MichaelEricParks

Last night Harrisonburg Citizen Academy got to visit with Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Christopher Bean (pictured arguing his case to the "jury" of Academy members), Clerk of Circuit Court Chaz Haywood and Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson. What a unique and fun night!

Harrisonburg Citizen Academy is one of the coolest programs our Communications & Public Engagement Department gets to provide to The Friendly City. I'm looking forward to seeing what this year has to offer!

The orders are coming in and the pizzas are going out! It’s HFD’s wonderful public safety/community engagement Pizza and Smoke Alarm Night! Thanks to all the HFD personnel and community volunteers who make this event happen.

Now we’re talkin’

It’s Spraygrounds time at Harrisonburg Parks & Rec’s Ralph Sampson Park! It’s hot and the hundreds of folks here are ready to turn this thing on! Let’s go!

Harrisonburg Parks & Rec is testing the new Ralph Sampson Park Spraygrounds before the grand opening July 1 at 10 a.m. - seemed like a great excuse to get out of the office and go play! Very excited about this newest amenity coming to our community.

Our Communications team at @HarrisonburgVA is excited about the education and training opportunities available through a great organization like @PRSA. We're always looking for ways to grow and better serve The Friendly City through communications and public engagement!

What a great night! Our community is coming together to Paint the Park as we prepare to say goodbye to the current Kids Castle and begin work on the new, bigger playground. Make sure to join us before 7 p.m. at Purcell Park.

@BrianBatko I thought Bishop had a nice pass breakup at some point when he jumped a quick pass behind the line of scrimmage and knocked it down?

Steelers snap counts Week 17 vs. Chiefs • George Pickens 91%, DeShon Elliott 94% in first games back • Jaylen Warren 40 snaps, Najee Harris 34, Cordarrelle Patterson 1 • Zero defensive snaps for Beanie Bishop

Harrisonburg Citizen Academy is always in for a fun night when we visit @HFDVA. Thanks to the HFD team for spending time with us this evening talking about all the great things our folks do in service to The Friendly City.

We’re out at the Hispanic Festival today with copies of the City Services Guide for our community. Come check out the festivities and be sure to stop by our table!

A great week so far at the FEMA Master Public Information Officer Program at the Emergency Management Institute. Really enjoyed observing the Advanced class today as they begin work on their joint information center simulation. Excited to bring all I learn back to @HarrisonburgVA

One of my favorite programs we do at the City is Citizen Academy, and applications for this year’s program are now open. I’ve done the program for 5 years now and still learn something new each year. Join us if you want to learn more about the services we provide our community!

Thank you to @SmartGrowthUSA for their support of this important effort! smartgrowthamerica.org/program/commun…

The Harrisonburg Community Connectors team is out today at First Baptist Church in the Northeast Neighborhood to talk to the community about their vision for the future of the area. Thank you to the church for letting us be part of their event. Learn more: harrisonburgva.gov/community-conn…

Joining the fun and posting some photos tonight looking north of Harrisonburg.

Happy to be at the Harrisonburg Immigrant Leadership Summit to hear all the amazing speakers as we work to make The Friendly City into A City For All, where all people can feel safe, valued and have abundant opportunity. Thank you to Welcoming Harrisonburg Council for doing this!

Very excited to be at @FEMA_EMI this week for the first of three weeks in 2023-24 that I’ll be working toward completing the Master Public Information Officer Program. It’s all about bringing back knowledge to help keep the people of @HarrisonburgVA safe and informed.

If you want to learn more about our departments and the services they provide, you should check out our City Services Guide here: harrisonburgva.gov/helpful-guides or contact me if you want a printed copy for your home.

Applications for next year's program aren't open yet, but you can learn more about Citizen Academy at our website here: harrisonburgva.gov/citizen-academy.

Council honored 2023 Citizen Academy graduates last night - 16 people graduated in total (not all pictured). I'm honored to lead this program as the City's Communications Director, and I'm thankful for our community for taking part - and for our staff that make it all happen.