that have a Championship tee box. 
  • Blue and White Tees combined: 30 feet by 85 feet. The extra width helps with heavier play. Generally, for play and maintenance, extra length is more beneficial than extra width, allowing tee settings to match pin settings to keep length consistent daily. The Fairview average is 35 feet by 97 feet.
  • Gold and Red Tees: 30 feet by 40 feet. Fairview currently has 10 forward tees with average dimensions of 20 feet by 26 feet. With the increasing number of women golfers along with seniors sharing the same teeing area, our existing tee square footage is not practical and functional for the rounds played per year from these teeing areas. 

Fairview staff plan to redesign and expand eight forward tees to an average dimension of 45 feet by 42 feet. This will allow for numerous placements of the tee markers which in turn allows for repair and re-growth of the grass areas worn by the golfers. Most of materials needed for expansion are already in-house with minimal outside purchases for tee construction to be completed properly. Construction began in early April and will be ready for play by late summer. Existing tees will remain open throughout remodeling as no play will be impacted during this timeframe. 

The Senior Legends men’s group donated $100 to begin this project. They also plan to make another donation in the future as they utilize these tees in all their outings.
May is Mental Health Month

This past year presented so many different challenges and obstacles which tested our strength and resiliency. The global pandemic forced us to cope with situations we never even imagined and a lot of us struggled with our mental health as a result, some for the first time. The good news is there are tools and resources available that can help.

Now, more than ever, we need to combat the stigma surrounding mental health concerns. This Mental Health Month, Mental Health America is highlighting #Tools2Thrive, which focuses on what individuals can do throughout their daily lives to prioritize mental health, build resiliency and continue to cope with the obstacles of COVID-19. 

The past year forced many to accept tough situations they had little to no control over. If you found it impacted your mental health, you aren’t alone. In fact, of the almost half a million individuals who took the anxiety screening through Mental Health America, 79% showed symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety. However, there are practical tools which can help improve mental health. These include focusing on managing anger and frustration, recognizing when trauma may be affecting your mental health, challenging negative thinking patterns, and making time to take care of yourself.

It’s important to remember working on your mental health and finding tools to help you thrive takes time as change won’t happen overnight. Instead, by focusing on small changes, you can move through the stressors of the past year and develop long-term strategies to support yourself on an ongoing basis. 

A great starting point for anyone who is ready to start prioritizing their mental health is to take a mental health screening at mhascreening.org. It’s a quick, free and confidential way for someone to assess their mental health and begin finding hope and healing. 

Ultimately, during the month of May, it's important to remind everyone mental illnesses are real and recovery is possible. By developing your own #Tools2Thrive, it is possible to find balance between life’s ups and downs and continue to cope with the challenges brought on by the pandemic. For more information, visit mhanational.org.
Technology During a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has more people teleworking than ever before. The city’s technology services division has to ensure the workforce...read more
Parties on the Parkway

Take in some music during this year's Parties on the Parkway hosted by the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. The concert series takes place the second Thursday each month from May through September along different parts of the parkway system. Admission is free and this year's line up includes:

  • Soca Jukebox, May 13, 5-8pm, at Southwest Parkway and King Hill Drive
  • The Trace, June 10, 5-8pm, at Southwest Parkway and 28th Street
  • Oxymoron, July 8, 5-8pm, at Southwest Noyes and Parkway A
  • Vinyl Revival, August 12, 5-8pm, at Corby Pond
  • Phil Vandel, September 9, 5-8pm, at the Remington Nature Center
(816) 271-5300