Los Alamos County Community Services Department received the 2024 Parks/Grounds Maintenance Award for Ashley Pond from the New Mexico Recreation and Park Association. Courtesy/LAC

Los Alamos County Community Services Department received the 2024 Kudos Award from the New Mexico Recreation and Park Association for the Los Alamos County Seasonal Activity Guide. Courtesy/LAC

COUNTY News:

Los Alamos County Community Services Department received the 2024 Kudos Award from the New Mexico Recreation and Park Association for the Los Alamos County Seasonal Activity Guide and the 2024 Parks/Grounds Maintenance Award for Ashley Pond at its annual conference.

The Kudos Award is presented to agencies who have significantly contributed to the public’s increased awareness and recognition of public parks, recreation, conservation agencies, and leisure service programs.

The Parks/Grounds Maintenance Award is presented to agencies for the outstanding maintenance of parks, entryways, athletic fields, medians or trails.

The Activity Guide is compiled and published by the Los Alamos County Community Services Department on a quarterly basis to provide the community and its surrounding region with events happening in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. It also provides information about local amenities, attractions and indoor and outdoor activities.

The Los Alamos County Activity Guide is a 70-85 page booklet that is sought out regularly throughout the community, through local events and venues, not only for its up-to-date information, but its ease of readability, organization, quality, and additional resources within the guide. Additionally, the distribution efforts continuously expand, and now include locations in Española and Taos, with a combined total of 44 locations within Northern New Mexico. Additionally, the Community Services Department monitors the number of Activity Guides printed and distributed, to help reduce waste, and adjusts the dispersion numbers for each location and season.

The Activity Guide is also available as an interactive digital publication on Issuu.com, which has reached 25,000+ people since 2021. The Activity Guide is also shared through the Los Alamos County Community Services website and social media pages.

The Community Services Department strives to reach all audiences, and its local and regional populations, as it is home to one of the largest employers in Northern New Mexico. Regardless of whether an individual resides in Los Alamos or not, they spend a great amount of time in Los Alamos County and they are part of the community and should be included.

The Los Alamos County Parks and Open Space Division maintains Ashley Pond, the pride and joy of the community. Today, Ashley Pond is a pleasant downtown landmark of Los Alamos. Situated near the center of town, it is used for picnics, walks and outdoor concerts in the summer.

The landscape maintenance schedule consists of mowing, weeding and edging once weekly, 30 weeks per year. The services provided by the area crew are weeding, edge trimming, trash pickup, tree and shrub pruning, and general landscaping.

Ashely Pond falls under the Mode 1 Standard as the park has some level of service performed daily due to the number of events and foot traffic. Two pavilions will be built this fall, with an anticipated start date in November 2024. These pavilions will not only serve residents and visitors, but they will be ADA-accessible.