A Community Build Delivers A Newly Retrofitted Playground

Posted on February 26, 2016

Here at Ross Recreation, we often speak of the “Ross Difference”.  Recently, Casey Hilbert, Ross Recreation’s South Coast sales representative helped organize a volunteer installation with Graves Elementary School, a small, forty student rural school with kindergarten through eight grade located outside Salinas, California.   Casey helped the school design a full retrofit to the original play equipment, removing all... Read More »

Industry Trends for 2016

Posted on January 16, 2016

People often ask what trends are happening in our industry. Looking back at 2015, I see four things, shifts in the marketplace that will persist and likely grow in the coming New Year. UNIQUE PLAYGROUND DESIGN Often nature-inspired, many of our playground designs are now driven by communities that wish to define what is historic or unique about the place they live. So we are... Read More »

San Jose Maintenance Seminar Success

Posted on November 24, 2015

Earlier this month, Ross Recreation held a playground maintenance seminar at the City of San Jose’s Willow Glen Community Center for over one hundred and thirty maintenance professionals from cities and Bay Area school districts.  Our featured speaker was Tim Barrett of Landscape Structures, who gave an in-depth discussion on playground regulations, inspection priorities and systems development, retrofitting older play... Read More »

Years of Outdoor Fun for Penngrove Elementary Kids

Posted on February 25, 2015

Building long-term relationships is the centerpiece of our Mission Statement and what we do at Ross Recreation Equipment Company.  I was reminded of this recently here in Sonoma County when I was invited to Penngrove Elementary School’s playground grand opening.  Parents, teachers, Petaluma businesses, PG&E (a substantial donor) and other community members had joined forces to raise funds and dedicate... Read More »

Sheridan Elementary School Playground Safety Seminar

Posted on May 6, 2015

This month, Ross Recreation had the privilege of being a part of Sheridan Elementary School‘s safety seminar in San Francisco, CA! Playground safety seminars are an excellent way to get the students familiar with how each component is meant to be used, as well as a great opportunity to have the kids spend some time outside! We want to thank Simon... Read More »

Building a Fitness-Focused Playground in Phases

Posted on April 21, 2015

Over time, the Loyola School PTA in Los Altos, California has gradually built a fitness-focused playground for their Upper Grade students. Constructed in phases spanning 10 years, the final phase features a new Netplex structure that complements existing fitness components. The initial equipment consisted mainly of monkey bars, overhead ladders, rings, and balance components and was designed by Ross Recreation... Read More »

The Value in Maintenance

Posted on April 6, 2015

This month Ross Recreation hosted a complimentary Landscape Structures’ Learning Academy Maintenance Seminar in Sacramento, CA.  With close to one hundred in attendance, the session included industry insight and hands-on information and techniques on playground repairs, risk management and graffiti removal techniques.  The seminar put a focus on the importance of proper and consistent maintenance and safety work for those individuals who... Read More »

Helping Communities Build Playgrounds is Our Specialty

Posted on August 23, 2013

A small site and a challenging budget doesn’t always mean that an exciting new playground is out of reach. Ask Catina Haugen, principal at Grant Elementary School in Petaluma. After an initial site visit, we explained to Catina how we could create an exciting but affordable new playground for her kindergarteners. By relying on parent volunteers, Catina was able to... Read More »

Building Community in the Napa Valley

Posted on July 5, 2012

They say necessity is the mother of invention. In Napa, the realities of shrinking city budgets resulted in a very non-traditional alliance of municipal government, community volunteers, and “The Playground King.” The City of Napa, with Jon Bawden of Ross Recreation, had developed plans for a major renovation of the city’s large playground at Buhman Park. With growing budget cutbacks,... Read More »

On The Front Lines of School Playground Safety

Posted on June 13, 2012

Earlier this month, I got to spend time with 75 dedicated people who commit themselves on a daily basis to child safety on busy San Jose school playgrounds. Because of our long-standing relationship, the San Jose Unified School District had invited me to speak at a playground safety training with their playground supervisors. At the training, I gave an overview... Read More »

Heather School

Posted on April 13, 2012

Occasionally we are fortunate enough to work with a truly remarkable group of school parents and community volunteers. Such was the case with the Heather School PTA in San Carlos, located 25 miles south of San Francisco. After interviewing equipment vendors and visiting nearby playgrounds, the PTA chose Ross Recreation Equipment to design the school’s new playground, sited high above... Read More »

Landscape Structures Seminar Offers Solutions for Inclusive Playgrounds

Posted on August 29, 2012

An energetic group of city planners, landscape architects, and park maintenance professionals gathered this week at San Jose’s City Hall to attend a seminar sponsored by Ross Recreation Equipment Company and conducted by Landscape Structures’ Inclusive Play Specialist, John McConkey. Over the past 10 years, John has played a lead role in developing design theory and practical solutions for outdoor Inclusive... Read More »

School Playground Improvement on a Budget

Posted on May 15, 2013

Occasionally, we work on a school or neighborhood project that seems to embody the essence of what we hope to achieve at Ross Recreation: build strong personal relationships that endure; create something lasting and positive; and enhance a spirit of community. Such was the case with Maria Ching and her PTA Committee at Vallejo Mill Elementary School in Fremont, California.... Read More »

More Than Selling Equipment

Posted on November 26, 2012

Ross Recreation hosted a playground maintenance seminar for over 100 professionals from 25 San Francisco Bay Area park departments and school districts. The seminar, held at the City of San Ramon’s Central Park Community Center, was conducted by Tim Barrett of Landscape Structures and Jon Bawden, Ewing Philbin, Alex Hailey and Rebecca Whitten from Ross. Topics ranged from protective surfacing... Read More »