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PITTSFORD
RECREATION DEPARTMENT February was an extremely busy month for the Recreation Department. The number of participants was up or even in most of the programs we offered. One of the busiest programs was the Cardio Kickboxing Workout that runs on Tuesday evenings at the Lothrop Gym. We had 47 participants in four classes compared to 44 last year. Also due to a number of requests from some of the Tuesday participants the Recreation Department experimented with offering a second night of Kickboxing on Thursdays. Like I expected the Thursday night class found it difficult to generate enough interest to run a second class every week. This is my third year sponsoring Aerobics and I have a dedicated group of individuals who have become comfortable working out on Tuesdays, who just weren’t interested for whatever reasons to workout two nights a week. On Friday, February 4, 2005 the Maclure Library and the Recreation Department co-sponsored the second of three Family Fun Nights at the VT Police Academy. The theme for the evening was fittingly “Winter Wonderland”. Besides a couple technical difficulties with the VCR/TV the evening went off without any major problems. However one observation that I did make while I was watching the approximately 140 children and adults milling around was I noticed more older kids in attendance than we usually like to see. The Fun Nights are designed for families who have kids 3rd grade and younger, so the activities are geared for that age group. Sure we get a few older siblings that tag along with their families, but all and all we’re just not set up for older students to participate. So after talking with Bonnie Stewart the Maclure Librarian we decided for the next “Family Fun Night” to revamp our flyers a bit and specifically advertise the program for families who have kids in the third grade or younger. On Friday, February 11, 2005, the Brandon and Pittsford Recreation Departments co-sponsored our annual Teen Night-Valentine’s Day Dance at the VT Police Academy. Thanks to the ten chaperones who worked the sign-in sign-out tables, Ted Surpitski, the new Brandon Recreation Director, Rutland City Police Officer Debbie Spafford of the Rutland County Start Program, and myself the event went incredibly smooth. All of the 201 teens were overall a wonderful and polite group of kids who seemed to enjoy themselves. Derrick “The Jam Man” Cram pumped the gymnasium full of the latest and the greatest hip hop music that kept the place jumping all evening long. One suggestion that has come up a couple times before and came up again at this most recent dance is that the Brandon and Pittsford Recreation Departments should think about implementing a “Dress Code” for our Teen Events. As it stands now there is no real policy in place to govern dress code at these type events. The two or three times over the past 4 years that individuals had to be spoken to due to inappropriate clothing former Brandon Recreation Director Nancy Bird spoke to the young women and just asked them politely to cover up and they did. However now would be a good time to draft a Dress Code because we could have it in place for the next Teen Night Dance in April for a trial run and then make any adjustments over the summer and have set for next fall when we start a new year of Teen Nights. Saturday, February 19, 2005 the Recreation Department and Pittsford Trails Committee co-sponsored the 4th Annual Moonlight Cross Country Skiing, Snowshoeing, & Sledding event. What a great opportunity for residents to come out and enjoy a winter Full Moon with friends and family. The temperature held in the low 20’s and there was hardly a cloud in the sky so the moon was able to illuminate the snow nicely. I must admit I was a little bothered by the fact that only 35-40 people attended the event. I felt I did a good job, probably the best job ever for this event, advertising the program. I placed ads in the 3 newspapers the Brandon/Pittsford Reporter, the Rutland Herald, and the Mountain Times. For the first time ever I ran a Public Service Announcement on the radio and I placed sandwich board signs along Route 7, I just expected to shatter the 2004 attendance of 50 participants. On Friday, March 4, 2005 the Maclure Library and Recreation Department co-sponsored our last “Family Fun Night” of the winter again at the VT Police Academy. The theme for this event was “Mardi Gras”. The children had a wonderful time wearing their beads, decorating their own floats, making masks, and playing games around the gym while making noise with their noise makers. The main attraction however was Magician Tom Joyce who entertained the kids with his crazy magic tricks. The event was a success even though participation numbers slipped from the prior Fun Night to approximately 81 participants due to the fact we specifically targeted families with kids younger than 3rd grade. It’s mighty difficult to believe but the Recreation Department’s spring program season opened earlier this week when the Gymnastics program started. There are 42 kids in grades 1st – 6th, registered to take part this introductory program. Lynn Gee, Physical Education teacher at Lothrop Elementary School teaches the program. Kids have the opportunity to learn about the equipment and some of the basic skills that go along with Gymnastics. For the past two years this class has become real popular so popular in fact that I’ve had to turn kids away because the classes have filled up! Youth League Baseball/Softball registration began on Tuesday, March 1st. Parents can register their children anytime between now and Thursday, March 31st. Registration forms went home from school with every child so all parents need to do is fill out the forms an return them to me by the end of the month. In the past the Recreation Department has offered “SPECIAL REGISTRATION” days and times, this spring I’m not doing that because hardly anyone took advantage of the “special times”. Families can mail in their forms and do not even have to worry about coming in to the office at all. |
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