The Great Bend Recreation Commission will again offer a contest to see who can bring in the longest tail feather from a pheasant once the hunting season starts Saturday. Program coordinator Garet Fitzpatrick announced the contest Monday during the GBRC Board of Directors meeting.

Staring next week and continuing until the end of pheasant hunting season, hunters are invited to bring entries to the GBRC office, 1214 Stone St., during regular business hours. Feathers become the property of the Recreation Commission. The person with the longest entry will receive a $30 Great Bend Chamber of Commerce gift certificate, courtesy of Goss Insurance Co.

At Monday’s board meeting, GBRC Director Diann Henderson reported she and some staff will attend the annual Kansas Recreation and Parks Association conference, Feb. 1-3, 2011, in Wichita. She is a representative for the Central Kansas region of KRPA. There will be programs on crisis communication; cyber security and identity theft; and how health-care reform affects the Recreation Commission as an agency.

Henderson also reported GBRC has received a certificate of appreciation from Great Bend’s American Legion Post Commander Roy Titsworth, for its involvement in the POW/MIA Recognition Observance. The event was held outdoors, but the Recreation Commission changed its schedule so the City Auditorium would be available if needed because of inclement weather.

In her monthly attendance report, Henderson said that during October there were 3,127 people enrolled in programs sponsored by GBRC. A total of 12,756 people participated in activities, of which 5,474 were spectators. The Recreation Commission offered 1,237 hours of supervised activities last month.