Sam Thompson, coordinator of the 2008 community garden project in Laurinburg, has created an online group to bring people of like interests together in an effort to promote active lifestyles in Scotland County.
"With the support of some friends, I am in the process of starting a new, non-profit organization and am rolling our 2009 community garden under this heading," he said.
Thompson made the decision to include the gardens in a larger project called the "Active Laurinburg Group" in order to create a place where members can find others interested in participating in mutual activities on a given day.
"Suppose you enjoy riding bikes, and it's a Saturday afternoon but no one you know is interested in riding," Thompson said. "By becoming a member of the Active Laurinburg Group, you can visit the website and see if any other members are riding that day. It's a great opportunity to promote an active lifestyle for the people of Scotland County."
Thompson became frustrated when he saw some of the county's recreational resources sitting idle.
"The tennis courts, basketball courts, frisbee golf, a lot of these facilities are being underutilized," Thompson said. "I know there are groups that use some of them regularly, such as the tennis league, and I know there are people who want to play from time to time but don't know where to find a partner. We need people to form a community of groups with like interests, in order to promote activities that will bring them together to use these great resources."
Thompson created a homepage for his group at www.activelaurinburg.com, where interested persons can sign up for free and learn who is doing what in the community.
"There are two ways to join," Thompson said. "You can sign up online or you can print a form on the website that can be mailed in. Becoming a member will be a great way to get people more involved in following a healthy, active lifestyle."
The first undertaking for Thompson will be to coordinate the 2009 community garden project, which he successfully initiated last year.
"We plan to start signups for the garden earlier this year than we did in 2008, and we hope to organize the process through activelaurinburg.com," Thompson said.
"Once you sign up for a garden plot on the website, you should receive notifications for our first meeting in February, and for other events thereafter."
Thompson spoke to Scotland County Parks and Recreation officials at a recent meeting about his plans, and received an interested response from the participants.
Shannon Newton is the director of the county parks and recreation department.
"Mr. Thompson spoke to us about this group and about his desire to increase the use of recreational facilities in the area," Newton said. "It sounds like a good idea; anytime healthy lifestyles are promoted it is a positive thing. Regarding the use of our resources, we would be willing to work with him to coordinate schedules to insure that there is no conflict with groups already using the facilities on a given day."
Newton gave a theoretic example of members from Thompson's group arranging a tennis outing online, and then arriving at the courts only to find them occupied by a county sponsored event.
"We would work with him to try to avoid an unfortunate situation such as that," Newton said.
Thompson envisions Scotland County and the town of Laurinburg becoming a model community known for its active lifestyles.
"The Active Laurinburg Group is for adults of all ages, but I would also like to see retirees benefiting from the program," Thompson said. "Right now, people are retiring and moving to places such as Pinehurst, because of the various things they can see and do there. I want people coming to Laurinburg to retire, where they can escape the traffic and bustle of a larger place. We have plenty to offer here, so I encourage everyone to go to www.activelaurinburg.com, where they can sign up for free, and let's get more active together with the great resources we have in this county."
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