SALISBURY — While the Salisbury Parks and Recreation department deals with a wide ranging number of programs and facilities, one of the group’s main focuses is, not surprisingly, the parks themselves.

The department leadership believes that new members need to get to know the parks that they are responsible for maintaining, so they are taking proactive measures to accomplish this.

On Thursday, the department held its biennial meeting where they drove new members around Salisbury to introduce them to several parks in the area. These included Town Creek Park, J.C. Optimist Sports Complex, Morlan Park, Fairview Heights Park, Oakland Heights Park, Long Street Park, Foil Tatum Park, Salisbury Community Park, West End Community Park, the Greenway, Kelsey Scott Park, Centennial Park and Bell Tower Green.

“We hit the highlights. We hit the parks that we rent out for shelters and our most visited parks and we try and sprinkle in some parks that no body knows about unless you live in the neighborhood,” Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Sam Wilborn said. “They become more aware and better educated on what’s going on with the park system beyond what they know already. It’s just expanding their minds and making them aware what the park system entails.”

Wilborn helped share general background on each park, information about what is going on with each one, and any plans for them in the future.

Dan Goodnight is a new member of the department who decided to join after reading that the city and county needed volunteers for several boards. For his first meeting, Goodnight’s eyes were opened to what Salisbury has to offer and he is looking forward to his time with the parks and recreation department.

“There were a number of locations that I knew, but boy there were a lot parks, especially community parks, that I had no clue were there. It was enjoyable, I learned a lot,” Goodnight said.