Looking for some great entertainment and seeing in person the up and coming stand-up comedians. Come help commemorate one of the greatest comedians, Johnny Carson, in his home town for a week long event, June 16-22, 2008. Norfolk, Nebraska is proud to Present: The Great American Comedy Festival!

Also included in the week long event is the Great American Comedy Youth Camp, June 15 - 21, 2008.

Read what the Norfolk Daily News reported, 'Brightest minds in comedy' chosen for festival, Plenty to see, do during festival, A look at who'll be in Norfolk, 'Phenomenal' lineup for comedy festival, Some of the nation's top comedians coming to Norfolk on this spectacular event.

Learn about other exciting activities and changes taking place in Northeast Nebraska by visiting the Norfolk Area Recruiters, Visioning 2026 Project, NorthFork River Development Project, and the Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce.

Labels: Services, Trends

As part of a community project in Norfolk, NE, the Visioning 2026 effort recoginized the need for improved recreation and park facilities and services for a vibrant and changing culture. Another project beginning in parallel, the Norfolk River Development project, is also looking at multi-use facilities to include office, retail, recreation, lodging and living interconnected for residents and visitors, a destination site, some say the San Antonio of the North.

The following material is a collection of material generated from the Visioning 2026 effort along with other references.

Visioning 2026 Focus Group dialogue and report on Tourism and Recreation, November 2006

Norfolk Amusement Park, A Possibility as reported by Dr. Marvin J. Cetron, President, Forecasting International, September 2006

56 TOP TRENDS AFFECTING NORFOLK’S FUTURE, Comments from Forecasting International By Dr. Marvin J. Cetron, President, Forecasting International, September 2006

10. Tourism and international travel will increase significantly, with tourists getting their travel information directly over the Internet. Category: TOURISM

1 (Low) - Nebraska is essentially a source of tourism, not a destination for tourists. Thus this trend, though strong and continuing, will have little significance for Norfolk. This could change if the area develops a theme park. In that case, the growth of tourism will become a 4 (High), both because this trend will produce new opportunities for the local economy and because long-distance vacationing will compete with regional attractions for business.

We see five primary theme-park opportunities for Norfolk:
• • An “old Nebraska” theme based on the region’s history
• • An EPCOT approach, with attractions and foods from exotic foreign cultures;
• • A theme based on family life and, perhaps, Biblical stories, with marriage chapels as special attractions (providing not only the service itself, but such ancillaries as rental gowns and formalwear, photographs and videos, and bridal parties);
• • High-tech rides;
• • And attractions based on movie and video-game tie-ins, such as a park based on the Harry Potter books and movies.

Each of these offers special opportunities and challenges, which will require careful examination before a commitment is made. This is a family environment. It should be non-smoking, non-drinking, with video games and picnic tables, for parents and grandparents taking their children or grandchildren for a day’s outing.

Central Winds Park, Winter Springs, Fla. The Fields of Excellence
A very good example and implemenation of recreation resources.

American School & University News

Bibliography of Economic Impacts of Parks, Recreation and Tourism

Recreation, Park & Tourism Management Reference Resources

References to commercial products and services

Natural Resources Recreation Reference Resources

Financing and Acquiring Park and Recreation Resources

Journal of Leisure Research

National Park and Recreation Association

The Future of Theme Parks in International Tourism

Labels: Trends

Recently we had the opportunity to participate in a state Futures Problem Solving competition. The state wide program is associated with Future Problem Solving Program International.

For the country and our communities to maintain and create a vibrant culture of creative and problem solving individuals and collaborative teams we need to develop these skills through our schools and support life long learning opportunities.

Here's an exerpt from a email to our children's teacher, Wendy Swenson, from Norfolk Catholic High School, who conducts the program for the 7-9th and 10-12th grade students.

"Thank you for spending time with our children and helping them to learn how to learn.

The skills that you are helping nuture will impact them for the rest of their lives.

