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Recreation Director's Report July 6, 2007 Wow what busy past few months it has been for the Recreation Department since the last time (4/10/07) I was able to write a report. When I was writing that report there was snow on the ground and I was worried about baseball & softball practices being able to start on time. Now it's the middle of summer and we have people swimming daily at the Recreation Area. Things change fast sometimes. On Sunday, July 1, the third annual Pittsford Day Celebration took place at the Recreation Area. Folks from the area flocked to the Recreation Area to enjoy a day of family fun. Highlights included hay wagon rides, "old-fashion" kid's games, 3 live bands, exhibits from the local community, and plenty of delicious food. Children enjoyed bouncing in the bounce house and sliding down the inflatable waterslide. The pie-eating contest was a huge success again this year. A large crowd congregated around the table to watch the kids gobble down their pastry treats. The Recreation Department ran a sports obstacle course that was targeted for elementary school age children and younger. Each event promoted a different program that the Recreation Department runs throughout the year. There were K-9 demonstrations and sheep herding on the upper fields. The Pittsford Historical Society and Boy Scouts set up their displays near the Swim Area. It was certainly a wonderful day for the Recreation Area to have all those visitors at once. I received numerous compliments from people on how great things looked. It's a common response especially from residents who haven't visited the Recreation Area in years. Recently the first of three swim sessions ended. A total of 31 children were registered to participate in the first session. Abbie Becker, our most experienced lifeguard, and our Swim Area Supervisor, is in charge of instructing the Red Cross Swimming classes this summer. Just this spring she obtained her Red Cross WSI certification. Quality Swim Instructors are hard to find as well as finding a local training, Ms. Becker had to drive back and forth to Winooski for a 40 hour weeklong program to become certified. I am very satisfied with her performance after the first session, she is able to effectively communicate with her students in ways they could understand what she was teaching to them. She was not afraid to get in the water with them, no matter how cold the water seemed, and she never expected them to do anything in the water that she wouldn't do. The next session of swim lessons is scheduled to begin Monday, July 16. Each session is two weeks long with a week in between each session. The third and final session is scheduled for August 6-17. Traditionally, the Recreation Department had just offered two sessions that concluded the first or second week of August which meant that there was no scheduled programming to pull swimmers to the Swim Area the final few weeks it was open. However, this is the third summer the Recreation Department has offered three sessions of lessons. I've been really satisfied with the results that the "new" scheduling has produced. The swim area sees much more weekday activity for a longer duration of the season. To date, 65 Season Passes have been sold for the Swim Area. The hot days at the end school really helped our sales out! The Recreation Area in general was extremely busy during the month of June; we had over 29 different groups on the calendar to use the area. That, and favorable weather really helped get our season off to a strong start. Our Day Camp 2007 "Summer Smorgasbord" is off and running. Kids have been having fun doing all sorts of different actitivies. The first week theme was "Extreme Outdoors" where campers had the chance to pan for gold, do a Nature Scavenger Hunt, and because it was so hot and muggy, the campers spent a considerable amount of time in the swim area. The second week "Mad Science" was filled with just as much fun and excitement. They learned about rockets, astronomy, and the solar system. This group also added in a field trip to the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory. This was the first time the Recreation Department sent a group to this destination and the kids had blast! They got to see & taste some of there favorite flavors in the production process. They also got to visit the Flavor Graveyard, were Ben & Jerry's put their old flavors to rest for eternity. They ate their lunch at the picnic area and played on the playground before returning to Pittsford. This week is appropriately titled "Wet & Wild." Kids have been enjoying water activities such as water balloons, a slip n'slide, and other water based games. This particular week filled up every quickly, easily being our most popular week of all, and even had a waiting list with at least a handful children hoping to attend. I think timing, (the kids now have been out of school for two whole weeks), and the theme were the two major factors for the amount interest it created. The remaining three weeks are completely full execpt for two vacancies during the fifth week. Since early May, the Recreation Department has attended all the meetings of a newly formed Pittsford senior citizen group called "Pittsford Seniors." The group has come together so seniors can voice their needs, wants, and concerns within the community. The Council on Aging is a driving force behind the group and they have been facilitating the meetings. The Council on Aging did an Exit Poll during November 2006 aimed toward people 60 years old & older. The results from that survey have been the backbone of the group. The Recreation Department has attended these meetings to try to gain knowledge that will help enhance programming for the older citizens in the community. Over the past year, year and a half, the Recreation Department has been working a little harder to run programs geared towards the elderly. We offered free computer classes just for seniors at the Maclure Library last winter and we also offered an AARP Safe Driver Course earlier this spring. Attending the Pittsford Seniors is a wonderful opportunity to get some insight on what they're looking for. Right now the group would like to set up a luncheon program where they could eat locally once a month or so at a very reasonable fee. In other local towns it is very popular and successful. The Recreation Department is trying to coordinate with VT Police Academy to see if perhaps if they'd be willing to host a lunch series. On Sunday, June 17 (Father's Day) 6- 8 pm the Recreation Department and the Maclure Library co-sponsored our annual Ice Cream Social at the Recreation Area. This year the weather was good, good enough so some folks even went swimming. It was a 360 degree turn around from the previous year when it was overcast & cloudy with a temperature in the low 60's. This year approximately 115 people finished their Father's Day activities at the Recreation Area enjoying ice cream sundaes, and listening to the sweet sound of Steve Spensley's band. There was plenty of ice cream to go around and even more toppings so everyone could fix theirs just they way they like it. My favorite was the fresh rhubarb topping that Mr. Harnish made. The extra ice cream and the toppings were left to be used by our Day Camp on extremely hot days, or when appropriate. (Note: Day Camp kids recently ate all the left over ice cream.)
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