Recreation Conference Planned for Nov. 4-5

Recreation Conference Planned for Nov. 4-5

10/22/2010 

Benjamin Hunnicutt, who has focused his research and writing on an historical mystery in America, “The End of Shorter Hours,” will deliver the prestigious Metcalf Endowment Lecture at this year’s 60th annual SUNY Cortland Recreation Conference from Nov. 4-5 at the College.

Hunnicutt, currently a professor in the Department of Leisure Studies at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, will discuss “Time to Live: A Lost Kingdom, a Forgotten American Dream,” at 2:45 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 5, in the Corey Union Function Room. The lecture is free and open to the public.

“So Much Recreation, So Little Time” is the theme of the two-day gathering, the nation’s oldest continuous collegiate-sponsored recreation education conference. Sponsored by the College’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies, the conference receives additional support for its Metcalf Lecture from the Metcalf Endowment. This year, Brix Pubaria is providing special support.

“We choose this theme to represent all the major changes in recreation that have occurred, especially in the last 60 years,” said Brittany Neider, the conference’s program coordinator. “Since it is also our 60th anniversary, we felt it was necessary to honor such a journey. The entire committee has worked very hard to create an amazing conference and we look forward to seeing you all there.”

Benjamin Hunnicutt
Benjamin Hunnicutt

Registration takes place at 7 a.m. on Thursday and 7 a.m. on Friday at Corey Union. The fee is $110 for professionals and $50 for SUNY Cortland students to attend both days; and $75 for professionals to attend Thursday or Friday only. The non-SUNY Cortland student group rate is $25 each for 10 or more students. The additional cost to receive Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits is $8. The registration fee includes meals and entertainment. Additional information may be obtained by calling (607) 753-4939, by e-mailing recconf@cortland.edu or online at www.cortland.edu/recconf, where the brochure and registration form may be viewed or printed.

Approximately 250 recreation professionals and college recreation majors are expected to participate in the conference, which will offer more than 45 educational sessions and practical workshops on recreation management, therapeutic recreation, outdoor recreation, environmental education, and leisure and society. Three pre- or post-conference workshops and a research symposium are planned.

Topics will include sustainable recreation and tourism, conducting adventure-based activities in inpatient settings, surviving the first 30 days on the job in the recreation field, making senior leisure activities more interactive, blending commercial recreation and the great outdoors, therapeutic horsemanship, wilderness therapy and its beneficial outcomes, running a special event, and strategies for funding recreation programs.

Cortland alumni presenting at this year’s conference include Thomas Goodale ’61, Richard Fabend ’65, John Silsby ’69, Fred Von Mechow ’77, Janet Barry Connolly ’84, Edward "Eddie" Hill ’86, John La Rue ’89, Rickie McClure ’90, David Peppel ’97 and Scott Catucci ’00.

The event is planned and directed by SUNY Cortland recreation and leisure studies majors in the Special Events Planning class taught by conference advisor Edward Hill, assistant professor of recreation, parks and leisure studies. The students and the committees they chair include:

• Neider of Babylon, N.Y., who is also co-chairing volunteer coordinator and special speaker committees;

Chelsea Smith of Harrison, N.Y., conference chair and social services;

• Wendy Richards of Newark Valley, N.Y., program design, printing, registration and tracking and alumni chair;

• Tim Bennett of Rome, N.Y., public relations and office manager;

• Tom McLaughlin of New Rochelle, N.Y., social services, internship forum, public relations and marketing;

• Roger Ennis of Cortland, N.Y., public relations, exhibits, and special speaker;

• Dan Shearin of Rome, N.Y., marketing, evaluation, registration and tracking, and exhibits;

• Mike Warne of Binghamton, N.Y., program support and volunteer coordinator;

• Sarah Heil of New Hartford, N.Y., volunteer coordinator, registration and tracking and office manager;

• Henry Cevallos of Brooklyn, N.Y., treasurer, office managers, internship forum and evaluation; and,

• Krissy Gauthier of North Syracuse, N.Y., teacher’s assistant.

Hunnicutt, who has taught for more than 34 years at The University of Iowa, continues to try to answer the question: “Why did Americans stop reducing their work time, a process they had enthusiastically supported for over a century, and begin desperately creating more work for more people around seventy years ago?” 

He is the author of several books, book chapters, and articles, including Kellogg’s Six-Hour Day and Work Without End: Abandoning Shorter Hours for the Right to Work. His book, Kellogg’s Six-Hour Day, is now published in Norwegian and Korean versions and is listed as primary reading for “Work and Family,” by the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Saguaro Seminar for Civic Engagement.

Hunnicutt is currently finishing his next book: Time to Live: A Lost Kingdom and The Forgotten American Dream. A member of the Academy of Leisure Sciences and the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in American history from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Participants will be entertained by the lyrical, acoustic musical style of Gina Holsopple from 5:15-7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 4, in the Corey Union Function Room. Holsopple, who was raised as a Mennonite in the middle of the Kansas prairie, won the 2009 New Song Contest at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kan., she was a featured performer in the New Artists’ Showcase at the 2000 National Women’s Music Festival. 


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