The critical thinking skills and collaborating on problem solving are critical lifelong learning behaviors that more people need to develop. Helping our children with these creative skills will help arm themselves for our very fast paced and changing world.

It was great to see our kids get some recognition for their efforts. I see that several teams from Omaha Westside participated in the Seniors division. A 1st place Skit Competition (an excerpt, Mad Cow Bobby, recorded and modified from a potluck dinner presentation) and a 3rd for the Booklet Competition (out of 12 teams) is very impressive. Along with a 1st place finish Skit Competition in the Middle Division, WOW!!. Is this a record with 5 Norfolk Catholic school teams making it to state? Now to get to international!!!

Although I asked Mr. Zoucha to have his government classes (11th) participate in a Visioning 2026 poll, your Futures kids may enjoy filling out this poll as well.
http://www.visioning2026.com/docs/Visioning2026PollingQuestions.pdf
Let me know what you think. To learn more about this project please visit our web site.
http://www.Visioning2026.com"

Here's an earlier email to collegues about another creative and problem solving program.

I read a reference to Destination Imagination in the Omaha World Herald (03/17/07) and went on a search. Problem solving using creativity across several learning disciplines.

A VERY GOOD VIDEO description.

The Nebraska DI mission states, Our Mission is to nurture and encourage development of the important life skills of problem solving, teamwork, cooperation, curiosity, and
self-respect with an "I can" attitude in a creative way.

Nebraska's next year program looks very interesting!

As part of Visioning 2026 goals toward educating ourselves through live long learning what do you think about sponsoring Norfolk area team(s) that could consist of students from local grade schools, NPS, Catholic, Lutheran, Park Avenue, Kings Academy? Other teams could be sponsored for middle school aged kids and then high school. I suspect we could get several service groups to help support this program as well.
http://www.ncaps.org/Register.html

National Discovery Imagination Organization

What I like about this program is it's multi-discipline approach!!!

Who would be our best access points for the school systems, the PTAs, school administrators, teachers, school boards, etc.?

There's another national program called FIRST LEGO League. An exciting and fun international robotics program that ignites an enthusiasm for discovery, science, and technology in kids ages 9 to 14. I know that NECC is involved in something very similar if not the same program.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/04/22/robot.olympics/index.html

Labels: Trends

The world of sport turf management will be experiencing challenges with the introduction of new technologies into this ever changing environment.

Synthetic nanoparticles do not harm soil ecology, according to new experiments by researchers at Purdue University in the US. The result was obtained by adding fullerenes (or buckyballs) to samples of soil and observing any changes.

Ron Turco, a Purdue University soil and environmental microbiologist, and his research team designed its study to test how different levels of buckyballs affect soil microorganisms, including bacteria that are responsible for breaking down organic material and producing carbon dioxide and other compounds. Results of the study are published online and in the April 15 issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

How will these impact the sports turf management profession? What should we be learning about this technology to be prepared for challenges we might not yet understand?

These technologies will be introduced into players' uniforms and equipment within a couple years. Thus, we'll likely experience these technologies finding their way into sports playing surfaces and soils soon after.

I predict nanoparticles will be introduced into pest control products within 5 years, soil amendments products within 5-10 years, and paint products in less than 10 years. What will the Material Safety Data Sheets need to reflect for these products, what risk mitigation techniques will turf managers need to consider, and what training requirements will be integrated into employee training procedures? These are just a few of the questions we need to start asking ourselves.

For example, a long-lasting nanoscale gas state has been observed for the first time by engineers in Australia. William Ducker and Xuehua Zhang of the University of Melbourne have observed very thin bubbles of carbon dioxide gas measuring around 10 nm at the interface between a hydrophobic solid and water under ambient conditions. The team has also found evidence for nanobubbles of air. The results not only settle a long-standing debate over whether a stable nano-gas state phase could exist, it might also be put to good use in a diverse range of applications in industry. These include reducing the friction force when pumping liquids through pipes and stabilizing emulsions like paint or salad dressing.

Labels: Trends