From The World Of Parks & Recreation
By Doug Comer
We are closing in on our fourth week of the Summer Parks Program and despite the iffy weather in the month of July; the kids at our seven sites are finding new ways to be entertained during the soggy hours of the park’s operation.
“We have had to do our share of collective thinking to find alternatives to keep the kids interested during the rainy days,” related Mike Book, Director of the Parks and Recreation. “Some parks have had checker tournaments while others have found arts and crafts to be good alternative to four-square and kick ball.”
Enrichments have played an important role in our department during the school year. We have had the opportunity to provide field trip activities to students in Harrison County without the Board of Education having to spend a lot of travel money in the process. And we have carried over some of our enrichments into the summer programs with arts and crafts, music and sports activities.
“Jeff Wetzel has done a great job scheduling our enrichments this season and all the kids have been very responsive to all the programs. We have our seven sites, and of those, the enrichment team sees them at least three times a week,” said Book.
“With sports, Noel Vazquez has introduced the kids to a lot of games from different countries like England’s Cricket and Bocce, a lawn bowling game originated in Italy while Ryan Deems, a music teacher at Mountaineer Middle, provides the children with organized music activities. All in all, we are very pleased with the programs we have offered during the summer.”
Later this month, the Parks and Rec will host a science camp. The dates run from July 27 through the end of the week. The program will tackle many subjects in the field of science including field trips to Cooper’s Rock and a fossil dig in Randolph County. As of right now, dates for the travel days are not in stone, but a definite time and day will be figured out shortly.
“We did the program last year and it received great reviews from the kids and parents. Robert and Libby Strong of the Smart Science Centre did a one-day presentation as well as a forensics teacher who helped the kids create facial reconstruction from a skull. And the week-long event was highlighted by a day of fossil hunting in Elkins and cave dwelling close to Seneca.”
Lastly, do not forget that the HCPR hosts an end of year family pool party and this year the event will be held at the Clarksburg Country Club, which is located on route 19 south toward lost creek. The event is free admission to the pool and all kids registered in the program can attend. We hope that you will attend the event, which takes place on July 29th from 6 – 8:00 p.m.
I hope that everyone has been enjoying your summer so far, but please remember to be safe when travelling. Until next week, take care.